Visual Appeal: Abjads

Now an abjad is similar to an alphabet, the only difference is that it does not have letters that represent vowels, and is usually written right-to-left (Ager, 2012). To repeat what I've said earlier, it would be difficult for an alphabetic user to comprehend such an idea.

For example try reading this: TH QCK BRWN FX JMPS VR TH LZY DG

Now you can easily fill in the vowels, you have seen this phrase before (hopefully) and it becomes: THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG

See? It's just another representation. Now thankfully these "alphabets" do occasionally, and I mean that it is rare, to have some markings that allow you to know which vowel to say.

Here are the two main scripts using an abjad:

The Hebrew abjad

א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י כ ך ל מ ם נ ן ס ע פ ף צ ץ ק ר ש ת

The Arabic abjad

غ ظ ض ذ خ ث ت ش ر ق ص ف ع س ن م ل ك ي ط ح ز و ه د ج ب أ

Understanding this script involves becoming more active in Middle-Eastern culture. A possible reason that these scripts are written right-to-left could have to do with why the left and is considered unclean. Association with it is equivalent of hygienic purposes only (Smith, 2012). This could be one of the cases, but it has been commonly agreed by linguists not so. Their reasoning was that most of the people who finally had the script and began using it, were writing both right-to-left and left-to-right. It just happened that when the masses came together, it was the standard to write right-to-left.

Why am I bringing this up? Because these text are considered sacred in their countries and defacing it is an insult to the entire people. Learning to respect a culture and gain knowledge about it, will be one of the most useful things to do when learning a new language.

Take a look at how an abjad looks when put together:

English: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Hebrew: שועל החום הזריז קפץ מעל הכלב העצלן.

Arabic: قفز الثعلب البني السريع فوق الكلب الكسول.

Sources
Ager, S. (2012). Types of writing system. Retrieved from http://www.omniglot.com/writing/types.htm#abjads
Ager, S. (2012). Types of writing system. Retrieved from http://www.omniglot.com /writing/arabic.htm
Ager, S. (2012). Types of writing system. Retrieved from http://www.omniglot.com/writing/hebrew.htm
Smith, S.E. , and Bronwyn Harris, eds. "What are some Middle Eastern etiquttetTips?." wiseGEEK. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec 2012. .