An abjad is a type of writing system in which each symbol always or usually stands for a consonant; the reader must supply the appropriate vowel. It is a term suggested by Peter T. Daniels to replace the common terms consonantary or consonantal alphabet or syllabary to refer to the family of scripts called West Semitic. In popular usage, abjads often contain the word "alphabet" in their names, such as "Arabic alphabet" and "Phoenician alphabet".

Contents

• 1 Terminology
• 2 Origins
• 3 Connections with numbers
• 4 Impure abjads
  • 4.1 Addition of vowels
• 5 Abjads and the structure of Semitic languages
• 6 Application to non-Semitic languages
• 7 Notes
• 8 See also
• 9 References
• 10 External links