How Many Alphabet are There
How many alphabets are there in the world?
1
Hard to give an exact number, but more than 370.
There is a standard called ISO 15924, which specifies a four-letter code for each writing system of the world. It includes codes for very common scripts like Latn (Latin) and Cyrl (Cyrillic), and many rare ones, such as Tale (Tai Le) and Cakm (Chakma). It includes scripts that are only used in historical documents, such as Linear B (Linb) and 'Phags-pa (Phag). It even includes Klingon (Piqd), even though it was rejected from Unicode.
Not counting various technical entries, such as “Mathematical notation”, “Private use”, and “Undetermined script”, it has 377 writing systems.
Of course, it must also be remembered that some writing systems are used for more than one language. This is especially true for Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic, and Devanagari, and for many other writing systems as well. If you count each application of a writing system to a language as a separate alphabet, then the count will definitely be over 3200—this is the number of languages into which some portions of the Bible were translated, and the Bible is the most translated book of all time.
Not counting various technical entries, such as “Mathematical notation”, “Private use”, and “Undetermined script”, it has 377 writing systems.
Of course, it must also be remembered that some writing systems are used for more than one language. This is especially true for Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic, and Devanagari, and for many other writing systems as well. If you count each application of a writing system to a language as a separate alphabet, then the count will definitely be over 3200—this is the number of languages into which some portions of the Bible were translated, and the Bible is the most translated book of all time.
2
There are 4 general categories of "writing systems" (also called "orthographies") for the world’s languages.
An "alphabet" is a writing system that basically contains a symbol for each sound in a language (that is, for both consonants and vowels). European languages use either the Greek, Cyrillic (for Russian and Bulgarian e.g.), or Latin/Roman (for English, German, Italian, etc. e.g.) alphabets. The Latin alphabet is especially widespread and is used for many languages around the world, not just European languages. The word “alphabet” comes from the first 2 letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta (which themselves come from Phonecian/Arabic words for "ox" and "house").
Some languages only represent the consonants of a language. This type of writing system is called an abjad, and 2 well-known examples are Hebrew and Arabic. In fact, vowels are represented to a limited extent in these systems. These systems "work" because the languages often have a small number of vowels.
Some languages represent syllables by a single symbol (i.e., a symbol for every CV—consonant+vowel—or CVC syllable). This type of system is called a syllabary, and the best-known one is used for Japanese—in fact, Japanese uses 2 such systems, Hiragana and Katakana, along with a number of Chinese-derived "characters," which are called Kanji. Another famous syllabary was developed in the mid-19th century by Sequoiyah for the Cherokee language. Syllabaries work because such languages have a (relatively) limited number of syllables, which means they do not allow complex consonant clusters at the beginning or end of a syllable and/or they have a limited number of vowels and/or consonants.
The final type of writing system is best exemplified by Chinese. This type of system represents each word with a symbol and is called "logographic" (from "logo," the Greek word for "word"). Since a language has thousands of words, a logographic system has thousands of symbols (also called "characters"). In fact, Chinese characters are a combination of word meaning and pronunciation.
Simon Agar’s website "Omniglot" has lots of information and examples of these writing systems, along with other linguistic information.
An "alphabet" is a writing system that basically contains a symbol for each sound in a language (that is, for both consonants and vowels). European languages use either the Greek, Cyrillic (for Russian and Bulgarian e.g.), or Latin/Roman (for English, German, Italian, etc. e.g.) alphabets. The Latin alphabet is especially widespread and is used for many languages around the world, not just European languages. The word “alphabet” comes from the first 2 letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta (which themselves come from Phonecian/Arabic words for "ox" and "house").
Some languages only represent the consonants of a language. This type of writing system is called an abjad, and 2 well-known examples are Hebrew and Arabic. In fact, vowels are represented to a limited extent in these systems. These systems "work" because the languages often have a small number of vowels.
Some languages represent syllables by a single symbol (i.e., a symbol for every CV—consonant+vowel—or CVC syllable). This type of system is called a syllabary, and the best-known one is used for Japanese—in fact, Japanese uses 2 such systems, Hiragana and Katakana, along with a number of Chinese-derived "characters," which are called Kanji. Another famous syllabary was developed in the mid-19th century by Sequoiyah for the Cherokee language. Syllabaries work because such languages have a (relatively) limited number of syllables, which means they do not allow complex consonant clusters at the beginning or end of a syllable and/or they have a limited number of vowels and/or consonants.
The final type of writing system is best exemplified by Chinese. This type of system represents each word with a symbol and is called "logographic" (from "logo," the Greek word for "word"). Since a language has thousands of words, a logographic system has thousands of symbols (also called "characters"). In fact, Chinese characters are a combination of word meaning and pronunciation.
Simon Agar’s website "Omniglot" has lots of information and examples of these writing systems, along with other linguistic information.
3
If you are talking about pure alphabets (writing systems that represent all the sounds of a language), then there are about 100. However, 99% of the worlds alphabets come from these 9 alphabets:
- Latin
- Greek
- Cyrillic
- Armenian
- Korean
- Hebrew (only considered a pure alphabet by some, and only when written with vowels)
- Arabic (debatable, given that even with vowels, it doesn’t represent all the sounds of every dialect)
- Braille
- Georgian (Mkhedruli)
4
There are 26 alphabets in the world.
5
Wikipedia lists 3868 writing systems currently. I don’t know that it includes all dead alphabets as well, and we need to keep in my that our earliest writing were for accounting purposes — knots on strings or notches in wood for livestock.
6
I would hesitate to say because the number changes continually. In addition to the so-called "Roman" alphabet or the "Cyrillic" alphabet or the "Greek" alphabet, not to mention Arabic and Hebrew and perhaps even cuneiform, as many languages as are currently being made literate there will be some with their own diacritics.
Top Answer:
The top answer is number 3.
Note
You have to re-verify the answers, there is no guarantee that all answers are correct.
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