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abjad (AB-jad) - n., a writing system in which consonant phonemes are represented by graphemes, leaving vowel sounds to be inferred by the reader.
In many abjads, such as the Arabic and Hebrew scripts, marks are available to indicate vowel sounds, but these are usually only used in writing for language learners such as children. Both of those are descended from that consonant-only Proto-Sinaitic script I mentioned two days ago, which is a "pure" abjad with no vowel markers at all. Abjads are most commonly used for Semitic languages, which have morphologies that work well with it, but they can be adapted to full alphabetic use as for, for ex, Yiddish and Ladino. The word was, like abugida, coined in 1990 by linguist Peter T. Daniels, this one from the first four letters in the traditional ordering of the Arabic letters, ʾa(lif) + b(āʾ) + j(īm) + d(āl).
---L.
In many abjads, such as the Arabic and Hebrew scripts, marks are available to indicate vowel sounds, but these are usually only used in writing for language learners such as children. Both of those are descended from that consonant-only Proto-Sinaitic script I mentioned two days ago, which is a "pure" abjad with no vowel markers at all. Abjads are most commonly used for Semitic languages, which have morphologies that work well with it, but they can be adapted to full alphabetic use as for, for ex, Yiddish and Ladino. The word was, like abugida, coined in 1990 by linguist Peter T. Daniels, this one from the first four letters in the traditional ordering of the Arabic letters, ʾa(lif) + b(āʾ) + j(īm) + d(āl).
---L.
