Writing Systems Vol. 1

Posted on March 13, 2019 by Stephen Sorensen

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There are 121 writing systems listed in this article. This article contains a collection of data from the only referenced listed. This article may be used as a reference for future publications.

The first part of this article contains the complete list in chronological order by the date they are believed to have started. The second part of this article contains the complete list categorized by type. The third part of this article contains the complete list categorized by family/genealogy.

The two following charts are based upon my analysis of the primary reference. I put them here at the start to find them quickly. They are also found later in this article under their respective categories.

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Format; dates – Name (type/genealogy) direction

The 121 writing systems are;

3300-500BC – Elamite (Logophonetic/Various) Variable

3300BC-100AD – Cuneiform (Logophonetic/Cuneiform) Variable

3300BC-100AD – Sumerian (Logophonetic/Cuneiform) Variable

3100BC-400AD – Egyptian (Logophonetic/Egyptian) Variable

2600-1900BC – Indus Script (Logophonetic/Unrelated) Variable

2600BC-1550AD – Quipu (Unkown/Quipu) Various

2500BC-100AD – Akkadian (Logophonetic/Cuneiform) Variable

1900-1600BC – Cretan Hieroglyphs (Logophonetic/Cretan) Variable

1900-1100BC – Proto-Sinaitic/Canaanite (Consonantal Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) Variable

1800-1400BC – Linear A (Logophonetic/Cretan) Variable

1800BC-present – Alphabet (Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) Variable

1700-1100BC – Hittite (Logophonetic/Cuneiform) Variable

1500-1400BC – Byblos (Syllabic/Unrelated) Variable

1500-1200BC – Linear B (Logogphonetic/Cretan) Variable

1500-300BC – Cypriot (Syllabic/Cretan) L/R

1500BC-present – Chinese (Logophonetic/Sinitic) t/b

1400-700BC – Luwian (Logophonetic/Unrelated) Variable

1300-800BC – Ugaritic (Consonantal Alphabetic/Cuneiform) L/R

1200BC – Phaistos Disc (Unknown/Unknown) L/R

1100BC-300AD – Phoenician (Consonantal Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) R/L

10th c. BC-1st c. AD – Aramaic (Consonantal Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) R/L

10th c. BC-1st c. AD – Old Hebrew (Consonantal Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) R/L

10th c. BC-present – Hebrew (Consonantal Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) R/L

900BC-1697AD – Mesoamerican Writing Systems (Various/Mesoamerican) Variable

800-300BC – Carian (C&V Alphabet/Proto-Sinaitic) L/R

800-300BC – Lycian (C&V Alphabet/Proto-Sinaitic) L/R

800-100BC – Lydian (C&V Alphabet/Proto-Sinaitic) L/R

800BC-present – Greek (C&V Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) Various

700-100BC – Venetic (C&V Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic > Greek) L/R

700BC-100AD – Etruscan (C&V Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic > Greek) R/L

700BC-present – Latin (C&V Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic > Greek) L/R

550-400BC – Old Persian (Syllabic/Cuneiform) Variable

500BC-100AD – Oscan (C&V Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic > Greek) L/R

500BC-600AD – South Arabian (Consonantal Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) R/L

500BC-1000AD – Zapotec (Logophonetic?/Mesoamerican) Variable, usually t/b

5th c. BC-4th c. AD – Brahmi (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) Variable (Horizontal)

5th c BC-1st cc. AD – Iberian (Semisyllabary/Proto-Sinaitic) Various

5th c. BC-present – Samaritan (Consonantal Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) R/L

5th c. BC-present – South Asian Writing Systems (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

5th c. BC-present – South Asian Writing Systems Comparison (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

400-250BC – Faliscan (C&V Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic > Greek) R/L

350-50BC – Umbrian (C&V Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic > Greek)

300BC-1697AD – Maya (Logophonetic/Mesoamerican) t/b in Double Columns

3rd c. BC-3rd c. AD – Berber (Consonantal Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic, Phoenician, Aramaic) b/t, R/L

3rd c. BC-4th c. AD – Kharosthi (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

3rd c. BC-9th c. AD – Pahlavi (Consonantal Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic, Phoenician, Aramaic) L/R

200BC-300AD – Thamudic (Consonantal Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) R/L

2nd c. BC-4th c. AD – Nabataean (Consonantal Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic > Aramaic) R/L

2nd c. BC-5th c. AD – Meroïtic (Syllabic/Egyptian) Variable

2nd c. BC-present – Coptic (C&V Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic > Greek) L/R

100BC-300AD – Palmyrene (Consonantal Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) R/L

100BC-500AD – Epi-Olmec (Logophonetic/Mesoamerican) t/b

100BC-900AD – Teotihuacan (Logophonetic/Mesoamerican) Variable

YEAR ZERO

1st c. AD-present – Korean (C&V Alphabetic/Sinitic) t/b

1st c. AD-present – Syriac (Consonantal Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic > Aramaic) R/L

3rd-4th cc. AD – Avestan (Consonantal Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic > Aramaic) R/L

3rd-6th cc. AD – Ogham (C&V Alphabetic/Unrelated) R/L

200-1600AD – Futhark (C&V Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic > Greek) L/R

3rd-10th cc. AD – Sogdian (Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) R/L

3rd c. AD-present – Arabic (Consonantal Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic > Aramaic) R/L

3rd c. AD-present – Tifinagh (Consonantal Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic, Phoenician, Aramaic) R/L

4th-8th cc. AD – Gothic (C&V Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic > Greek) L/R

4th-8th cc. AD – Gupta (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

4th c. AD-present – Ethiopic (Syllabic/Proto-Sinaitic > South Arabian) R/L

5th-10th cc. AD – Kadamba (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

5th c. AD-present – Armenian (C&V Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) L/R

5th c. AD-present – Georgian (C&V Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) L/R

5th c. AD-present – Japanese (Logophonetic/Sinitic) t/b

6th-8th cc. AD – Tocharian (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

6th-11th cc. AD – Kalinga (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

6th-12th cc. AD – Grantha (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

6th-14th cc. AD – Vatteluttu (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

7th c. AD-present – Dhivehi (Syllabic Alphabetic/Various) L/R

7th c. AD-present – Mandaic (Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) R/L

7th c. AD-present – Tibetan (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi)

8th-9th cc. AD – Turkic Runes (C&V Alphabet/Aramaic) R/L, also t/b

8th-11th cc. AD – Nagari (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

8th-13th cc. AD – Kawi (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

8th-14th cc. AD – Sarada (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

8th-17th cc. AD – Uighur (C&V Alphabet/Aramaic) t/b

8th c. AD-present – Sinhala (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

8th c. AD-present – Tamil (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

9th-12th cc. AD – Glagolitic (C&V Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic > Greek) L/R

9th-17th cc. AD – Old Hungarian (C&V Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic > Turkic Runes) R/L

9th c. AD-present – Cyrillic (C&V Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic > Greek) L/R

920-1125AD – Khitan (Logophonetic/Sinitic) t/b

10th-18th cc. AD – Old Kannada (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

10th-20th cc. AD – Landa (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

11th-18th cc. AD – Meithei Mayek (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

11th c. AD-present – Bengali (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

12th-16th cc. AD – Jurchen (Logographic/Sinitic) t/b

12th c. AD-present – Burmese (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

12th c. AD-present – Devanagari (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

12th c. AD-present – Khmer (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

12th c. AD-present – Malayalam (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

12th c. AD-present – Mongolian (C&V Alphabet/Aramaic) t/b

12th c. AD-present – Oriya (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

1200-1600AD – Mixtec (Logographic/Mesoamerican) Variable

1269-1352AD – hPhags-pa (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

1283AD-present – Lao (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

1283AD-present – Thai (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

13th c.-19th c. AD – Takri (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

13th c. AD-present – Javanese (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

14th-17th cc. AD – Tagalog (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

14th c. AD-present – Kashmiri (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

14th c. AD-present – Mangyan (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R, b/t

1400-1600AD – Aztec (Logophonetic/Mesoamerican) Variable

15th c. AD-present – Naxi (Logographic/Sinitic) L/R

15th c. AD-present – Nushu (Logophonetic/Sinitic) t/b

1500AD-present – Yi Scripts (Various/Sinitic) t/b

16th c. AD-present – Gujarati (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

16th c. AD-present – Gurmukhi (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

17th-20th cc. AD – Modi (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

17th c. AD-present – Buginese (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

18th c. AD-present – Kannada (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

18th c. AD-present – Lepcha (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

18th c. AD-present – Telugu (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

18th c. AD-present – Rejang (Syllabic Alphabetic/Brahmi) L/R

1821AD-present – Cherokee (Syllabic/Unrelated)

1840AD-present – Cree (Syllabic/Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics) L/R

1856AD-present – Inuktitut (Syllabic/Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics) L/R

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Writing systems by type;

Alphabet

There are 3 alphabets listed here. They are;

1800BC-present – Alphabet (Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) Variable

3rd-10th cc. AD – Sogdian (Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) R/L

7th c. AD-present – Mandaic (Alphabetic/Proto-Sinaitic) R/L

Consonantal Alphabet/Abjad

There are 15 consonantal alphabets listed here. They are;