Comprehensive guide to the English alphabet with 26 letters, 5 vowels and 21 consonants. Perfect for language learners.
Learn the Spanish alphabet with 27 letters including the distinctive ñ, featuring five vowels with various accents (á, é, í, ó, ú) and 22 consonants used across Spain and Latin America.
Discover the French alphabet with accented characters including à, â, é, è, ê, ë, and the cedilla ç. Master French pronunciation.
Learn the German alphabet including umlauts (ä, ö, ü) and the Eszett (ß). Understand German pronunciation and writing.
Master the Italian alphabet with 21 letters, accented vowels, and double consonants. Learn this musical language script.
Explore the Portuguese alphabet with 26 letters featuring rich accented variations including nasal vowels (ã, õ), cedilha (ç), and multiple accent marks used in Portugal, Brazil, and 7 other countries.
Learn the Greek alphabet with 24 letters including 7 vowels and 17 consonants. Discover the ancient script that has influenced many modern writing systems.
Learn the Dutch alphabet with 26 letters featuring diacritics, the unique digraph ij, and distinctive pronunciation. Discover the official language of the Netherlands and Belgium.
Learn the Spanish alphabet with 27 letters including the distinctive ñ, featuring five vowels with various accents (á, é, í, ó, ú) and 22 consonants used across Spain and Latin America.
Explore the Pascenda alphabet with accented vowels and distinctive letters. Learn this regional Romance language spoken in Spain with unique linguistic characteristics.
Explore the Portuguese alphabet with 26 letters featuring rich accented variations including nasal vowels (ã, õ), cedilha (ç), and multiple accent marks used in Portugal, Brazil, and 7 other countries.
Learn the Mirandese alphabet with 26 letters and accented vowels. Discover this Astur-Leonese language co-official in Miranda do Douro, Portugal with unique linguistic features.
Discover the Romanian alphabet with 31 letters including 5 distinctive diacritical letters (ă, â, î, ș, ț) representing sounds unique to this Eastern Romance language spoken in Romania and Moldova.
Explore the Aromanian alphabet with 25 letters featuring grave accents (à, è, ì, ò, ù) and cedilla (ç). Learn this Eastern Romance language spoken in Greece, Albania, North Macedonia, and Romania.
Discover the Megleno-Romanian alphabet with diacritical letters. Learn this endangered Eastern Romance language spoken in Greece and North Macedonia with unique Balkan influences.
Discover the Catalan alphabet with accented vowels (à, è, é, í, ò, ó, ú, ü) and cedilla (ç). Learn this regional language of Spain and France.
Learn the Danish alphabet with 29 letters including the special characters æ, ø, and å. Master this North Germanic language script.
Discover the Swedish alphabet with 29 letters including the distinctive characters å, ä, and ö. Learn this melodic Scandinavian language.
Explore the Norwegian alphabet with 29 letters including æ, ø, and å. Master both Bokmål and Nynorsk writing forms.
Learn the Finnish alphabet with 28 letters including ä and ö. Understand this Finno-Ugric language with its unique vowel harmony.
Discover the Icelandic alphabet with 32 letters including ancient letters ð (eth) and þ (thorn), plus distinctive vowels á, é, í, ó, ú, ý, æ, and ö. Explore this living museum of Old Norse.
Learn the Faroese alphabet with 29 letters including Nordic characters á, í, ó, ú, ý, plus distinctive letters æ, ø, and ð. Discover this North Germanic language of the Faroe Islands.
Learn the Ossetic modified Cyrillic alphabet — 34 base letters including the unique Ӕ/ӕ plus 9 ejective consonant digraphs. The only surviving language of the ancient Scythian-Sarmatian peoples, spoken in North Ossetia-Alania, Russia.
Explore the Ossetian (Ossetic) Cyrillic alphabet — 34 base letters with the unique Ӕ/ӕ vowel and 9 ejective digraphs. The Eastern Iranian language of North Ossetia-Alania and South Ossetia, descended from the ancient Alans and Sarmatians.
Explore the Welsh alphabet with 29 letters including 8 unique digraphs (ch, dd, ff, ng, ll, ph, rh, th). Discover Cymraeg, the thriving Celtic language of Wales.
Learn the Irish alphabet with 18 letters featuring distinctive fada (acute accent) marks. Master Gaeilge, the first official language of Ireland.
Discover the Scottish Gaelic alphabet with 18 letters using grave accent marks. Explore Gàidhlig, the ancient Celtic language of the Scottish Highlands.
Master the Cornish alphabet with 26 letters. Learn Kernewek, the successfully revived Celtic language of Cornwall with ancient Brittonic heritage.
Explore the Manx alphabet with 26 letters and unique English-influenced orthography. Discover Gaelg, the revived Celtic language of the Isle of Man.
Master Hangul, the Korean alphabet with 24 basic letters. Learn the systematic writing system of the Korean language.
Learn Hiragana, one of the three Japanese writing systems. Master 46 basic characters plus diacritics for Japanese phonetic writing.
Discover the Katakana script used for foreign words and sounds in Japanese. Learn 46 angular characters and their pronunciation.
Explore Kanji characters, the logographic script of Japanese writing. Learn common characters, meanings, and readings.
Learn Standard Chinese (Putonghua) — Pinyin initials and finals, four tone marks, Bopomofo phonetic symbols, and common Hanzi characters. ISO 639-1: zh.
Learn Mandarin Chinese phonetics — 21 Pinyin initials, 35 finals, four tones, Bopomofo (Zhuyin) symbols and common Hanzi characters.
Explore Tamil (தமிழ்) — the world's oldest living classical language with 2,300+ years of literary history, spoken by ~80 million people in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia. Includes the full Uyirmei Ezhuthukkal (உயிர்மெய் எழுத்துக்கள்) syllable chart (299 syllables). ISO 639-1: ta.
Explore Malayalam (മലയാളം) — a Classical Language of India since 2013, spoken by ~38 million people in Kerala and Lakshadweep. Known for its distinctively rounded script and the unique ഴ (zha) consonant. Includes the full Aksharamala (അക്ഷരമാല) syllable chart (504 syllables). ISO 639-1: ml.
Explore Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ) — a Classical Language of India since 2008, spoken by ~44 million people in Karnataka. Winner of a record 8 Jnanpith Awards. Includes the full Gunitakshara (ಗುಣಿತಾಕ್ಷರ) syllable chart with 34 consonants × 13 vowel forms (442 syllables). ISO 639-1: kn.
Explore Telugu (తెలుగు) — a classical South-Central Dravidian language spoken by ~82 million people in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, India. Written in the Telugu script. Includes the full Guninthalu syllable chart (490 syllables). ISO 639-1: te.
Explore Tulu (ತುಳು) — a South Dravidian language of coastal Karnataka (Tulu Nadu), spoken by ~1.8–2 million people in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Kasaragod districts. Written in the Kannada script. Includes the full Barakhadi syllable chart (468 syllables). ISO 639-3: tcy.
Explore Nagarchal — a Dravidian language of the Gondi group spoken in Central India, written in Devanagari. Part of the South-Central Dravidian linguistic heritage documented by CIIL and the Endangered Languages Project.
Discover Pradhan (also known as Pardhan) — a Gondi Dravidian language of Central India spoken by the Pradhan bard community. Written in Devanagari. Documented by CIIL, ELAR SOAS and the Endangered Languages Project. ISO 639-3: pci.
Pardhan is an alternate spelling for Pradhan — the Gondi Dravidian bard language of Central India, written in Devanagari. The Pardhan community are musicians and oral historians within Gondi tribal society. ISO 639-3: pci.
Explore the Hebrew alphabet with 22 letters, written from right to left. Understand this sacred script of ancient and modern Hebrew.
Learn the Yiddish alphabet with 25 letters using Hebrew script. Discover this Germanic language written right-to-left, spoken by Jewish communities worldwide with rich literary traditions.
Learn the Maltese alphabet with 30 letters including unique characters ċ, ġ, ħ, and ż. Discover the only Semitic language written in Latin script, blending Arabic roots with European influences.
Discover the Armenian alphabet with 39 unique letters (Ա-Ֆ) created by Saint Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD. Explore this ancient Indo-European script that has preserved Armenian culture for over 1,600 years.
Learn the Barbari (Dari) alphabet with 32 Perso-Arabic letters written right to left, including 4 letters unique to Persian (پ, چ, ژ, گ). Discover Afghan Persian, one of the official languages of Afghanistan.
Explore the Aimaq (Chahar Aimaq) alphabet — 32 Perso-Arabic letters of this Eastern Persian dialect spoken in western Afghanistan. Preserves classical /w/ pronunciation of و not found in Western Persian.
Explore the Chorasmian (Khwarezmian) alphabet with 21 letters of this ancient Eastern Iranian abjad script. Learn the extinct language of the Khwarezm region of Central Asia, written right to left from the 2nd to 14th centuries CE.
Discover the Khwarezmian (Chorasmian) alphabet — 21 letters of the extinct Eastern Iranian script from the ancient Khwarezm oasis civilisation. Home of scholars Al-Biruni and Al-Khwarizmi, whose name gave us the word "algorithm".
Learn the Yughur Latin alphabet — 8 vowels and 24 consonants of the endangered Turkic language of the Western Yugur people of Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, Gansu, China. Also called Sarïgh Uyghur or Yellow Uyghur. ISO 639-3: ybe.
Explore the Sarïgh Uyghur Latin alphabet — the historical Turkic name (meaning "Yellow Uyghur") for the Yughur language of the Western Yugur people of Sunan, Gansu, China. ISO 639-3: ybe.
Discover the Yellow Uyghur Latin alphabet — the English translation of Sarïgh Uyghur, the endangered Turkic language of the Western Yugur people of Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, Gansu, China. ISO 639-3: ybe.
Learn the Tuvan (Tuvin) Cyrillic alphabet — 36 letters of the Siberian Turkic language of the Tuva Republic, Russia. Includes unique letters Ң, Ӧ, and Ү not found in standard Russian Cyrillic. ISO 639-3: tyv.
Explore the Tyvan Cyrillic alphabet — an alternate name for the Tuvan / Tuvin 36-letter Cyrillic script of the Siberian Turkic language of the Tyva Republic, Russia. ISO 639-3: tyv.
Discover the Urum Cyrillic alphabet — 28 letters of the Oghuz Turkic language spoken by ethnic Greek communities in Georgia (Tsalka) and Ukraine (Donbas). Includes unique letters Ö, Ü, and Ң. ISO 639-3: uum.
Learn the Uyghur Perso-Arabic alphabet (UPA) — 32 letters of the Karluk Turkic language with ~11 million speakers in Xinjiang, China. All vowels are written as full letters, written right-to-left. ISO 639-3: uig.
Explore the Uigur Perso-Arabic alphabet — an alternate spelling of Uyghur, the 32-letter right-to-left script of the Karluk Turkic language of Xinjiang, China, with ~11 million speakers. ISO 639-3: uig.
Learn the Nepal Bhasa Newa script — 36 consonants, 10 independent vowels, vowel signs, and Newa digits of the Newar language. Official language of Bagmati Province, Nepal. The traditional Pracalit script of the indigenous Newar people of Kathmandu Valley. ISO 639-3: new.
Explore the Newari Newa script — 36 consonants, 10 vowels, vowel signs, and Newa digits. Newari and Nepal Bhasa are two names for the same Tibeto-Burman language of the Newar people of Kathmandu Valley. Official language of Bagmati Province. ISO 639-3: new.
Learn the Puma Devanagari alphabet — 34 consonants and 11 vowels of this endangered Kiranti (Rai) language of Khotang and Udayapur districts, eastern Nepal. Approximately 3,500 speakers. Tibeto-Burman Kiranti branch of Sino-Tibetan. ISO 639-3: pum.
Explore the extinct Tangut logographic script — representative characters and structural components of the Western Xia dynasty (982–1227 CE) writing system with over 6,000 unique characters. Created in 1036 CE, encoded in Unicode in 2016. ISO 639-3: txg.
Learn the Tibetan script — 30 base consonants, 4 vowel diacritics, and native Tibetan digits. An abugida used across Tibet, India, Nepal, and Bhutan. Official in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The liturgical script of Tibetan Buddhism. ISO 639-1: bo.
Learn the Meitei Mayek script — 27 basic consonants (Iyek Ipee), 8 lonsum final-consonant letters, 8 vowel signs, and native Meitei digits. Official language of Manipur state, India. A Scheduled language of India since 1992. The indigenous script was revived in the late 20th century. ISO 639-3: mni.
Learn the Manipuri Meitei Mayek script — 27 basic consonants (Iyek Ipee), 8 lonsum final letters, 8 vowel signs, and native digits. Manipuri is the official language of Manipur state, India. The name Manipuri is the anglicised administrative name for the Meitei language. ISO 639-3: mni.
Learn the Meithei Meitei Mayek script — 27 basic consonants (Iyek Ipee), 8 lonsum final letters, 8 vowel signs, and native digits. Meithei is an alternate romanisation of the native name ꯃꯩꯇꯩ for the language of the Meitei people of Manipur, India. ISO 639-3: mni.
Learn the Tuvaluan Latin alphabet — just 15 letters (A, E, F, G, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, S, T, U, V), making it one of the smallest alphabets used by any natural language. A Polynesian language of the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu with approximately 11,000 speakers. ISO 639-3: tvl.
Learn the Uripiv Latin alphabet — consonants, digraphs (mb, ng, nw), and vowels of this Oceanic language of North Malekula island, Vanuatu, with approximately 1,200 speakers. Features distinctive prenasalised consonants characteristic of Vanuatu languages. ISO 639-3: upv.
Learn the Waima Latin alphabet — consonants, the ng digraph, and vowels of this Oceanic language of Papua New Guinea (also called Roro). Approximately 6,000 speakers in the Central Province and Gulf Province of PNG. ISO 639-3: rro.
Learn the Roro Latin alphabet — consonants, the ng digraph, and vowels of this Oceanic language of Papua New Guinea (also called Waima). Approximately 6,000 speakers in the Central Province and Gulf Province of PNG. ISO 639-3: rro.
Learn the Waray-Waray Latin alphabet — 14 consonants, the Ng digraph, and 5 vowels of this major Visayan language of Eastern Visayas (Samar and Leyte), Philippines. Approximately 3.1 million speakers. Also known as Binisaya. ISO 639-3: war.
Learn the Binisaya Latin alphabet — the 14 consonants, Ng digraph, and 5 vowels of the Visayan language of Eastern Visayas (Samar and Leyte), Philippines. Binisaya is the local name for Waray-Waray, with approximately 3.1 million speakers. ISO 639-3: war.
Learn the Tausug Latin alphabet — 5 vowels, 14 consonants, and the Ng digraph of this Visayan Austronesian language of the Sulu Archipelago, Philippines, with approximately 900,000 speakers. ISO 639-3: tsg.
Learn the Tetum Latin alphabet — 5 vowels and 18 consonants of this official language of Timor-Leste, alongside Portuguese, with approximately 800,000 speakers. Features X pronounced as "sh". ISO 639-3: tet.
Explore the Agul Cyrillic alphabet — an endangered Northeast Caucasian language of the Lezgic branch with 6 vowels and 31 consonants. Spoken by 23,000–34,000 people in the Agul District of southern Dagestan, Russia, featuring ejective consonants marked by the palochka Ӏ, uvular sounds, and pharyngeal fricatives.
Learn the Tabasaran Cyrillic alphabet — a Northeast Caucasian language world-famous for having up to 48 grammatical cases, one of the largest case inventories of any documented language. 7 vowels and 35 consonants including distinctive lateral affricates and ejectives. ~126,000 speakers in southern Dagestan.
Discover the Tabassaran alphabet — the alternate spelling for Tabasaran, the same Northeast Caucasian language with up to 48 grammatical cases. Both "Tabassaran" (older transliteration) and "Tabasaran" share ISO code tab and refer to the same ~126,000-speaker Lezgic language of southern Dagestan.
Explore the Tsez (also called Dido) Cyrillic alphabet — an endangered Northeast Caucasian language of the Tsezic branch with 5 vowels and 30 consonants. Spoken by 6,000–15,000 people in the Tsunta District of western Dagestan, Russia, featuring ejective, uvular, and pharyngeal consonants.
Explore the Abaza modified Cyrillic alphabet with ~71 letters including digraphs and trigraphs. A Northwest Caucasian language related to Abkhaz, spoken in the Karachay-Cherkessia Republic of Russia, featuring labialized consonants formed with В and ejective consonants marked by the palochka Ӏ.
Learn the Abkhaz modified Cyrillic alphabet with 51 base letters including 7 unique Unicode letters (Ҕ, Ҧ, Ҩ, Ҷ, Ҽ, Ҿ, Ҳ) found in no other script. The official language of the Republic of Abkhazia, with only 6 vowels but over 58 consonant phonemes.
Discover the Abkhazian (Abkhaz) alphabet — the same 51-letter modified Cyrillic script with 7 unique Unicode letters. "Abkhazian" and "Abkhaz" are alternate English names for the same official language of Abkhazia with its remarkable consonant-rich phonology.
Master the Adyghe (West Circassian) 66-letter Cyrillic alphabet with only 3 native vowels (А, Э, Ы) and the palochka Ӏ marking ejective consonants. Official language of the Republic of Adygea, Russia, with 300,000+ speakers in the Circassian diaspora worldwide.
Learn the Georgian Mkhedruli script with 33 letters — one of only 14 scripts in the world still in active use that was independently invented. The official language of Georgia features a unique three-way consonant distinction: voiced, aspirated, and ejective stops found in no other European language family.
Explore the Laz alphabet — a Kartvelian language written in Georgian Mkhedruli script, spoken by 50,000–200,000 people along the Black Sea coast of Turkey and Georgia. Laz belongs to the Zan branch of the Kartvelian family, most closely related to Megrelian.
Discover Lazuri — the native name for the Laz language (ლაზური, Lazuri nena), written in the Georgian Mkhedruli script. Lazuri and Laz refer to the same Kartvelian language of the Black Sea coast, preserving features lost in Georgian such as a grammatical gender system.
Learn the Megrelian alphabet — a Kartvelian language written in Georgian Mkhedruli script, spoken by approximately 500,000 people in Samegrelo (western Georgia). Along with Laz, Megrelian forms the Zan branch of the Kartvelian family and preserves archaic features lost in standard Georgian.
Discover the Church Slavonic Early Cyrillic alphabet with archaic letters like yat (ѣ), yus (ѫ, ѧ, ѩ), izhitsa (ѵ), and fita (ѳ). Learn this 9th-century liturgical language still used in Orthodox churches.
Explore the Old East Slavic alphabet used in Kievan Rus' (10th-15th centuries), ancestor of Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian. Learn the Early Cyrillic script of medieval chronicles and birch bark documents.
Master the Old Russian pre-1918 reform alphabet with 37 letters including abolished letters: dotted і, yat (ѣ), fita (ѳ), and izhitsa (ѵ). Read classic Russian literature in original orthography.
Explore the Seto (Setu) Latin alphabet — unique letters Š, Ž, Ã, Ä, Õ, Ö, Ü of the Finnic language of the Seto people of southeast Estonia and Pskov Oblast, Russia. A distinct South Estonian Finnic variety. ISO 639-3: set.
Learn the Setu (Seto) Latin alphabet — alternate spelling of the South Estonian Finnic language of southeast Estonia with unique letters Š, Ž, Ã, Ä, Õ, Ö, Ü. The Seto people of Estonia and Russia. ISO 639-3: set.
Discover the Skolt Sami Latin alphabet — 34 letters with unique diacritics Â, Č, Ʒ, Ǯ, Đ, Ǧ, Ǥ, Ǩ, Ŋ, Š, Ž of the endangered Samic language of Inari, Finland and Kola Peninsula, Russia. ISO 639-3: sms.
Learn the Southern Sami Latin alphabet — 23 letters including Å, Ä, Ö of the Samic Uralic language of central Norway and Sweden. The southernmost Sami language, spoken across the traditional Sami homeland of Scandinavia. ISO 639-3: sma.
Explore the South Estonian (Võro) Latin alphabet — unique letters Š, Ž, Ä, Õ, Ö, Ü of the Finnic dialect group of southern Estonia. Covers the Võro-Seto dialect continuum, with a standardized orthography. ISO 639-3: vro.
Discover the Võro (South Estonian) Latin alphabet — unique letters Š, Ž, Ä, Õ, Ö, Ü of the primary Finnic variety of southern Estonia. The Võro dialect continuum of the South Estonian branch. ISO 639-3: vro.
Discover the Veps (Vepsian) Latin alphabet — letters Š, Ž, Ä, Ö, Ā, Ō, Ū marking vowel length, of the endangered Finnic language of Vologda and Leningrad Oblasts and Republic of Karelia, Russia. Approximately 3,600 speakers. ISO 639-3: vep.
Learn the Votic (Votian) Latin alphabet — letters Č, Š, Ž, Ä, Ö, Ü of the critically endangered Finnic language of the Votes people of Kingisepp District, Leningrad Oblast, Russia. Fewer than 20 native speakers worldwide. ISO 639-3: vot.
Explore the Votian (Votic) Latin alphabet — alternate name for the critically endangered Finnic language of northwest Russia with unique letters Č, Š, Ž, Ä, Ö, Ü. Fewer than 20 native speakers remain. ISO 639-3: vot.
Learn the Ludic Cyrillic alphabet — 34 letters including unique Ä, of the endangered Finnic Uralic language of the Republic of Karelia, Russia. A transitional variety between Karelian and Veps with approximately 300–400 speakers. ISO 639-3: lud.
Learn the Selkup (Ostyak-Samoyed) Cyrillic alphabet — unique letters Ң, Ӈ, Ӧ of the endangered Samoyedic Uralic language of Tomsk and Krasnoyarsk regions, West Siberia, Russia. Approximately 1,000 speakers remain. ISO 639-3: sel.
Explore the Ostyak-Samoyed Cyrillic alphabet — the historical name for Selkup, the endangered Samoyedic Uralic language of West Siberia, Russia. Features unique letters Ң, Ӈ, Ӧ. Also known as Selkup. ISO 639-3: sel.
Discover the Enets (Yenisey Samoyed) Cyrillic alphabet — 30 letters including special character Ӈ. Critically endangered Samoyedic Uralic language of the Yenisei River region, Siberia. Fewer than 100 speakers. ISO 639-3: enf.
Learn the Yenisey Samoyed (Enets) Cyrillic alphabet — alternate name for Enets, the critically endangered Samoyedic language of the lower Yenisei River, Siberia. 30 letters including Ӈ. Fewer than 100 speakers. ISO 639-3: enf.
Explore the Nganasan (Tavgi Samoyed) Cyrillic alphabet — 31 letters including special character Ӈ. Most phonologically complex Samoyedic language, spoken on the Taymyr Peninsula, Siberia. ~100–500 speakers. ISO 639-3: nio.
Learn the Tavgi Samoyed (Nganasan) Cyrillic alphabet — historical alternate name for Nganasan, the critically endangered Samoyedic language of the Taymyr Peninsula. 31 letters including Ӈ. ISO 639-3: nio.
Learn the Erzya Cyrillic alphabet — closely following Russian with the special character Ӥ. Mordvinic Uralic language of the Republic of Mordovia, Russia. Approximately 430,000 speakers. ISO 639-3: myv.
Explore the Moksha Cyrillic alphabet — special vowel letters Ӑ and Ӓ. Mordvinic Uralic language of the Republic of Mordovia, Russia. Approximately 150,000 speakers. ISO 639-3: mdf.
Learn the Hungarian 44-letter Latin alphabet — with digraphs (CS, GY, SZ, NY), a trigraph (DZS) and accented vowels including the unique Ő and Ű. Ugric Uralic language of Hungary. Around 13 million speakers. ISO 639-1: hu.
Explore the Csángó alphabet — Hungarian Latin orthography of the archaic Hungarian dialect of the Moldova region of Romania. Preserves older Hungarian features. Ugric Uralic variety. ISO 639-1: hu.
Learn the Khanty Cyrillic alphabet — extended with special characters Ӈ and Ӧ. Ob-Ugric Uralic language of Western Siberia, Russia, and a close relative of Hungarian. Approximately 9,600 speakers. ISO 639-3: kca.
Explore the Ostyak Cyrillic alphabet — historical name for Khanty, the Ob-Ugric Uralic language of Western Siberia, Russia. Features special characters Ӈ and Ӧ. Also known as Khanty. ISO 639-3: kca.
Discover the Mansi Cyrillic alphabet — special characters Ӈ and Ӯ (long U). Critically endangered Ob-Ugric Uralic language of Western Siberia, Russia, and a close relative of Hungarian. Fewer than 1,000 speakers. ISO 639-3: mns.
Learn the Vogul Cyrillic alphabet — historical name for Mansi, the critically endangered Ob-Ugric Uralic language of Western Siberia, Russia. Special characters Ӈ and Ӯ. Also known as Mansi. ISO 639-3: mns.
Learn the 35-letter Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet with unique letters Ө and Ү not found in Russian. Official script of Mongolia (монгол хэл), a Mongolic language with ~3 million native speakers. ISO 639-1: mn.
Explore Khitan (契丹語) — the extinct Mongolic language of the Liao dynasty (907–1125 CE), written in unique large and small scripts only partially deciphered. Latin transcription. ISO 639-3: zkt.
Discover Moghol (Mogholi) — a critically endangered Mongolic language of Herat province, Afghanistan, with fewer than 200 speakers, descended from Mongol settlers of the 13th century. ISO 639-3: mhj.
Learn Tu (Monguor, 土族語) — a Mongolic minority language of the Tu ethnic group of Qinghai and Gansu, China. Also known as Monguor in Western scholarship. Latin romanization. ISO 639-3: mjg.
Monguor is the historical Western scholarly name for Tu (土族語), a Mongolic minority language of Qinghai and Gansu, China. Modern Chinese usage prefers "Tu." Latin romanization. ISO 639-3: mjg.
Explore Yogur (Eastern Yugur, 东部裕固语) — the Mongolic language of the Yugur people of Sunan, Gansu, China. Distinct from the Turkic Western Yugur. Also known as Yoghur. ISO 639-3: yuy.
Yoghur is an alternate spelling for Eastern Yugur (Yogur, 东部裕固语) — the Mongolic language of the Yugur people of Sunan, Gansu, China. Distinct from the Turkic Western Yugur. ISO 639-3: yuy.
Sarï Uyghur (Mongolic) refers to Eastern Yugur — the Mongolic language of the Yugur people of Sunan, Gansu, China. Distinct from the Turkic Sarïgh Uyghur (Western Yugur). ISO 639-3: yuy.
Explore the Arabic alphabet — the 28-letter abjad (Abjad Arabi) written right-to-left, the script of the Quran and ~310 million native speakers. Features pharyngeal consonants, emphatic sounds, and one of the world's most widely used writing systems. ISO 639-1: ar.
Explore the Amharic (አማርኛ) Ethiopic Fidel — the national language of Ethiopia with ~57 million speakers and the second most widely spoken Semitic language in the world after Arabic. Written in the Ge'ez abugida with 7 vowel orders. Ejective consonants ቀ, ጠ, ጨ, ጸ. ISO 639-1: am.
Explore the Egyptian Arabic (Maṣri) alphabet — the most widely spoken Arabic variety with ~100 million speakers. The Arabic abjad, 28 letters written right to left. Distinctive features: ج (jiim) = /g/, ق (qaaf) = glottal stop /ʔ/ in Cairo speech. ISO 639-3: arz.
Learn the Tigrinya Ethiopic alphabet — a North Ethiosemitic language and official language of Eritrea, spoken by ~9–10 million people. Written in the Ge'ez/Fidel syllabary. Has one of the richest consonant systems in Ethiopian Semitic, including the ejective uvular ቐ /qʼ/ unique to Tigrinya. ISO 639-1: ti.
Explore the Classical Aramaic alphabet — the 22-letter Syriac Estrangela abjad (right to left) of the ancient lingua franca of the Near East. The language of Biblical Aramaic (Daniel, Ezra) and the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Ancestral to Hebrew square script, Arabic, Brahmi, and Mongolian scripts. ISO 639-3: arc.
Explore the Syriac alphabet — 22 right-to-left consonant letters of Classical Syriac Aramaic, in three calligraphic traditions: Estrangela, West Syriac Serto, and East Syriac Madnhaya. The liturgical script of Syriac Orthodox, Chaldean Catholic, and Assyrian Church of the East. Unicode block U+0700–U+074F. ISO 639-3: syc.
Explore the Tarifit (Riff Berber / Rifi) Neo-Tifinagh alphabet — the IRCAM-standardised Amazigh Berber writing system of the Rif mountains of northern Morocco (Al Hoceima, Nador, Driouch). 31 unicameral letters, written left to right. Moroccan official language since 2011 constitution. ISO 639-3: rif.
Discover the Rifi (Tarifit Berber / Riff Berber) Neo-Tifinagh alphabet — "Rifi" is the adjectival name for the Tarifit Amazigh Berber language of the Rif mountains, northern Morocco. IRCAM Neo-Tifinagh, 31 unicameral letters. Large diaspora communities in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. ISO 639-3: rif.
Explore the Riff Berber (Tarifit / Rifi) Neo-Tifinagh alphabet — "Riff Berber" is the scholarly European name for the Tarifit Amazigh language of the Rif mountains, northern Morocco. ~4–5 million speakers. IRCAM Neo-Tifinagh, 31 unicameral letters. ISO 639-3: rif.
Explore Tamasheq — the standardised literary form of Tuareg Berber spoken by ~870,000 people in Mali (Kidal, Gao, Timbuktu regions), Niger, Burkina Faso, and southern Algeria. Written in the ancient traditional Tuareg Tifinar script. Southern Berber, Afro-Asiatic. ISO 639-3: taq.
Explore Tuareg (Tamahaq) — the ancient Berber language of the Sahara, spoken by ~2 million people across Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya, and Burkina Faso. The Tuareg are celebrated for maintaining the traditional Tifinar (Tăfinăq) script continuously from antiquity. ISO 639-3: tmh.
Explore Tachelhit (Tashelhiyt / Shilha / Souss Berber) — the most widely spoken Amazigh variety in Morocco, with ~8 million speakers in the Souss-Massa region, Anti-Atlas, and Agadir area of southern Morocco. IRCAM Neo-Tifinagh, 33 unicameral letters. ISO 639-3: shi.
Explore the Oromo (Afaan Oromoo) Qubee Latin alphabet — the most widely spoken Cushitic language with ~37–40 million speakers. Qubee (officially adopted 1991) uses 29 letters including 7 digraphs (ch, dh, ny, ph, sh, ts, zh). The retroflex dh=/ɖ/ and ejective ph=/pʼ/ are distinctive phonemes. The Oromo form the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia. ISO 639-3: orm.
Explore the Somali (Af Soomaali) official Latin alphabet — adopted 1972, making Somali one of the first African languages with a state-standardised Latin orthography. 26 letters (5 vowels + 21 consonants) plus long vowels (aa, ee, ii, oo, uu). c=/ʕ/ (ayin), x=/ħ/ (pharyngeal h), dh=/ɖ/ (retroflex d), q=uvular stop. ~20 million speakers. Official in Somalia, Somaliland, and Djibouti. ISO 639-3: som.
Explore the Afar (Qafár Af) Qafar Feera Latin alphabet — an Afro-Asiatic Lowland East Cushitic language with ~2.6 million speakers in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti. Features ejective consonants (kh=/kʼ/, ph=/pʼ/, th=/tʼ/), pharyngeal consonants (c=/ʕ/, x=/ħ/), and phonemic vowel length (aa, ee, ii, oo, uu). ISO 639-3: aar.
Explore the Sidamo (Sidaamu Afoo) Latin alphabet — a Highland East Cushitic language with ~4 million speakers in the Sidama Region, Ethiopia (a new regional state since 2019). Features ejective consonants (k'=/kʼ/, p'=/pʼ/, t'=/tʼ/) and five contrasting vowel lengths. The largest language of the Sidamic (Highland East Cushitic) branch. ISO 639-3: sid.
Explore the Beja (Bidhaawyeet) Latin alphabet — the sole surviving North Cushitic language with ~1.1–2 million speakers in Sudan, Eritrea, and Egypt. Features emphatic consonants (dh=/dˤ/, th=/tˤ/), uvular stop q, and phonemic vowel length. The Beja people (Blemmyes in ancient sources) have inhabited the Red Sea Hills since antiquity. ISO 639-3: bej.
Explore the Iraqw Latin alphabet — the largest South Cushitic language with ~600,000 speakers in the Mbulu highlands of Tanzania. Features the voiceless lateral fricative /ɬ/, initial velar nasal /ŋ/, and glottal stop /ʔ/ — characteristic South Cushitic phonemes. The only major South Cushitic language outside Ethiopia. ISO 639-3: irk.
Explore the Hausa (Harshen Hausa) Boko Latin alphabet — the largest Chadic language and one of Africa's most widely spoken languages with 70–120 million L1 and L2 speakers across northern Nigeria and Niger. Boko uses three special letters: Ɓ/ɓ (bilabial implosive), Ɗ/ɗ (alveolar implosive), Ƙ/ƙ (ejective velar). Also written in Ajami (Arabic script). ISO 639-1: ha.
Explore the Ongota (Birale / Ifa'ongota) consonants and vowels — a critically endangered language of southwest Ethiopia with approximately 8–15 elderly speakers remaining, classified as nearly extinct (EGIDS 9) by UNESCO. Ongota's classification is disputed — possibly a language isolate, possibly Afro-Asiatic. Documents the phonological inventory of one of the world's most endangered languages. ISO 639-3: bxe.
Explore the Amdang (Mimi of Biltine) Latin alphabet — a Nilo-Saharan Maban language spoken by ~60,000–100,000 people in the Biltine region of eastern Chad. Amdang features implosive consonants ɓ (bilabial) and ɗ (alveolar), a velar nasal ŋ, glottal stop ʔ, and five vowels in short/long pairs. ISO 639-3: amj.
Explore the Berta (Wetawit) Latin alphabet — a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by ~300,000–400,000 people in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia and Blue Nile State of Sudan. Berta has a distinctive seven-vowel system including the open-mid vowels ɛ and ɔ. ISO 639-3: wti.
Explore the Fur (Bèle Fòòr) Latin alphabet — the major Nilo-Saharan language of the Darfur region, western Sudan, with ~700,000–900,000 speakers. Fur features prenasalized stops (mb, nd, ŋg), the labio-velar stop kp, and a three-tone system (high/mid/low). Associated with the historical Darfur Sultanate. ISO 639-3: fvr.
Explore the Korandje (Kwarandzyey) Latin alphabet — a critically endangered Nilo-Saharan Songhay language spoken by only ~1,500–3,000 people in the Tabelbala oasis of Algeria, isolated ~1,500 km from other Songhay speakers. Korandje has replaced ~60–80% of its vocabulary with Berber and Arabic. ISO 639-3: kcy.
Explore the Tumbuka (Chitumbuka) Latin alphabet — a Bantu language spoken by ~4–5 million people in Northern Malawi (Mzimba, Rumphi, Chitipa, Karonga), Eastern Zambia, and NW Tanzania. Features prenasalized consonants (mb, nd, ng, nj, nk, nt, ny) and aspirated stops (ch, kh, ph, th). ISO 639-3: tum.
Explore the Venda (Tshivenḓa) Latin alphabet with unique dot-below dental consonants ṱ, ḓ, ḽ, ṋ — a South African official Bantu language of Limpopo Province with ~1.3 million speakers. The dental/alveolar distinction (ṱ vs. t, ḓ vs. d) is exceptionally rare in African languages. ISO 639-3: ve.
Explore the IsiXhosa Latin alphabet with three series of click consonants: dental c (/ǀ/), palatal q (/ǃ/), lateral x (/ǁ/) — each with plain, aspirated, voiced, and nasal variants. ~8–9 million speakers in Eastern Cape and Western Cape, South Africa. Nelson Mandela's native language. ISO 639-3: xh.
Explore the IsiZulu Latin alphabet — South Africa's most widely spoken home language (~12 million speakers). Features three click series (dental c, palatal q, lateral x), the lateral fricative hl (/ɬ/), and unique lexicalised numerals (isikhombisa = 7, isishiyagalolunye = 9). Ubuntu derives from umuntu (person). ISO 639-3: zu.
Explore Tshivenda — the community name for the Venda language of South Africa's Limpopo Province. The Tshi- prefix means "language of" (as in isiZulu = "the Zulu language"). Same dental consonants ṱ, ḓ, ḽ, ṋ and bilabial affricates pf and bv. ISO 639-3: ve.
Explore the Yauma Latin alphabet — a Niger-Congo Bantu language of Angola (ISO 639-3: yax). Yauma shares the pan-Bantu five-vowel system (a, e, i, o, u), prenasalized consonants (mb, nd, ng, nj), and the palatal nasal ny (/ɲ/) found across the entire Bantu family from Cameroon to South Africa.