Javanese script

Not to be confused with Jawi script, Japanese script, or JavaScript.

Javanese ꦲꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦗꦮ
Script type	Abugida
Time period	c. 1500s CE – present
Direction	Left-to-right
Languages	Javanese Sundanese Madurese Sasak Malay Indonesian Kawi Sanskrit
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Aramaic Brahmi script Tamil Brahmi Pallava script Kawi script Javanese
Sister systems	Balinese alphabet Batak alphabet Baybayin scripts Lontara alphabet Makasar Sundanese script Rencong alphabet Rejang alphabet Sasak script
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Java (361), ​Javanese
Unicode
Unicode alias	Javanese
Unicode range	U+A980–U+A9DF

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Javanese script (natively known as Aksara Jawa, Hanacaraka, Carakan, and Dentawyanjana) is one of Indonesia's traditional scripts developed on the island of Java. The script is primarily used to write the Javanese language and has also been used to write several other regional languages such as Sundanese and Madurese, the regional lingua franca Malay, as well as the historical languages Kawi and Sanskrit. It heavily influenced the Balinese script from which the writing system for Sasak developed. Javanese script was actively used by the Javanese people for writing day-to-day and literary texts from at least the mid-16th century CE until the mid-20th century CE, before it was gradually supplanted by the Latin alphabet. Today, the script is taught in the Yogyakarta Special Region as well as the provinces of Central Java and East Java as part of the local curriculum, but with very limited function in everyday use.

Javanese script is an abugida writing system which consists of 20 to 33 basic letters, depending on the language being written. Like other Brahmic scripts, each letter (called an aksara) represents a syllable with the inherent vowel /a/ or /ɔ/ which can be changed with the placement of diacritics around the letter. Each letter has a conjunct form called pasangan, which nullifies the inherent vowel of the previous letter. Traditionally, the script is written without spaces between words (scriptio continua) but is interspersed with a group of decorative punctuation.

History

Javanese script's evolutionary history can be traced fairly well because significant amounts of inscriptional evidence left behind allowed for epigraphical studies to be carried out. The oldest root of Javanese script is the Tamil-Brahmi script which evolved into the Pallava script in Southern and Southeast Asia between the 6th and 8th centuries. The Pallava script, in turn, evolved into Kawi script, which was actively used throughout Indonesia's Hindu-Buddhist period between the 8th and 15th centuries. In various parts of Indonesia, Kawi script would then evolve into Indonesia's various traditional scripts, one of them being Javanese script. The modern Javanese script seen today evolved from Kawi script between the 14th and 15th centuries, a period in which Java began to receive significant Islamic influence.

From the 15th until the mid-20th centuries, Javanese script was actively used by the Javanese people for writing day-to-day and literary texts spanning a wide range of themes. Javanese script was used throughout the island at a time when there was no easy means of communication between remote areas and no impulse towards standardization. As a result, there is a huge variety of historical and local styles of Javanese writing throughout the ages. The great differences between regional styles make the "Javanese script" appear like a family of scripts. Javanese writing traditions were especially cultivated in the Kraton environment in Javanese cultural centers, such as Yogyakarta and Surakarta. However, Javanese texts are known to be made and used by various layers of society with varying usage intensities between regions. In West Java, for example, the script was mainly used by the Sundanese nobility (ménak) due to the political influence of the Mataram kingdom. However, most Sundanese people within the same time period more commonly used the Pegon script which was adapted from the Arabic alphabet. Javanese writing tradition also relied on periodic copying due to the deterioration of writing materials in the tropical Javanese climate; as a result, many physical manuscripts that are available now are 18th or 19th century copies, though their contents can usually be traced to far older prototypes.

Media

Serat Yusuf in palm leaf (lontar) form, Tropenmuseum collection

Serat Yusuf in paper codex form, Museum Sonobudoyo collection

Javanese script has been written with numerous media that have shifted over time. Kawi script, which is ancestral to Javanese script, is often found on stone inscriptions and copper plates. Everyday writing in Kawi was done in palm leaf form (ocally known as lontar), which are processed leaves of the tal palm (Borassus flabellifer). Each lontar leaf has the shape of a slim rectangle 2.8 to 4 cm in width and varies in length between 20 and 80 cm. Each leaf can only accommodate around 4 lines of writing, which are incised horizontally with a small knife and then blackened with soot to increase readability. This media has a long history of attested use all over South and Southeast Asia.

In the 13th century, paper began to be used in the Malay Archipelago. This introduction is related to the spread of Islam in the region, since Islamic writing traditions were supported by the use of paper and codex manuscript. As Java began to receive significant Islamic influence in the 15th century, coinciding with the period in which Kawi script began to transition into the modern Javanese script, paper became widespread in Java while the use of lontar only persisted in a few regions. There are two kinds of paper that are commonly used in Javanese manuscript: locally produced paper called daluang, and imported paper. Daluang (also spelled dluwang) is a paper made from the beaten bark of the saéh tree (Broussonetia papyrifera). Visually, daluang can be easily differentiated from regular paper by its distinctive brown tint and fibrous appearance. A well made daluang has a smooth surface and is quite durable against manuscript damage commonly associated with tropical climates, especially insect damage. Meanwhile, a coarse daluang has a bumpy surface and tends to break easily. Daluang is commonly used in manuscripts produced by Javanese kraton (palaces) and pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) between the 16th and 17th centuries.

Most imported paper in Indonesian manuscripts came from Europe. In the beginning, only a few scribes were able to use European paper due to its high price—paper made using European methods at the time could only be imported in limited numbers. In colonial administration, the use of European paper had to be supplemented with Javanese daluang and imported Chinese paper until at least the 19th century. As the paper supply increased due to growing imports from Europe, scribes in palaces and urban settlements gradually opted to use European paper as the primary medium for writing, while daluang paper was increasingly associated with pesantren and rural manuscripts. Alongside the increase of European paper supply, attempts to create Javanese printing type began, spearheaded by several European figures. With the establishment of printing technology in 1825, materials in Javanese script could be mass-produced and became increasingly common in various aspects of pre-independence Javanese life, from letters, books, and newspapers, to magazines, and even advertisements and paper currency.

Usage

Details of Serat Selarasa manuscript copied in Surabaya, 1804. The two leftmost figures can be seen reciting a text.

From the 15th century until the mid-20th century, Javanese script was used by all layers of Javanese society for writing day-to-day and literary texts with a wide range of theme and content. Due to the significant influence of oral tradition, reading in pre-independence Javanese society was usually a performance; Javanese literature texts are almost always composed in metrical verses that are designed to be recited, thus Javanese texts are not only judged by their content and language, but also by the merit of their melody and rhythm during recitation sessions. Javanese poets are not expected to create new stories and characters; instead the role of the poet is to rewrite and recompose existing stories into forms that cater to local taste and prevailing trends. As a result, Javanese literary works such as the Cerita Panji do not have a single authoritative version referenced by all others; instead, the Cerita Panji is a loose collection of numerous tales with various versions bound together by the common thread of the Panji character. Literature genres with the longest attested history are Sanskrit epics such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which have been recomposed since the Kawi period and introduced hundreds of familiar characters in Javanese wayang stories today, including Arjuna, Srikandi, Ghatotkacha and many others. Since the introduction of Islam, characters of Middle-Eastern provenance such as Amir Hamzah and the Prophet Joseph have also been frequent subjects of writing. There are also local characters, usually set in Java's semi-legendary past, such as Prince Panji, Damar Wulan, and Calon Arang.

When studies of Javanese language and literature began to attract European attention in the 19th century, an initiative to create a Javanese movable type began to take place in order to mass-produce and quickly disseminate Javanese literary materials. One of the earliest attempts to create a movable Javanese type was by Paul van Vlissingen. His typeface was first put in use in the Bataviasche Courant newspaper's October 1825 issue. While lauded as a considerable technical achievement, many at the time felt that Vlissingen's design was a coarse copy of the fine Javanese hand used in literary texts, and so this early attempt was further developed by numerous other people to varying degrees of success as the study of Javanese developed over the years. In 1838, Taco Roorda completed his typeface, known as Tuladha Jejeg, based on the hand of Surakartan scribes with some European typographical elements mixed in. Roorda's font garnered positive feedback and soon became the main choice to print any Javanese text. From then, reading materials in printed Javanese using Roorda's typeface became widespread among the Javanese populace and were widely used in materials other than literature. The establishment of print technology gave rise to a printing industry which, for the next century, produced various materials in printed Javanese, from administrative papers and school books, to mass media such as the Kajawèn magazine which was entirely printed in Javanese in all of its articles and columns. In government administration, Javanese script was part of the multilingual legal text on the Netherlands Indies gulden banknotes circulated by the Bank of Java.

• Some examples of use
• 
  Opening pages of Serat Jatipustaka copied in 1830, Denver Museum collection
• 
  Opening page of Babad Tanah Jawi copied in 1862, Library of Congress collection
• 
  A Javanese type sample from the Amsterdam type foundry, 1910
• 
  Cover of Kajawèn magazine, issue 65, 16 August 1933
• 
  Serat kekancingan, a document issued by the Kraton of Yogyakarta in 1935, Dewantara Kirti Griya Museum collection
• 
  Serat Babad Tuban published by Tan Khoen Swie in 1936

Decline

As literacy rates and the demand for reading materials increased at the beginning of the 20th century, Javanese publishers paradoxically began to decrease the amount of Javanese script publication due to a practical and economic consideration: printing any text in Javanese script at the time required twice the amount of paper compared to the same text rendered in the Latin alphabet, making Javanese texts more expensive and time-consuming to produce. In order to lower production costs and keep book prices affordable to the general populace, many publishers (such as the government-owned Balai Pustaka) gradually prioritized publications in the Latin alphabet. However, the Javanese population at the time maintained the use of Javanese script in various aspects of everyday life. It was, for example, considered more polite to write a letter using Javanese script, especially one addressed toward an elder or superior. Many publishers, including Balai Pustaka, continued to print books, newspapers, and magazines in Javanese script due to sufficient, albeit declining, demand. The use of Javanese script only started to drop significantly during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies beginning in 1942. Some writers attribute this sudden decline to prohibitions issued by the Japanese government banning the use of native script in the public sphere, though no documentary evidence of such a ban has yet been found. Nevertheless, the use of Javanese script did decline significantly during the Japanese occupation and it never recovered its previous widespread use in post-independence Indonesia.

Contemporary use

Comparison of Javanese script styles for government institution nameplates.

Surakarta-style: Javanese script is placed above Latin letters (Perwali Solo No. 3/2008).

Yogyakarta-style: Latin letters are placed above Javanese script (Pergub DIY No.70/2009)

In contemporary usage, Javanese script is still taught as part of the local curriculum in Yogyakarta, Central Java, and the East Java Province. Several local newspapers and magazines have columns written in Javanese script, and the script can frequently be seen on public signage. However, many contemporary attempts to revive Javanese script are symbolic rather than functional; there are no longer, for example, periodicals like the Kajawèn magazine that publish significant content in Javanese script. Most Javanese people today know the existence of the script and recognize a few letters, but it is rare to find someone who can read and write it meaningfully. Therefore, as recently as 2019, it is not uncommon to see Javanese script signage in public places with numerous misspellings and basic mistakes. Several hurdles in revitalizing the use of Javanese script includes information technology equipment that does not support correct rendering of Javanese script, lack of governing bodies with sufficient competence to consult on its usage, and lack of typographical explorations that may intrigue contemporary viewers. Nevertheless, attempts to revive the script are still being conducted by several communities and public figures who encourage the use of Javanese script in the public sphere, especially with digital devices.

Letters

Aksara

Aksara are base letters that represent a single syllable. Javanese script has approximately 45 base aksara, but not all of them are equally used. Over time, some aksara have fallen out of use, while others are only employed in specific contexts. Therefore, the aksara in Javanese script are classified into several types based on their function and usage.

Wyanjana

Aksara wyanjana (ꦲꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦮꦾꦚ꧀ꦗꦤ) are consonants with an inherent vowel sound of /a/ or /ɔ/. As a descendant of the Brahmi script, Javanese script originally had 33 wyanjana characters to write the 33 consonant sounds used in Sanskrit and Kawi. Their forms can be seen as follows:

Aksara Wyanjana (old sequence)

Place of articulation	Voiceless		Voiced		Nasal	Semivowel	Sibilant	Glottal
	Unaspirated	Aspirated	Unaspirated	Aspirated
Velar	ꦏ ka	ꦑ kha	ꦒ ga	ꦓ gha	ꦔ ṅa[1]			ꦲ ha/a[5]
Palatal	ꦕ ca	ꦖ cha	ꦗ ja	ꦙ jha	ꦚ ña2	ꦪ ya	ꦯ śa[6]
Retroflex	ꦛ ṭa[3]	ꦜ ṭha	ꦝ ḍa[4]	ꦞ ḍha	ꦟ ṇa	ꦫ ra	ꦰ ṣa
Dental	ꦠ ta	ꦡ tha	ꦢ da	ꦣ dha	ꦤ na	ꦭ la	ꦱ sa
Labial	ꦥ pa	ꦦ pha	ꦧ ba	ꦨ bha	ꦩ ma	ꦮ wa
Note ^1 /ŋa/ as in nga in the word "mengalah" ^2 /ɲa/ as in nya in the word "menyanyi" ^3 /ʈa/ as in tha in the Javanese word "kathah" ^4 /ɖa/ as in dha in the Javanese word "padha" ^5 Acts as both the phoneme /ha/ and /a/ in Kawi The following pronunciations are not used in modern Javanese: ^6 /ɕa/ approximating the pronunciation of sya in the word "syarat"

In its development, modern Javanese no longer uses the entire set of wyanjana characters from the Sanskrit-Kawi series. Modern Javanese only uses 20 consonant sounds and 20 basic characters, which are then referred to as aksara nglegena (ꦲꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦔ꧀ꦭꦼꦒꦼꦤ). Some of the remaining characters were repurposed as aksara murda (ꦲꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦩꦸꦂꦢ) to write titles and names of respect, both legendary figures (e.g., Bima written as ꦨꦶꦩ) and real individuals (e.g., Pakubuwana written as ꦦꦑꦸꦨꦸꦮꦟ). Out of the 20 nglegena characters, only 9 have murda forms. Therefore, the use of murda is not identical to the use of capital letters in Latin script. If the first syllable of a name does not have a murda form, the second syllable uses murda. If the second syllable also lacks a murda form, the third syllable uses murda, and so on. A name of great respect can be written entirely in murda if possible. In traditional writing, the application of murda was not always consistent and was essentially optional. Thus, a name like "Gani" could be written as ꦒꦤꦶ (without murda), ꦓꦤꦶ (with murda at the beginning), or ꦓꦟꦶ (entirely in murda), depending on the background and context of the writing. The remaining characters that are not included in nglegena or murda are mahaprana characters. Mahaprana characters have no function in modern Javanese writing and are only used in writing Sanskrit-Kawi.

Aksara Wyanjana (modern sequence)

	ha/a[1]	na	ca	ra	ka	da	ta	sa	wa	la	pa	dha	ja	ya	nya	ma	ga	ba	tha	nga
Nglegena	ꦲ	ꦤ	ꦕ	ꦫ	ꦏ	ꦢ	ꦠ	ꦱ	ꦮ	ꦭ	ꦥ	ꦝ	ꦗ	ꦪ	ꦚ	ꦩ	ꦒ	ꦧ	ꦛ	ꦔ
Murda		ꦟ	ꦖ[2]	ꦬ[3]	ꦑ		ꦡ	ꦯ			ꦦ				ꦘ		ꦓ	ꦨ
Mahaprana						ꦣ		ꦰ				ꦞ	30px ꦙ						ꦜ
Catatan ^1 Acts as both the phoneme /ha/ and /a/ depending on the specific word ^2 ra murda is only attested in its pasangan form, its base form is a contemporary reconstruction ^3 ca agung serves a function similar to other murda letters but is not widely recognized due to its limited use within royal circles.

Swara

Aksara swara (ꦲꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦱ꧀ꦮꦫ) are characters used to write syllables that begin without a consonant, i.e., syllables consisting solely of vowels. Initially, Javanese script had 14 vowel characters inherited from the Sanskrit writing tradition. The forms are as follows:

Aksara Swara

Place of articulation	Velar	Palatal	Labial	Retroflex	Dental	Velar-Palatal	Velar-Labial
Short	ꦄ a	ꦅ i	ꦈ u	ꦉ ṛ/re[1]	ꦊ ḷ/le[2]	ꦌ é[3]	ꦎ o
Long	ꦄꦴ ā	ꦆ ī	ꦈꦴ ū	ꦉꦴ ṝ/reu[4]	ꦋ ḹ/leu[5]	ꦍ ai6	ꦎꦴ au7
Note ^1 pa cerek, /rə/ as in the word "remah" ^2 nga lelet, /lə/ as in the word "lemah" ^3 /e/ as in e in the word "enak" The following pronunciations are not used in modern Javanese: ^4 pa cerek dirgha is actually only used in Sanskrit as a complement to Pāṇini's phonological system. ^5 nga lelet raswadi is also only used in Sanskrit as a complement to Pāṇini's phonological system. ^6 diphtong /aj/ is pronounced like ai in the word sungai. ^7 diphtong /aw/ is pronounced like au in the word pantau.

Similar to aksara wyanjana, modern Javanese no longer uses the entire set of aksara swara from the Sanskrit-Kawi series, and now only the short vowel characters are generally taught. In modern writing, aksara swara is used to replace the aksara wyanjana ha ꦲ (whose pronunciation can be ambiguous as it serves a dual function as the phoneme /ha/ and /a/) in foreign names or terms whose pronunciation needs clarification.

Pa cerek ꦉ, pa cerek dirgha ꦉꦴ, nga lelet ꦊ, and nga lelet raswadi ꦋ are syllabic consonants that are considered vowel letters in Sanskrit-Kawi. When used in languages other than Sanskrit, the pronunciation of these four characters often varies. In the development of modern Javanese, only pa cerek and nga lelet are used. Pa cerek is pronounced /rə/ (similar to re in the word "remah" (crumb)), while nga lelet is pronounced /lə/ (similar to le in the word "lemah" (weak)). In modern teaching, these characters are often separated from aksara swara and classified into a distinct category called aksara gantèn (replacement characters). These two characters must be used to replace every combination of ra + pepet (ꦫꦼ → ꦉ) and la + pepet (ꦭꦼ → ꦊ) without exception.

Rékan

Aksara rékan (ꦲꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦫꦺꦏꦤ꧀) are additional characters used to write foreign sounds. Initially developed to transcribe loanwords from Arabic, they were later adapted for loanwords from Dutch, and in contemporary use, they are also utilized to write words from Indonesian and English. Most rékan characters are formed by adding the cecak telu diacritic to the character whose sound is considered closest to the foreign sound. For example, the rékan character fa (ꦥ꦳) is formed by adding the cecak telu to the wyanjana character pa (ꦥ). The combination of wyanjana and the foreign sound equivalent for each rékan may vary among writers due to the lack of a unified standard. According to Padmasusastra and Dwijasewaya, there are five rékan characters: kha, dza, fa, za, and gha. However, according to Hollander, there are nine.

Aksara Rékan

	ḥa	kha	qa	dza	sya	fa/va	za	gha	'a
Javanese script	ꦲ꦳	ꦏ꦳	ꦐ[1]	ꦢ꦳	ꦱ꦳	ꦥ꦳	ꦗ꦳	ꦒ꦳	ꦔ꦳
Arabic alphabet	ح	خ	ق	ذ	ش	ف	ز	غ	ع
Notes ^1 The character "ka Sasak" was originally used only in the writing of the Sasak language.

Diacritics

Diacritics (sandhangan ꦱꦤ꧀ꦝꦔꦤ꧀) are marks attached to characters to modify the inherent vowel of the respective character. Similar to the characters themselves, Javanese diacritics can also be divided into several groups depending on their function and usage.

Swara

Sandhangan swara (ꦱꦤ꧀ꦝꦁꦔꦤ꧀ꦱ꧀ꦮꦫ) are diacritics used to change the inherent vowel /a/ to other vowels, as shown below:

Sandhangan Swara

Short						Long
-a	-i	-u	-é[1]	-o	-e[2]	-ā	-ī	-ū	-ai[3]	-au[4]	-eu[5]
-	ꦶ	ꦸ	ꦺ	ꦺꦴ	ꦼ	ꦴ	ꦷ	ꦹ	ꦻ	ꦻꦴ	ꦼꦴ
-	wulu	suku	taling	taling-tarung	pepet	tarung	wulu melik	suku mendut	dirga muré	dirga muré-tarung	pepet-tarung
ka	ki	ku	ké	ko	ke	kā	kī	kū	kai	kau	keu
ꦏ	ꦏꦶ	ꦏꦸ	ꦏꦺ	ꦏꦺꦴ	ꦏꦼ	ꦏꦴ	ꦏꦷ	ꦏꦹ	ꦏꦻ	ꦭꦻꦴ	ꦏꦼꦴ
Note ^1 /e/ as in the e in the word enak ^2 /ə/ as in the e in the word empat, a Kawi sound not derived from Sanskrit. The following pronunciations are not used in modern Javanese: ^3 diphtong /aj/ as in ai in the word sungai ^4 diphtong /aw/ as in au in the word kata pantau ^5 A Kawi sound not derived from Sanskrit, generally romanized as ö in general Kawi studies.

Just like aksara swara, only short vowel diacritics are generally taught and used in contemporary Javanese, while long vowel diacritics are used in writing Sanskrit and Kawi.

Panyigeging Wanda

Sandhangan panyigeging wanda (ꦱꦤ꧀ꦝꦁꦔꦤ꧀ꦥꦚꦶꦒꦼꦒꦶꦁꦮꦤ꧀ꦢ) are diacritics used to close a syllable with a consonant, as follows:

Sandhangan Panyigeging Wanda

nasal[1]	-ng	-r	-h	final consonant[2]
ꦀ	ꦁ	ꦂ	ꦃ	꧀
panyangga	cecak	layar	wignyan	pangkon
kam	kang	kar	kah	k
ꦏꦀ	ꦏꦁ	ꦏꦂ	ꦏꦃ	ꦏ꧀
Note ^1 usually used in transcription of Balinese lontars for writing the sacred syllable om ꦎꦀ ^2 They are not used for closed syllables that occur in the middle of a word or sentence (see pasangan)

Wyanjana

Sandhangan wyanjana (ꦱꦤ꧀ꦝꦁꦔꦤ꧀ꦮꦾꦚ꧀ꦗꦤ) is used to write consonant clusters with semivowels within a single syllable, as follows:

Sandhangan Wyanjana

-re	-y-	-r-	-l-	-w-
ꦽ	ꦾ	ꦿ	꧀ꦭ	꧀ꦮ
keret	pengkal	cakra	panjingan la	gembung
kre	kya	kra	kla	kwa
ꦏꦽ	ꦏꦾ	ꦏꦿ	ꦏ꧀ꦭ	ꦏ꧀ꦮ

Pasangan

The inherent vowel of each base character can be nullified using the diacritic pangkon. However, the pangkon is generally not used in the middle of words or sentences. Instead, to write a closed syllable in the middle of a word or sentence, the pasangan form (ꦥꦱꦔꦤ꧀) is used. Unlike the pangkon, the pasangan not only nullifies the preceding consonant but also indicates the subsequent consonant. For example, the character ma (ꦩ) followed by the pasangan form of pa (꧀ꦥ) becomes mpa (ꦩ꧀ꦥ). The pasangan forms for each character are listed in the following table:

Aksara and Pasangan

		ha/a	na	ca	ra	ka	da	ta	sa	wa	la	pa	dha	ja	ya	nya	ma	ga	ba	tha	nga
Nglegena	Aksara	ꦲ	ꦤ	ꦕ	ꦫ	ꦏ	ꦢ	ꦠ	ꦱ	ꦮ	ꦭ	ꦥ	ꦝ	ꦗ	ꦪ	ꦚ	ꦩ	ꦒ	ꦧ	ꦛ	ꦔ
	Pasangan	꧀ꦲ	꧀ꦤ	꧀ꦕ	꧀ꦫ	꧀ꦏ	꧀ꦢ	꧀ꦠ	꧀ꦱ	꧀ꦮ	꧀ꦭ	꧀ꦥ	꧀ꦝ	꧀ꦗ	꧀ꦪ	꧀ꦚ	꧀ꦩ	꧀ꦒ	꧀ꦧ	꧀ꦛ	꧀ꦔ
Murda	Aksara		ꦟ	ꦖ	ꦬ	ꦑ		ꦡ	ꦯ			ꦦ				ꦘ		ꦒ	ꦨ
	Pasangan		ꦟ	꧀ꦖ[1]	꧀ꦬ	꧀ꦑ		꧀ꦡ	꧀ꦯ			꧀ꦦ				꧀ꦘ		꧀ꦓ	꧀ꦨ
Mahaprana	Aksara						ꦣ		ꦰ				ꦞ	ꦙ						ꦜ
	Pasangan						꧀ꦣ		꧀ꦰ				꧀ꦞ	꧀ꦙ						30px ꧀ꦜ
Note      The circular mark (◌) on the character is not part of the pasangan itself but indicates the position of the accompanying character. ^1 It is often used as part of pepadan, which does not have a phonetic function. ^2 The pasangan forms in this table are those used in modern Javanese writing. Some characters have different pasangan forms in Sanskrit-Kawi writing.

Examples of the use of pasangan can be seen as follows:

component										writing	description
	+		+		+		+		=		a + (ka + (pangkon + sa)) + ra → a + (ka + (pasangan sa)) + ra = a(ksa)ra
	+		+		+		+		=		ka + (na + (pangkon + tha) + -i) → ka + (na + (pasangan tha) + -i) = ka(nthi)

Numbers

Javanese script has its own numeric symbols that function similarly to Arabic numerals, though some of their forms closely resemble certain Javanese characters. For instance, the numeral 1 (꧑) resembles the wyanjana character ga (ꦒ), and the numeral 8 (꧘) resembles the murda character pa (ꦦ). Due to these similarities, numerals used within a sentence need to be enclosed with punctuation marks such as pada pangkat or pada lingsa to clarify their function as numeric symbols. For example, tanggal 17 Juni "17th of June" is written as ꦠꦁꦒꦭ꧀꧇꧑꧗꧇ꦗꦸꦤꦶ or ꦠꦁꦒꦭ꧀꧈꧑꧗꧈ꦗꦸꦤꦶ. These enclosures can be omitted when the numeral's function is clear from context, such as page numbers in the corner of a page. The forms are as follows:

Numbers

0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
꧐	꧑	꧒	꧓	꧔	꧕	꧖	꧗	꧘	꧙

Punctuation

Traditional Javanese text is written without spaces between words (scriptio continua) and uses a set of punctuation marks known as pada (ꦥꦢ). To separate sentences, Javanese script employs pada lungsi (꧉) when the last syllable is open (without a pangkon) but uses pada lingsa (꧈) when the last syllable is closed (using a pangkon). Conversely, to separate clauses, pada lingsa (꧈) is used if the last syllable is closed, while a space is used if the last syllable is open. This punctuation system differs from the use of periods and commas in Latin script and is often not well understood by contemporary Javanese script users.

Additionally, Javanese script lacks equivalents for question marks, exclamation marks, hyphens, mathematical symbols (including slashes), and semicolons. Consequently, whether a sentence in Javanese script is interrogative (question) or imperative (command) can only be inferred from the context. The various forms of pada are as follows:

Pada

lingsa	lungsi	adeg	adeg-adeg	pisèlèh	rerenggan	pangkat	rangkap	letter					correction
								andhap	madya	luhur	guru	pancak	tirta tumètès	isèn-isèn
꧈	꧉	꧊	꧋	꧌...꧍	꧁...꧂	꧇	ꧏ	꧃	꧄	꧅	꧋꧆꧋	꧉꧆꧉	꧞꧞꧞	꧟꧟꧟

In modern teaching, the most commonly used punctuation marks in Javanese script are pada adeg-adeg, pada lingsa, and pada lungsi, which function similarly to a paragraph mark (like a pilcrow), a comma, and a period, respectively. Pada adeg-adeg opens a paragraph, pada lingsa separates clauses or sentences and pada lungsi ends a sentence. Other punctuation marks include pada adeg and pada pisèlèh, which are used to enclose inserts in the text, similar to parentheses or quotation marks. Pada pangkat functions similarly to a colon. Pada rangkap is sometimes used as a repetition marker, similar to the use of the number "2" in informal Indonesian (e.g. kata-kata ꦏꦠꦏꦠ → ꦏꦠꧏ = kata2).

Some punctuation marks, like rerenggan, have no direct Latin script equivalents and are often purely decorative. They are frequently used to frame titles or sections of text, with considerable variation among writers. In correspondence, certain punctuation marks indicate the sender’s social status. Pada andhap denotes low status, pada madya denotes middle status, pada luhur denotes high status, and pada guru is neutral, without social connotations. Pada pancak is used to end a letter. However, these distinctions are generalized. The actual forms and functions of these punctuation marks are highly variable, with specific regional and personal styles.

In traditional manuscripts, some royal scribes used specific correction marks instead of crossing out errors. Tirta tumétès is found in Yogyakarta manuscripts, while isèn-isèn is found in Surakarta manuscripts. For instance, if a scribe intended to write pada luhur (ꦥꦢꦭꦸꦲꦸꦂ) but mistakenly wrote pada hu (ꦥꦢꦲꦸ), they would insert the correction mark (꧞꧞꧞ or ꧟꧟꧟) and continue with the correct text: ꦥꦢꦲꦸ꧟꧟꧟ꦭꦸꦲꦸꦂ.

Pepadan

Aside from regular punctuation, one of the distinctive features in Javanese script writing is pepadan (ꦥꦼꦥꦢꦤ꧀). Pepadan refers to a set of rhyme markers whose forms and application often carry high artistic value. Several common forms can be seen as follows:

Pepadan

small pada		large pada
꧅		꧅ ꦧ꧀ꦖ ꧅

Punctuation marks in the form of pepadan can be identified by various names in traditional texts. Behrend (1996) categorizes pepadan into two general groups: small pada, which are single punctuation marks, and large pada, which are often composed of several marks arranged in a sequence. Small pada are used to indicate stanza breaks, typically appearing every 32 to 48 syllables depending on the meter used. Large pada mark the transition between tembang (accompanied by changes in meter, rhythm, and vocal tone) and usually appear every 5 to 10 pages, though this greatly depends on the structure of the manuscript. Writing guidelines for Javanese script often divide large pada into three types: purwa pada ꧅ ꦧ꧀ꦖ ꧅ used at the beginning of the first tembang, madya pada ꧅ ꦟ꧀ꦢꦿ ꧅ used at tembang transitions, and wasana pada ꧅ ꦆ ꧅ used at the end of the final tembang. However, due to the significant variation in forms between manuscripts, these three marks are often merged and treated as one in many Javanese texts.

Pepadan is the most visually prominent element in Javanese manuscripts and is almost always rendered with artistic skill, incorporating calligraphy, coloring, and even gilding with gold leaf. In some luxurious manuscripts, the form of pepadan can even serve as a clue to the song being used; for instance, pepadan featuring wings or crow-like birds (dhandhang in Javanese) refers to the dhandhanggula tembang, while those featuring goldfish allude to the maskumambang tembang (literally meaning "gold floating in water"). One of the key centers for producing manuscripts with exceptional pepadan designs was the scriptorium of Pakualaman in Yogyakarta.

Ordering

Modern Javanese script is typically ordered using the Hanacaraka sequence, named after the first five characters in the sequence. In this order, the 20 basic characters used in modern Javanese form a pangram often associated with the legend of Aji Saka. The origin of this sequence is uncertain, but it is estimated to have been used by the Javanese community at least since the 15th century, when the region began to experience significant Islamic influence.

There are various interpretations regarding the philosophical and esoteric meanings purportedly embedded within the Hanacaraka sequence.

Hanacaraka sequence

ꦲꦤꦕꦫꦏ	ꦢꦠꦱꦮꦭ	ꦥꦝꦗꦪꦚ	ꦩꦒꦧꦛꦔ
(h)ana caraka there were two envoys	data sawala who quarreled and fought	padha jayanya equally matched	maga bathanga here lie their corpses

The Hanacaraka sequence is not the only method for ordering Javanese script. For writing Sanskrit and Kawi, which require 33 base characters, Javanese script can be arranged according to the place of articulation (warga) based on Sanskrit phonological principles first described by Pāṇini. This sequence, sometimes referred to as the Kaganga sequence based on its first three characters, is the standard order for Brahmic-derived scripts still capable of writing Sanskrit, such as Devanagari, Tamil, and Khmer.

Sanskrit sequence (Kaganga)

Pancawalimukha					Ardhasuara	Ūṣma	Wisarga
Kaṇṭya	Tālawya	Mūrdhanya	Dantya	Oṣṭya
ꦏꦑꦒꦓꦔ	ꦕꦖꦗꦙꦚ	ꦛꦜꦝꦞꦟ	ꦠꦡꦢꦣꦤ	ꦥꦦꦧꦨꦩ	ꦪꦫꦭꦮ	ꦯꦰꦱ	ꦲ
ka kha ga gha nga	ca cha ja jha nya	ṭa ṭha ḍa ḍha ṇa	ta tha da dha na	pa pha ba bha ma	ya ra la wa	śa ṣa sa	ha

Sample text

Excerpt from the Treatise on Cats (Javanese: ꦱꦼꦫꦠ꧀ꦏꦠꦸꦫꦁꦒꦤ꧀ꦏꦸꦕꦶꦁ, romanized: Serat Katuranggan Kucing), printed in 1871 with modern Javanese language and spelling.

Pada	Javanese		English translation
	Javanese script	Latin
7	꧅ꦭꦩꦸꦤ꧀ꦱꦶꦫꦔꦶꦔꦸꦏꦸꦕꦶꦁ꧈ ꦲꦮꦏ꧀ꦏꦺꦲꦶꦉꦁꦱꦢꦪ꧈ ꦭꦩ꧀ꦧꦸꦁꦏꦶꦮꦠꦺꦩ꧀ꦧꦺꦴꦁꦥꦸꦠꦶꦃ꧈ ꦊꦏ꧀ꦱꦤꦤ꧀ꦤꦶꦫꦥꦿꦪꦺꦴꦒ꧈ ꦲꦫꦤ꧀ꦮꦸꦭꦤ꧀ꦏꦿꦲꦶꦤꦤ꧀‍꧈ ꦠꦶꦤꦼꦏꦤꦤ꧀ꦱꦱꦼꦢꦾꦤ꧀ꦤꦶꦥꦸꦤ꧀‍꧈ ꦪꦺꦤ꧀ꦧꦸꦟ꧀ꦝꦼꦭ꧀ꦭꦁꦏꦸꦁꦲꦸꦠꦩ꧈	Lamun sira ngingu kucing, awaké ireng sadaya, lambung kiwa tèmbong putih, leksanira prayoga, aran wulan krahinan, tinekanan sasedyanira ipun, yèn bundhel langkung utama	A completely black cat with a white patch on its left belly is called Harvest Moon. It is a cat that brings good fortune and the fulfilment of all wishes. It is better if it is bobtailed.
8	꧅ꦲꦗꦱꦶꦫꦔꦶꦔꦸꦏꦸꦕꦶꦁ꧈ ꦭꦸꦫꦶꦏ꧀ꦲꦶꦉꦁꦧꦸꦤ꧀ꦠꦸꦠ꧀ꦥꦚ꧀ꦗꦁ꧈ ꦥꦸꦤꦶꦏꦲꦮꦺꦴꦤ꧀ꦭꦩꦠ꧀ꦠꦺ꧈ ꦱꦼꦏꦼꦭꦤ꧀ꦱꦿꦶꦁꦠꦸꦏꦂꦫꦤ꧀‍꧈ ꦲꦫꦤ꧀ꦝꦣꦁꦱꦸꦁꦏꦮ꧈ ꦥꦤ꧀ꦲꦢꦺꦴꦃꦫꦶꦗꦼꦏꦶꦤꦶꦥꦸꦤ꧀‍꧈ ꦪꦺꦤ꧀ꦧꦸꦟ꧀ꦝꦼꦭ꧀ꦤꦺꦴꦫꦔꦥꦲ꧈	Aja sira ngingu kucing, lurik ireng buntut panjang, punika awon lamaté, sekelan sring tukaran, aran dhadhang sungkawa, pan adoh rijeki nipun, yèn bundhel nora ngapa	A dark striped cat with a long tail should not be kept as a pet. Such a cat is called Mourning Crow. You would encounter frequent arguments and limited wealth. But if it is bobtailed, then there is no problem.

Here is an excerpt from the Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa printed in 1900 in the Kawi language and script.

Pada	Javanese		English translation
	Javanese script	Latin
XVI 31	꧅ꦗꦲ꧀ꦤꦷꦪꦴꦲ꧀ꦤꦶꦁꦠꦭꦒꦏꦢꦶꦭꦔꦶꦠ꧀꧈ ꦩꦩ꧀ꦧꦁꦠꦁꦥꦴꦱ꧀ꦮꦸꦭꦤꦸꦥꦩꦤꦶꦏꦴ꧈ ꦮꦶꦤ꧀ꦠꦁꦠꦸꦭꦾꦁꦏꦸꦱꦸꦩꦪꦱꦸꦩꦮꦸꦫ꧀꧈ ꦭꦸꦩꦿꦴꦥ꧀ꦮꦺꦏꦁꦱꦫꦶꦏꦢꦶꦗꦭꦢ꧉	Jahnī yāhning talaga kadi langit, mambang tang pās wulan upamanikā, wintang tulya ng kusuma ya sumawur, lumrā pwekang sari kadi jalada.	The clear water of the lake is like the sky, a turtle floats in it like the moon, its stars are the scattered flowers, spreading their essence like clouds.

Comparison with Balinese

The closest relative to Javanese script is the Balinese script. As direct descendants of Kawi script, Javanese and Balinese still retain many similarities in terms of basic glyph shape for each letter. One noticeable difference between both scripts is in their orthography: modern Balinese orthography is more conservative in nature than its modern Javanese counterpart.

• Modern Balinese retains Sanskrit and Kawi conventions that are no longer used in modern Javanese. For example, the word désa (village) is written in Javanese as ꦢꦺꦱ. In Balinese, as a Sanskrit loanword, it retains its original spelling: déśa ᬤᬾᬰ. One reason for this spelling practice is to differentiate homophones in writing.
• Javanese spelling uses aksara murda, or honorific letters, while Balinese does not.

Some Javanese letters and their Balinese equivalents

ha ꦲ	na ꦤ	ca ꦕ	ra ꦫ	ka ꦏ	a ꦄ	ā ꦄ	i ꦆ	ī ꦇ	u ꦈ	ū ꦈꦴ
ᬳ	ᬦ	ᬘ	ᬭ	ᬓ	ᬅ	ᬆ	ᬇ	ᬈ	ᬉ	ᬊ

Usage in other languages

Madurese

In the Madurese language, the Javanese script is referred to as Carakan Madhurâ or Carakan Jhâbân (script from Javanese). While in Javanese, each letter can represent the sounds /a/ or /ɔ/, in Madurese, they represent the sounds /a/ or /ɤ/. The structure of Carakan Madhurâ consists of aksara ghâjâng (basic consonant characters), aksara rajâ or murdâ (murda characters), aksara sowara or swara (vowel characters), and aksara rèka'an (rekan characters). Additionally, there are pangangghuy (diacritics), which include: pangangguy aksara (vowel markers), pangangghuy panyèghek (final consonant markers), and pangangghuy panambâ (additional consonant markers).

Comparison

Overall, there are no significant differences from the Javanese language. However, in Madurese, there is no distinction between aspirated and non-aspirated consonants.

Aksara Ghâjâng

	ha	na	ca	ra	ka	da	dha	ta	sa	wa	la	pa	ḍa	ḍha	ja	jha	ya	nya	ma	ga	gha	ba	bha	tha	nga
Javanese	ꦲ	ꦤ	ꦕ	ꦫ	ꦏ	ꦢ	ꦣ	ꦠ	ꦱ	ꦮ	ꦭ	ꦥ	ꦝ	ꦞ	ꦗ	ꦙ	ꦪ	ꦚ	ꦩ	ꦒ	ꦓ	ꦧ	ꦨ	ꦛ	ꦔ
	ha	na	ca	ra	ka	da/dha		ta	sa	wa	la	pa	ḍa/ḍha		ja/jha		ya	nya	ma	ga/gha		ba/bha		tha	nga
Madurese	ꦲ	ꦤ	ꦕ	ꦫ	ꦏ	ꦢ		ꦠ	ꦱ	ꦮ	ꦛ	ꦥ	ꦝ		ꦗ		ꦪ	ꦚ	ꦩ	ꦒ		ꦧ		ꦛ	ꦔ

The aksara rèka'an in the Madurese language taught in schools consist of only five characters, while in Madoereesche Spraakkunst and Sorat tjarakan Madurah, there are seven and nine characters, respectively:

Aksara Rèka'an

	ha	kha	dza	fa/va	za	gha	'a	ta	sya	la
Javanese script	ꦲ꦳	ꦏ꦳	ꦢ꦳	ꦥ꦳	ꦗ꦳	ꦒ꦳	ꦔ꦳	ꦠ꦳	ꦯ꦳	ꦭ꦳
Arabic alphabet	ح	خ	ذ	ف	ز	غ	ع	ط	ش	ل
Dutch	h	ch		f/v		g
Example	ꦲ꦳ꦺꦴꦏꦺꦴꦩ꧀	ꦲꦏ꦳ꦺꦫꦠ꧀	ꦢ꦳ꦶꦏ꧀ꦏꦺꦂ	ꦭꦥ꦳ꦭ꧀	ꦗ꦳ꦏꦠ꧀	ꦒ꦳ꦲꦶꦧ꧀	ꦔ꦳ꦏꦺꦫꦠ꧀	ꦠ꦳ꦫꦺꦏ꧀	ꦯ꦳ꦫꦠ꧀	ꦭ꦳ꦲꦶꦧ꧀
Transliteration	hokom	akhèrat	dzikkèr	lafal	zâkat	ghaib	akèrat	tarèk	syarat	laib

Another difference is the use of the wignyan, which functions as the -h ending in Javanese, whereas in Madurese, it becomes the -' ending, as shown in the following table:

Pangangghuy (Diacritics)

Pangangghuy aksara					Pangangghuy panyèghek				Pangangghuy panambâ
i	è	o	u	e	-ng	-r	-'	final consonant	-r-	-re	-y-	-l-	-w-
ꦶ	ꦺ	ꦺꦴ	ꦸ	ꦼ	ꦁ	ꦂ	ꦃ	꧀	ꦿ	ꦽ	ꦾ	꧀ꦭ	꧀ꦮ
cèthak	lèngè	lèngè-longo	soko	petpet	cekcek	lajâr	bisat	papatèn	pèḍer	perper	sokomaljâ	la rangkep	wa rangkep
pi	pè	po	pu	pe	pang	par	pa'	p	pra	pre	pya	pla	pwa
ꦥꦶ	ꦥꦺ	ꦥꦺꦴ	ꦥꦸ	ꦥꦼ	ꦥꦁ	ꦥꦂ	ꦥꦃ	ꦥ꧀	ꦥꦿ	ꦥꦽ	ꦥꦾ	ꦥ꧀ꦭ	ꦥ꧀ꦮ

Example of usage

Below is the use of carakan in Bab oreng megha djhoeko e'tana Djhaba sareng Madhoera (Chapter on people catching fish in the land of Java and Madura), accompanied by the modern Madurese spelling.

Madurese language		English translation
Javanese script	Latin
ꦥꦫꦲꦺꦴꦥꦩꦺꦒꦃꦲꦤ꧀ꦤꦺꦥꦺꦴꦤ꧀ꦗꦸꦏꦺꦴꦃꦏꦺꦔꦺꦁꦧꦶꦢꦃꦲꦒꦶꦢꦢ꧀ꦢꦶꦝꦸꦧꦂꦤ꧇	Parao pamèghâ'ânnèpon jhuko' kèngèng bhidhâ'aghi dhâddhi ḍu bârna:	Fishing boats can be classified into two types:
꧑꧇ ꦥꦫꦲꦺꦴ꧈ ꦱꦺꦲꦺꦧꦝꦶꦝꦫꦶꦏꦗꦸꦧꦸꦁꦏꦺꦴꦭ꧀ꦱꦺꦲꦺꦭꦺꦴꦧꦔꦺ꧉ ꦧꦝꦱꦺꦲꦺꦱꦺꦩ꧀ꦧꦸꦏꦗꦸꦥꦺꦴꦭꦺꦲꦺꦥꦺꦁꦒꦶꦂ꧈ ꦧꦝꦱꦺꦧꦸꦤ꧀ꦠꦼꦤ꧀꧈	1. Parao, sè èbhâḍhi ḍâri kaju bungkol sè èlobângè. Bâḍâ sè èsèmbu kaju polè è pèngghir, bâḍâ sè bhunten	1. Boats made from hollowed-out logs. Some have additional planks attached to the sides, while others do not
꧒꧇ ꦥꦫꦲꦺꦴꦱꦺꦲꦺꦧꦝꦶꦝꦫꦶꦥꦥꦤ꧀ꦫꦧ꧀ꦠꦼꦤ꧀ꦧꦤ꧀ꦱꦢꦗ꧉	2. Parao sè èbhâḍhi papan rabten bân sadhâjâ.	2. Boats made entirely from planks.

Sundanese

Cacarakan script

In the Sundanese language, the Javanese script is referred to as Aksara Sunda Cacarakan, Aksara Sunda Basisir Kalér, Aksara Sunda Jawa, or simply Cacarakan (a script derived from Javanese). From a Sundanese grammatical perspective, the term "cacarakan" is formed from the base word "caraka", which undergoes reduplication with dwipurwa and is given the suffix -an.

The form of Cacarakan consists of nglagena letters (nglegena characters), gedé letters (murda characters), and panambah letters (swara characters). There are also sandangan (diacritics) and pada (punctuation marks). The use of Cacarakan in the Sundanese region has been replaced by the Latin alphabet and Standard Sundanese script.

Comparison

In general, there are no significant differences from Javanese. The use of murda letters and gedé letters is also relatively similar. However, the Sundanese language does not have dental da and retroflex ta, so the dha letter is used to replace the da letter. The shape of the nya letter is derived from the na letter, with the nya pair positioned as a subscript. Observe the yellow-highlighted section in the table below.

Aksara Ngalagena

		ha	na	ca	ra	ka	da	ta	sa	wa	la	pa	dha	ja	ya	nya	ma	ga	ba	tha	nga
Javanese	Nglegena	ꦲ	ꦤ	ꦕ	ꦫ	ꦏ	ꦢ	ꦠ	ꦱ	ꦮ	ꦭ	ꦥ	ꦝ	ꦗ	ꦪ	ꦚ	ꦩ	ꦒ	ꦧ	ꦛ	ꦔ
	Pasangan	꧀ꦲ	꧀ꦤ	꧀ꦕ	꧀ꦫ	꧀ꦏ	꧀ꦢ	꧀ꦠ	꧀ꦱ	꧀ꦮ	꧀ꦭ	꧀ꦥ	꧀ꦝ	꧀ꦗ	꧀ꦪ	꧀ꦚ	꧀ꦩ	꧀ꦒ	꧀ꦧ	꧀ꦛ	꧀ꦔ
Sundanese	Ngalagena	ꦲ	ꦤ	ꦕ	ꦫ	ꦏ	ꦝ	ꦠ	ꦱ	ꦮ	ꦭ	ꦥ		ꦗ	ꦪ	ꦤ꧀ꦚ	ꦩ	ꦒ	ꦧ		ꦔ
	Pasangan	꧀ꦲ	꧀ꦤ	꧀ꦕ	꧀ꦫ	꧀ꦏ	꧀ꦝ	꧀ꦠ	꧀ꦱ	꧀ꦮ	꧀ꦭ	꧀ꦥ		꧀ꦗ	꧀ꦪ	꧀ꦚ	꧀ꦩ	꧀ꦒ	꧀ꦧ		꧀ꦔ
	Gedé		ꦟ	ꦖ		ꦑ		ꦡ	ꦯ			ꦦ				ꦘ		ꦓ	ꦨ
	Pasangan		꧀ꦟ	꧀ꦖ		꧀ꦑ		꧀ꦡ	꧀ꦯ			꧀ꦦ				꧀ꦘ		꧀ꦓ	꧀ꦨ

Panambah characters are additional characters used to write syllables that do not have an initial consonant, or in other words, syllables that consist of only a vowel. Although they are similar to swara characters, cacarakan only adopts the form of the swara i (ꦆ) from the Javanese script, while the rest are replaced with the combination of nga cecek tilu (ꦔ꦳) + diacritics. The complete forms can be seen as follows:

Aksara Panambah

	Velar	Palatal	Labial	Retroflex	Dental	Velar-Palatal	Velar-Labial
Aksara	ꦔ꦳ a	ꦆ i	ꦔ꦳ꦸ u	ꦉ ṛ/re[1]	ꦊ ḷ/le[2]	ꦔ꦳ꦺ é[3]	ꦔ꦳ꦴ o	ꦔ꦳ꦼ e[4]
Pasangan	꧀ꦲ꦳	꧀ꦲ꦳ꦶ	꧀ꦲ꦳ꦸ	꧀ꦉ	꧀ꦭꦼ	꧀ꦲ꦳ꦺ	꧀ꦲ꦳ꦴ	꧀ꦲ꦳ꦼ
Notes ^1 pangreureu /rə/ as in "re" in the word "rendah" ^2 pangwilet, /lə/ as in "le" in the word "lemah" ^3 /e/ as in "e" in the word "enak" ^4 also pronounced as eu /ɨ/

Sundanese recognizes seven vowel phonemes. However, cacarakan does not distinguish between the vowels eu [ɨ] and e [ə]. The diacritics (sandangan) can be seen in the following table:

Sandangan (diacritics)

-a	-i	-u	-é	-o	-e/-eu	-ng	-r	-h	-r-	-y-	final consonant
-	ꦶ	ꦸ	ꦺ	ꦴ	ꦼ	ꦁ	ꦂ	ꦃ	ꦿ	ꦾ	꧀
-	panghulu	panyuku	panéléng	panolong	pamepet	panyecek	panglayar	pangwisad	panyakra	pamingkal	pamaéh
ka	ki	ku	ké	ko	ke/keu	kang	kar	kah	kra	kya	k
ꦏ	ꦏꦶ	ꦏꦸ	ꦏꦺ	ꦏꦴ	ꦏꦼ	ꦏꦁ	ꦏꦂ	ꦏꦃ	ꦏꦿ	ꦏꦾ	ꦏ꧀

Example of usage

The following is the usage of cacarakan in Dongéng-dongéng Pieunteungeun (Stories as Reflections), accompanied by the modern Sundanese spelling.

Sundanese		English translation
Javanese script	Latin
꧄ ꦠꦸꦮꦤ꧀ ꦮꦶꦤ꧀ꦠꦼꦂꦗꦸꦫꦸꦧꦱ꧈ ꦗꦼꦤꦼꦁꦔꦤ꧀ꦤꦤꦤꦸꦔꦁꦒꦶꦠ꧀꧈ ꦩꦶꦤ꧀ꦝꦃꦏꦼꦤ꧀ꦏꦧꦱꦗꦮ꧈	Tuwan Winter jurubasa, Jenenganana nu nganggit, Mindahkeun ka basa Jawa,	Tuwan Winter the linguist, He who wrote it, Who translated it into Javanese,
ꦔ꦳ꦪꦼꦤꦝꦶꦱꦭꦶꦤ꧀ꦝꦼꦆ꧈ ꦝꦶꦱꦸꦤ꧀ꦝꦏꦼꦤ꧀ꦱꦏꦭꦶ꧈ ꦏꦸꦏꦮꦸꦭꦔ꦳ꦸꦫꦁꦒꦫꦸꦠ꧀꧈	Ayeuna disalin deui, Disundakeun sakali, Ku kawula urang Garut,	Now it is copied again, Translated into Sundanese, By me, a person from Garut.
ꦔ꦳ꦫꦶꦔ꦳ꦤꦸꦝꦶꦥꦭꦂ꧈ ꦔ꦳ꦸꦫꦁꦱꦸꦤ꧀ꦝꦠꦩ꧀ꦧꦃꦫꦗꦶꦤ꧀꧈ ꦫꦺꦪꦕꦿꦶꦠꦧꦫꦶꦱ꧀ꦲ꦳ꦼꦤ꧀ꦠꦼꦁꦏꦭꦏꦸꦮꦤ꧀꧉	Ari anu dipalar, Urang Sunda tambah rajin, Réa crita baris eunteung kalakuan.	The hope is, that Sundanese people become more diligent, With many stories as reflections of deeds.

Unicode

Main article: Javanese (Unicode block)

Javanese script was added to the Unicode Standard in October, 2009 with the release of version 5.2. The Unicode block for Javanese is U+A980–U+A9DF. There are 91 code points for Javanese script: 53 letters, 19 punctuation marks, 10 numbers, and 9 vowels:

Javanese[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+A98x

ꦀ

ꦁ

ꦂ

ꦃ

ꦄ

ꦅ

ꦆ

ꦇ

ꦈ

ꦉ

ꦊ

ꦋ

ꦌ

ꦍ

ꦎ

ꦏ

U+A99x

ꦐ

ꦑ

ꦒ

ꦓ

ꦔ

ꦕ

ꦖ

ꦗ

ꦘ

ꦙ

ꦚ

ꦛ

ꦜ

ꦝ

ꦞ

ꦟ

U+A9Ax

ꦠ

ꦡ

ꦢ

ꦣ

ꦤ

ꦥ

ꦦ

ꦧ

ꦨ

ꦩ

ꦪ

ꦫ

ꦬ

ꦭ

ꦮ

ꦯ

U+A9Bx

ꦰ

ꦱ

ꦲ

꦳

ꦴ

ꦵ

ꦶ

ꦷ

ꦸ

ꦹ

ꦺ

ꦻ

ꦼ

ꦽ

ꦾ

ꦿ

U+A9Cx

꧀

꧁

꧂

꧃

꧄

꧅

꧆

꧇

꧈

꧉

꧊

꧋

꧌

꧍

ꧏ

U+A9Dx

꧐

꧑

꧒

꧓

꧔

꧕

꧖

꧗

꧘

꧙

꧞

꧟

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Gallery

• 
  A stone inscription from around 18th century in the Kyai Tumenggung Pusponegoro grave complex, Gresik
• 
  A page from Serat Jaya Lengkara Wulang copied in 1803, British Library collection
• 
  A page from Serat Damar Wulan copied in 1804, British Library collection
• 
  Five Gulden/Rupiah scrip issued by Dutch East Indies in 1846, value spelled in Latin, Pégon, and Javanese script
• 
  Bromartani newspaper, the first newspaper printed in Javanese language and script, circulating between 1855 and 1856
• 
  Title page of a book commemorating the ascension of Queen Wilhelmina, printed in Semarang in 1898
• 
  A page from Serat Bratayudha (an episode of Mahabharata) copied in 1902, Widya Budaya collection
• 
  Opening pages of Serat Damar Wulan copied around the 18th century, British Library collection
• 
  An advertisement for Droste's Cacao
• 
  An advertisement for Osram light bulb
• 
  5 Gulden paper currency issued by the Bank of Java in 1937, with multilingual forgery warnings, including one in Javanese language and script
• 
  Pakubuwana X inscription commemorating the construction of several gateways in Surakarta in 1938
• 
  A patrol car used by the Public Health Service (Dienst der Volksgezondheid) c. 1925
• 
  100 Gulden paper currency issued by the Bank of Java in 1946, the last Gulden series that contains Javanese script. Later reprinted in 1950
• 
  A street sign in Surakarta. The word jendral in the sign has been misspelled and should have used taling in accordance to how it is pronounced in Javanese, jèndral
• 
  Contemporary merchandise with design elements containing Javanese script
• 
  The Yogyakarta Sultanate coat of arms with the Hamengkubuwana royal monogram in Javanese script

See also

• Javanese language
• Javanese literature
• Tuladha Jejeg

References

Bibliography

• Arps, B (1999). "How a Javanese Gentleman put his Library in Order". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde. 155 (3): 416–469. doi:10.1163/22134379-90003871. hdl:1887/15216.
• Behrend, T E (1993). "Manuscript Production in Nineteenth Century Java. Codicology and the Writing of Javanese Literary History". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde. 149 (3): 407–437. doi:10.1163/22134379-90003115.
• Behrend, T E (1996). "Textual Gateways: the Javanese Manuscript Tradition". In Ann Kumar; John H. McGlynn (eds.). Illuminations: The Writing Traditions of Indonesia. Jakarta: Lontar Foundation. ISBN 0834803496.
• Everson, Michael (6 March 2008). "Proposal for encoding the Javanese script in the UCS" (PDF). Iso/Iec Jtc1/Sc2/Wg2 (N3319R3). Unicode. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
• Kiliaan, H. N. (1897). Madoereesche Spraakkunst (in Dutch). Batavia: Landsdrukkerij.
• Molen, Willem van der (1993). Javaans Schrift (in Dutch). Vol. Semaian 8. Leiden: Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden. ISBN 90-73084-09-1. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
• Molen, Willem van der (2000). "Hoe Heft Zulks Kunnen Geschieden? Het Begin van de Javaanse Typografie". In Willem van der Molen (ed.). Woord en Schrift in de Oost. De betekenis van zending en missie voor de studie van taal en literatuur in Zuidoost-Azie (in Dutch). Vol. Semaian 19. Leiden: Vakgroep Talen en Culturen van Zuidoost-Azië en Oceanië, Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden. pp. 132–162. ISBN 9074956238.
• Moriyama, Mikihiro (June 1996). "Discovering the 'Language' and the 'Literature' of West Java: An Introduction to the Formation of Sundanese Writing in 19th Century West Java" (PDF). Southeast Asian Studies. 34 (1): 151–183.
• Robson, Stuart Owen (2011). "Javanese script as cultural artifact: Historical background". RIMA: Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Affairs. 45 (1–2): 9–36.
• Rochkyatmo, Amir (1 January 1996). Pelestarian dan Modernisasi Aksara Daerah: Perkembangan Metode dan Teknis Menulis Aksara Jawa (PDF) (in Indonesian). Direktorat Jenderal Kebudayaan.

Orthographical guides

• Koemisi Kasoesastran ing Sriwedari, Soerakarta (1926). Wawaton Panjeratipoen Temboeng Djawi mawi Sastra Djawi dalasan Angka. Kongres Sriwedari (in Javanese). Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij. Also known as Wewaton Sriwedari and Paugeran Sriwedari.
• Darusuprapta (2002). Pedoman Penulisan Aksara Jawa (PDF) (in Indonesian). Yogyakarta: Yayasan Pustaka Nusantara bekerja sama dengan Pemerintahan Provinsi Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, Daerah Tingkat I Jawa Tengah, dan Daerah Tingkat I Jawa Tengah. ISBN 979-8628-00-4.

Sanskrit and Kawi

• Poerwadarminta, W J S (1930). Serat Mardi Kawi (in Javanese). Vol. 1. Solo: De Bliksem.
• Poerwadarminta, W J S (1931). Serat Mardi Kawi (in Javanese). Vol. 2. Solo: De Bliksem.
• Poerwadarminta, W J S (1931). Serat Mardi Kawi (in Javanese). Vol. 3. Solo: De Bliksem.

Sundanese

• Holle, K F (1862). Soendasch spel- en lees boek, met Soendasche letter. Batavia: Lands-drukkerij.

External links

Digital collection

• British Library manuscript collection Archived 9 January 2022 at the Wayback Machine
• National Library of Indonesia manuscript collection
• Yayasan Sastra Lestari manuscript collection
• Widyapustaka references collection Archived 14 December 2021 at the Wayback Machine

Digitized manuscripts

• A debt written on a piece of lontar (1708) British Library collection no. Sloane MS 1403E
• Babad Mataram and Babad ing Sangkala (1738) koleksi British Library no. MSS Jav 36
• A Malay-Javanese-Maduran language word list from early 19th century, British Library collection no. MSS Malay A 3
• An assortment of documents from the Kraton of Yogyakarta (1786–1812) British Library collection no. Add Ms 12341
• Papakem Pawukon from Bupati Sepuh Demak of Bogor (1814) British Library collection no. Or 15932
• Wejangan Hamengkubuwana I (1812) British Library collection no. Add MS 12337
• Raffles Paper - vol III (1816) a collection of Letters received by Raffles from the rules of the Malay archipelago, British Library collection no. Add MS 45273
• Serat Jaya Lengkara Wulang (1803) British Library collection no. MSS Jav 24
• Serat Selarasa (1804) British Library collection no. MSS Jav 28
• Usana Bali Archived 19 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine (1870) a Javanese copy of a Balinese lontar of the same title, National Library of Indonesia collection no. CS 152
• Dongèng-dongèng Pieuntengen (1867) a collection of Sundanese tales written in Javanese script compiled by Muhammad Musa

Others

• Unicode proposal for Javanese script Archived 16 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine
• Unicode documentation for the behavior of KERET diacritic Archived 16 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine
• Unicode documentation for the behavior of CAKRA diacritic
• Unicode documentation for the behavior of PENGKAL diacritic
• Unicode documentation for the behavior of TOLONG diacritic
• British Library Asian-African Studies blog, Javanese topic
• Javanese script transliterator by Benny Lin
• Hana - Javanese Script Transliterator by Dan
• Download Javanese fonts in Tuladha Jejeg Archived 27 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Aksara di Nusantara, or Google Noto