consonantal writing system
Quick Summary
A consonantal writing system, also known as an unvocalized syllabary, represents the consonant of a syllable while omitting the vowel. This means a single character could stand for syllables like "pa," "pe," "pi," "po," and "pu." While this system involves guesswork to determine the intended syllable, it is less ambiguous in Semitic languages where vowel differences often don't change the core meaning of a word. The Arabic alphabet, for example, has 28 consonantal letters, with three also serving as long vowels. This system is distinct from alphabetic systems, which represent both consonant and vowel sounds.12
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writingTypes of writing systemsConsonantal writing systems, as the name implies, represent the consonantal value of a syllable while ignoring the vocalic element. Such a system, therefore, would represent the syllables pa, pe, pi, po, pu with a single character. Such scripts have graphs for consonant sounds but not…
Read MoreConsonantal writing systems, as the name implies, represent the consonantal value of a syllable while ignoring the vocalic element. Such a system, therefore, would represent the syllables pa, pe, pi, po, pu with a single character. Such scripts have graphs for consonant sounds but not…
Read More- writingAlphabetic systems
…Semitic scripts, following Sampson, as consonantal writing systems. While such a script would be greatly limited in explicitness or completeness for a language with complex syllable structure such as English, it is relatively complete for Semitic languages in which vowel differences are rarely contrastive.
Read More…Semitic scripts, following Sampson, as consonantal writing systems. While such a script would be greatly limited in explicitness or completeness for a language with complex syllable structure such as English, it is relatively complete for Semitic languages in which vowel differences are rarely contrastive.
Read More