Aksara Aksara are base letters that represent a single syllable. Javanese script has approximately 45 base
aksara (letters), 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 nglegéna Modern Javanese only uses 20 consonant sounds, represented by 20 of the original 33
aksara wyanjana, which are then referred to as . They are commonly arranged in the
hanacaraka sequence, a
pangram whose name is derived from its first five letters, similar to the word "alphabet" which comes from the first two letters of the
Greek alphabet,
alpha and
beta. This sequence has been used at least the 15th century, when the island of Java started to receive significant Islamic influence. There are numerous interpretations on the supposed philosophical and esoteric qualities of the
hanacaraka sequence, and it is often linked to the myth of
Aji Saka.
Aksara murda Some of the remaining characters were repurposed as .
Aksara murda are used to write the names of both respected individuals and legendary figures (for example ) and real individuals. The use of
murda differs from the use of capital letters in Latin script, in that not every letter has a corresponding murda and if there is no
murda for the first syllable of a name, a murda form can be used for whichever succeeding syllable
does one. A name of great respect can be written entirely in
murda. In traditional writing, the application of
murda was essentially optional and not consistent. So, a name like
Gani could be written as ꦒꦤꦶ (without
murda), ꦓꦤꦶ (with
murda at the beginning), or ꦓꦟꦶ (entirely in
murda). 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.
Additional letters in loan words The Javanese script includes additional letters ( 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 used 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.
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.
Vowels Aksara swara (ꦲꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦱ꧀ꦮꦫ) are characters used to write independent vowels. Javanese script has 14 vowel characters inherited from the Sanskrit writing tradition. Modern Javanese no longer uses the entire set of
swara, so 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.
Sandhangan swara (ꦱꦤ꧀ꦝꦁꦔꦤ꧀ꦱ꧀ꦮꦫ) are diacritics used to change a consonant's inherent vowel /a/ to other vowels, as shown below: 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.
Pa cerek ꦉ,
pa cerek dirgha ꦉꦴ,
nga lelet ꦊ, and
nga lelet raswadi ꦋ are
syllabic consonants that are considered vowels in Sanskrit-Kawi. When used in languages other than Sanskrit, the pronunciation of these four characters often varies. In modern Javanese, only
pa cerek is pronounced /rə/ and
nga lelet is pronounced /lə/. In modern teaching, these characters are often separated from
aksara swara and known as
aksara gantèn (replacement characters). They are used to replace every combination of ra + pepet (ꦫꦼ → ꦉ) and la + pepet (ꦭꦼ → ꦊ).
Pa cerek dirgha and
nga lelet raswadi are not used in modern Javanese.
Panyigeging wanda Diacritics () are used to close a syllable with a consonant.
Semivowels and their diacritics Consonant clusters containing a
semivowel are written by adding a diacritic () to the base syllable.
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 in this table are those used in modern Javanese writing. Some characters have different
pasangan forms in Sanskrit-Kawi writing.
Numbers Javanese script has its own numerals () that behave similarly to
Arabic numerals. Some of their forms closely resemble other Javanese characters. For instance, the numeral 1 resembles the
wyanjana character ga , and the numeral 8 resembles the
murda character pa . To avoid confusion, numerals that are used in the middle of sentences must be surrounded by
pada pangkat or
pada lingsa . For example,
tanggal 17 Juni ("the date 17 June") is written or . 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:
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: 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
full stop, 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.
Pepadan Aside from regular punctuation, one of the distinctive features in Javanese script writing is
pepadan (ꦥꦼꦥꦢꦤ꧀), a series of highly ornate verse marks. 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 a change in
tembang, or
canto, and usually appear every 5 to 10 pages, depending on the structure of the text. Javanese writing guides often identify three types of large pada
purwa pada used at the beginning of the first
tembang,
madya pada used at
tembang transitions, and
wasana pada used at the end of the text. However, these three marks are often merged and treated as one in many Javanese texts.
Pepadan is a visually prominent element in Javanese manuscripts and may be rendered in color or even gilded. 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 ("gold floating in water") tembang. One of the key centers for producing manuscripts with exceptional pepadan designs was the
scriptorium of
Pakualaman in Yogyakarta. ==Sample text==