Syllabary vs. Alphabet — What's the Difference?

A set of written symbols that each represent a syllable.

Allows flexible spelling and word creation.

Typically found in languages with simple syllable structures.

Typically requires mastery of spelling rules.

Each symbol is phonetically complete.

A set of letters, each representing one or more sounds.

A writing system used to phonetically convey sounds.

Used in multiple languages with variations.

Consists of more characters than alphabets.

Often has fewer symbols than a syllabary.

In the linguistic study of written languages, a syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent the syllables or (more frequently) moras which make up words. A symbol in a syllabary, called a syllabogram, typically represents an (optional) consonant sound (simple onset) followed by a vowel sound (nucleus)—that is, a CV or V syllable—but other phonographic mappings, such as CVC, CV- tone, and C (normally nasals at the end of syllables), are also found in syllabaries.

An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written symbols or graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syllable, for instance, and logographic systems use characters to represent words, morphemes, or other semantic units.The first fully phonemic script, the Proto-Canaanite script, later known as the Phoenician alphabet, is considered to be the first alphabet, and is the ancestor of most modern alphabets, including Arabic, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and possibly Brahmic.

A list of syllables.

The letters of a language, arranged in the order fixed by custom.

A set of written characters for a language, each character representing a syllable.

A system of characters or symbols representing sounds or things.

(orthography) A table or list of syllabic letters or syllables.

A set of basic parts or elements

(orthography) A writing system where each character represents a complete syllable.

The set of letters used when writing in a language.

A table of syllables; more especially, a table of the indivisible syllabic symbols used in certain languages, as the Japanese and Cherokee, instead of letters.

A writing system in which letters represent phonemes. Contrast e.g. logography, a writing system in which each character represents a word, and syllabary, in which each character represents a syllable.

A writing system whose characters represent syllables

A writing system in which there are letters for the consonant and vowel phonemes. Contrast e.g. abjad.

(computer science) A typically finite set of distinguishable symbols.

An individual letter of an alphabet; an alphabetic character.

The simplest rudiments; elements.

An agent of the FBI, the CIA, or another such government agency.

(rare) To designate by the letters of the alphabet; to arrange alphabetically.

The letters of a language arranged in the customary order; the series of letters or signs which form the elements of written language.

The simplest rudiments; elements.

To designate by the letters of the alphabet; to arrange alphabetically.

A character set that includes letters and is used to write a language

The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural);

Most alphabets have between 20 and 30 symbols.

An alphabet is a set of letters that represent individual sounds or phonemes within a language.

Learning to write with an alphabet is generally easier due to fewer symbols, though mastering it can be complex due to phonetic rules.

No, syllabaries are typically specific to languages with relatively simple syllable structures.

A syllabary is a set of written characters where each character represents a syllable.

Yes, alphabets can be adapted to represent a wide range of languages by modifying the set of letters.

Japanese hiragana and katakana, and the Cherokee syllabary are examples.

A syllabary represents syllables phonetically, whereas ideographic scripts symbolize ideas or concepts.

No, English uses an alphabet where each letter primarily represents individual sounds.

The Roman alphabet, Cyrillic alphabet, and Greek alphabet are examples.

Alphabets are generally more adaptable to different languages than syllabaries.

Syllabaries need a unique symbol for each syllable in the language, resulting in a larger set of characters.

Often, alphabets use diacritics to modify sound values (e.g., accents in Spanish).

Yes, syllabaries can be more intuitive for native speakers as they closely match the spoken form of the language.