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abugida

Semi-syllabic writing system where consonnant letters are generally also representing an inherent phonetic vowel, which may be suppressed in initial consonant clusters or final consonants

EntityQ335806

Also known as alphasyllabary

Subclass of: alphabetic writing system
, segmental writing system

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

An abugida —sometimes also called an alphasyllabary, neosyllabary, or pseudo-alphabet—is a segmental writing system in which consonant–vowel sequences are written as units; each unit is based on a consonant letter, and vowel notation is secondary, like a diacritical mark. This contrasts with a full alphabet, in which vowels have status equal to consonants, and with an abjad, in which vowel marking is absent, partial, or optional. In less formal contexts, all three types of script may be termed "alphabets". The terms also contrast them with a syllabary, in which a single symbol denotes the combination of a consonant and a vowel.

Overview

All data

13 statements · 23% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Uses: consonant letter
vowel has characteristic: ancilla, grapheme
Different from: abjad
Native label: abugida

On other databases

7 identifiers linking abugida across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

23%

externally sourced

Source last edited October 19, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

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AIDb. (2026). abugida (Q335806). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/abugida-Q335806