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Arabic-based Alphabets
The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used writing system in the world by number of countries using it or a script directly derived from it, and the third-most by number of users (after the Latin and Chinese scripts). The script was first used to write texts in Arabic, most notably the Quran, the holy book of Islam. With the religion's spread, it came to be used as the primary script for many language families, leading to the addition of new letters and other symbols. Such languages still using it are: Persian (Farsi/Dari), Malay ( Jawi), Uyghur, Kurdish, Punjabi (Shahmukhi), Sindhi, Balti, Balochi, Pashto, Lurish, Urdu, Kashmiri, Rohingya, Somali and Mandinka, Mooré among others. Until the 16th century, it was also used for some Spanish texts, and—prior to the language reform in 1928—it was the writing system of Turkish. The script is written from right to left in a cu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abjad
An abjad (, ar, أبجد; also abgad) is a writing system in which only consonants are represented, leaving vowel sounds to be inferred by the reader. This contrasts with other alphabets, which provide graphemes for both consonants and vowels. The term was introduced in 1990 by Peter T. Daniels. Other terms for the same concept include: partial phonemic script, segmentally linear defective phonographic script, consonantary, consonant writing, and consonantal alphabet.Amalia E. Gnanadesikan (2017) Towards a typology of phonemic scripts, Writing Systems Research, 9:1, 14-35, DOI: 10.1080/17586801.2017.1308239 "Daniels (1990, 1996a) proposes the name abjad for these scripts, and this term has gained considerable popularity. Other terms include partial phonemic script (Hill, 1967), segmentally linear defective phonographic script (Faber, 1992), consonantary (Trigger, 2004), consonant writing (Coulmas, 1989) and consonantal alphabet (Gnanadesikan, 2009; Healey, 1990). " Impure abja ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dari
Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī – The New Persian Literary Language", in ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', Online Edition 2006. hence it is known as Afghan Persian or Eastern Persian in many Western sources. As Professor Nile Green remarks "the impulses behind renaming of Afghan Persian as Dari were more nationalistic than linguistic" in order to create an Afghan state narrative. Apart from a few basics of vocabulary, there is little difference between formal written Persian of Afghanistan and Iran. The term "Dari" is officially used for the characteristic spoken Persian of Afghanistan, but is best restricted to formal spoken registers. Persian-speakers in Afghanistan prefer to still call their language “Farsi,” while Pashto-speakers may sometimes refer to it as "Parsi." Fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kashmiri Language
Kashmiri () or Koshur (, /kəːʃur/) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by around 7 million Kashmiris of the Kashmir region, primarily in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. In 2020, the Parliament of India passed a bill to make Kashmiri an official language of Jammu and Kashmir along with Dogri, Hindi, Urdu and English. Kashmiri is also among the 22 scheduled languages of India. Kashmiri has split ergativity and the unusual verb-second word order. Geographic distribution and status There are about 6.8 million speakers of Kashmiri and related dialects in Jammu and Kashmir and amongst the Kashmiri diaspora in other states of India. The precise figures from the 2011 census are 6,554,36 for Kashmiri as a "mother tongue" and 6,797,587 for Kashmiri as a "language" (which includes closely related smaller dialects/languages). Most Kashmiri speakers are located in the Kashmir Valley and other areas of Jammu and Kashmir. In the Kashmir valley, they form a majority. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luri Language
Luri ( lrc, لٛۏری, Łôrī, luz, لُرِی, Lorī) is a Southwestern Iranian language continuum spoken by the Lur people, an Iranian people native to Western Asia. The Luri dialects are descended from Middle Persian and are Central Luri, Bakhtiari,G. R. Fazel, 'Lur', in Muslim Peoples: A World Ethnographic Survey, ed. R. V. Weekes (Westport, 1984), pp. 446–447 and Southern Luri. This language is spoken mainly by the Bakhtiari and Southern Lurs ( Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Mamasani, Sepidan, Bandar Ganaveh, Bandar Deylam) in Iran. History Luri is the closest living language to Archaic and Middle Persian. The language descends from Middle Persian (Parsig). It belongs to the ''Persid'' or ''Southern Zagros group'', and is lexically similar to modern Persian, differing mainly in phonology. According to the ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', "All Lori dialects closely resemble standard Persian and probably developed from a stage of Persian similar to that represented in Earl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan alongside Dari,Constitution of Afghanistan ''Chapter 1 The State, Article 16 (Languages) and Article 20 (Anthem)''/ref> and it is the second-largest provincial language of Pakistan, spoken mainly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern districts of Balochistan. Likewise, it is the primary language of the Pashtun diaspora around the world. The total number of Pashto-speakers is at least 40 million, (40 million) although some estimates place it as high as 60 million. Pashto is "one of the primary markers of ethnic identity" amongst Pashtuns. Geographic distribution A national language of Afghanistan, Pashto is primarily spoken in the east, south, and southwest, but also in some northern and western parts of the country. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balochi Language
Balochi or Baluchi () is an Iranian language spoken primarily in the Balochistan region of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. In addition, there are speakers in Oman, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Turkmenistan, East Africa and in diaspora communities in other parts of the world. The total number of speakers, according to '' Ethnologue'', is 8.75 million. Of these, 6.28 million are in Pakistan. According to Brian Spooner, Balochi belongs to the Western Iranian subgroup, and its original homeland is suggested to be around the central Caspian region. Classification Balochi is an Indo-European language, belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the family. As an Iranian language it is classified in the Northwestern group. '' Glottolog'' classifies 3 different varieties, namely Eastern Balochi, Koroshi and Southern-Western Balochi, under the "Balochic" group. Morphology Balochi, like many Western Iranian languages, has lost the Old Iranian gender distinctions. Phonolo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balti Language
Balti (Nastaʿlīq script: , Tibetan script: སྦལ་ཏི།, ) is a Tibetic language natively spoken by the ethnic Balti people in the Baltistan region of Gilgit−Baltistan, Pakistan, Nubra Valley of the Leh district and in the Kargil district of Ladakh, India. The language differs from Standard Tibetan; many sounds of Old Tibetan that were lost in Standard Tibetan are retained in the Balti language. It also has a simple pitch accent system only in multi-syllabic words while Standard Tibetan has a complex and distinct pitch system that includes tone contour. Demographics and distribution Balti is spoken in most parts of Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan, Kargil and Nubra Ladakh in India. According to the Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts, Balti is mostly spoken in Skardu, Shigar, Gultari, Ghanche, Roundu and Kharmang parts of Gilgit-Baltistan. In the twin districts of Ladakh region (Kargil and Leh) it is spoken in Kargil city and its surrounding villages like Hardass, Lato, Kark ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sindhi Language
Sindhi ( ; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 30 million people in the Pakistani province of Sindh, where it has official status. It is also spoken by a further 1.7 million people in India, where it is a Scheduled languages of India, scheduled language, without any state-level official status. The main writing system is the Perso-Arabic script, which accounts for the majority of the Sindhi literature and is the only one currently used in Pakistan. In India, both the Perso-Arabic script and Devanagari are used. Sindhi has an attested history from the 10th century CE. Sindhi was one of the first languages of South Asia to encounter influence from Persian language, Persian and Arabic following the Umayyad campaigns in India, Umayyad conquest in 712 CE. A substantial body of Sindhi literature developed during the Medieval period, the most famous of which is the religious and mystic poetry of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai from the 18th century. Modern Sindhi was promoted under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shahmukhi
Shahmukhi (, ) is a Persian alphabet, Perso-Arabic alphabet script used historically by Punjabi Muslims (primarily in present-day Punjab, Pakistan, Pakistani Punjab) to write the Punjabi language. It is generally written in the Nastaʿlīq Calligraphy, calligraphic hand, which is also used for Urdu. Shahmukhi script is used in Punjab, Pakistan, Pakistani Punjab as the official script for writing Punjabi language, Punjabi. Perso-Arabic is one of two scripts used for Punjabi, the other being Gurmukhi, used by Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus, Hindus in Punjab, India, Indian Punjab. Shahmukhi is written from right to left, while Gurmukhi is written from left to right. It is also used as the main alphabet to write Pahari–Pothwari in Azad Kashmir and Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir. The Shahmukhi alphabet was first used by the Sufi poets of Punjab, and became the conventional writing style for the Muslims, Muslim populace of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Punjabi Language
Punjabi (; ; , ), sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It has approximately 113 million native speakers. Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first language in Pakistan, with 80.5 million native speakers as per the 2017 census, and the 11th most widely-spoken in India, with 31.1 million native speakers, as per the 2011 census. The language is spoken among a significant overseas diaspora, particularly in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. In Pakistan, Punjabi is written using the Shahmukhi alphabet, based on the Perso-Arabic script; in India, it is written using the Gurmukhi alphabet, based on the Indic scripts. Punjabi is unusual among the Indo-Aryan languages and the broader Indo-European language family in its usage of lexical tone. History Etymology The word ''Punjabi'' (sometimes spelled ''Panjabi'') has been derived from the word ''Panj-āb'', Persian for 'Five Waters', referring to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kurdish Languages
Kurdish (, ) is a language or a group of languages spoken by Kurds in the geo-cultural region of Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora. Kurdish constitutes a dialect continuum, belonging to Western Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. The main three dialects or languages of Kurdish are Northern Kurdish (), Central Kurdish (), and Southern Kurdish (). A separate group of non-Kurdish Northwestern Iranian languages, the Zaza–Gorani languages, are also spoken by several million ethnic Kurds.Kaya, Mehmet. The Zaza Kurds of Turkey: A Middle Eastern Minority in a Globalised Society. The majority of the Kurds speak Kurmanji, and most Kurdish texts are written in Kurmanji and Sorani. Kurmanji is written in the Hawar alphabet, a derivation of the Latin script, and Sorani is written in the Sorani alphabet, a derivation of Arabic script. The classification of Laki as a dialect of Southern Kurdish or as a fourth language under Kurdish is a matter of debate, but the diff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_in_Afghanistan.jpg "Click for more on -> Dari")
