Writing Systems or ‘Scripts’

A writing system, or script, is a method of visually representing a language through symbols or characters. Scripts vary widely across languages and are crucial for reading, writing, and communication.

Types of Writing Systems:

• Alphabetic: Each symbol (letter) represents a sound. Examples include the Latin alphabet (used in English, Spanish) and Cyrillic (used in Russian, Bulgarian).
• Syllabic: Each symbol represents a syllable. Examples include the Japanese Hiragana and Katakana scripts.
• Logographic: Each symbol represents a word or morpheme. Examples include Chinese characters (Hanzi) and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
• Abjad: A script where only consonants are written, with vowels implied. Examples include Arabic and Hebrew scripts.
• Abugida: A writing system where consonant-vowel sequences are written as units. Examples include the Devanagari script used for Hindi and Sanskrit.

Understanding the script of a language is fundamental to mastering reading and writing in that language, as each writing system shapes the way words and sounds are visually represented.