The Christian Pwo Karen Script is used as the writing system for Western Pwo. This script was originally created by Baptist missionaries for
Eastern Pwo language. Western Pwo and Eastern Pwo differ considerably in terms of phonology. However, when the missionaries started using this script for Western Pwo language, they did not make any changes to the script. They only changed the readings according to the regular phonological correspondences. In addition to showing the correspondence between orthography and phonology. The most widely used writing systems for Pwo Karen dialects are the Buddhist Pwo Karen Script and the Christian Pwo Karen Script, both of which have an
abugida system. The Christian Pwo Karen Script was created in the 1840s by American Baptist missionaries, including Wade, Mason, and Brayton. This script is called the Christian Pwo Karen Script or the Mission script. The Christian Pwo Karen Script was created based on the Christian
S'gaw Karen Script, which was created by Wade in the 1830s using symbols in the
Burmese script. In the early stage of the Christian Pwo Karen Script, there were some novel innovations not seen in the Christian Sgaw Karen Script, such as the use of Roman letters and the juxtaposition of basic letters and vowel signs. However, these innovations seem to have caused problems in reading and writing. Therefore, it was modified by the early 1850s to be closer to the method of Christian Sgaw Karen Script. the Christian Pwo Karen Script system fits very well with the phonological system of the
Hpa-an dialect, an Eastern Pwo Karen dialect and even better with the presumed phonological system of the Hpa-an dialect of the 19th century. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the Christian Pwo Karen Script was created based on the phonological system of the 19th-century Hpa-an dialect. Although the Christian Pwo Karen Script was created for Eastern Pwo language, it later came to be used as the script for Western Pwo Karen spoken in the
Ayeyarwady Delta. It is not known precisely when Western Pwo language was first written in the Christian Pwo Karen Script. But, it is certain that an attempt to write Western Pwo language in the Christian Pwo Karen Script had already been made at a very early stage in the Christian Pwo Karen Script history, that is, at the beginning of the 1850s. Today, the Christian Pwo Karen Script is mostly regarded as a Western Pwo language writing system by the Karens, because Eastern Pwo language speakers mainly use the Buddhist Pwo Karen Script and the Christian Pwo Karen is mainly used by Western Pwo language speakers. Moreover, in Western Pwo language speaking areas, the Christian Pwo Karen has also become increasingly popular among Buddhists over the last 20 to 30 years. Books written by Buddhist monks, such as (2005)—a collection of commentaries on the Dharma of Buddhism—have also been published in this script. Therefore, we can safely say that this script is now establishing itself as an orthography of Western Pwo language. ==Alphabet==