Knowra Arabic script Arabic script Arabic script is a right-to-left writing system whose letters usually join within words. It is used for Arabic and adapted, with changes, for languages including Persian, Urdu, and Pashto.
Arabic alphabet : The set of letters used to write Arabic, ordered from alif to yāʾ. Its consonant letters provide the script’s basic inventory.
Persian alphabet : The Arabic-derived alphabet used to write Persian, with additional letters for Persian sounds. Persian writing adds letters absent from the Arabic inventory.
Nabataean script : An Aramaic-derived script used by the Nabataeans, whose late forms developed into Arabic script. Its letter shapes form the principal historical link to Arabic writing.
Hebrew alphabet : A right-to-left consonant alphabet used to write Hebrew and several other languages. It shares right-to-left orientation and abjad features but uses a distinct letter system.
Arabic letter case : The context-dependent forms Arabic letters take at word beginnings, middles, ends, or in isolation. Joining changes a letter’s shape according to its position in a word.
Urdu alphabet : The Arabic-derived Perso-Arabic alphabet used to write Urdu, with conventions and letters tailored to the language. Urdu extends the script and uses a distinctive calligraphic style, Nastaliq.
Aramaic alphabet : An ancient consonant alphabet that gave rise to several scripts across the Near East. Arabic script belongs to a family whose deeper ancestry runs through Aramaic.
Syriac alphabet : A right-to-left alphabet derived from Aramaic and used for Syriac and other languages. Its related ancestry offers a close comparison while its letterforms and traditions differ.
Arabic diacritics : Marks written above or below Arabic letters to indicate short vowels, pronunciation, or other distinctions. Optional marks can make otherwise unwritten vowels and pronunciation details explicit.
Pashto alphabet : An Arabic-derived alphabet adapted to represent the sounds of Pashto. Pashto adds characters for sounds not represented in standard Arabic.
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