Alphabet
Definition
A script system in which individual characters represent individual phonemes; Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, and Korean Hangul are alphabets.
- Unit represented
- Individual phonemes
- Example scripts
- Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Hangul
- Contrast script types
- Logographic, abjad, syllabary
- Field
- Multi-script forensic document examination
Common questions
How does an alphabet differ from an abugida like Devanagari?+
An alphabet marks vowels and consonants as separate, roughly equal characters, while an abugida like Devanagari treats consonants as the base unit and marks vowels with attached diacritic-like modifications, which changes how handwriting individuality manifests in stroke formation.
Why does the script type matter when comparing handwriting across languages?+
Different script systems place individuality in different features, for example letter-shape variation in an alphabet versus stroke order and character construction in a logographic system, so an examiner working cross-script casework needs to know which features are actually diagnostic in each system rather than applying Latin-script assumptions.
Related terms
- Abjad
- A script system representing only consonants, with vowels supplied by context; Arabic, Hebrew, and Urdu are abjads. Most individualising forensic features lie...
- Abugida (Alphasyllabary)
- A script system in which consonant characters carry inherent vowels modified by diacritical marks; Devanagari, Bengali, Tamil, and Thai are abugidas.
- Class Characteristics
- Features deliberately or systematically imparted to a group of items by design or manufacture, such as the calibre of a bullet, the...
- Cross-Script Disguise
- An attempt by a writer to imitate a script system in which they are not fluent, typically to mislead investigators about linguistic...
- Logograph
- A script system representing morphemes or syllables with complex characters; Chinese Hanzi and Japanese Kanji are logographic, with character stroke order as...
- Nuqat
- The diacritical dots in Arabic script that distinguish letter pairs (b/t/th, n/y, etc.); in fluent adult writing, multi-dot groups are often merged...
- OSAC (NIST)
- Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science under the US National Institute of Standards and Technology; the successor body to SWGDOC,...
- Shirorekha
- The horizontal headline stroke at the top of most Devanagari consonant characters, joining adjacent letters; its individual variation in height, pressure, continuity,...
- Stroke Order
- The canonical sequence of strokes within a CJK character, specified by national pedagogical standards (GB/T 15834 in China, Joyo Kanji conventions in...