Jawi script

Jawi is a special way of writing used for many languages in Southeast Asia, like Acehnese, Malay, and Minangkabau. It is based on the Arabic script and has extra letters to fit sounds special to these languages.

Jawi started when Islam arrived in Southeast Asia, replacing older writing styles. The oldest known Jawi writing is from the 14th century on the Terengganu Inscription Stone, but it might have been used even earlier.

For many years, Jawi was the main way to write Malay. It was used in important letters, religious books, and literature. But in modern times, many places switched to the Latin alphabet. Today, Jawi is still an official script in Brunei and has special uses in some parts of Malaysia, like in Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang. It is also used by Malay communities in Indonesia and Thailand.

There have been efforts to make Jawi spelling more consistent, with important changes happening in 1937, 1949, and 1986. People can type Jawi using special keyboards.

Etymology

The word Jawi comes from an Arabic term that means "Java Archipelago." This is the name Arabs used for a group of islands in Southeast Asia. The word Jawi also has roots in the Javanese language, where it refers to the island of Java or the Javanese people.

In some places, Jawi is used to mean "Malay." For example, people might say Bahasa Jawi to refer to a type of Malay language spoken in Southern Thailand. The phrase Tulisan Jawi means "Jawi script" and is another way to say "Malay script."

Early history

Before the arrival of Islam, different scripts were used to write the Malay language. Important early examples include the Kedukan Bukit inscription and the Talang Tuo inscription. When Islam came to Southeast Asia, Muslim traders brought the Arabic writing system with them.

The Arabic script was adapted to write Malay by adding six new letters for sounds not found in Arabic. These letters are used to write sounds like ch, p, g, ng, v, and ny. The oldest known example of Malay written in this adapted script is the Terengganu Inscription Stone from around 1303 CE. This shows that Islam was strongly followed in that area at the time. Unlike older writing systems, the new script was used by everyone in the Muslim community, not just by special groups. This helped create more written works in Malay over the next few centuries.

The spread and extent of Jawi script

The Jawi script became important when Islam spread in Southeast Asia, replacing older writing systems. Many Malays believed it helped them understand Islam and the Quran. Using Jawi script helped make Malay the common language in the area.

Jawi was used in many places, such as the Sultanate of Malacca, Sultanate of Johor, Sultanate of Maguindanao, Sultanate of Brunei, Sultanate of Sulu, Sultanate of Pattani, the Sultanate of Aceh, and the Sultanate of Ternate. It was also used in Manila Bay during the time of the Rajahnate of Maynila to write Tagalog. People used Jawi for important letters, rules, and poems. It was understood by traders in Malacca and was the main way to share messages.

Jawi is a proud symbol of Malay culture. It was used by leaders and everyday people alike. As Islam and Malay culture grew, Jawi became very popular. Many important books, stories, and poems were written in Jawi, including the Malay Annals, which UNESCO honors. Even leaders from far away wrote letters using Jawi.

In the past, Jawi was the main writing system in some areas under British control. Later, when printing became common, many books in Jawi were made. At first, these books were about religion and politics. Over time, Jawi was used less in schools and more for religious purposes. Today, some people feel strongly about Jawi, seeing it as part of Malay and Islamic identity.

Jawi today

Today, Jawi is one of the official scripts of Brunei. In Malaysia, it is used for religious and cultural purposes in several states, including Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis, Penang, Pahang, and Johor. Efforts are being made to bring back the use of Jawi in Malaysia and Brunei because of its importance in Malay and Islamic culture. You can see Jawi on the back of Malaysian ringgit and Brunei dollar banknotes. In Patani, Malays still use Jawi for similar reasons.

Even though Jawi is used less now, it can be found as a language option in some technology platforms and video games made outside of Malaysia, such as MediaWiki in the United States and Minecraft in Sweden.

Letters

The Jawi script is used to write many languages from Southeast Asia, like Malay and Acehnese. It is based on the Arabic script and includes all 31 original Arabic letters. It also has special letters created for sounds in Malay that do not exist in Arabic.

Jawi started when Islam arrived in Southeast Asia, replacing older writing styles used during Hindu and Buddhist times. It includes unique letters like ca (چ), nga (ڠ), pa (ڤ), ga (ݢ), va (ۏ), and nya (ڽ) to match Malay sounds.

Modern Jawi spelling follows a special dictionary, but older texts might spell words differently. Sometimes, letters used for Arabic words stay the same, while English loanwords use the letter va (ۏ). There are also special rules for spelling vowels and sounds, with many exceptions.

Numerals

Modern Jawi texts usually use Western Arabic numerals, but in the past, both Western and Eastern Arabic numerals were used. The Eastern Arabic numerals in old Jawi documents look a bit different from the ones we use today. For example, the number 4 is written in a "Persian" style as ۴, not ٤. The number 5 can appear in two ways: a rounded shape ٥ or a notched shape ۵.

Punctuation

The Jawi script uses special symbols to show repeated words. For example, to repeat the word "anak" (meaning "child"), the number ٢ is used, like in انق٢ for "anak-anak." When words are connected with a suffix, a hyphen "-" is used, such as in برهاتي-هاتي for "berhati-hati."

Here are other punctuation marks used in written Jawi:

Examples

Like the Arabic script, Jawi is written from right to left. Here is an example of the Jawi script taken from the first and second verse of a famous poem called Ghazal untuk Rabiah, which translates to "A Ghazal for Rabiah" in English.