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Glite Dictionary
alphabetic script

alphabetic script

4.1
A writing system that uses letters to show spoken sounds
  • noun
  • /ˌælfəˈbɛtɪk skrɪpt/
translation icon : escritura alfabética
  • An alphabetic script allows us to represent sounds with specific letters, making communication easier.

Examples

  • Pinyin is an alphabetic script that represents the pronunciation of spoken Chinese and can be regarded as a Romanization system of Mandarin Chinese.

    Academic text (2013)

  • The invention of an alphabetic script made it possible for more people to become literate.

  • Children learn to write using an alphabetic script that helps them sound out words.

Synonyms

script
vsalphabetic script
24 4.1

A set of letters or symbols used to write a language

is specifically the system that represents sounds with individual letters
writing system
vsalphabetic script
  • Specialized
2 3.5

A way to show a language's words using letters or characters

is limited to systems that use individual letters to show sounds
alphabetic writing
vsalphabetic script
  • Specialized
3.8

A system that uses letters to show the separate sounds of a language

is the same but mentions forming words and sentences

Surface Forms

alphabetic script singular
alphabetic scripts plural

Morphology

alphabetic + script

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from 'alphabetic' (relating to letters) combined with 'script' (a writing system); a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer 'a writing system that uses letters'. This noun-noun compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows ordinary English compounding, so no idiomatic or metaphorical knowledge is required.

Etymology

The term alphabetic script may come from the first two Greek letters, alpha and beta, a simple image that shows the system is built from separate signs. So, an alphabetic script uses 'letters' to stand for 'sounds', which you join to make words.