This document provides an overview of different types of writing systems including alphabets, abjads, abugidas, syllabaries, and semanto-phonetic systems. It explains that alphabets use letters to represent vowels and consonants, abjads represent consonants only using letters and vowels with diacritics, abugidas use letters for syllables modified with diacritics, and syllabaries represent syllables with separate symbols rather than diacritics. Semanto-phonetic systems incorporate meaning and sound with symbols like pictograms, ideograms, and compound characters.

1. Creating a Language
Part One: Alphabets

2. Alphabets
• An “Alphabet”, also known as a “phonemic alphabet”, is
the writing system Europeans and Americans probably
know best.
• In Alphabets, letters can represent vowels (a, e, i, o, u)
or consonants (k, l, p,)
• In different alphabets, sounds can be achieved using
different letters. For example, the “sh” sound is created
using the letters SI in Welsh, SJ in Afrikaans, CH in French,
S in Irish, etc.
• The most widely used alphabets are the Latin/Roman
alphabet: the one you’re reading right now; or the Cyrillic
alphabet: found in Slavic countries like Russia.
• Alphabets can use diacritics to change the sounds of
vowels.
Bonjour!
Hello! Ahoj!
Здравей!

3. Wait…
• What the hell is a diacritic?
• A diacritic is an accent or symbol that is used to signify a
vowel, or a change to a vowel.
• For example! In French, “Cafe” would be pronounced
“KAF”, whereas “Café” – with the added diacritic on the E –
signifies that the silent E has now changed to a
sounded e, making the pronunciation “KAF-AY”
• It’s used in a bunch of other types of writing systems, too.
• It can mean a lotta different things, and that changes
depending on the language: changing a vowel, removing
the vowel sound, representing the vowel itself…
• Okay- Let’s continue with the alphabet types!

4. Abjads
• An “Abjad”, also known as a “Consonant Alphabet”, is
the writing system used in Arabic and Hebrew (among
others)
• In Abjads, letters represent consonants only, and vowels
are expressed through an added diacritic.
• In Semitic Abjads, most words have roots made of three
consonants. For example! K-T-B is the root for words
related to inscribing or writing in Arabic.
• By adding vowels and other consonants around these three
root consonants, you create different words within the
same field of writing; such as katîb (writer), kutub (books),
maktab (school), and kutubî (book seller).

5. Abugidas
• An “Abugida”, also known as a “Syllabic Alphabet”, is a
syllable-based writing system.
• In Abugidas, letters signify whole syllables as opposed
to specific letters; for example, letters would represent
“ka”, “sho” or “tu” instead of “k”, “s” or “t”
• Diacritics are used in Abugidas to modify the vowel. For
example, for a letter signifying the syllable “MA”, a diacritic
may be added to signify the pronunciation has changed
to “MO/MI/MU/ME”. However! A diacritic may also
symbolise a removal of the vowel entirely, making the
letter simply “M”.

6. Syllabary
• A “Syllabary” is a phonetic writing system that is very
similar to an Abugida in the way it uses letters to signify
syllables instead of specific letters.
• The difference lies in the fact that diacritics are not used
to signify different syllables – instead, entirely different
symbols are used.
• For example, in Japanese Hiragana,
the symbols for “ka/ki/ku/ke/ko” are
all separate symbols on their own,
instead of a modified version of
one of them.

7. Semanto-Phonetic
• Semanto-phonetic writing systems use symbols that
represent both the sounds of the symbol, but also the
meaning of the symbol.
• As a result of this, Semanto-phonetic alphabets often
include a very large number of symbols, generally from
several hundred to tens of thousands.
• Semanto-phonetic symbols can be classified under either:
Pictograms, Ideograms, and compound characters.

8. More Semanto-Phonetic
• PICTOGRAMS: Symbols that resemble the thing(s) they
represent.
• IDEOGRAMS: Symbols that graphically represent
abstract ideas, such as numbers or abstract nouns.
• COMPOUND CHARACTERS: Symbols that include a
semantic element, which represents the meaning, and a
phonetic element, which hints at the pronunciation. The
below example shows Chinese compound characters that all
share are a semantic element meaning “horse”.