The Arabic, of all the ancient Semitic languages, is the only one that has retained its original abode, in Arabia proper, while it has also spread itself on all sides into the districts of other tongues. Others are wholly extinct, as the Phoenician, or they exist in a degenerate form as the Aramaean among the Syrian Christians in Mesopotamia and Kurdistan ; the Ethiopic in the newer Abyssinian dialects (Tigre and Amharic), and the Hebrew amongst a portion of the Jews. Letters of the Arabic alphabet are arranged as solar and lunar,—huruf-shamsiyah and hurtif kainariyah. The former are 13 in number. The Arab alphabet is ill suited for producing Aryan sounds; it is altogether without such useful letters as p, ch, zh, and g, so that f and b is used for the Aryan p and for the Roman f, and the Arabic use of the letter w is often doubtful. The living dialects of the Hiniyaritic, or Southern Arabic, are the Ekhili and Mahrah. The Arabic characters, and those known as the Niskh, are usually em ployed for the Arabic, Persian, and Urdu or Hindustani. These characters represent con sonants and long vowels, with diacritic marks for short vowel sounds.
When Sind was annexed to British territory in 1842, twelve or thirteen written characters were found to be in use, some of them differing widely from others. Gurmukhi is a written character in which the sacred books of the Sikh religionists was written, and is still used by the Sikhs for their private correspondence, their signet rings, and sacred books. It is a variety of the Indian character. Thakuri is in use in the Kangra dis trict. It is a modification of the Nagari character. Lundi, a written character in use with mercantile firms in the Panjab ; it is a modification of the Nagari character. Sanskrit, Hindi, and Mahrati are written in the Deva-Nagari character; Bengali, Gujerati, Uriya, Telugu, Karnata or Kannadi or Canarese, Malealam, and Tamil have each their own distinct character. The Canarese and Telugu characters, upwards of fifty in numb &r, are almost identical, and they, as also the Malealam, consist almost exclusively of portions of circlef; but in the Deva-Nagari, the Bengali, Uriya, and Tamil, straight lines prevail, modified in many by Portion: of circles.
The Chinese form of writing, as used in printed books, the Kiai-shu of the present day (allowing for certain improvements added under the Sung I lynasty about the tenth century), dates from the fourth century of the Christian era. It is com posed of 103 different elements or strokes, the position of which was an imitation of the more rounded and thicker writing, called Li - shu, modified by the rapidity of execution, which had become possible through improvements in the writing paper and hair-pencil. The Li-shu in the days of the Tsin dynasty had been devised through the necessity for a uniform system throughout the empire. This, again, had been preceded by the Siao-chuen character, composed of meagre and monotonous strokes such as were adapted to the materials then in use, viz. a bamboo written on with a stylus. This, again, was an official modification, originating in the same desire for uniformity which had been attempted in the reign of the great Shi-Hoaug of the Tsin. The Siao chuen had been modified from the ancient mode of writing called Ta-chuen, in which great varia tions had developed themselves among the different states which had once been subject to the ancient dominion of the Choeu; but from these successive official changes came a great number of altera tions in the elements of the characters, intended to make them answer more exactly to their signification, as shaped by the ideas then domi nant, and by the systematic interpretation more or less in vogue ; the addition in compound characters of a considerable number of deter minative ideographic elements without affecting the sound, all leaving their stamp on the com position of the characters in use. In this under
taking the written character was reconstructed as one of hieroglyphics. This has aided the spread of the Chinese power, and facilitated its mainte nance over a vast area, but it has at the same time been a clog, so far as its action could go, upon its development, in the sense in which this expression is understood among the higher races, to whose progress the possession of an alphabet has contributed so immensely.
Archipelago.—Notwithstanding the numerous languages there, the written characters are only eight, or at most nine, in number. The Javanese alphabet, like all others in the Archipelago, is written from left to right, each letter is distinct and unconnected, and the writing is perpendicular and not slanting. It is the character used for the Javanese proper, the Sunda, the Bali, and it is believed the Lombok ; and including Palembang in Sumatra, it is current among twelve millions of population. But in prior times, other characters to the extent of twelve in number have prevailed in Java.
In Sumatra, beginning from the west, the first evidence of a native written character is among the Bataks, and it is singular that a nation of cannibals should possess the knowledge of letters. There was assuredly nothing of the kind in Europe or continental Asia until long after men had ceased to eat each other. The form of the Batak letters is horizontal.
The Korinchi alphabet, among the people of this name in Sumatra, who border on Menang kabau, has twenty-nine characters, and consists of horizontal or slightly raised scratchings.— Journal of the Indian Archipelago ; Mr. Hodg son, 11 fr. Robinson, Mr. Samwells in Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal; Dr. Latham, Dr.
Prichard, Dr. ,flax Muller, Chevalier Bunsen, General Briggs, Messrs. Schlayentweit, in Reports, British Association, 1815 to 1858; Journal Royal Asiatic Society; Astlry's Voyages, iv. p. 194 ; Bikmore's ?ravels; K L. Brandreth in vol. x. Jo. Re. As. So.; Bunsen's Egypt; Burnell; Burton ; Dr.Caldwell 's Grammar and Shanars ; Sir G. Camp bell in Beng. As. Soc. Jo. ; de la Couperie; Craw ford's Malay Dictionary ; Cunningham'st Ancient Lydia; Cuses Modern Languages; Dalton's Ethan and in Jo. As. Soc., 1866 ; Sir W. Elliot in do. R. As. Soc., 1861 ; Sir II. 41f. Elliot, Mist. of India and Supplemental Glossary; Elphinstone's Hist. of India ; Farrar, Lectures on the Families of Speech; Hue, Chinese Empire; Humboldt's Cosmos; Dr. Hang; Hunter, Non-Aryans and Imp. Gaz. ; Hodgson's Aborigines N.E. India; Hyslop in Journ. Antig. Society of Nagpur; India Census 1881 ; Jagor on the Philippines ; Professor A. H. Keane's Asia ; Kennedy on the Origin of Languages ; Lassen ; Latham, Philology, Descriptive Ethno- ' logy ; Logan in Aunt. Ind. Arehip. ; Lubbock, Origin of Civilisation ; Menander, Voyage of; Max Muller's Lectures and Ancient Sanskrit Literature : Newbold in Jourus. R. As. Soc., Madras Literary Soc., also Malacca ; Peschel, Races of Man ; Prinsep's Antiquities by Thomas; Rask; Raverty's Grammar ; H. Rawlinson ; 1?enatt's Langues Semi agues ; Sayce; Spreewenberg in .1. Ind. Arch., 1858; Dr. Isaac Taylor ; William Taylor in Jo. Mad. Lit. Soc. ; E. Thomas ; Thomson's Tr. ; A. R. Wallace, Malay Archipelago ; TVeber, Indian Literature ; H. H. Wilson's Glossary ; V-Ben A in Times of June 6, 1880; Yule's Embassy.