# Latin script

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Latin_script
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Latin_script.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_script
> Source revision: 1355120658
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Writing system

For the Latin script originally used by the ancient Romans to write Latin, see [Latin alphabet](/source/Latin_alphabet).

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Latin script Script type Alphabet (bicameral) Period c. 700 BC – present Direction Left-to-right Languages See List of Latin-script alphabets Related scripts Parent systems Egyptian hieroglyphs Proto-Sinaitic script Phoenician alphabet Greek alphabet Old Italic script Latin script Child systems Fraser alphabet (Lisu) Osage script (partially) several phonetic alphabets, such as IPA, which have been used to write languages with no native script Deseret alphabet (partially) Pollard script (Miao) (partially) Caroline Island script (Woleaian) (indirectly) Cherokee syllabary (indirectly, partially) Yugtun script Sister systems Glagolitic script Cyrillic script Armenian alphabet Georgian script Coptic alphabet Runes ISO 15924 ISO 15924 Latn (215), ​Latin Unicode Unicode alias Latin Unicode range See Latin characters in Unicode This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The **Latin script**, also known as the **Roman script**, is a [writing system](/source/Writing_system) based on the letters of the [classical Latin alphabet](/source/Classical_Latin_alphabet), derived from a form of the [Greek alphabet](/source/Greek_alphabet) which was in use in the ancient Greek city of [Cumae](/source/Cumae) in [Magna Graecia](/source/Magna_Graecia). The Greek alphabet was altered by the [Etruscans](/source/Etruscan_civilization), and subsequently their alphabet was altered by the [Ancient Romans](/source/Ancient_Romans). Several [Latin-script alphabets](/source/Latin-script_alphabet) exist, which differ in graphemes, collation and phonetic values from the classical Latin alphabet.

The Latin script is the basis of the [International Phonetic Alphabet](/source/International_Phonetic_Alphabet) (IPA), and the 26 most widespread letters are the letters contained in the [ISO basic Latin alphabet](/source/ISO_basic_Latin_alphabet), which are the same letters as the [English alphabet](/source/English_alphabet).

The Latin script is the basis for the largest number of alphabets of any writing system[1] and is the [most widely adopted writing system](/source/List_of_writing_systems_by_adoption) in the world. Latin script is used as the standard method of writing the languages of Western and Central Europe, most of sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas, and Oceania, as well as many languages in other parts of the world.

## Name

The script is either called Latin script or Roman script, in reference to its origin in [ancient Rome](/source/Ancient_Rome) (though some of the capital letters are Greek in origin). In the context of [transliteration](/source/Transliteration), the term "[romanization](/source/Romanization)" ([British English](/source/British_English): "romanisation") is often found.[2][3] [Unicode](/source/Unicode) uses the term "Latin"[4] as does the [International Organization for Standardization](/source/International_Organization_for_Standardization) (ISO).[5]

The numeral system is called the Roman numeral system, and the collection of the elements is known as the [Roman numerals](/source/Roman_numerals). The numbers 1, 2, 3 ... are Latin/Roman script numbers for the [Hindu–Arabic numeral system](/source/Hindu%E2%80%93Arabic_numeral_system).

## ISO basic Latin alphabet

Main article: [ISO basic Latin alphabet](/source/ISO_basic_Latin_alphabet)

Uppercase Latin alphabet A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Lowercase Latin alphabet a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

The use of the letters I and V for both consonants and vowels proved inconvenient as the Latin alphabet was adapted to Germanic and Romance languages. [W](/source/W) originated as a doubled [V](/source/V) (VV) used to represent the Voiced labial–velar approximant /[w](/source/Voiced_labial%E2%80%93velar_approximant)/ found in [Old English](/source/Old_English) as early as the 7th century. It came into common use in the later 11th century, replacing the letter [wynn](/source/Wynn) ⟨Ƿ ƿ⟩, which had been used for the same sound. In the Romance languages, the minuscule form of V was a rounded *u*; from this was derived a rounded capital U for the vowel in the 16th century, while a new, pointed minuscule *v* was derived from V for the consonant. In the case of I, a word-final [swash](/source/Swash_(typography)) form, *j*, came to be used for the consonant, with the unswashed form restricted to vowel use. Such conventions were erratic for centuries. J was introduced into English for the consonant in the 17th century (it had been rare as a vowel), but it was not universally considered a distinct letter in the alphabetic order until the 19th century.

By the 1960s, it became apparent to the computer and [telecommunications](/source/Telecommunication) industries in the [First World](/source/First_World) that a non-proprietary method of encoding characters was needed. The [International Organization for Standardization](/source/International_Organization_for_Standardization) (ISO) encapsulated the Latin alphabet in their ([ISO/IEC 646](/source/ISO%2FIEC_646)) standard. To achieve widespread acceptance, this encapsulation was based on popular usage. As the United States held a preeminent position in both industries during the 1960s, the standard was based on the already published *American Standard Code for Information Interchange*, better known as [ASCII](/source/ASCII), which included in the [character set](/source/Character_encoding) the 26 × 2 (uppercase and lowercase) letters of the [English alphabet](/source/English_alphabet). Later standards issued by the ISO, for example [ISO/IEC 10646](/source/ISO%2FIEC_10646) ([Unicode Latin](/source/Latin_script_in_Unicode)), have continued to define the 26 × 2 letters of the English alphabet as the basic Latin alphabet with extensions to handle other letters in other languages.

## Spread

The distribution of the Latin script.
  Latin script is the sole official (or *de facto* official) national script.

  Latin script is a co-official script at the national level.

  Latin script is not officially used.

Latin-script alphabets are sometimes extensively used in areas coloured grey due to the use of unofficial second languages, such as French in Morocco and English in Egypt, and to Latin transliteration of the official script, such as [pinyin](/source/Pinyin) in China and [Hepburn romanization](/source/Hepburn_romanization) in Japan.

Main article: [Spread of the Latin script](/source/Spread_of_the_Latin_script)

The Latin alphabet spread, along with [Latin](/source/Latin), from the [Italian Peninsula](/source/Italian_Peninsula) to the lands surrounding the [Mediterranean Sea](/source/Mediterranean_Sea) with the expansion of the [Roman Empire](/source/Roman_Empire). The eastern half of the Empire, including Greece, Türkiye, the [Levant](/source/Levant), and Egypt, continued to use [Greek](/source/Greek_language) as a [lingua franca](/source/Lingua_franca), but Latin was widely spoken in the western half, and as the western [Romance languages](/source/Romance_languages) evolved out of Latin, they continued to use and adapt the Latin alphabet.

### Middle Ages

With the spread of [Western Christianity](/source/Western_Christianity) during the [Middle Ages](/source/Middle_Ages), the Latin alphabet was gradually adopted by the peoples of [Northern Europe](/source/Northern_Europe) who spoke [Celtic languages](/source/Insular_Celtic_languages) (displacing the [Ogham](/source/Ogham) alphabet) or [Germanic languages](/source/Germanic_languages) (displacing earlier [Runic alphabets](/source/Runic_alphabet)) or [Baltic languages](/source/Baltic_languages), as well as by the speakers of several [Uralic languages](/source/Uralic_languages), most notably [Hungarian](/source/Hungarian_language), [Finnish](/source/Finnish_language) and [Estonian](/source/Estonian_language).

The Latin script also came into use for writing the [West Slavic languages](/source/West_Slavic_languages) and several [South Slavic languages](/source/South_Slavic_languages), as the people who spoke them adopted [Roman Catholicism](/source/Roman_Catholic_Church). The speakers of [East Slavic languages](/source/East_Slavic_languages) generally adopted [Cyrillic](/source/Cyrillic_script) along with [Orthodox Christianity](/source/Eastern_Orthodox_Church). The [Serbian language](/source/Serbian_language) uses both scripts, with Cyrillic predominating in official communication and Latin elsewhere, as determined by the Law on Official Use of the Language and Alphabet.[6]

### Since the 16th century

As late as 1500, the Latin script was limited primarily to the languages spoken in [Western](/source/Western_Europe), [Northern](/source/Northern_Europe), and [Central Europe](/source/Central_Europe). The Orthodox Christian Slavs of [Eastern](/source/Eastern_Europe) and [South-eastern Europe](/source/Southeastern_Europe) mostly used [Cyrillic](/source/Cyrillic_script), and the Greek alphabet was in use by Greek speakers around the eastern Mediterranean. The [Arabic script](/source/Arabic_script) was widespread within Islam, both among [Arabs](/source/Arab) and non-Arab nations like the [Iranians](/source/Iranian_peoples), [Indonesians](/source/Ethnic_groups_in_Indonesia), [Malays](/source/Malays_(ethnic_group)), and [Turkic peoples](/source/Turkic_peoples). Most of the rest of Asia used a variety of [Brahmic scripts](/source/Brahmic_family) or the [Chinese script](/source/Chinese_script).

Through [European colonization](/source/European_colonization) the Latin script has spread to the [Americas](/source/Americas), [Oceania](/source/Oceania), parts of Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, in forms based on the [Spanish](/source/Spanish_alphabet), [Portuguese](/source/Portuguese_alphabet), [English](/source/English_alphabet), [French](/source/French_alphabet), [German](/source/German_alphabet) and [Dutch](/source/Dutch_alphabet) alphabets.

It is used for many [Austronesian languages](/source/Austronesian_languages), including the [languages of the Philippines](/source/Languages_of_the_Philippines) and the [Malaysian](/source/Malaysian_language) and [Indonesian languages](/source/Indonesian_language), replacing earlier Arabic and indigenous Brahmic alphabets. Latin letters served as the basis for the forms of the [Cherokee syllabary](/source/Cherokee_syllabary) developed by [Sequoyah](/source/Sequoyah); however, the sound values are completely different.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

Under Portuguese missionary influence, a Latin alphabet was devised for the [Vietnamese language](/source/Vietnamese_language), which had previously used [Chinese characters](/source/Chu_nom). Portuguese and other European missionaries, who arrived in [Goa](/source/Goa) on west coast of India in sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, introduced [Roman script](/source/Konkani_in_the_Roman_script) for the [Konkani language](/source/Konkani_language)—an Indo-Aryan language.[7] The Latin-based alphabet replaced the Chinese characters in administration in the 19th century with French rule.

### Since the 19th century

In the late 19th century, the [Romanians](/source/Romanians) returned to the Latin alphabet, dropping the [Romanian Cyrillic alphabet](/source/Romanian_Cyrillic_alphabet). [Romanian](/source/Romanian_language) is one of the [Romance languages](/source/Romance_language).

### Since 20th century

In 1928, as part of [Mustafa Kemal Atatürk](/source/Mustafa_Kemal_Atat%C3%BCrk)'s reforms, the new [Republic of Türkiye](/source/Turkey) adopted a Latin alphabet for the [Turkish language](/source/Turkish_language), replacing a modified Arabic alphabet. In the 1930s, most peoples of the former [USSR](/source/Soviet_Union) [adopted a Latin-based script](/source/Latinisation_in_the_Soviet_Union), the [Unified Turkic Alphabet](/source/Ya%C3%B1alif). This began with Turkic-speaking peoples such as the [Azeri](/source/Azeri_language), [Yakuts](/source/Yakuts), [Tatars](/source/Tatars), [Bashkirs](/source/Bashkirs), [Kazakh](/source/Kazakhs), [Kyrgyz](/source/Kyrgyz_people), and others, and then spread to peoples of other language groups (for example, the [Moldovans](/source/Moldovans) were transferred to the Latin alphabet, which is almost identical to the [Romanian alphabet](/source/Romanian_alphabet)). However, in the 1940s, all scripts were replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet; but, in the 1940s, all [were replaced](/source/Cyrillisation_in_the_Soviet_Union) by Cyrillic. However, some peoples were not affected by Cyrillization ([Latvians](/source/Latvians), [Lithuanians](/source/Lithuanians), [Estonians](/source/Estonians), [Germans](/source/Germans_in_the_Soviet_Union), [Poles](/source/Poles_in_the_Soviet_Union), [Finns](/source/Finns), [Georgians](/source/Georgians), [Armenians](/source/Armenians)).

After the [collapse of the Soviet Union](/source/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union) in 1991, three of the newly independent Turkic-speaking republics, [Azerbaijan](/source/Azerbaijan), [Uzbekistan](/source/Uzbekistan), [Turkmenistan](/source/Turkmenistan), as well as Romanian-speaking [Moldova](/source/Moldova), officially adopted Latin alphabets for their languages. [Kyrgyzstan](/source/Kyrgyzstan), [Iranian](/source/Iranian_languages)-speaking [Tajikistan](/source/Tajikistan), and the breakaway region of [Transnistria](/source/Transnistria) kept the Cyrillic alphabet, chiefly due to their close ties with Russia.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the majority of [Kurds](/source/Kurds) replaced the Arabic script with two Latin alphabets. Although only the official [Kurdish government](/source/Kurdistan_Regional_Government) uses an Arabic alphabet for public documents, the Latin Kurdish alphabet remains widely used throughout the region by the majority of [Kurdish](/source/Kurdish_language)-speakers.

In 1957, the [People's Republic of China](/source/China) introduced a script reform to the [Zhuang language](/source/Standard_Zhuang), changing its orthography from [Sawndip](/source/Sawndip), a writing system based on Chinese, to a Latin script alphabet that used a mixture of Latin, Cyrillic, and IPA letters to represent both the phonemes and tones of the Zhuang language, without the use of diacritics. In 1982 this was further standardised to use only Latin script letters.

With the collapse of the [Derg](/source/Derg) and subsequent end of decades of [Amharic](/source/Amharic) assimilation in 1991, various ethnic groups in [Ethiopia](/source/Ethiopia) dropped the [Geʽez script](/source/Ge%CA%BDez_script), which was deemed unsuitable for languages outside of the [Semitic branch](/source/Semitic_languages).[8] In the following years the [Kafa](/source/Kafa_language),[9] [Oromo](/source/Oromo_language),[10] [Sidama](/source/Sidama_language),[11] [Somali](/source/Somali_language),[11] and [Wolaitta](/source/Wolaitta_language)[11] languages switched to Latin while there is continued debate on whether to follow suit for the [Hadiyya](/source/Hadiyya_language) and [Kambaata](/source/Kambaata_language) languages.[12]

### 21st century

On 15 September 1999, the authorities of [Tatarstan](/source/Tatarstan), Russia, passed a law to make the Latin script a co-official writing system alongside Cyrillic for the [Tatar language](/source/Tatar_language) by 2011.[13] A year later, however, the Russian government overruled the law and banned Latinization on its territory.[14]

In 2015, the [government of Kazakhstan](/source/Government_of_Kazakhstan) announced that a [Kazakh Latin alphabet](/source/Kazakh_alphabets#Latin_script) would replace the [Kazakh Cyrillic alphabet](/source/Kazakh_alphabets#Cyrillic_script) as the official writing system for the [Kazakh language](/source/Kazakh_language) by 2025.[15] There are also talks about switching from the Cyrillic script to Latin in Ukraine,[16] [Kyrgyzstan](/source/Kyrgyzstan),[17][18] and [Mongolia](/source/Mongolia).[19] Mongolia, however, has since opted to revive the [Mongolian script](/source/Mongolian_script) instead of switching to Latin.[20]

In October 2019, [Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami](/source/Inuit_Tapiriit_Kanatami) (ITK), the national organization for [Inuit](/source/Inuit) in Canada announced that they will introduce a unified writing system for the [Inuit languages](/source/Inuit_languages) in the country. The writing system is based on the Latin alphabet and is modeled after the one used in the [Greenlandic language](/source/Greenlandic_language).[21]

On 12 February 2021, the government of Uzbekistan announced it will finalize the transition from Cyrillic to Latin for the [Uzbek language](/source/Uzbek_language) by 2023. Plans to switch to Latin originally began in 1993 but subsequently stalled and Cyrillic remained in widespread use.[22][23]

At present the [Crimean Tatar language](/source/Crimean_Tatar_language) uses both Cyrillic and Latin. The use of Latin was originally approved by Crimean Tatar representatives after the Soviet Union's collapse[24] but was never implemented by the regional government. After Russia's [annexation](/source/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation) of Crimea in 2014 the Latin script was dropped entirely. Nevertheless, Crimean Tatars outside of Crimea continue to use Latin and on 22 October 2021, the government of Ukraine approved a proposal endorsed by the [Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People](/source/Mejlis_of_the_Crimean_Tatar_People) to switch the Crimean Tatar language to Latin by 2025.[25]

In July 2020, 2.6 billion people (36% of the world population) use the Latin alphabet.[26]

## International standards

Main articles: [ISO basic Latin alphabet](/source/ISO_basic_Latin_alphabet) and [Latin script in Unicode](/source/Latin_script_in_Unicode)

By the 1960s, it became apparent to the computer and [telecommunications](/source/Telecommunication) industries in the [First World](/source/First_World) that a non-proprietary method of encoding characters was needed. The [International Organization for Standardization](/source/International_Organization_for_Standardization) (ISO) encapsulated the Latin alphabet in their ([ISO/IEC 646](/source/ISO%2FIEC_646)) standard. To achieve widespread acceptance, this encapsulation was based on popular usage.

As the United States held a preeminent position in both industries during the 1960s, the standard was based on the already published *American Standard Code for Information Interchange*, better known as [ASCII](/source/ASCII), which included in the [character set](/source/Character_encoding) the 26 × 2 (uppercase and lowercase) letters of the [English alphabet](/source/English_alphabet). Later standards issued by the ISO, for example [ISO/IEC 10646](/source/ISO%2FIEC_10646) ([Unicode Latin](/source/Latin_characters_in_Unicode)), have continued to define the 26 × 2 letters of the English alphabet as the basic Latin alphabet with extensions to handle other letters in other languages.

## National standards

The DIN standard [DIN 91379](/source/DIN_91379) specifies a subset of Unicode letters, special characters, and sequences of letters and diacritic signs to allow the correct representation of names and to simplify data exchange in Europe. This specification supports all official languages of [European Union](/source/European_Union) and [European Free Trade Association](/source/European_Free_Trade_Association) countries (thus also the [Greek](/source/Greek_script) and [Cyrillic](/source/Cyrillic_script) scripts), plus the [German minority languages](/source/Germany#Languages).[*[clarification needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify)*] To allow the transliteration of names in other writing systems to the Latin script according to the relevant ISO standards, all necessary combinations of base letters and diacritic signs are provided.[27] Efforts are being made to further develop it into a European [CEN](/source/European_Committee_for_Standardization) standard.[28]

## As used by various languages

Main article: [Latin-script alphabet](/source/Latin-script_alphabet)

In the course of its use, the Latin alphabet was adapted for use in new languages, sometimes representing [phonemes](/source/Phoneme) not found in languages that were already written with the Roman characters. To represent these new sounds, extensions were therefore created, be it by adding [diacritics](/source/Diacritic) to existing [letters](/source/Letter_(alphabet)), by joining multiple letters together to make [ligatures](/source/Ligature_(typography)), by creating completely new forms, or by assigning a special function to pairs or triplets of letters. These new forms are given a place in the alphabet by defining an [alphabetical order](/source/Collation) or collation sequence, which can vary with the particular language.

### Letters

For a more comprehensive list, see [List of Latin-script letters](/source/List_of_Latin-script_letters).

Some examples of new letters to the standard Latin alphabet are the [Runic](/source/Runic_alphabet) letters [wynn](/source/Wynn) ⟨Ƿ ƿ⟩ and [thorn](/source/Thorn_(letter)) ⟨Þ þ⟩, and the letter [eth](/source/Eth) ⟨Ð/ð⟩, which were added to the alphabet of [Old English](/source/Old_English). Another Irish letter, the [insular *g*](/source/Insular_G), developed into [yogh](/source/Yogh) ⟨Ȝ ȝ⟩, used in [Middle English](/source/Middle_English). Wynn was later replaced with the new letter ⟨w⟩, eth and thorn with ⟨[th](/source/Pronunciation_of_English_th)⟩, and yogh with ⟨[gh](/source/Gh_(digraph))⟩. Although the four are no longer part of the English or Irish alphabets, eth and thorn are still used in the modern [Icelandic alphabet](/source/Icelandic_orthography), while eth is also used by the [Faroese alphabet](/source/Faroese_alphabet).

Some West, Central and [Southern African](/source/Southern_Africa) languages use a few additional letters that have sound values similar to those of their equivalents in the IPA. For example, [Adangme](/source/Adangme_language) uses the letters ⟨Ɛ ɛ⟩ and ⟨Ɔ ɔ⟩, and [Ga](/source/Ga_language) uses ⟨Ɛ ɛ⟩, ⟨Ŋ ŋ⟩ and ⟨Ɔ ɔ⟩. [Hausa](/source/Hausa_language) uses ⟨Ɓ ɓ⟩ and ⟨Ɗ ɗ⟩ for [implosives](/source/Implosive_consonant), and ⟨Ƙ ƙ⟩ for an [ejective](/source/Ejective_consonant). [Africanists](/source/African_studies) have standardized these into the [African reference alphabet](/source/African_reference_alphabet).

[Dotted](/source/%C4%B0) and [dotless I](/source/Dotless_I) — ⟨İ i⟩ and ⟨I ı⟩ — are two forms of the letter I used by the [Turkish](/source/Turkish_alphabet), [Azerbaijani](/source/Azerbaijani_alphabet), and [Kazakh](/source/Kazakh_alphabets) alphabets.[29] The Azerbaijani language also has ⟨Ə ə⟩, which represents the [near-open front unrounded vowel](/source/Near-open_front_unrounded_vowel).

### Multigraphs

Main article: [Latin-script multigraph](/source/Latin-script_multigraph)

A [digraph](/source/Digraph_(orthography)) is a pair of letters used to write one sound or a combination of sounds that does not correspond to the written letters in sequence. Examples are ⟨[ch](/source/Ch_(digraph))⟩, ⟨[ng](/source/Eng_(letter))⟩, ⟨[rh](/source/Rh_(digraph))⟩, ⟨[sh](/source/Sh_(digraph))⟩, ⟨[ph](/source/Phi)⟩, ⟨[th](/source/Pronunciation_of_English_th)⟩ in English, and ⟨[ij](/source/IJ_(digraph))⟩, ⟨ee⟩, ⟨[ch](/source/Ch_(digraph)#German)⟩ and ⟨ei⟩ in Dutch. In Dutch the ⟨ij⟩ is capitalized as ⟨IJ⟩ or the [ligature](/source/Ligature_(typography)) ⟨IJ⟩, but never as ⟨Ij⟩, and it often takes the appearance of a ligature ⟨ij⟩ very similar to the letter ⟨ÿ⟩ in [handwriting](/source/Handwriting).

A [trigraph](/source/Trigraph_(orthography)) is made up of three letters, like the [German](/source/German_language) ⟨[sch](/source/Sch_(trigraph))⟩, the [Breton](/source/Breton_language) ⟨[c'h](/source/C'h_(trigraph))⟩ or the [Milanese](/source/Milanese) ⟨oeu⟩. In the [orthographies](/source/Orthography) of some languages, digraphs and trigraphs are regarded as independent letters of the alphabet in their own right. The capitalization of digraphs and trigraphs is language-dependent, as only the first letter may be capitalized, or all component letters simultaneously (even for words written in title case, where letters after the digraph or trigraph are left in lowercase).

### Ligatures

Main article: [Ligature (typography)](/source/Ligature_(typography))

A [ligature](/source/Ligature_(typography)) is a fusion of two or more ordinary letters into a new [glyph](/source/Glyph) or character. Examples are ⟨[Æ](/source/%C3%86) æ⟩ (from ⟨AE⟩, called *ash*), ⟨[Œ](/source/%C5%92) œ⟩ (from ⟨OE⟩, sometimes called *oethel* or *eðel*), the [abbreviation](/source/Abbreviation) ⟨[&](/source/%26)⟩ (from [Latin](/source/Latin_language): *et*, [lit.](/source/Literal_translation) 'and', called *ampersand*), and ⟨[ẞ](/source/%E1%BA%9E) [ß](/source/%C3%9F)⟩ (from ⟨ſʒ⟩ or ⟨ſs⟩, the [archaic medial form of ⟨s⟩](/source/Long_s), followed by an ⟨[ʒ](/source/%C6%B7)⟩ or ⟨s⟩, called *sharp S* or *eszett*).

### Diacritics

Main article: [Diacritics](/source/Diacritics)

The letter ⟨[a](/source/A)⟩ with an [acute](/source/Acute_accent) [diacritic](/source/Diacritic)

A diacritic, in some cases also called an accent, is a small symbol that can appear above or below a letter, or in some other position, such as the [umlaut sign](/source/Umlaut_(diacritic)) used in the German characters ⟨[ä](/source/%C3%84)⟩, ⟨[ö](/source/%C3%96)⟩, ⟨[ü](/source/%C3%9C)⟩ or the Romanian characters ⟨[ă](/source/%C4%82)⟩, ⟨[â](/source/%C3%82)⟩, ⟨[î](/source/%C3%8E)⟩, ⟨[ș](/source/S-comma)⟩ and ⟨[ț](/source/T-comma)⟩. Its main function is to change the phonetic value of the letter to which it is added, but it may also modify the pronunciation of a whole syllable or word, change the [tone](/source/Tone_(linguistics)) of the word, such as in [Vietnamese](/source/Vietnamese_language) or [Yoruba](/source/Yoruba_language), indicate the start of a new syllable, or distinguish between [homographs](/source/Homographs) such as the [Dutch](/source/Dutch_language) words *[een](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/een)* (pronounced [\[ən\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Dutch)) meaning "a" or "an", and *[één](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C3%A9%C3%A9n)*, (pronounced [\[e:n\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Dutch)) meaning "one". As with the pronunciation of letters, the effect of diacritics is language-dependent.

English is the only major modern [European language](/source/Languages_of_Europe) that requires no diacritics for its native vocabulary[note 1]. Historically, in formal writing, a [diaeresis](/source/Diaeresis_(diacritic)) was sometimes used to indicate the start of a new syllable within a sequence of letters that could otherwise be misinterpreted as being a single vowel (e.g., "coöperative", "reëlect"), but modern writing styles either omit such marks or use a hyphen to indicate a syllable break (e.g. "co-operative", "re-elect"). [note 2][30]

### Collation

Main article: [Collating sequence](/source/Collating_sequence)

Some modified letters, such as the symbols ⟨[å](/source/%C3%85)⟩, ⟨[ä](/source/%C3%84)⟩, and ⟨[ö](/source/%C3%96)⟩, may be regarded as new individual letters in themselves, and assigned a specific place in the alphabet for [collation](/source/Collation) purposes, separate from that of the letter on which they are based, as is done in [Swedish](/source/Swedish_alphabet). In other cases, such as with ⟨[ä](/source/%C3%84)⟩, ⟨[ö](/source/%C3%96)⟩, ⟨[ü](/source/%C3%9C)⟩ in German, this is not done; letter-diacritic combinations being identified with their base letter. The same applies to digraphs and trigraphs. Different diacritics may be treated differently in collation within a single language. For example, in Spanish, the character ⟨[ñ](/source/%C3%91)⟩ is considered a letter, and sorted between ⟨[n](/source/N)⟩ and ⟨[o](/source/O)⟩ in dictionaries, but the accented vowels ⟨[á](/source/%C3%81)⟩, ⟨[é](/source/%C3%89)⟩, ⟨[í](/source/%C3%8D)⟩, ⟨[ó](/source/%C3%93)⟩, ⟨[ú](/source/%C3%9A)⟩, ⟨[ü](/source/%C3%9C)⟩ are not separated from the unaccented vowels ⟨[a](/source/A)⟩, ⟨[e](/source/E)⟩, ⟨[i](/source/I)⟩, ⟨[o](/source/O)⟩, ⟨[u](/source/U)⟩.

### Capitalization

Main article: [Letter case](/source/Letter_case)

The languages that use the Latin script today generally use [capital letters](/source/Capital_letters) to begin paragraphs, sentences and [proper nouns](/source/Noun#Proper_nouns_and_common_nouns). The rules for [capitalization](/source/Capitalization) have changed over time, and different languages have varied in their rules for capitalization. [Old English](/source/Old_English_language), for example, was rarely written with even proper nouns capitalized; whereas [Modern English](/source/Modern_English) of the 18th century had frequently all nouns capitalized, in the same way that Modern [German](/source/German_language) is written today, e.g. [German](/source/German_language): *Alle Schwestern der alten Stadt hatten die Vögel gesehen*, [lit.](/source/Literal_translation) 'All of the Sisters of the old City had seen the Birds'.

## Romanization

Main article: [Romanization](/source/Romanization)

Words from languages natively written with other [scripts](/source/Writing_system), such as [Arabic](/source/Romanization_of_Arabic) or [Chinese](/source/Romanization_of_Chinese), are usually [transliterated](/source/Transliteration) or [transcribed](/source/Transcription_(linguistics)) when embedded in Latin-script text or in [multilingual](/source/Multilingualism) international communication, a process termed *romanization*.

Whilst the romanization of such languages is used mostly at unofficial levels, it has been especially prominent in computer messaging where only the limited seven-bit [ASCII](/source/ASCII) code is available on older systems. However, with the introduction of [Unicode](/source/Unicode), romanization is now becoming less necessary. Keyboards used to enter such text may still restrict users to romanized text, as only ASCII or Latin-alphabet characters may be available.

## See also

- [Western Latin character sets (computing)](/source/Western_Latin_character_sets_(computing))

- [European Latin Unicode subset (DIN 91379)](/source/DIN_91379)

- [H with left hook](/source/H_with_left_hook)

- [Latin letters used in mathematics](/source/Latin_letters_used_in_mathematics)

- [Latin omega](/source/Latin_omega)

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** In formal English writing, however, diacritics are often preserved on many loanwords, such as "café", "[naïve](/source/Naivety)", "[façade](/source/Fa%C3%A7ade)", "[jalapeño](/source/Jalape%C3%B1o)" or the German prefix "[über](/source/%C3%9Cber)-".

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** As an example, an article containing a [diaeresis](/source/Diaeresis_(diacritic)) in "coöperate" and a [cedilla](/source/Cedilla) in "façade" as well as a [circumflex](/source/Circumflex) in the word "crêpe": Grafton, Anthony (23 October 2006). ["Books: The Nutty Professors, The history of academic charisma"](http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/10/23/061023crbo_books?currentPage=all). *[The New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker)*.

## References

### Citations

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHaarmann200496_1-0)** [Haarmann 2004](#CITEREFHaarmann2004), p. 96.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-bsigroup_2-0)** ["Search results | BSI Group"](http://www.bsigroup.com/en/DualSearch/?q=romanization). Bsigroup.com. Retrieved 12 May 2014.[*[permanent dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-pcgn_3-0)** ["Romanisation_systems"](http://www.pcgn.org.uk/Romanisation_systems.htm). Pcgn.org.uk. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140627005821/http://pcgn.org.uk/Romanisation_systems.htm) from the original on 27 June 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["ISO 15924 – Code List in English"](https://www.unicode.org/iso15924/iso15924-en.html). Unicode.org. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20130526225316/http://www.unicode.org/iso15924/iso15924-en.html) from the original on 26 May 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-iso_5-0)** ["Search – ISO"](http://www.iso.org/iso/home/search.htm?qt=Latin&sort_by=rel&type=simple&published=on). International Organization for Standardization. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140513011039/http://www.iso.org/iso/home/search.htm?qt=Latin&sort_by=rel&type=simple&published=on) from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-ombudsman_6-0)** ["Zakon O Službenoj Upotrebi Jezika I Pisama"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140714223400/http://www.ombudsman.rs/pravamanjina/attachments/ZAKON%20o%20sluzbenoj%20upotrebi%20jezika%20i%20pisma.pdf) (PDF). Ombudsman.rs. 17 May 2010. Archived from [the original](http://www.ombudsman.rs/pravamanjina/attachments/ZAKON%20o%20sluzbenoj%20upotrebi%20jezika%20i%20pisma.pdf) (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-f511_7-0)** Jain, Danesh; Cardona, George (26 July 2007). [*The Indo-Aryan Languages*](https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Indo_Aryan_Languages/iUHfBQAAQBAJ?hl=en). Routledge. p. 804. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-135-79710-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-135-79710-2). Retrieved 3 August 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Smith, Lahra (2013). ["Review of *Making Citizens in Africa: Ethnicity, Gender, and National Identity in Ethiopia*"](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00083968.2015.1067017?journalCode=rcas20). *African Studies*. **125** (3): 542–544. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/00083968.2015.1067017](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00083968.2015.1067017). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [148544393](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:148544393). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211116213420/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00083968.2015.1067017?journalCode=rcas20) from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021 – via Taylor & Francis.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Pütz, Martin (1997). *Language Choices: Conditions, constraints, and consequences*. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 216. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9789027275844](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9789027275844).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Gemeda, Guluma (18 June 2018). ["The History and Politics of the Qubee Alphabet"](https://ayyaantuu.org/history-politics-qubee-alphabet/). *Ayyaantuu*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211116213421/https://ayyaantuu.org/history-politics-qubee-alphabet/) from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Mekonnen_11-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Mekonnen_11-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Mekonnen_11-2) Yohannes, Mekonnen (2021). [*Language Policy in Ethiopia*](https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-63904-4). Vol. 24. p. 33. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/978-3-030-63904-4](https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-3-030-63904-4). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-030-63903-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-030-63903-7). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [234114762](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:234114762). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210222143124/http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-63904-4) from the original on 22 February 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021 – via Springer Link.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Pasch, Helma (2008). ["Competing scripts: The Introduction of the Roman Alphabet in Africa"](https://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/5669/1/competing_scripts.pdf) (PDF). *International Journal of the Sociology of Language* (191): 8. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211116213424/https://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/5669/1/competing_scripts.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021 – via ResearchGate.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Andrews, Ernest (2018). *Language Planning in the Post-Communist Era: The Struggles for Language Control in the New Order in Eastern Europe, Eurasia and China*. Springer. p. 132. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-319-70926-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-319-70926-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Faller, Helen (2011). *Nation, Language, Islam: Tatarstan's Sovereignty Movement*. Central European University Press. p. 131. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-963-9776-84-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-963-9776-84-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["Kazakh language to be converted to Latin alphabet – MCS RK"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170219113151/http://www.inform.kz/en/kazakh-language-to-be-converted-to-latin-alphabet-mcs-rk_a2741711). *Kazinform*. 30 January 2015. Archived from [the original](http://www.inform.kz/eng/article/2741711) on 19 February 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["Klimkin welcomes discussion on switching to Latin alphabet in Ukraine"](https://www.unian.info/society/10058741-klimkin-welcomes-discussion-on-switching-to-latin-alphabet-in-ukraine.html). *UNIAN*. 27 March 2018. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211003153238/https://www.unian.info/society/10058741-klimkin-welcomes-discussion-on-switching-to-latin-alphabet-in-ukraine.html) from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Goble, Paul (12 October 2017). ["Moscow Bribes Bishkek to Stop Kyrgyzstan From Changing to Latin Alphabet"](https://jamestown.org/program/moscow-bribes-bishkek-stop-kyrgyzstan-changing-latin-alphabet/). *Jamestown*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210221084805/https://jamestown.org/program/moscow-bribes-bishkek-stop-kyrgyzstan-changing-latin-alphabet/) from the original on 21 February 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Rickleton, Chris (13 September 2019). ["Kyrgyzstan: Latin (alphabet) fever takes hold"](https://eurasianet.org/kyrgyzstan-latin-alphabet-fever-takes-hold). *Eurasianet*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210702234521/https://eurasianet.org/kyrgyzstan-latin-alphabet-fever-takes-hold) from the original on 2 July 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Mikovic, Nikola (2 March 2019). ["Russian Influence in Mongolia is Declining"](https://globalsecurityreview.com/decline-russian-influence-mongolia/). *Global Security Review*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210224235429/https://globalsecurityreview.com/decline-russian-influence-mongolia/) from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Tang, Didi (20 March 2020). ["Mongolia abandons Soviet past by restoring alphabet"](https://www.thetimes.com/world/russia-ukraine-war/article/mongolia-abandons-soviet-past-by-restoring-alphabet-rsvcgqmxd). *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0140-0460](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0140-0460). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210422213426/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mongolia-abandons-soviet-past-by-restoring-alphabet-rsvcgqmxd) from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** ["Canadian Inuit Get Common Written Language"](https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/canadian-inuit-get-common-written-language). *High North News (8 October 2019)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210817224216/https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/canadian-inuit-get-common-written-language) from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** Sands, David (12 February 2021). ["Latin lives! Uzbeks prepare latest switch to Western-based alphabet"](https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/feb/12/latin-lives-uzbeks-prepare-latest-switch-western-b/). *The Washington Times*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210215070537/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/feb/12/latin-lives-uzbeks-prepare-latest-switch-western-b/) from the original on 15 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** ["Uzbekistan Aims For Full Transition To Latin-Based Alphabet By 2023"](https://www.rferl.org/a/uzbekistan-aims-for-full-transition-to-latin-based-alphabet-by-2023/31099723.html). *Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty*. 12 February 2021. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20221231190936/https://www.rferl.org/a/uzbekistan-aims-for-full-transition-to-latin-based-alphabet-by-2023/31099723.html) from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** Kuzio, Taras (2007). *Ukraine - Crimea - Russia: Triangle of Conflict*. Columbia University Press. p. 106. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-8382-5761-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-8382-5761-7).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** ["Cabinet approves Crimean Tatar alphabet based on Latin letters"](https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-society/3320261-cabinet-approves-crimean-tatar-alphabet-based-on-latin-letters.html). *Ukrinform*. 22 October 2021. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211007222002/https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-society/3320261-cabinet-approves-crimean-tatar-alphabet-based-on-latin-letters.html) from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** ["The world's scripts and alphabets"](https://www.worldstandards.eu/other/alphabets/). *WorldStandards*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200809025745/https://www.worldstandards.eu/other/alphabets/) from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** ["DIN 91379:2022-08: Characters and defined character sequences in Unicode for the electronic processing of names and data exchange in Europe, with CD-ROM"](https://www.beuth.de/de/norm/din-91379/353496133). Beuth Verlag. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220819115132/https://www.beuth.de/de/norm/din-91379/353496133) from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-stringlatin12_28-0)** Koordinierungsstelle für IT-Standards (KoSIT). ["String.Latin+ 1.2: eine kommentierte und erweiterte Fassung der DIN SPEC 91379. Inklusive einer umfangreichen Liste häufig gestellter Fragen. Herausgegeben von der Fachgruppe String.Latin. (zip, 1.7 MB)"](https://www.xoev.de/downloads-2316#StringLatin) [String.Latin+ 1.2: Commented and extended version of DIN SPEC 91379.] (in German). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220119123532/https://www.xoev.de/downloads-2316#StringLatin) from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** ["Localize Your Font: Turkish i"](https://glyphsapp.com/learn/localize-your-font-turkish). *Glyphs*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210128030405/https://glyphsapp.com/learn/localize-your-font-turkish) from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** ["The New Yorker's odd mark — the diaeresis"](https://web.archive.org/web/20101216160024/http://dscriber.com/news/121-the-new-yorkers-odd-mark-the-diaeresis). 16 December 2010. Archived from [the original](http://dscriber.com/news/121-the-new-yorkers-odd-mark-the-diaeresis) on 16 December 2010. Retrieved 8 March 2022.

### Sources

- Haarmann, Harald (2004). *Geschichte der Schrift* [*History of Writing*] (in German) (2nd ed.). München: C. H. Beck. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-406-47998-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-406-47998-4).

## Further reading

- Boyle, Leonard E. 1976. "Optimist and recensionist: 'Common errors' or 'common variations.'" In *Latin script and letters A.D. 400–900: Festschrift presented to Ludwig Bieler on the occasion of his 70th birthday.* Edited by John J. O'Meara and Bernd Naumann, 264–74. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.

- Morison, Stanley. 1972. *Politics and script: Aspects of authority and freedom in the development of Graeco-Latin script from the sixth century B.C. to the twentieth century A.D.* Oxford: Clarendon.

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Latin alphabet](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Latin_alphabet).

[Library resources](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:The_Wikipedia_Library) about
 **Latin script**

- [Online books](https://ftl.toolforge.org/cgi-bin/ftl?st=wp&su=Latin+script&library=OLBP)

- [Resources in your library](https://ftl.toolforge.org/cgi-bin/ftl?st=wp&su=Latin+script)

- [Resources in other libraries](https://ftl.toolforge.org/cgi-bin/ftl?st=wp&su=Latin+script&library=0CHOOSE0)

- [Unicode collation chart](http://www.unicode.org/charts/collation/)—Latin letters sorted by shape

- [Diacritics Project – All you need to design a font with correct accents](http://diacritics.typo.cz/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20181023081610/http://diacritics.typo.cz/) 23 October 2018 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

v t e Latin script History Spread Romanization Roman numerals Ligatures Alphabets (list) Classical Latin alphabet ISO basic Latin alphabet Phonetic alphabets International Phonetic Alphabet X-SAMPA Spelling alphabet Letters (list) Letters of the ISO basic Latin alphabet Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Additional Latin letters Æ æ Ɑ ɑ Ʌ ʌ Ꞵ ꞵ Ð ð Ɛ ɛ Ə ə Ǝ ə Ɣ ɣ Ƣ ƣ Ɩ ɩ Ɥ ɥ Ꟛ ꟛ Ŋ ŋ Œ œ Ɔ ɔ Ɤ ɤ Kʼ ĸ Ʀ ʀ ẞ ß Ʃ ʃ Ɯ ɯ Ʊ ʊ Ꞷ ꞷ Ʋ ʋ Ƿ ƿ Ȝ ȝ ϴ θ Ʒ ʒ Ƹ ƹ Þ þ Ȣ ȣ Ꭓ ꭓ Ɂ ʔ ɂ ꟎ ʕ ꟏ ǀ ǁ ǂ ǃ ʘ ʻ ʼ Ꞌ ꞌ Ƨ ƨ Ꜫ ꜫ Ꜭ ꜭ Ƽ ƽ Ƅ ƅ 7 Multigraphs Digraphs Ch Dz Dž Gh IJ Lj Ll Ly Nh Nj Ny Sh Sz Th Trigraphs dzs eau Tetragraphs ough Keyboard layouts (list) QWERTY QWERTZ AZERTY Dvorak Colemak BÉPO Neo Historical standards ISO/IEC 646 Western Latin character sets Current standards Unicode DIN 91379: Unicode subset for Europe Lists Precomposed Latin characters in Unicode Letters used in mathematics, science, and engineering List of typographical symbols and punctuation marks Diacritics Palaeography

v t e Types of writing systems Overview History of writing Grapheme Lists Writing systems undeciphered inventors constructed Languages by writing system / by first written accounts Types Abjads Numerals Aramaic Hatran Arabic Elifba Egyptian hieroglyphs Elymaic Hebrew Ashuri Cursive Rashi Solitreo Tifinagh Mandaic Manichaean Nabataean Ancient North Arabian Pahlavi Book Inscriptional Inscriptional Parthian Psalter Pegon Phoenician Paleo-Hebrew Pitman shorthand Proto-Sinaitic Punic Samaritan South Arabian Zabur Musnad Sogdian Syriac ʾEsṭrangēlā Serṭā Maḏnḥāyā Teeline Shorthand Ugaritic Abugidas Brahmic Northern Bengali–Assamese Bhaiksuki Brahmi script Devanagari Dogri Gujarati Gupta Gurmukhi Kaithi Kalinga Khema Khojki Khudabadi Laṇḍā Lepcha Mahajani Marchen Meitei Modi Multani Nagari Nandinagari Nepalese scripts Bhujimol Golmol Himmol Kummol Kvemmol Kurukh Pachumol Newar Ranjana Tamyig Tirhuta Limbu Litumol Odia Karani ʼPhags-pa Sharada Siddhaṃ Soyombo Sylheti Nagri Takri Tibetan Uchen Umê Tocharian Zanabazar square Southern Ahom Balinese Batak Baybayin Bhattiprolu Buda Buhid Chakma Cham Fakkham Grantha Goykanadi Hanunoo Javanese Kadamba Kannada Karen Kawi Khmer Khom Thai Kulitan Lanna Langdi Lao Leke Lontara Bilang-bilang Makasar Malayalam Old Maldivian Dhives Akuru Eveyla Akuru Mon–Burmese Pallava Pyu Saurashtra Shan Sinhala Sukhothai Sundanese Old Sundanese Tagbanwa Tai Le New Tai Lue Tai Noi Tai Tham Tai Viet Lai Tay Tamil Tamil-Brahmi Tanchangya Telugu Thai Tigalari Ulu scripts Incung Lampung Lembak Ogan Pasemah Rejang Serawai Vatteluttu Kolezhuthu Malayanma Others Bharati Boyd's syllabic shorthand Canadian syllabics Blackfoot Déné syllabics Dham Fox I Geʽez Gunjala Gondi Japanese Braille Sarati Jenticha Kharosthi Mandombe Masaram Gondi Meroitic Miao Mwangwego Pahawh Hmong Sorang Sompeng Tengwar Thaana Thomas Natural Shorthand Warang Citi Rma Alphabets Linear Adlam Ariyaka Armenian Avestan Pazend Avoiuli Bassa Vah Carian Caucasian Albanian Cirth Coelbren Coorgi–Cox alphabet Coptic Cyrillic Serbian Early Deseret Duployan shorthand Chinook Eclectic shorthand Elbasan Enochian Etruscan Formosan Fox II Franklin's phonetic Fraser Gabelsberger shorthand Gadabuursi Garay alphabet Georgian Asomtavruli Nuskhuri Mkhedruli Veso Bey Glagolitic Gothic Gregg shorthand Greek (Archaic) Greco-Iberian alphabet Hangul Hanifi Hurûf-ı munfasıla Sunuwar Kaddare Kayah Li Klingon Latin Beneventan Blackletter Carolingian minuscule Fraktur Gaelic Insular IPA Kurrent Merovingian Sigla Sütterlin Tironian notes Visigothic Luo Lycian Lydian Manchu Medefaidrin Mru Mundari Bani N'Ko Ogham Ol Chiki Old Italic Old Permic Orkhon-Yenisei (Old Hungarian) Old Uyghur Mongolian Evenki Galik alphabet Manchu Oirat Vagindra Ol Onal Osage Osmanya Pau Cin Hau Phrygian Pisidian Runic Anglo-Saxon Cipher Dalecarlian Elder Futhark Younger Futhark Gothic Marcomannic Medieval Staveless Shavian Sidetic Sorang Sompeng Sunuwar Tifinagh Todhri Tolong Siki Vellara Visible Speech Vithkuqi Wancho Warang Citi Yezidi Zaghawa Non-linear Braille Flag semaphore Maritime flags Moon type New York Point Fingerspelling Telegraph code Ideograms Adinkra Aztec Blissymbols Dongba Ersu Shaba Emoji Isotype Kaidā Miꞌkmaw Mixtec New Epoch Notation Painting Nsibidi Anishinaabewibii'iganan Olmec Siglas poveiras Testerian Yerkish Zapotec Logograms Chinese family of scripts Chinese characters Simplified Traditional Oracle bone script Bronze scripts Seal script large small bird-worm Hanja Kanji Chữ Nôm Sawndip Bowen Chinese-influenced Jurchen Khitan large script Sui Tangut Cuneiform Akkadian Assyrian Elamite Hittite Luwian Sumerian Other logosyllabic Anatolian Bagam Cretan Isthmian Maya Proto-Elamite Tenevil Wiigwaasabak Yi (Classical) Logoconsonantal Demotic Hieratic Hieroglyphs Numerals Hindu-Arabic Abjad Attic (Greek) Muisca Roman Other Sitelen Pona Semi-syllabaries Full Linear Elamite Celtiberian Iberian Northeastern Southeastern Khom Dunging Redundant Espanca script Pahawh Hmong Khitan small script Southwest Paleohispanic Bopomofo Quốc Âm Tân Tự Sign languages ASLwrite SignWriting si5s Stokoe notation Syllabaries Afaka Bamum Bété Byblos Canadian Aboriginal Cherokee Cypriot Cypro-Minoan Ditema tsa Dinoko Eskayan Geba Great Lakes Algonquian Iban Idu Kana Hiragana Katakana Man'yōgana Hentaigana Sōgana Jindai moji Kikakui Kpelle Linear B Linear Elamite Lisu Loma Nüshu Nwagu Aneke script Old Persian cuneiform Sumerian Vai Woleai Yi Yugtun v t e Braille ⠃⠗⠁⠊⠇⠇⠑ Braille cell 1829 braille International uniformity ASCII braille Unicode braille patterns Braille scripts French-ordered Albanian Cantonese Catalan Chinese (mainland Mandarin) (largely reassigned) Czech Dutch 6-dot 8-dot English (Unified English) Esperanto French German Ghanaian Guarani Hawaiian Hungarian Iñupiaq IPA Irish Italian Latvian Lithuanian Luxembourgish (extended to 8-dot) Maltese Māori Navajo Nigerian Philippine Polish Portuguese Romanian Samoan Slovak South African Spanish Taiwanese Mandarin (largely reassigned) Turkish (Azerbaijani) Vietnamese Welsh Yugoslav Zambian Nordic family Estonian Faroese Icelandic Scandinavian Danish Finnish Greenlandic Northern Sámi Norwegian Swedish Russian lineage family i.e. Cyrillic-mediated scripts Belarusian Bulgarian Kazakh Kyrgyz Mongolian Russian Tatar Ukrainian Egyptian lineage family i.e. Arabic-mediated scripts Arabic Persian Urdu (Pakistan) Indian lineage family i.e. Bharati Braille Devanagari (Hindi / Marathi / Nepali) Bengali (Bangla / Assamese) Gujarati Kannada Malayalam Odia Punjabi Sinhala Tamil Telugu Urdu (India) Other scripts Amharic Armenian Burmese Dzongkha (Bhutanese) Georgian Greek Hebrew Inuktitut (reassigned vowels) Khmer Thai and Lao (Japanese vowels) Tibetan Reordered Algerian Braille (obsolete) Frequency-based American Braille (obsolete) Independent Chinese semi-syllabaries Cantonese Mainland Chinese Mandarin Taiwanese Mandarin Two-cell Chinese (Shuangpin) Japanese Korean Eight-dot Dutch Luxembourgish Kanji Gardner–Salinas braille codes (GS8) Symbols in braille Braille music Canadian currency marks Computer Braille Code Gardner–Salinas braille codes (science; GS8/GS6) International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) Nemeth braille code Braille technology Braille e-book Braille embosser Braille translator Braille watch Mountbatten Brailler Optical braille recognition Perforation Perkins Brailler Refreshable braille display Slate and stylus Braigo People Louis Braille Charles Barbier Róża Czacka Valentin Haüy Harris Mowbray Thakur Vishva Narain Singh Sabriye Tenberken William Bell Wait Organisations Braille Institute of America Braille Without Borders Japan Braille Library National Braille Association Blindness organizations Schools for the blind American Printing House for the Blind Other tactile alphabets Decapoint Moon type New York Point Night writing Vibratese Related topics Accessible publishing Braille literacy RoboBraille

Authority control databases National Czech Republic 2 Other Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Latin script](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_script) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_script?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.