Arabic Alphabet Facts For Kids
The Arabic alphabet is a script used to write the Arabic language and several other languages, characterized by its unique letter forms and right-to-left orientation.
About this topic
Key Points
Photos of Arabic Alphabet
Countries and regions that use the Arabic script: .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} as the sole official script a co-official script
hijāʾī collation compared to Hebrew, Syriac, and Greek
Keiten Aijin, calligraphy by Saigo Takamori. Held in the Kagoshima City Museum of Art
Components of a ligature for "Allah": 1. alif2. hamzat waṣl (ْهَمْزَة وَصْل)3. lām4. lām5. shadda (شَدَّة) 6. dagger alif (أَلِفْ خَنْجَریَّة) 7. hāʾ
![Evolution of early Arabic calligraphy (9th–11th century). The Basmala is taken as an example, from Kufic Qur’ān manuscripts. (1) Early 9th century script used no dots or diacritic marks;[15] (2) and (3) in the 9th–10th century during the Abbasid dynasty, Abu al-Aswad's system used red dots with each arrangement or position indicating a different short vowel. Later, a second system of black dots was used to differentiate between letters like fā’ and qāf;[16] (4) in the 11th century (al-Farāhīdī's system) dots were changed into shapes resembling the letters to transcribe the corresponding long vowels. This system is the one used today.[17]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Arabic_script_evolution.svg/960px-Arabic_script_evolution.svg.png)
Evolution of early Arabic calligraphy (9th–11th century). The Basmala is taken as an example, from Kufic Qur’ān manuscripts. (1) Early 9th century script used no dots or diacritic marks;[15] (2) and (3) in the 9th–10th century during the Abbasid dynasty, Abu al-Aswad's system used red dots with each arrangement or position indicating a different short vowel. Later, a second system of black dots was used to differentiate between letters like fā’ and qāf;[16] (4) in the 11th century (al-Farāhīdī's system) dots were changed into shapes resembling the letters to transcribe the corresponding long vowels. This system is the one used today.[17]
Musnad script as is clear from one of the Sabaean inscriptions.
A page from the manuscript of Al-Kamil's book on the making of the northern and southern astrolabe and their reasons for geometry and arithmetic by Ahmed bin Katheer Al-Farghani, where the letters appear in red in an arranged order expressing numbers.
Arabic Mac keyboard layout
Arabic PC keyboard layout
Intellark imposed on a QWERTY keyboard layout