Javanese alphabet being used
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Currently, there are no newspapers or magazines being printed in the Javanese script. However it is still taught in mostelementary school and some junior high school as of compulsory subject in Javanese language areas.
Function
The Javanese script is an abugida. Each of the twenty letter represents a syllable with a consonant (or a "zero consonant") and the inherent vowel 'a' which is pronounced as /ɔ/ in open position. Various diacritics placed around the letter indicate a different vowel than [ɔ], a final consonant, or a foreign pronunciation.
Letters have subscript forms used to transcribe consonant clusters. Some have "capital" forms used in proper names. However, every letter in the name is capitalized, not just the first. Punctuation includes a comma; period; a mark that covers the colon, quotations, and indicates numerals; and marks to introduce a chapter, poem, song, or letter.
Each symbol consists of n-shapes and u-shapes. n-shapes come in two sizes: small and large (twice the size of a small). u-shapes come in three sizes: small, medium (1.5x) and large (2.5x). For example, the character 'h' consists of a small n-shape, followed by a large u-shape and two large n-shapes. This format is closely followed in hand-writing and is no longer followed in printed characters.
Javanese characters are written slanted to the side and below the line, and there are no word boundaries.
Vowels
In Javanese, there are a total of nine vowels: /a/, /i/, /ɪ/, /e/, /ɛ/, /ə/, /o/, /ɔ/, /u/. However, only five vowel diacritics, known assandhangan swara, are used because some diacritics can be used for two different vowels. Rules regarding the pronunciation and the context eliminate the need for a new symbol for every vowel by making the vowel predictable.
| Phoneme | /i/ | /ə/ | /u/ | /e/ | /o/ |
| Symbol |  |  |  |  |  |
| Name | wulu | pepet | suku | taling | taling-tarung |
Rules regarding inherent vowels of basic characters:
1) A basic character stands for a syllable that ends in the vowel /ɔ/ when the character is preceded by another character containing a sandhangan swara.
2) A basic character stands for a syllable that ends in the vowel /a/ when the character is immediately followed by a character containing a sandhangan swara.
3) The first basic character of a word normally has the /ɔ/ vowel, unless it precedes two other basic characters, in which case the first basic character has the /a/ vowel.
Consonants
| ha | na | ca | ra | ka |
 |  |  |  |  |
| da | ta | sa | wa | la |
 |  |  |  |  |
| pa | dha | ja | ya | nya |
 |  |  |  |  |
| ma | ga | ba | tha | nga |
 |  |  |  |  |
Syllable-final consonants
Four special syllable-final consonants are denoted by diacritics. The four consonants are -ng, -r, -h, and -l; they are indicated by the cecak, layar, wignyan, and pengkal, respectively.
| - | /h/ final | /r/ final | /ŋ/ final |
 |  |  |  |
| pangkon | wignyan | layar | cecak |
Other consonants that appear in the word-final position require the use of the basic consonant symbols and the paten (or pangku) to indicate the absence of a vowel.
| ha | na | ca | ra | ka |
 |  |  |  |  |
| da | ta | sa | wa | la |
 |  |  |  |  |
| pa | dha | ja | ya | nya |
 |  |  |  |  |
| ma | ga | ba | tha | nga |
 |  |  |  |  |
Aksara murda
| Symbol | na | ka | ta | sa | pa | ga | ba |
| Murda simple |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Murda pasangan |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Consonant clusters
Only l, r, w, and y can form consonant clusters in Javanese.
For example,
/l/: blabag - board
/r/: mrana - going there
/w/: dwi - two
/y/: hyang - God
When ‘r’ or ‘y’ are the second consonant of the cluster, they are represented by diacritics “cakra” and “pengkal” respectively. However, when the consonant cluster with ‘-r’ ends with the vowel /ə/, then a different diacritic, the keret is used.
When ‘l’ or ‘w’ is the second consonant of a cluster, it is represented by the “pasangan” forms, modified consonant symbols, written under the symbol for the first consonant of the cluster.
Special characters
Words borrowed from other languages such as Arabic or Malay are indicated by writing diacritic marks over similar sounding Javanese letters. On top of that, Javanese also uses special characters to write foreign names or words.
A: There are five special characters used to write non-Javanese vowels. The five vowels are represented by the following names.
- 1) Ali
- 2) Irawan
- 3) Umar
- 4) Eka
- 5) Oto
| Phoneme | /a/ | /i/ | /u/ | /lə/ | /rə/ | /e/ | /o/ |
| Symbol |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Name | nga lelet | pa cerek |
B: There are five special characters used to write non-Javanese consonants. These consonants are /x/, /dʒ/, /f/, /ɣ/, and /z/.
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Numbers
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
 | |  |  |  | |  | |  |  |
0 nol 1 siji 2 loro 3 telu 4 papat 5 lima 6 enem 7 pitu 8 wolu 9 sangaThe Javanese numeral system has its own script but they often use the Arabic number system. In the Javanese Script, only numbers 0–9 are represented.
When writing numbers greater than 9, simply combine the above numbers, as one would using the Arabic system. For example, to write 21, simply write the characters loro siji. Similarly, the number 90 would be the characters sanga nol.
Since some of the characters for the numbers are very similar to the characters for syllables, numbers that show up in Javanese texts are indicated by special 'numeral markers' both before and after the number. For example,
text ....... numeral marker telu siji numeral marker .......... text
Punctuation
With the introduction of the new Javanese script (carakan script), different punctuation marks were also introduced. Punctuations can be divided into two categories: primary and special. Primary punctuation includes:
- 1) the comma “pada-lungsi”,
- 2) the period “pada-lingsa”,
- 3) colon or quotation marks “pada-handhegging-celathu”, and
- 4) to introduce a new sentence or paragraph “pada-bab”.
Special punctuation includes:
- 1) the “pada-luhur” to introduce a letter to a person of lower rank;
- 2) the “pada-madya” to introduce a letter to an equal; the “pada-handhap” to introduce a letter to a person of higher rank;
- 3) the “purwa-pada” to introduce a poem; the”madya-pada” to indicate a new song in a poem;
- 4) and the “wasana-pada” to indicate the end of a poem.
Two special rules apply to the usage of the comma, and the period.
1.The comma is not needed after a consonant-ending word that is represented by a pangku
2.The comma is used instead of the period after a consonant-ending word that is represented by a pangku
Capitalization
Javanese script has seven "capital" letters called the aksara murdha that are used for the names of highly respected persons and places. The first letter of the name is usually capitalized; however, all the letters could be capitalized if possible. Also, if anaksara murdha is not available for the first letter, the second letter is capitalized. If the second letter does not have an aksara murdha either, the third letter is capitalized, and so on. Note that the capital letters are not used to indicate the beginnings of sentences.
Alphabet as poem
The alphabet itself forms a poem, and a perfect pangram, of which the line-by-line translation is as follows:
Hana caraka There (were) two messengers
data sawala (They) had animosity (among each other)
padha jayanya (They were) equally powerful (in fight)
maga bathanga Here are the corpses.
data sawala (They) had animosity (among each other)
padha jayanya (They were) equally powerful (in fight)
maga bathanga Here are the corpses.
in detail:
hana / ana = there were/was
caraka = messenger (actually, 'one who is loyal to and trusted by someone')
data = have/has
sawala = difference (regarding a matter)
padha = same, equal
jayanya = 'their power', 'jaya' could mean 'glory' as well
maga = 'here'
bathanga = corpses
caraka = messenger (actually, 'one who is loyal to and trusted by someone')
data = have/has
sawala = difference (regarding a matter)
padha = same, equal
jayanya = 'their power', 'jaya' could mean 'glory' as well
maga = 'here'
bathanga = corpses
- Hana caraka (There were two messengers)
- Data sawala (They had animosity)
- Padha jayanya (They were equally powerful in fight)
- Maga bathanga (Here are the corpses)
Modified usage by Sundanese people
Javanese script was also used by some Sundanese people to write the Sundanese language, but the script was simplified and called Cacarakan instead. Cacarakan differs from Carakan by omitting the dha and tha, thus only:
ha, na, ca, ra, ka, da, ta, sa, wa, la, pa, ja, ya, nya, ma, ga, ba, nga.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
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