Re: Abjad: definition

--- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, Marco Cimarosti <marco.cimarosti@...>
wrote:

> Michael Everson wrote:
> > Abjad. A writing system in which only consonants are indicated.

The

> > Phoenician script is a prototypical abjad; a better-known example

is

> > the Arabic writing system, though it is not a "pure" abjad

because

> «though it is not a "pure" abjad because consonant letters like

ALEF, WAW

> and YEH are used to mark long vowels /ā/, /ī/ or /ū/.»

It'd be better to have the letters and sounds in the same orders,
e.g. 'ALEF, YEH and WAW' ... '/ā/, /ī/ or /ū/'.

It can be argued that this is not quite true - that /i:/ is /ij/
and /u:/ is /uw/, in which case there is nothing impure about these
two cases! The same applies to the classical diphthongs /ai/
and /au/. ALEF for /ā/ remains impure. There are false plene vowels
(e.g. WAW in /abu/ <ALEF, BEH, WAW>), and they are impure usages.

Richard.