WRITING 2

IS JAVANESE LETTER STILL EXIST

Lecture:
AHRISAH, M.Pd

By:
Budi Setiyo Utomo 087051
Iqbalul ghafar 0870
2008 F

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
SEKOLAH TINGGI KEGURUAN DAN ILMU PENDIDIKAN
PERSATUAN GURU REPUBLIK INDONESIA
JOMBANG
2010
 JAVANESE LETTER

The earliest known writing in Javanese dates from the 4th Century AD, at
which time Javanese was written with the Pallava alphabet. By the 10th Century, the
Kawi alphabet, which developed from Pallava, had a distinct Javanese form.
By the 17th Century, the Javanese alphabet, also known as tjarakan or
carakan, had developed into its current form. During the Japanese occupation of
Indonesia between 1942 and 1945, the alphabet was prohibited.
For a period from the 15th Century onwards, Javanese was also written with a
version of the Arabic alphabet, called pégon or gundil.
Since the Dutch introduced the Latin alphabet to Indonesia in the 19th
Century, the Javanese alphabet has gradually been supplanted. Today it is used
almost exclusively by scholars and for decoration. Those who can read and write it
are held in high esteem.

Notable features
• Javanese is a syllabic alphabet - each letter has an inherent vowel /a/. Other
vowels can be indicated using a variety of diacritics which appear above, below,
in front of or after the main letter.
• Each consonants has two forms: the aksara form is used at the beginning of a
syllable, while the pasangan form, which usually appears below the aksara form,
is used for the second consonant of a consonant cluster and mutes the vowel of
the aksara.
• There are a number of special letters called aksara murda or aksara gedhe (great
or important letters) which are used for honorific purposes, such as to write the
names of respected people.
• The order of the consonants makes the following saying, "Hana caraka, data
sawala padha jayanya, maga bathanga" which means "There were (two)
emissaries, they began to fight, their valor was equal, they both fell dead"

Used to write:
Javanese (basa Jawa), an austronesian language spoken by about 80 million people in
Indonesia and Suriname. In Indonesia Javanese is spoken in Java, particularly in
central and east Java, and on the north coast of West Java, and in Madura, Bali,
Lombok and in the Sunda region of West Java.
Javanese was used as the court language in Palembang, South Sumatra until the late
18th century and has been used as a literary language for over a millenium. It
currently has no official status though is recognised as a regional language in Central
Java, Yogyakarta and East Java. It is taught in some schools, and there are some radio
and TV programmes in Javanese, as well as a number of magazines.
The Javanese alphabet was also used to write Balinese and Sundanese, but
has been replaced by the Latin alphabet.
 The Javanese alphabet

Aksara consonants

Pasangan consonants

Aksara murda consonants

Subscript aksara murda consonants

Vowels, vowel diacritics and final consonant diacritics

Punctuation

Numerals
Sample text in the Javanese alphabet (Lord's Prayer)

Transliteration

Rama kahula hīkā wonten 'ī swarga. wasta sampeyan dadossa subši. sadžaman
sampeyan rawuḥha. kars sampeyan dadossa 'ī bumi kados 'ī swarga. redžekki kahula
kā saintendinten sukanni dinten puniki marī kahula. hambi puntan marī kahula dosa
kahula, kados kahula puntan marī satungiltūgil titiyū kā salaḥ marī kahula. hambi
sampun bekta kahula 'ī pertšoban. tapi tšutšullken kahula bari pada sā ṅawon, sabab
sadžaman hambi kawasa sarta kamukten gusti kagū ṅannipun dumugi 'ī ṅawet. Amin

Latin alphabet for Javanese

 Javanese pronunciation

Sample text in Javanese

Saben uwong kalairake kanthi mardika lan darbe martabat lan hak-hak kang padha.
Kabeh pinaringan akal lan kalbu sarta kaajab pasrawungan anggone memitran siji lan
sijine kanthi jiwo sumadulur.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed
with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of
brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
The pictures below showed that javanese letter still exist!