Alphabets and abjads

An alphabet writes both consonants and vowels with letters, as English, Ukrainian Cyrillic and Vietnamese do. Vietnamese adds marks for its tones: ma, má, mà, mả, mã and mạ are six different words.

An abjad writes mainly the consonants. In Arabic and Hebrew, short vowels are usually left out, and a fluent reader supplies them from the word. Small marks can add them, as in children's books and religious texts.