Official script

An official script is a writing system that is specifically designated to be official in the constitutions or other applicable laws of countries, states, and other jurisdictions. Akin to an official language, an official script is much rarer. It is used primarily where an official language is in practice written with two or more scripts. As, in these languages, use of script often has cultural or political connotations, proclamation of an official script is sometimes criticized as having a goal of influencing culture or politics or both. Desired effects also may include easing education, communication and some other aspects of life.

List of official scripts

Below is a partial list of official scripts used in different countries. Those in italics are states that have limited international recognition.

This list does not cover local variations of international scripts, such as which diacritics are used.

• Azerbaijan – Azeri Latin alphabet
• Bangladesh – Bengali alphabet
• Brunei – Rumi script (Latin) and Jawi script (Arabic)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina:
  • Republika Srpska – Cyrillic and Latin
  • Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Cyrillic and Latin
• Bulgaria – Cyrillic (Bulgarian alphabet)
• Cambodia – Khmer script
• China, People's Republic of (mainland China) – Simplified Chinese
  • Hong Kong SAR – Traditional Chinese (de facto), Latin script
  • Macau SAR – Traditional Chinese (de facto), Latin script
  • Inner Mongolia region – Mongolian alphabet, Simplified Chinese
  • Tibet region – Tibetan alphabet, Simplified Chinese
  • Xinjiang region – Uyghur Ereb Yéziqi, Simplified Chinese
  • Guangxi region – Zhuang Latin alphabet, Simplified Chinese
• Croatia – Croatian alphabet
• Ethiopia – Ge'ez script
• Eritrea – Ge'ez script
• Georgia – Georgian alphabet
• Greece - Greek alphabet
• India:
  • Hindi, Marathi, Konkani, Nepali, Maithili, Boro, Sanskrit, Dogri – Devanagari
  • Assamese – Assamese alphabet
  • Bengali – Bengali alphabet
  • Gujarati – Gujarati script
  • Kannada – Kannada script
  • Kashmiri – Perso-Arabic script
  • Malayalam – Malayalam script
  • Meitei – Meitei script
  • Odia – Odia script
  • Punjabi – Gurmukhi
  • Santali – Ol Chiki script
  • Sindhi – Perso-Arabic script, Devanagari
  • Tamil – Tamil script
  • Telugu – Telugu script
  • Urdu – Urdu alphabet
• Indonesia – Rumi script (Latin)
• Iran – Perso-Arabic alphabet
• Japan – a combination of Kana (Hiragana, Katakana) and Kanji (Shinjitai)
• Kazakhstan – Cyrillic (Kazakh, Russian) and Latin (Kazakh)
• Korea (both) – Chosŏn'gŭl/Hangul (Hanja is sometime used in South Korea, not used in North Korea)
• Laos – Lao script
• Malaysia – Rumi script (Latin); Jawi script (Arabic) is recognized.
• Maldives – Thaana
• Moldova – Latin alphabet
• Mongolia – Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet and Mongolian script
• Montenegro – Cyrillic (Montenegrin Cyrillic script)
• Myanmar – Burmese alphabet
• Nepal
  • Nepali language — Devanagari
  • Nepal Bhasa — Ranjana script
  • Maithili — Tirhuta script and Kaithi
  • Bhojpuri language — Kaithi and Devanagari
  • Magar — Magar Akkha script and Devanagari
  • Tharu — Devanagari
  • Tamang — Tamyig, Devanagari and Tibetan script
  • Bajjika — Tirhuta script, Kaithi and Devanagari
  • Limbu — Limbu script
  • Bantawa — Kirat Rai script and Devanagari
  • Gurung — Khema script, Devanagari and Tibetan script
  • Awadhi — Kaithi, Perso-Arabic script, Devanagari and Latin script
  • Urdu — Urdu alphabet, Roman Urdu and Urdu Braille
• North Macedonia – Cyrillic (Macedonian alphabet)
• Philippines – Latin alphabet (de facto)
• Russian Federation – Cyrillic (Russian alphabet)
• Serbia – Cyrillic (Serbian Cyrillic script)
• Singapore
  • English, Malay — Latin script
  • Mandarin – Simplified Chinese
  • Tamil – Tamil script
• Taiwan – Traditional Chinese
• Thailand – Thai script
• Turkey – Latin alphabet
• Ukraine – Cyrillic (Ukrainian alphabet)
• Vietnam – Latin script (de facto)

Historical

• In the USSR, numerous languages were latinized during the 1920s–1930s. In the late 1930s the Latinization campaign was canceled and all newly romanized languages were converted to Cyrillic.

See also

• Official language
• Spelling reform

References