Practical International Data Management - Writing Systems/Scripts


Much of the information below is taken from The Global Sourcebook for International Data Management

The languages of the world, where there is a written version, are written in a number of different scripts, written in different directions across the page. This chapter shows some of these scripts and some of the (living) languages written in those scripts. Note: some languages are written in different scripts according to context (e.g. for secular or religious use) or geography (with different scripts used in different countries).

There are several types of writing system:

ISO 15924 assigns a 4-letter code to scripts.

Written left to right and read from top to bottom of the page

Armenian

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Used for: Armenian

ISO 15924 code: Armn

Bantawa (Kirat Rai)

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Used for: Bantawa Rai

Bassa (Vah)

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Used for: Bassa

ISO 15924 code: Bass

Bengali

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Used for: Bengali

ISO 15924 code: Beng

Borama

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Used for: Somali. May be extinct.

Buhid

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Used for: Buhid

ISO 15924 code: Buhd

Canadian aboriginal syllabics

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Used for: Cree, Ojibwe, Naskapi, Inuktitut, Blackfoot, Sayisi, Carrier

ISO 15924 code: Cans

Chakma

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Used for: Chakma

ISO 15924 code: Cakm

Cham

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Used for: Cham

ISO 15924 code: Cham

Cherokee

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Used for: Cherokee

ISO 15924 code: Cher

Cyrillic

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Used for: Belarusian, Bulgarian, Judaeo-Spanish, Kazakh, Macedonian, Mongolian, Russian, Serbian, Tajiki, Ukrainian

ISO 15924 code: Cyrl

Dehong Dai

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Used for: Dehong Dai

Devangari

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Used for: Bhili, Bhojpuri, Dogri, Gujari, Kashmiri-speaking Hindus, Konkani, Hindi, Magahi, Maithili, Marathi, Marwari, Nepali, Newari, Pahari, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sherpa, Sindhi, Tharu

ISO 15924 code: Deva

Eskayan

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Used for: Eskayan

Ethiopic

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Used for: Ethiopian Semitic languages (e.g. Amharic, Blin, Ge'ez, Harari, Me'en, Oromo, Tigré)

ISO 15924 code: Ethi

Fraser

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Used for: Lisu

Georgian

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Used for: Georgian, Laz, Mingrelian, Svan

ISO 15924 code: Geor

Greek

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Used for: Greek, Judaeo-Spanish

ISO 15924 code: =Grek

Gujarati

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Used for: Avestan, Gujarati, Kutchi, Sanskrit

ISO 15924 code: Gujr

Gurmukhi

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Used for: Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Sanskrit, Sindhi

ISO 15924 code: Guru

Hanunó’o

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Used for: Hanunó’o

ISO 15924 code: Hano

Kannada

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Used for: Kannada, Konkani, Tulu

ISO 15924 code: Knda

Kayah Li

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Used for: Western Kayah, Karenni, Karennyi, Red Karen, Yang Daeng or Karieng Daeng.

ISO 15924 code: Kali

Khmer

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Used for: Khmer

ISO 15924 code: Khmr

Korean (Hangul)

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Used for: Korean, Cia-Cia

ISO 15924 code: Kore

Lanna

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Used for: Northern Thai (Kam Mu'ang), Tai Lue, Khün

Lao

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Used for: Lao

ISO 15924 code: Laoo

Latin

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Used for: Afrikaans, Albanian, Aragonese, Asturian, Aymara, Azeri, Basque, Bislama, Boholano, Bosnian, Breton, Catalan, Cebuano, Chamorro, Cornish, Corsican, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Frisian, Friulian, Fula (Pulaar), Gaelic (Scottish), Galician, Ganda, German, Gikuyu, Guaraní, Haitian, Hausa, Hawai'ian, Hiti Motu, Hungarian, Icelandic, Ido, Igbo, Ilocano, Indonesian, Innu-aimun, Irish, Italian, Javanese, Judeo-Spanish , Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kongo, Kurdish (Kurmanji), Latvian, Laz, Leonese, Lingala, Lithuanian, Lombard, Luxembourgish, Maori, Malagasy, Malay, Maltese, Manx, Marshallese, Moldovan, Montenegrin, Nahuatl, Nauruan, Navaho or Navajo, Ndebele, Norwegian, Occitan, Oromo, Palauan, Polish, Portuguese, Quechua, Romanian, Romansh, Samoan, Seychellois creole, Shona, Slovene, Somali, Sotho (Northern), Sotho (Southern), Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Swati, Tagalog, Tahitian, Tatar, Tetum, Tok Pisin, Tongan, Tsonga, Tswana, Turkish, Turoyo, Uzbek, Venda, Vietnamese, Volapük, Võro, Welsh, Wolof, Xhosa, Yoruba, Zulu, Zazaki

ISO 15924 code: Latn

Lepcha

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Used for: Lepcha

ISO 15924 code: Lepc

Limbu

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Used for: Limbu

ISO 15924 code: Limb

Malayalam

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Used for: Konkani, Malayalam, Sanskrit, Tulu

ISO 15924 code: Mlym

Manipuri (Meetei Mayek)

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Used for: Manipuri

Myanmar

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Used for: Burmese

ISO 15924 code: Mymr

Ndjuká (Aukan)

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Used for: Ndjuká (Aukan)

New Tai Lue

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Used for: Tai Lü

Nsibidi

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Used for: Ekoid, Efik/Ibibio, Igbo

Ol Chiki

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Used for: Santali

ISO 15924 code: Olck

Oriya

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Used for: Oriya

ISO 15924 code: Orya

Osmanya

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Used for: Somali

ISO 15924 code: Osma

Pahawh Hmong

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Used for: Hmong Daw, Hmong Njua

Pollard Miao

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Used for: Hwa Miao

ISO 15924 code: Plrd

Shan

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Used for: Shan

Sinhala

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Used for: Sinhala

ISO 15924 code: Sinh

Sorang Sompeng

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Used for: Sora

ISO 15924 code: Sora

Tagbanwa (Apurahuano)

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Used for: the languages of the people of Palawan, Philippines

ISO 15924 code: Tagb

Tai Dam

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Used for: Tai Dam

Tai Le

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Used for: Tai Nüa

ISO 15924 code: Tale

Tamil

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Used for: Tamil, Sanskrit, Saurashtra

ISO 15924 code: Taml

Telugu

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Used for: Telugu

ISO 15924 code: Telu

Thai

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Used for: Thai

ISO 15924 code: Thai

Tibetan

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Used for: Balti, Dzongkha, Ladakhi, Sikkimese, Tibetan

ISO 15924 code: Tibt

Tifinagh

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Used for: Tuareg

ISO 15924 code: Tfng

Vai

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Used for: Vai

ISO 15924 code: Vaii

Varang Kshiti

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Used for: Ho

ISO 15924 code: Wara

Yi

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Used for: Yi

ISO 15924 code: Yiii


Written right to left and read from top to bottom of the page

Arabic

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Used for: Azeri (in Iran), Arabic, Baluchi (in Iran), Bedawi, Berber, Comorian, Dari, Fula, Garshuni, Hausa, Karakalpak (in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan), Kashmiri, Kazakh (in Pakistan, Iran, China, and Afghanistan), Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Pashtun, Persian, Punjabi, Saraiki, Sindhi, Tajik (in China), Turkmen, Urdu, Uyghur, Uzbek (in Afghanistan), Wadaad, Wolof

ISO 15924 code: Arab

Hebrew

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Used for: Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic, Ladino, Yiddish

ISO 15924 code: Hebr

N’Ko

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Used for: Bambara, Dioula, Mandinka

ISO 15924 code: Nkoo

Syriac

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Used for: Aramaic

ISO 15924 code: Syrc

Thaana

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Used for: Dhivehi

ISO 15924 code: Thaa


Written top to bottom, read from left to right on the page

Kalmyk-Oirat

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Used for: Kalmyk

Manchu

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Used for: Manchu, Sibe, Xibo

Mongolian

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Used for: Evenki, Mongolian. Mongolian also uses the Cyrillic script.

ISO 15924 code: Mong

Phags-pa

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Used for: Chinese, Mongolian, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Uyghur

ISO 15924 code: Phag


Written top to bottom, read from right to left or from left to right of the page

Chinese

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Used for: Dong, Gan, Guanhua (Mandarin), Hakka, Huizhou, Jin, Min, Ping, Wu, Yue (Cantonese), Xiang, Zhuang

ISO 15924 code: Hani


Written top to bottom, read from right to left on the page; or written from left to right and read from top to bottom of the page

Japanese ( Hirigana, Kanji, Kana, Katakana)

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Used for: Japanese

ISO 15924 code: Jpan

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