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'Perso-Arabic script' (or 'Arabo-Persian') is a writing system that is based on the 'Arabic alphabet'. Originally being used exclusively for the Arabic language, the Arabic script was modified to match the demands of being a writing system for the Persian language, adding four letters: پ , چ , ژ , and گ . Many languages which use the Perso-Arabic script add additional letters. The Perso-Arabic script has been applied specifically to the Persian alphabet, Urdu alphabet, Kurdish Sorani alphabet, Baloch alphabet, Punjabi Shahmukhi script, Tajik-Persian Alphabet and several others.
In order to represent non-Arabic sounds, new letters were created by adding dots, lines, and other shapes to existing letters. For example, the retroflex sounds of Urdu are represented orthographically by adding a small ط above their non-retroflex counterparts: د and ڈ . The voiceless retroflex fricative of Pashto is represented in writing by adding a dot above and below the س letter, resulting in ښ. The close central rounded vowel of Kurdish is written by writing two ﻭ , resulting in ﻭﻭ.
The term Perso-Arabic script is also sometimes used to refer to the general Arabic script [1], or to the Persian variant of the Arabic alphabet [2].
The Perso-Arabic script is exclusively written cursively. That is, the majority of letters in a word connect to each other. This is also implemented on computers. Whenever the Perso-Arabic script is typed, the computer connects the letters to each other. Unconnected letters are not widely accepted.
There are many Arabic-derived alphabets which were not influenced by the Perso-Arabic script, including Jawi (used for Malay), Sorabe (Malagasy), and many alphabets used in Northern Africa. These alphabets used other innovations for writing such common sounds as and , instead of the Perso-Arabic letters پ and گ, although the Jawi script does use the same symbol for ( چ ).

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See also

See also

★ Arabic alphabet

★ Nasta'liq script

★ Persian alphabet

★ Ottoman Turkish language

★ History of the Arabic alphabet

★ List of languages by writing system#Arabic script

★ Urdu alphabet

★ Shahmukhi

★ Ajami script