When it comes to written languages, the length of the alphabet can vary greatly. Some writing systems get by with relatively few letters, while others require memorizing dozens of characters. So which alphabet has the least number of letters? Let’s take a look at some of the shortest alphabets from languages around the world.
The shortest alphabets
Here are some alphabets that contain a very small number of letters:
- The Hawaiian alphabet – 12 letters
- The Rotokas alphabet – 12 letters
- The Georgian alphabet – 33 letters
- The Armenian alphabet – 39 letters
- The Inuktitut alphabet – 45 letters
As you can see, the clear winners for the shortest alphabet are Hawaiian and Rotokas, both with just 12 letters. Georgian and Armenian also have relatively few letters at 33 and 39 each. While not quite as short, Inuktitut makes the list with 45 letters.
About the Hawaiian alphabet
The Hawaiian alphabet, known as the kākau ‘olelo Hawai‘i, contains 12 letters: A, E, I, O, U, H, K, L, M, N, P, W. It does not contain the letters B, C, D, F, G, J, Q, R, S, T, V, X, Y, or Z.
This compact alphabet emerged in the early 19th century, following King Kamehameha III’s decision to integrate Hawaiian and Western education. Up until this point, Hawaiian was exclusively an oral language. In selecting the letters for the new written language, early missionaries aimed to capture all the phonemes (distinct sounds) in spoken Hawaiian while keeping the alphabet as simple as possible.
The 12-letter Hawaiian alphabet has proven very effective and remains in use today. Vowels are a, e, i, o, u. Consonants are h, k, l, m, n, p, w. Each letter represents one sound, keeping pronunciation straightforward.
Advantages of a small alphabet
The simplicity of the Hawaiian alphabet makes it one of the easiest writing systems to learn. With just 12 letters to memorize, students can master the basics in no time. The lack of multiple sounds for a single letter avoids confusion. Words are written exactly as they are pronounced.
A small alphabet also creates a low barrier to widespread literacy. Already equipped with the phonetic building blocks, native Hawaiian speakers could easily transition from oral language to reading and writing. Thanks to its simplicity and efficiency, the Hawaiian alphabet enabled the rapid expansion of literacy following its introduction.
Disadvantages of a small alphabet
However, having a limited letter set does pose some downsides. The Hawaiian alphabet lacks characters and digraphs (two-letter combinations) found in the English alphabet that can distinguish similar sounds. For example, without the letters C, D, T it loses the hard C/soft C and D/T contrasts.
This can make spelling imported words that contain those sounds, like “canoe”, challenging. The Hawaiian alphabet must also rely more heavily on macrons (the kahakō over vowels) to indicate vowel length, which adds diacritical markings. Nonetheless, overall the benefits of its simplicity and efficiency seem to outweigh the drawbacks of having fewer letters.
About the Rotokas alphabet
Rotokas, a language indigenous to Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea, holds the title for the fewest letters in any alphabet – just 12. The 12 letters in the Rotokas alphabet are: A, E, G, I, K, O, P, R, S, T, U, V.
Linguists developed this extremely compact orthography as a practical solution for speakers of Rotokas to read and write their previously unwritten language. Having so few letters makes Rotokas one of the most accessible orthographies for native speakers to learn.
To represent complex Rotokas words and sounds using only 12 letters, each one stands for multiple phonetic components. For example, the letter G covers the /g/, /ɣ/, and /ŋ/ sounds, while K represents /k/ and /ŋk/. Vowels can be short or long.
Advantages of such a minimal alphabet
With one of the smallest alphabets in the world, the Rotokas writing system provides some key benefits:
- Very quick and easy to learn to read and write Rotokas
- Requires memorizing only 12 symbols
- Lack of extra letters avoids possible confusion
- Well-suited for use in basic education
- Enables wider communication in the Rotokas language
For a previously unwritten indigenous language like Rotokas, developing an accessible alphabet helps expand literacy and preserve the linguistic heritage. The 12-letter Rotokas alphabet achieves this deceptively simply.
Drawbacks of a 12-letter alphabet
However, such an extremely stripped-down orthography does have some weaknesses:
- Can obscure phonetic distinctions between some sounds
- May not differentiate vowel length consistently
- Harder to spell loanwords from other languages
- Provides fewer grapheme options
- Rotokas words take longer to read aloud
While minor drawbacks, they illustrate the challenges of representing all the complexities of a spoken language with just 12 letters. Overall though, the benefits seem to prevail for a small community language like Rotokas.
Other alphabets with less than 50 letters
Here are some other written languages with full alphabets containing less than 50 letters:
Georgian – 33 letters
The Georgian alphabet is a triangular script with 33 letters adopted from Aramaic. It contains 5 vowels and 28 consonants arranged by place of articulation. Complex shapes and connected letters give it a distinctive look.
Armenian – 39 letters
The Armenian alphabet has 39 letters to write the Armenian language. It was created in the year 405 AD and modeled partly after the Greek alphabet. Some letters indicate sounds not found in English.
Inuktitut – 45 letters
Used for the Inuit languages spoken in northern Canada, the Inuktitut syllabary has 45 basic letter forms. Complex consonant clusters and vowels combinations are written as single syllabic characters.
Mongolian – 47 letters
The Mongolian alphabet has 47 letters including multiple variations of the same sound. It is vertically written top to bottom in columns running left to right. Letters can combine and stack to form compound words.
Why some writing systems use small alphabets
There are a few key reasons why some languages adopt alphabets with a limited number of letters:
- The language has a simple phonology with few distinct sounds
- Aesthetic reasons, symbols are easier to memorize and write
- Reflect the set of speech sounds actually used in the language
- Easier for native speakers to achieve literacy
- Limits potential confusion between similar letters
Languages with smaller alphabets tend to be localized indigenous languages rather than global languages. They often favor phonetic spellings with one sound per letter. This avoids increasing alphabet size to accommodate loanwords.
Disadvantages of a small alphabet
However, limiting the number of letters in an alphabet does have some downsides as well:
- May lack letters or digraphs to represent foreign sounds from loanwords
- Can create ambiguities between similar sounds
- Harder to spell words consistently
- Provides less flexibility for new vocabulary
- Often depends more on diacritics like accent marks
Smaller alphabets sacrifice some precision in sound distinction in favor of simplicity. For major global languages like English with diverse origins, a large alphabet helps encompass all the phonetic complexity.
The largest alphabets
On the other end of the spectrum, here are some examples of writing systems with a very large number of letters:
- Khmer – 74 letters
- Japanese hiragana – 76 letters
- Russian – 77 letters
- Greek – 84 letters
These orthographies all contain over 70 letters, dwarfing the simple 12-letter Hawaiian and Rotokas alphabets. They include supplementary modified letters and multiple scripts within one writing system.
Khmer – 74 letters
The Khmer alphabet developed in Cambodia contains 74 elaborate letter symbols derived from Indian scripts. It includes 33 consonants, 23 dependent vowels, 12 independent vowels, and 6 additional symbols.
Japanese hiragana – 76 letters
Hiragana is one of the main Japanese syllabaries used to write native words phonetically. It comprises 76 distinct syllables formed by combining consonants and vowels. Each syllable gets its own symbol.
Russian – 77 letters
Russian is written with a 33-letter Cyrillic alphabet extended through various diacritics and ligatures to represent modern Russian pronunciation. This brings the total number of letters used to 77.
Greek – 84 letters
The Greek alphabet run 24 letters, but written modern Greek uses a combination of upper and lower case plus additional diacritics. Combined these yield 84 functional letters for writing the modern Greek language.
Why some alphabets contain many letters
There are a few reasons why some writing systems employ such large alphabets:
- Represent a greater variety of phonetic components
- Distinguish between similar sounds
- Accommodate foreign loanwords
- Allow spelling consistency and precision
- Provide more flexibility for coining new words
Languages with very diverse origins and influences often evolve larger alphabets. Ensuring every sound has its own letter avoids ambiguity. A sizable alphabet also copes better with assimilating foreign vocabulary.
Shortcomings of large alphabets
However, there are some downsides to having a high letter count:
- Requires memorizing more symbols
- Can increase complexity for learners
- Creates potential for confusion of similar letters
- Makes typography and handwriting more difficult
- Often dependent on uppercase and lowercase forms
A bloated alphabet with many redundant or obsolete letters can place an unnecessary burden on students. But for languages that have accumulated many loanwords and phonetic variations, a comprehensive letter set does confer advantages.
What makes an alphabet easy to learn?
Some key factors that help make an alphabet more accessible for learners include:
- A smaller number of letters to memorize
- One sound corresponds to each letter
- No or very few duplicate sounds
- Intuitive and distinct letter shapes
- Lowercase and uppercase forms are similar
- Consistent and phonetic spelling rules
- Few or no diacritics like accents or tildes
The Hawaiian and Rotokas alphabets exemplify many of these traits with their 12-letter phonetic writing systems. In contrast, English does not spell consistently by sound and contains many inconsistencies.
What factors make an alphabet harder to learn?
On the other hand, the following tend to add complexity for alphabet learners:
- A large number of letters to memorize
- Multiple sounds assigned to a single letter
- Duplicated or redundant letter sounds
- Complex and dissimilar uppercase and lowercase forms
- Inconsistent spelling that does not follow pronunciation
- Required diacritics like accents for proper pronunciation
- Multiple scripts or symbol sets for a single language
English contains many of these complicating characteristics, from inconsistent spelling to requiring accent marks in loanwords. These facets contribute to making it one of the harder alphabets to master fully.
What is the optimal alphabet size?
So what is the ideal number of letters for an alphabet to balance ease of use and representing a language accurately?
Experts suggest:
- Around 20-35 letters is sufficient for most languages.
- Having under 25 letters makes an alphabet very simple.
- Up to 45 letters can still be considered reasonably compact.
- Beyond 50 letters often indicates redundant symbols.
However, there are exceptions. Logographic writing systems using pictographs like Chinese hanzi do not really have a true alphabet.
Ultimately there is no perfect alphabet size. Each language must be examined individually based on its particular combination of speech sounds, loanword usage, and orthographic conventions.
Finding the right letter count to balance simplicity for learners and complete phonetic representation is the key for any alphabet.
Conclusion
In summary, the shortest alphabets in the world contain only 12 letters like Hawaiian and Rotokas. These minimalist writing systems keep symbols to a bare minimum, sacrificing some precision for learnability.
However, major global languages usually require larger alphabets with over 50 letters to capture a greater range of sounds. There is no ideal size, but 20-45 letters offers a good balance for most languages.
The shortest alphabet makes reading and writing the easiest. But a limited letter set also has drawbacks for accurately representing all the complexity of human language.