Arabic script

For the Arabic script as it is used specifically to write Arabic, see Arabic alphabet.

Arabic script
Script type primarily, alphabet
Time period
3rd century CE to the present[1]
DirectionRight-to-left script Edit this on Wikidata
Official script
20 sovereign states

Co-official script in:

9 sovereign states

Official script at regional level in:

2 sovereign states
LanguagesSee below
Related scripts
Parent systems
Child systems
N'Ko
Hanifi script
Persian alphabet
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Arab (160), ​Arabic
Unicode
Unicode alias
Arabic
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
Worldwide use of the Arabic script
Arabic alphabet world distribution
Arabic alphabet world distribution
Countries where the Arabic script is:
 →  the sole official script
 →  official alongside other scripts
 →  official at a provincial level (China, India, Tanzania) or a recognized second script of the official language (Malaysia, Tajikistan)

The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic (Arabic alphabet) and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world (after the Latin script),[2] the second-most widely used writing system in the world by number of countries using it, and the third-most by number of users (after the Latin and Chinese scripts).[3]

The script was first used to write texts in Arabic, most notably the Quran, the holy book of Islam. With the religion's spread, it came to be used as the primary script for many language families, leading to the addition of new letters and other symbols. Such languages still using it are: Persian (Farsi and Dari), Urdu, Uyghur, Kurdish, Pashto, Punjabi (Shahmukhi), Sindhi, Azerbaijani (Torki in Iran), Malay (Jawi), Javanese and Indonesian (Pegon), Balti, Balochi, Luri, Kashmiri, Cham (Akhar Srak),[4] Rohingya, Somali, Mandinka, and Mooré, among others.[5] Until the 16th century, it was also used for some Spanish texts, and—prior to the script reform in 1928—it was the writing system of Turkish.[6]

The script is written from right to left in a cursive style, in which most of the letters are written in slightly different forms according to whether they stand alone or are joined to a following or preceding letter. The script does not have capital letters.[7] In most cases, the letters transcribe consonants, or consonants and a few vowels, so most Arabic alphabets are abjads, with the versions used for some languages, such as Kurdish dialect of Sorani, Uyghur, Mandarin, and Bosniak, being alphabets. It is the basis for the tradition of Arabic calligraphy.

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  1. ^ Daniels, Peter T.; Bright, William, eds. (1996). The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press, Inc. p. 559. ISBN 978-0195079937.
  2. ^ "Arabic Alphabet". Encyclopædia Britannica online. Archived from the original on 26 April 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  3. ^ Vaughan, Don. "The World's 5 Most Commonly Used Writing Systems". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  4. ^ Cham romanization table background. Library of Congress
  5. ^ Mahinnaz Mirdehghan. 2010. Persian, Urdu, and Pashto: A comparative orthographic analysis. Writing Systems Research Vol. 2, No. 1, 9–23.
  6. ^ "Exposición Virtual. Biblioteca Nacional de España". Bne.es. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  7. ^ Ahmad, Syed Barakat. (11 January 2013). Introduction to Qur'anic script. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-11138-9. OCLC 1124340016.