{"id":7270,"date":"2024-08-08T03:56:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-08T01:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lonet.academy\/blog\/?p=7270"},"modified":"2024-08-08T03:56:01","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T01:56:01","slug":"journey-through-the-alphabets-of-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonet.academy\/blog\/journey-through-the-alphabets-of-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"A journey through the alphabets of the world: exploring alphabets and sounds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We all learn the alphabets and sounds of our native language from a very young age. Thus we get the ability to name letters and identify the sounds they make. Without this knowledge, we wouldn\u2019t be able to share or perceive information in a written way. So, the importance of learning the alphabet of your native language is not even questioned. However, when learning a second language (especially if they are of the same language family), we often skip the phonetic alphabet. We even sometimes skip learning the alphabet altogether. It seems basic, we feel we know it and it doesn\u2019t seem important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s take a look at the alphabets of the world and see what makes them an important part of a language that should not be missed. Let\u2019s dive into the question of the importance of the alphabets in human communication, highlighting unique features of various alphabets from around the world and their historical significance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is an alphabet<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An alphabet is a set of standardized symbols (letters) that reflect sounds used in a specific language. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Difference between letters and alphabets<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Letters are single characters (in the alphabet) used to represent sounds or combinations of sounds in written form. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An alphabet is a full set of standardized symbols (letters) of a specific language, put in a certain sequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many alphabets are there in the world <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are more than 370 alphabets in the world. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some alphabets share the same letters or symbols. Some languages use the same alphabet. For example, most West-European languages use the Latin alphabet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Are There So Many Alphabets in the World’s Languages?<\/strong>
<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Alphabets, abjads, abugidas, and syllabaries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You will be surprised to know that there are some languages that are not alphabet-based. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some languages instead of letters they use pictures, or characters, to display sounds or syllables. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Syllabaries<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Japanese<\/strong> is the best example of a language that uses syllabaries<\/strong> in it script. Syllabaries are written symbols used to represent syllables.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means that you write in Japanese using symbols instead of letters, thus the building blocks for words are syllables, not letters.   This Japanese system of syllabic writing is called kana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abugidas<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another interesting script, different from an alphabet is abugida<\/strong>. Abugidas consist of symbols for consonants with inherent vowels. Each consonant has an inherent vowel which can be changed to another vowel or muted by usage of diacritics or other separate notations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the writing systems of South Asia, Southeast Asia and Tibet are abugidas. Ethiopian and the Canadian Aboriginal languages use abugidas as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 Source of the image: psychologyoflanguage<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abjads<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Some writing systems are \u201cconsonants-only\u201d, where all the letters are consonants. We call them abjads<\/strong>. The vowels exist only as sounds (wihtout a written representation). Even though we can add vowels in some abjads (as secondary notation signs), it is not obligatory. Without the vowels we would still write it correctly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abjad are commonly written from right to left<\/strong>, which is different from most other writing systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Languages that use abjads include Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and Urdu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn Arabic: the Million-Word Language. Interesting facts about Arabic language<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abjads differ from syllabaries in that the vowel quality of each letter is left unspecified, and must be inferred from context and grammar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Persian writing system:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Source of the image: psychologyoflanguage<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch more about the writing systems of the world in this video:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing Systems of the World | Abjads, Alphabets, Abugidas, Syllabaries<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n