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Akṣara Kawi
𑼄𑼒𑽂𑼰𑼬𑼒𑼮𑼶
Akṣara Kawi; 𑼄𑼒𑽂𑼰𑼬𑼒𑼮𑼶
	'Kawi' in newly standardized Kawi script
Script type	Abugida
Time period	c. 8th–16th century
Direction	Left-to-right
Languages	Old Balinese, Old Javanese, Old Sundanese, Old Malay, Old Tagalog, Sanskrit
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian hieroglyphs Proto-Sinaitic alphabet Phoenician alphabet Aramaic alphabet Brāhmī Tamil-Brahmi Pallava Akṣara Kawi; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Child systems	In Indonesia:; Balinese; Batak; Javanese (Hanacaraka); Lontara; Sundanese; Rencong; Rejang; Buda; In the Philippines:; Baybayin scripts
Sister systems	Khmer, Cham, Old Mon, Grantha, Tamil
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Kawi (368), Kawi
Unicode
Unicode alias	Kawi
Unicode range	U+11F00–U+11F5F
	This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

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The Kawi script or the Old Javanese script (Indonesian: aksara kawi, aksara carakan kuna) is a Brahmic script found primarily in Java and used across much of Maritime Southeast Asia between the 8th century and the 16th century.^[1] The script is an abugida, meaning that characters are read with an inherent vowel. Diacritics are used, either to suppress the vowel and represent a pure consonant, or to represent other vowels.^[2]^[3]

History

The Kawi script is related to the Nagari or old-Devanagari script in India. Also called the Prae-Nagari in Dutch publications after the classic work of F.D.K. Bosch on early Indonesian scripts, the early-Nagari form of script was primarily used in the Kawi script form to write southeast Asian Sanskrit and Old Javanese language in central and eastern Java.^[2]^[4] Kawi is the ancestor of traditional Indonesian scripts, such as Javanese, Sundanese and Balinese, as well as traditional Philippine scripts such as Luzon Kavi, the ancient scripts of Laguna Copperplate Inscriptions 900 A.D. and baybayin that has surviving records from the 16th century.^[5] The strongest evidence of Nagari influence is found on the Belanjong pillar in Sanur in southern Bali, which consists of texts in two scripts: one in Early Nagari and the other in Early Kawi script. Further, the Sanur inscription overlaps into two languages – Sanskrit and Old Balinese. Of these, the Old Balinese language portion of the text is expressed in both Early Nagari and Early Kawi script. This inscription is likely from 914 CE, and its features are similar to the earliest forms of Kawi script found in the central and eastern regions of the Bali's neighboring island of Java.^[6]

According to de Casparis, the early Nagari-inspired Kawi script thrived for over three centuries between the 7th- and 10th-century, and after 910 CE, the later Kawi script emerged incorporating regional innovations and South Indian influence (which in itself is influenced in part by Brahmi-Nandinagari). The four stages of Kawi script evolution are 910–950 CE (east Javanese Kawi I), 1019-1042 (east Javanese Kawi II), 1100–1220 (east Javanese Kawi III), 1050–1220 (square script of the Kediri period).^[7]

The earliest known texts in Kawi date from the Singhasari kingdom in eastern Java. The more recent scripts were extant in the Majapahit kingdom, also in eastern Java, Bali, Borneo and Sumatra. The Kawi script has attracted scholarly interest both in terms of the history of language and script diffusion, as well as the possible routes for the migration of Buddhism and Hinduism to southeast Asian region because many of the major scripts of southeast Asia show South Indian Pallava script influence.^[3]

The modern Javanese script, state George Campbell and Christopher Moseley, emerged in part through the modification of the Kawi script over the medieval era. This modification occurred in part via secondary forms called pasangan in Javanese, and also from changes in shape.^[8] It also shows influence of the northern and western Javanese script forms based on the Pallava Grantha script found in Tamil Nadu as well as the Arabic and Roman script with changes in theo-political control of Java and nearby islands from the 14th- to 20th-century.^[9]

Examples

The Kawi script was used in official documents or declarations inscribed in stone or copper tablets primarily in Java but also in other medieval kingdoms in archipelagic Southeast Asia. The following are some examples categorized using present-day states.

Philippines

Lord Namvaran's debt clearance certificate from the Duke of Tondo (900)

An official document written using the Kawi script records the acquittal of Namvaran's debt to the Duke (senapati) of Tondo in April 900. It is also known as the Laguna Copperplate Inscription.

It records the date of granting of the document being on the 4th of Krishna Paksha (black lunar side), month of Vaishakha, Shaka year 822, corresponding to 21 April 900,^[10] and is written in Old Malay containing numerous Sanskrit terms and some Old Javanese and Old Tagalog terms and toponyms.^[11]

It was found in 1989^[12] at Lumbang River around Laguna de Bay in the province of Laguna near Manila, Philippines.

Butuan seal

The Kawi lettering reads "Butban". The three square seal style characters are BA, TA and NA; the leftward curl underneath BA is the /u/ vowel diacritic, changing the syllable to BU; the small heart-shaped character under TA is the subscript conjunct form of BA which also removes the default /a/ vowel from TA; the large curl to the upper right is the Kawi virama, which indicates the default /a/ vowel on NA is not pronounced. The three blocks of characters together read "[Bu][Tba][N-]. In both Balinese script and Javanese script, which are descended from Kawi, the word is spelled in a very similar pattern, using a similar /u/ diacritic, conjunct form for B, and virama.

Unicode

The Kawi script was added to the Unicode Standard 15.0 in September 2022 based on a proposal by Aditya Bayu Perdana and Ilham Nurwansah.^[13]^[14]^[1] An earlier preliminary proposal was submitted to the Unicode Technical Committee by Anshuman Pandey in 2012.^[5]

The Unicode block for the Kawi script is U+11F00–U+11F5F and contains 86 characters:

Kawi^[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+11F0x	𑼀	𑼁	𑼂	𑼃	𑼄	𑼅	𑼆	𑼇	𑼈	𑼉	𑼊	𑼋	𑼌	𑼍	𑼎	𑼏
U+11F1x	𑼐		𑼒	𑼓	𑼔	𑼕	𑼖	𑼗	𑼘	𑼙	𑼚	𑼛	𑼜	𑼝	𑼞	𑼟
U+11F2x	𑼠	𑼡	𑼢	𑼣	𑼤	𑼥	𑼦	𑼧	𑼨	𑼩	𑼪	𑼫	𑼬	𑼭	𑼮	𑼯
U+11F3x	𑼰	𑼱	𑼲	𑼳	𑼴	𑼵	𑼶	𑼷	𑼸	𑼹	𑼺				𑼾	𑼿
U+11F4x	𑽀	𑽁	𑽂	𑽃	𑽄	𑽅	𑽆	𑽇	𑽈	𑽉	𑽊	𑽋	𑽌	𑽍	𑽎	𑽏
U+11F5x	𑽐	𑽑	𑽒	𑽓	𑽔	𑽕	𑽖	𑽗	𑽘	𑽙	𑽚
Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Numerals

Kawi has its own set of Numerals:

0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
𑽐	𑽑	𑽒	𑽓	𑽔	𑽕	𑽖	𑽗	𑽘	𑽙

Child systems

Consonants

Basic Aksara (consonant)
	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/a
Kawi	𑼒	𑼓	𑼔	𑼕	𑼖	𑼗	𑼘	𑼙	𑼚	𑼛	𑼜	𑼝	𑼞	𑼟	𑼠	𑼡	𑼢	𑼣	𑼤	𑼥	𑼦	𑼧	𑼨	𑼩	𑼪	𑼫	𑼬	𑼭	𑼮	𑼯	𑼰	𑼱	𑼲
Images
Hanacaraka
Javanese	ꦏ	ꦑ	ꦒ	ꦓ	ꦔ	ꦕ	ꦖ	ꦗ	ꦙ	ꦚ	ꦛ	ꦜ	ꦝ	ꦞ	ꦟ	ꦠ	ꦡ	ꦢ	ꦣ	ꦤ	ꦥ	ꦦ	ꦧ	ꦨ	ꦩ	ꦪ	ꦫ	ꦭ	ꦮ	ꦯ	ꦰ	ꦱ	ꦲ
Balinese	ᬓ	ᬔ	ᬕ	ᬖ	ᬗ	ᬘ	ᬙ	ᬚ	ᬛ	ᬜ	ᬝ	ᬞ	ᬟ	ᬠ	ᬡ	ᬢ	ᬣ	ᬤ	ᬥ	ᬦ	ᬧ	ᬨ	ᬩ	ᬪ	ᬫ	ᬬ	ᬭ	ᬮ	ᬯ	ᬰ	ᬱ	ᬲ	ᬳ
Surat Scripts
Batak (Karo)	ᯂ		ᯎ		ᯝ	ᯡ		ᯐ								ᯗ		ᯑ		ᯉ	ᯇ		ᯅ		ᯔ	ᯛ	ᯒ	ᯞ	ᯋ			ᯘ	ᯀ
Batak (Mandailing)	ᯄ᯦		ᯎ		ᯝ	ᯚ᯦		ᯐ		ᯠ						ᯖ		ᯑ		ᯊ	ᯇ		ᯅ		ᯔ	ᯛ	ᯒ	ᯞ	ᯋ			ᯚ	ᯂ
Batak (Pakpak-Dairi)	ᯂ		ᯎ		ᯝ	ᯘ		ᯐ								ᯗ		ᯑ		ᯉ	ᯇ		ᯅ		ᯔ	ᯛ	ᯒ	ᯞ	ᯍ			ᯘ	ᯀ
Batak (Simalungun)	ᯃ		ᯏ		ᯝ			ᯐ		ᯠ						ᯖ		ᯑ		ᯉ	ᯈ		ᯅ		ᯕ	ᯜ	ᯓ	ᯞ	ᯌ			ᯙ	ᯃ
Batak (Toba)	ᯂ		ᯎ		ᯝ			ᯐ		ᯠ						ᯖ		ᯑ		ᯉ	ᯇ		ᯅ		ᯔ	ᯛ	ᯒ	ᯞ	ᯍ			ᯘ	ᯂ
Baybayin	ᜃ		ᜄ		ᜅ											ᜆ		ᜇ		ᜈ	ᜉ		ᜊ		ᜋ	ᜌ	ᜍ	ᜎ	ᜏ			ᜐ	ᜑ
Buhid	ᝃ		ᝄ		ᝅ											ᝆ		ᝇ		ᝈ	ᝉ		ᝊ		ᝋ	ᝌ	ᝍ	ᝎ	ᝏ			ᝐ	ᝑ
Hanunó'o	ᜣ		ᜤ		ᜥ											ᜦ		ᜧ		ᜨ	ᜩ		ᜪ		ᜫ	ᜬ	ᜭ	ᜮ	ᜯ			ᜰ	ᜱ
Lontara	ᨀ		ᨁ		ᨂ	ᨌ		ᨍ		ᨎ						ᨈ		ᨉ		ᨊ	ᨄ		ᨅ		ᨆ	ᨐ	ᨑ	ᨒ	ᨓ			ᨔ	ᨖ/ᨕ
Makasar	𑻠		𑻡		𑻢	𑻩		𑻪		𑻫						𑻦		𑻧		𑻨	𑻣		𑻤		𑻥	𑻬	𑻭	𑻮	𑻯			𑻰	𑻱
Rejang	ꤰ		ꤱ		ꤲ	ꤹ		ꤺ		ꤻ						ꤻ		ꤴ		ꤵ	ꤶ		ꤷ		ꤸ	ꤿ	ꤽ	ꤾ	ꥀ			ꤼ	ꥁ
Rencong	ꤰ		ꤱ		ꤲ	ꤹ		ꤺ		ꤻ						ꤳ		ꤴ		ꤵ	ꤶ		ꤷ		ꤸ	ꤿ	ꤽ	ꤾ	ꥀ			ꤼ	ꥁ
Sundanese	ᮊ		ᮌ		ᮍ	ᮎ		ᮏ		ᮑ						ᮒ		ᮓ		ᮔ	ᮕ		ᮘ		ᮙ	ᮚ	ᮛ	ᮜ	ᮝ			ᮞ	ᮠ

Contemporary Use of Kawi Script

The Kawi script still sees minor use in the 21st century. It can be seen in music videos^[15] and on clothing.

A man wearing a t-shirt with Aksara Kawi
A woman wearing a t-shirt with Aksara Kawi
A tote-bag with a chart of the Kawi script

Gallery

Copy of a stone stele written in Kawi script
Javanese compared to other Indic scripts

The above is a comparison of the development of Devanagari characters in Kawi, Old Mon of the kingdom of Ava, and Thai script.

Notes

References

^ ^a ^b Aditya Bayu Perdana and Ilham Nurwansah 2020. Proposal to encode Kawi
^ ^a ^b De Casparis, J. G. Indonesian Palaeography: A History of Writing in Indonesia from the beginnings to c. AD 1500, Leiden/Koln, 1975, pp. 35-42 with footnotes
^ ^a ^b Briggs, Lawrence Palmer (1950). "The Origin of the Sailendra Dynasty: Present Status of the Question". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 70 (2). JSTOR: 78–82. doi:10.2307/595536. ISSN 0003-0279. JSTOR 595536.
^ Avenir S. Teselkin (1972). Old Javanese (Kawi). Cornell University Press. pp. 9–14.
^ ^a ^b Anshuman Pandey 2012. Preliminary Proposal to Encode the Kawi Script
^ De Casparis, J. G. Indonesian Palaeography: A History of Writing in Indonesia from the beginnings to c. AD 1500, Leiden/Koln, 1975, pp. 36-37 with footnotes
^ De Casparis, J. G. Indonesian Palaeography: A History of Writing in Indonesia from the beginnings to c. AD 1500, Leiden/Koln, 1975, pp. 38-43 with footnotes
^ George L Campbell; Christopher Moseley (2013). The Routledge Handbook of Scripts and Alphabets. Routledge. pp. 28–30. ISBN 978-1-135-22297-0.
^ Patricia Herbert; Anthony Crothers Milner (1989). South-East Asia: Languages and Literatures : a Select Guide. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 127–129. ISBN 978-0-8248-1267-6.
^ "Laguna Copperplate Inscription". Archived from the original on 5 February 2008.
^ Postma, Antoon. (1992). "The Laguna Copper-Plate Inscription: Text and Commentary." Philippine Studies vol. 40, no. 2: 183-203.
^ "Expert on past dies; 82". Philippine Daily Inquirer. 21 October 2008. Archived from the original on 24 October 2008. Retrieved 17 November 2008.
^ "Unicode® 15.0.0". Unicode Consortium. 13 September 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
^ Unicode Technical Committee 2021. Approved Minutes of UTC Meeting 166
^ Rites, Imortal (5 October 2023). "Bhatara Api". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 6 February 2024.