Arabic alphabet

The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing the Arabic language. Because the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, is written with this alphabet, its influence spread with that of Islam and it has been, and still is, used to write many other languages from families unrelated to the Semitic languages, such as Persian and Urdu. (See fuller list below.)

Related Topics:
Arabic language - Qur'an - Islam - Semitic languages - Persian - Urdu

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In order to accommodate the phonetics of other languages, the alphabet has been adapted by the addition of letters and other symbols. The alphabet presents itself in different styles such as Nasta'līq, Thulthī, Kūfī and others (see Arabic calligraphy), just like different fonts for the Roman alphabet. Superficially, these styles appear quite different, but the basic letterforms remain the same.

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