even within a single sprachraum, there can be different, but closely related, languages, otherwise known as dialect continua. a classic example is the varieties of chinese, which can be mutually unintelligible in spoken form, but are typically considered the same language (or, at least, closely related) and have a unified non-phonetic writing system. arabic has a similar situation, but its writing system (an abjad) reflects the pronunciation and grammar of a common literary language (modern standard arabic).