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<!DOCTYPE HTML> <html> <head> <title>Omniglot - the encyclopedia of writing systems and languages</title>  <script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start': new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f); })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-WB7PSHBG');</script>  <meta name="description" content="A guide to writing systems and languages, with useful phrases, tips on learning languages, multilingual texts, and much more." /> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <link href="styles/homestyles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <meta name="keywords" content="writing systems written language abjads abuguida alphabet syllabary syllabaries syllabics script glyph encoding multilingual hieroglyphs cuneiform rune accent diacritic unicode character chinese kanji hanzi hanja letter symbol foreign font 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id="content"> <ul> <li><a href="writing/index.htm"><img src="images/home/alphabets.jpg" width="100" height="100" alt="Ꮚ" title="A letter from the Cherokee syllabary" /></a> <h2><a href="writing/index.htm">Writing Systems</a></h2> <p><a href="writing/alphabets.htm">Alphabets</a> | <a href="writing/abjads.htm">Abjads</a> | <a href="writing/abugidas.htm">Abugidas</a> | <a href="writing/syllabaries.htm">Syllabaries</a> | <a href="writing/semanto-phonetic.php">Semanto-phonetic scripts</a> | <a href="writing/alternative.htm">Alternative scripts</a> | <a href="writing/undeciphered.htm">Undeciphered scripts</a> | <a href="writing/index.htm">A-Z index</a> | <a href="writing/direction.htm">Index by writing direction</a> </p> </li> <li><a href="conscripts/index.htm"><img src="images/home/conscript.jpg" width="100" height="100" alt="A letter from a con-script" /></a> <h2><a href="conscripts/index.htm">Constructed scripts</a></h2> <p><a href="conscripts/natlangs.htm">For natural languages</a> | <a href="conscripts/conlangs.htm">For constructed languages</a> | <a href="conscripts/colourscripts.htm">Colour-based</a> | <a href="conscripts/tactilescripts.htm">Tactile</a> | <a href="conscripts/phonetic.htm">Phonetic/Universal</a> | <a href="conscripts/adaptations.htm">Adapted</a> | <a href="conscripts/fictional.htm">Fictional</a> | <a href="conscripts/magical.htm">Magical</a> | <a href="conscripts/index.htm">A-Z index</a> | <a href="conscripts/howto.htm">Submit a con-script</a></p> </li> <li><a href="writing/languages.htm"><img src="images/home/language.jpg" width="100" height="100" alt="語" title="Chinese character for language" /></a> <h2><a href="writing/languages.htm">Languages</a></h2> <p><a href="writing/languages.htm">Languages profiles</a> | <a href="language/index.htm">Language learning tips</a> | <a href="language/videos/index.htm">Language lessons</a> | <a href="language/names.htm">Language names</a> | <a href="writing/langfam.htm">Language families</a> | <a href="language/celtic/index.php">Celtic languages</a> | <a href="language/articles/index.htm">Articles</a> | <a href="books/index.htm">Language learning materials</a></p> </li> <li><a href="writing/languages.htm"><img src="images/home/hello.jpg" width="100" height="100" alt="Hello in several languages" /></a> <h2><a href="language/ml.htm">Multilingual pages</a></h2> <p><a href="language/phrases/phraseindex.htm">Useful phrases</a> | <a href="language/phrases/useful.htm">Silly phrases</a> | <a href="language/phrases/phrasefinder.php">Phrase Finder</a> | <a href="language/numbers/index.htm">Numbers</a> | <a href="language/colours/index.php">Colours</a> | <a href="language/kinship/index.htm">Family words</a> | <a href="language/endearment/index.htm">Terms of endearment</a> | <a href="language/weather/index.htm">Weather</a> | <a href="language/time/index.htm">Time</a> | <a href="language/dates/index.htm">Dates</a> | <a href="countries/index.htm">Countries</a> | <a href="language/directions/compassdirections.htm">Compass directions</a> | <a href="language/idioms/index.php">Idioms</a> | <a href="language/proverbs/index.htm">Proverbs</a> | <a href="language/tonguetwisters/index.htm">Tongue twisters</a> | <a href="language/animalsounds/index.htm">Animal sounds</a> | <a href="udhr/index.htm">UDHR</a> | <a href="babel/index.htm">Tower of Babel</a> | <a href="songs/index.php">Songs</a> | <a href="stories/index.htm">Stories</a> </li> <li><a href="news/index.htm"><img src="images/home/news.jpg" width="100" height="100" alt="News / 소식" title="The word news in English and Korean" /></a> <h2><a href="news/index.htm">What's new?</a></h2> <p><a href="writing/index.htm"><strong>Writing Systems</strong></a>: <a href="writing/novotupi.htm">Novo Tupi</a> | <a href="writing/languages.htm"><strong>Languages</strong></a>: <a href="writing/rendille.htm">Rendille</a>, <a href="writing/tugen.htm">Tugen</a>, <a href="writing/yamba.htm">Yamba</a> | <a href="conscripts/index.htm"><strong>Constructed scripts</strong></a>: <a href="conscripts/funemon.htm">Funemon</a> | <a href="language/phrases/phraseindex.htm"><strong>Phrases</strong></a>: <a href="language/phrases/tugen.htm">Tugen</a> | <a href="language/numbers/index.htm"><strong>Numbers</strong></a>: <a href="language/numbers/aiwoo.htm">Äiwoo</a>, <a href="language/numbers/wolaytta.htm">Wolaytta</a>, <a href="language/numbers/xaracuu.htm">Xârâcùù</a> | <a href="https://www.omniglot.com/bloggle/"><strong>Blog</strong></a>: <a href="https://www.omniglot.com/bloggle/?p=23790">Mermaid Sirens</a>, <a href="https://www.omniglot.com/bloggle/?p=23786">Paper Cards</a>, <a href="https://www.omniglot.com/bloggle/?p=23795">Language Quiz</a> | <a href="http://www.omniglot.com/celtiadur/"><strong>Celtiadur</strong></a>: <a href="https://www.omniglot.com/celtiadur/2024/11/27/disease/">Disease</a> | <a href="https://www.omniglot.com/radio/"><strong>Radio Omniglot</strong></a>: <a href="https://www.omniglot.com/radio/?p=3693">Office Opus</a>, <a href="https://www.omniglot.com/radio/?p=3683">Tan Oaks</a>, <a href="https://www.omniglot.com/radio/?p=3702">Omniglot Newscast</a> </ul> </div> <div id="mobile"> <p><a href="writing/types.htm"><img src="images/home/vertical.gif" width="50" height="300" alt="Some letters from various writing systems" /></a> </p> <ul> <li><a href="writing/index.htm">Alphabets and Writing Systems</a></li> <li><a href="conscripts/index.htm">Constructed scripts</a></li> <li><a href="writing/languages.htm">Learn about languages</a></li> <li><a href="language/index.htm">How to learn languages</a></li> <li><a href="language/phrases/index.htm">Phrases</a> | <a href="language/numbers/index.htm">Numbers</a> | <a href="language/colours/index.php">Colours</a> | <a href="language/time/index.htm">Time</a> | <a href="language/idioms/index.php">Idioms</a> | <a href="songs/index.php">Songs</a></li> <li><a href="language/ml.htm">Multilingual Pages</a></li> 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