Wikipedia:Naming conventions (writing systems)

This guideline documents an English Wikipedia naming convention.

It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense, and occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcuts

Names of articles on writing systems typically consist of a proper or other identifying name combined with a broad typological specification of the script, such as 'script', 'alphabet', or 'syllabary', or of the element of the writing system, such as 'letter' or 'type'. The specifying element is not always necessary.

ScriptsEdit

The term 'script' is used with four meanings:

A general segmental writing system independent of any particular language, as opposed to the alphabets based on it:
- Latin script (or Roman script; cf. Latin alphabet, roman type)
- Arabic script (cross-linguistic; cf. Arabic alphabet)
- Georgian scripts
In the plural for a family or geographic group of such scripts. 'Writing systems' conveys the same idea:
- Brahmic scripts
- Mesoamerican writing systems
A calligraphic style. In many cases 'hand' may be used instead, and may this avoid confusion with other uses of the term 'script':
- Nastaliq script or Nastaliq hand
- Insular script
- Seal script
- Italic script (or Italic hand: cf. italic type)
- Chancery hand
A non-segmental writing system, especially one which is logographic, mixed, or of unknown character:
- Maya script ('hieroglyphs' is widely considered a misnomer)
- Khitan small script
- Yi script (syllabic and logographic variants)

AlphabetsEdit

'Alphabet' is used for language-specific adaptations of a segmental script, usually with a defined sorting order and sometimes with not all of the letters, or with additional letters:

The terms abjad and abugida, though often used in the text, are considered jargon and inappropriate for a title.

SyllabariesEdit

For true syllabaries:

UnspecifiedEdit

Where an unambiguous conventional name exists, 'script', 'alphabet', or 'syllabary' may not be necessary:

Note: "hieroglyphics" is deprecated.

Canadian Aboriginal syllabics

Exceptions may also occur where a different technical term is widely used:

ModifiersEdit

Modifiers may be used for subtypes or other cases of disambiguation:

Glyphs and other elementsEdit

Names should include some indication that the article concerns a glyph and not a word.

Kra (letter) – 'Latin' is generally understood
Pi (letter) – like most Greek letters, pi is used in conjunction with the Latin script
Pe (Cyrillic) – 'Cyrillic' cannot be a language, and so is unambiguous
Pe (Persian letter) – 'Pe (Persian)' could be about a Persian word pe
Ka (kana) – cf. Ka (Cyrillic)
Zeta – the Greek letter is the WP:primary topic, as any word zeta derives from the letter
Ou (ligature)
Radical (Chinese character)
Ascender (typography)