Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun linguistics A writing system, similar to a
syllabary , in which there is oneglyph (that is a symbol or letter) for eachconsonant or consonantalphoneme . Some languages that use abjads areArabic ,Hebrew ,Persian , andUrdu . Abjads differ from syllabaries (such as theJapanese hiragana ) in that thevowel quality of each letter is left unspecified, and must be inferred from context and grammar.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Examples
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Arabic uses a writing system that we haven't seen yet: an abjad, which is basically an alphabet that doesn't have any vowels-the reader must supply them.
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According to the abjad system of reckoning, the numerical value of Tá is nine, which equals the numerical value of the name Bahá.
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The abjad numerical value of this Arabic letter is five, which corresponds to the potential number of intercalary days.
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"Tá", which is its equivalent in the abjad notation (see Glossary).
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According to the abjad reckoning, the numerical value of each of these letters is 6, 1 and 6 respectively.
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There are actually excellent calligraphic examples of another middle-eastern abjad.
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This contrasts with an alphabet proper (in which vowels have a status equal to that of consonants) and with an abjad
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What we call ktav ivri is a cuneiform script, is an abjad offshoot of the ancient Semitic alphabet, barely discernible from the Phoenician alphabet from which it was derived.
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The term "alphabet" is something of a misnomer here, though, as Hebrew script is not in fact an alphabet, but an abjad; that is, a script with only consonants.
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However, the Hebrew script is not a pure abjad, either, and the characters alef, he, vav, and yod are sometimes (in the case of vav and yod, frequently) used to represent vowels.
dbmag9 commented on the word abjad
Formed from the first three letters of the Arabic one, this is a system of writing which includes only consonants. In the Semitic languages the abjad is fundamentally entwined with the novel grammar: the consonants in a word indicate its meaning, whilst the vowels (along with pre- or postfixes) indicate its form).
December 3, 2006
seanahan commented on the word abjad
Is the same as alpeh and alpha.
Ba, bet and beta.
Ga, gimel, and gamma.
The alphabet is fun.
December 3, 2006
Judith commented on the word abjad
an alphabet that includes only consonants, indicating vowel sounds (if at all) by other kinds of marks. Hebrew and Arabic alphabets are adbjads.
July 24, 2009