Nearly all the segmental scripts ("", but see below for more precise terminology) used around the globe were apparently derived from the ''' Proto-Sinaitic Alphabet '''. These include the Latin Alphabet — forms of which are used today to write numerous languages — but also such disparate cousins as the writing systems of Hebrew , Arabic , both Germanic and Hungarian Runes , Ethiopic , Devanagari writing of India , the native scripts of the Philippines and Indonesia , and perhaps Cree 'syllabics' . There are also true Syllabic systems derived only superficially from these alphabets, such as Cherokee .
Notable exceptions that were not derived from Proto-Sinaitic include Hangul , invented by Sejong The Great in 1444 , Ol Chiki , Zhuyin and the now obsolete Meroitic Script , among others.
The first Middle Bronze Age Alphabets were adapted from Egyptian Hieroglyphs . A possibly independent alphabet, the Meroitic Alphabet , was also adapted from Egyptian hieroglyphs, and therefore may be a cousin to the Proto-Sinaitic family.
- 0. Wadi El-Ħôl To Proto-Sinaitic - c. 1800 BC (Egypt)
- --- 1. Ugaritic Abjad - c. 1500 BC (Syria)
- --- 2. Proto-Canaanite Abjad - c. 1400 BC (Israel)
-- 2.1. Phoenician / Paleo-Hebrew Abjad - c. 1100 BC (Lebanon, Israel)
- 2.1.1. Aramaic Abjad - c. 800 BC (Syria)
2.1.1.1. '' Brahmi Abugida '' - c. 600 BC (India, Sri Lanka)
--- 2.1.1.1.1. '' - c. AD 200 (Vietnam, Cambodia) ---
--- 2.1.1.1.2. '' Gupta Abugida '' - c. AD 400 (N. India)
-- 2.1.1.1.2.1. '' - c. 600 (N. India) ---
- 2.1.1.1.2.1.1 '' - c. 700 (Tibet) ---
2.1.1.1.2.1.1.1 '' Phagspa Abugida '' - 1269 (Mongolia)
2.1.1.1.2.1.1.2 '' - c. 1700 (Bhutan) ---
--- 2.1.1.1.2.1.1.2.1 '' - c. 1740 (Sikkim) ---
-- 2.1.1.1.2.2. '' Nagari Abugida '' - c. 750 (India)
- 2.1.1.1.2.2.1. '' - c. 1050 (E. India, Bangladesh) ---
2.1.1.1.2.2.1.1. '' - c. 1100 (E. India) ---
- 2.1.1.1.2.2.2. '' - c. 1100 (India) ---
2.1.1.1.2.2.2.1. '' - c. 1150 (Nepal) ---
2.1.1.1.2.2.2.2. '' Modi Abugida '' - c. 1600 (India)
2.1.1.1.2.2.2.3. '' - c. 1500 (India) ---
2.1.1.1.2.2.2.4. '' - c. 1686 (Mongolia) ---
2.1.1.1.2.2.2.5. '' - 1841 (Canada) ---
-- 2.1.1.1.2.3. '' Sharada Abugida '' - c. 770 (Pakistan)
- 2.1.1.1.2.3.1 '' - c. 1539 (Pakistan, N. India) ---
--- 2.1.1.1.3. '' Pallava Abugida '' - c. 400 (S. India)
-- 2.1.1.1.3.1. '' - c. 900 (Cambodia) ---
- 2.1.1.1.3.1.1. '' - 1283 (Thailand) ---
2.1.1.1.3.1.1.1. '' - c. 1350 (Laos) ---
-- 2.1.1.1.3.2. '' - c. 700 (Burma) ---
- 2.1.1.1.3.2.1. '' - c. 1050 (Burma) ---
-- 2.1.1.1.3.3. '' Old Kawi Abugida '' - c. 775 (Indonesia)
- 2.1.1.1.3.3.1. '' Javanese Abugida '' - c. 900 (Indonesia)
- 2.1.1.1.3.3.2. '' - c. 1000 (Indonesia)---
- 2.1.1.1.3.3.3. '' - c. 1300 (Indonesia)---
- 2.1.1.1.3.3.4. '' Baybayin Abugida '' - c. 1300 (Philippines)
- 2.1.1.1.3.3.5. '' - c. 1300 (Philippines)---
- 2.1.1.1.3.3.6. '' - c. 1300 (Philippines)---
- 2.1.1.1.3.3.7. '' - c. 1300 (Philippines)---
- 2.1.1.1.3.3.8. '' Buginese Abugida '' - c. 1600 (Indonesia)
- 2.1.1.1.3.3.9. '' Rejang Abugida '' - ? (Indonesia)
--- 2.1.1.1.4. '' Kadamba Abugida '' - c. 450 (S India)
-- 2.1.1.1.4.1. '' - c. 1500 (S.India) ---
-- 2.1.1.1.4.2. '' - c. 1500 (S. India) ---
--- 2.1.1.1.5. '' Kalinga Abugida '' - c. 500 (E India)
--- 2.1.1.1.6. '' Grantha Abugida '' - c. 500 (S India)
-- 2.1.1.1.6.1. '' - c. 700 (Sri Lanka) ---
- 2.1.1.1.6.1.1. '' Dhives Akuru Abugida '' - c. 1100 (Maldives)
-- 2.1.1.1.6.2. '' - c. 700 (India, Sri Lanka) ---
- 2.1.1.1.6.2.1. '' - c. 1900 (S. India) ---
-- 2.1.1.1.6.3. '' - c. 1100 (S. India) ---
--- 2.1.1.1.7. '' Tocharian Abugida '' - c. 500 (W. China)
--- 2.1.1.1.8. '' Ahom Abugida '' - c. AD 1250 (E. India)
2.1.1.2. - c. 300 BC (Israel) ---
2.1.1.3. Pahlavi Abjad - c. 100 BC (N.E. Iran)
--- 2.1.1.3.1. Avestan Alphabet - c. AD 400 (S.W. Iran)
2.1.1.4. '' Kharosthi Abugida '' - c. 250 BC (Pakistan, Afghanistan)
2.1.1.5. Parthian Abjad - c. 200 BC (Iran)
2.1.1.6. - c. 200 BC (Syria, Iraq) ---
--- 2.1.1.6.1. Sogdian Abjad - c. 100 (Uzbekistan)
-- 2.1.1.6.1.1. - c. 100 ? (Georgia) ---
-- 2.1.1.6.1.2. Orkhon Alphabet - c. 700 (Mongolia)
- 2.1.1.6.1.2.1. Old Hungarian Alphabet - c. 900 (Hungary)
-- 2.1.1.6.1.3. Uyghur Alphabet - c. 1000 (NW China)
- 2.1.1.6.1.3.1. - c. 1100 (Mongolia) ---
2.1.1.6.1.3.1.1. Manchu Alphabet - 1599 (NE China)
- 2.1.1.6.1.3.2. - 1649 (NW China) ---
2.1.1.7. Nabatean Abjad - c. 200 BC (Jordan)
--- 2.1.1.7.1. - c. 400 (Jordan, N. Arabia) ---
--- 2.1.1.7.1.1. - c.1300 (Malaysia, Brunei) ---
2.1.1.8. - c. AD 100 (Iran) ---
- 2.1.2. - c. 600 BC (Israel) ---
- 2.1.3. Alphabets Of Asia Minor - c. 800 BC (Anatolia)
- 2.1.4. - c. 900 BC (Greece) ---
2.1.4.1. Cumae Alphabet - c. 750 BC (Greece, Italy)
--- 2.1.4.1.1. Etruscan Alphabet - c. 800 BC (Italy)
-- 2.1.4.1.1.1. Venetic Alphabet - c. 700 BC (Italy)
- 2.1.4.1.1.1.1. Runic Alphabet - c. AD 200 (Germany, Scandinavia)
-- 2.1.4.1.1.2. - c. 700 BC (Italy) ---
- 2.1.4.1.1.2.1. Faliscan Alphabet - c. 400 BC (Italy)
-- 2.1.4.1.1.3. Oscan Alphabet - c. 600 BC (Italy)
--- 2.1.4.1.2. Messapic Alphabet - c. 550 BC (Italy)
2.1.4.2. - c. 200 BC (Egypt) ---
2.1.4.3. Gothic Alphabet - c. AD 300 (Ukraine)
2.1.4.4. - 405 (Armenia) ---
2.1.4.5. Glagolitic Alphabet - 862 (Bulgaria)
--- 2.1.4.5.1. - c. 1000 (Bulgaria) ---
-- 2.1.4.5.1.1. Old Permic Script - 1372 (Siberia)
-- 2.1.4.5.1.2. Abkhaz Alphabet - 1865 (Abkhazia) ---
- 2.1.5. '' Iberian Semi-alphabetic Syllabary '' - c. 400 BC (Spain, Portugal)
2.1.5.1. '' Celtiberian Semi-alphabetic Syllabary '' - c. 500 BC (N. Spain)
- 2.1.6. - c. 250 BC (NW Africa) ---
2.1.6.1. Turdetan Script - c. 250 BC (Spain)
2.1.6.2. - c. AD 1965 (Morocco) ---
- --- 3. South Arabian Abjad - c. 900 BC (Ethiopia, Eritrea D'mt & S. Arabia)
-- 3.1. Old Geez Abjad - c. 500 BC (Ethiopia, Eritrea)
- 3.1.1. '' - c. AD 300 (Ethiopia, Eritrea Aksum ) ---
-- 3.2. Thamudic Abjad - c. 200 BC (N. Arabia)
- The dates are intended to show the approximate 'birthdate' of a script; however in many cases (marked by 'c.') they are widely approximate, and may be off even by centuries. In several cases, the development of one script into another was a gradual process over several centuries, that is difficult to pin down with precision. Following that, in parentheses, is the name of one or two modern countries corresponding to the region where the script was first widely used. In a few cases, a direct graphic letter-to-letter correspondence cannot be precisely established between a 'parent script' and its children, making the exact placement of some family members somewhat controversial, eg. in the case of the Tibetan or Georgian alphabets. Much of the information here was compiled from the "Ancient Scripts" and "Omniglot" websites, which do not always agree. Despite many of these scripts commonly being called "alphabets", the recent linguistic classifications of '' Abugidas '' and '' Semi-syllabaries '' are shown in Italic; the others are Abjad s or Alphabet s proper. Many of these scripts are no longer widely used for writing any language today, having been abandoned in favor of others; those that still are, have been marked with '---', and additionally are written in bold.
- Some scholars, including Gari Ledyard, have suggested that certain features of the Hangul consonant symbols may have been influenced by the earlier Phagspa Script . See Gari Ledyard for more complete information.
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