This is a list of writing systems (or scripts), classified according to some common distinguishing features.
The usual name of the script is given first; the name of the language(s) in which the script is written follows (in brackets), particularly in the case where the language name differs from the script name. Other informative or qualifying annotations for the script may also be provided.
Pictographic/ideographic writing systems
Ideographic scripts (in which graphemes are ideograms representing concepts or ideas rather than a specific word in a language) and pictographic scripts (in which the graphemes are iconic pictures) are not thought to be able to express all that can be communicated by language, as argued by the linguists John DeFrancis and J. Marshall Unger. Essentially, they postulate that no full writing system can be completely pictographic or ideographic; it must be able to refer directly to a language in order to have the full expressive capacity of a language. Unger disputes claims made on behalf of Blissymbols in his 2004 book Ideogram.
Although a few pictographic or ideographic scripts exist today, there is no single way to read them because there is no one-to-one correspondence between symbol and language. Hieroglyphs were commonly thought to be ideographic before they were translated, and to this day, Chinese is often erroneously said to be ideographic. In some cases of ideographic scripts, only the author of a text can read it with any certainty, and it may be said that they are interpreted rather than read. Such scripts often work best as mnemonic aids for oral texts or as outlines that will be fleshed out in speech. Adinkra Aztec script Nahuatl (includes syllabic and logographic elements) Birch-bark glyphsAnishinaabemowin Dongba Naxi Although this is often supplemented with syllabic Geba script. Emoji – used in electronic messages and web pages. Ersu Shābā – Ersu Kaidā glyphs Lusona Nsibidi Ekoi, Efik/Ibibio, Igbo Siglas poveiras Suckerfish script Mi'kmawi'sit Does have phonetic components, however. Testerian – used for missionary work in Mexico.
There are also symbol systems used to represent things other than language, or to represent constructed languages. Some of these are:
Blissymbols – A constructed ideographic script used primarily in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). iConji – A constructed ideographic script used primarily in social networking Isotype (picture language) A wide variety of notations
Linear B also incorporates ideograms.
Logographic writing systems
In logographic writing systems, glyphs represent words or morphemes (meaningful components of words, as in mean-ing-ful) rather than phonetic elements.
No logographic script is composed solely of logograms. All contain graphemes that represent phonetic (sound-based) elements as well. These phonetic elements may be used on their own (to represent, for example, grammatical inflections or foreign words), or may serve as phonetic complements to a logogram (used to specify the sound of a logogram that might otherwise represent more than one word). In the case of Chinese, the phonetic element is built into the logogram itself; in Egyptian and Mayan, many glyphs are purely phonetic, whereas others function as either logograms or phonetic elements, depending on context. For this reason, many such scripts may be more properly referred to as logosyllabic or complex scripts; the terminology used is largely a product of custom in the field, and is to an extent arbitrary.
Consonant-based logographies
Hieroglyphic, Hieratic, and Demotic – the writing systems of Ancient Egypt
Egyptian hieroglyphs
List of Egyptian hieroglyphs by common name
Syllable-based logographies
Anatolian hieroglyphs – Luwian
Cuneiform – Sumerian, Akkadian, other Semitic languages, Elamite, Hittite, Luwian, Hurrian, and Urartian Chinese characters (Hanzi) – Chinese, Japanese (called Kanji), Korean (called Hanja), Vietnamese (called Chu Nom, obsolete) Sawndip – Zhuang Khitan large script – Khitan Khitan small script – Khitan Jurchen script – Jurchen Tangut script – Tangut Eghap (or Bagam) script Mayan – Chorti, Yucatec, and other Classic Maya languages Sui script – Sui language Yi (classical) – various Yi/Lolo languages
Syllabaries
In a syllabary, graphemes represent syllables or moras. (The 19th-century term syllabics usually referred to abugidas rather than true syllabaries.)