JAWI SCRIPT

'Jawi' (Arabic: جوي Jăwi) (or 'Yawi' in Pattani) is an adapted Arabic alphabet for writing the Malay language. It is used as one of two official scripts in Brunei for writing Malay, and is employed to a limited extent in Malaysia, in Indonesia, in southern Philippines, in Patani in southern Thailand and in Singapore as well, particularly in religious contexts.

Contents

Introduction

Letters

Further reading

External links

Introduction

The Jawi alphabet has existed for many centuries in Nusantara (the Malay world). Its development is linked with the arrival of Islam. It consists of mostly Arabic characters along with some extra characters unique to Jawi.
The Jawi alphabet is one of the earliest scripts used for writing Malay. Jawi has been in use since the era of the kingdom of Pasai, to the era of the Sultanate of Malacca, Sultanate of Johor and also Acheh and Sultanate of Patani in the 17th century. Evidence of this is found in the Terengganu Inscription Stone (Batu Bersurat Terengganu), dated 1303 A.D. (702H by the Islamic calendar), whereas the earliest use of the Roman alphabet is found near the end of the 19th century. The Jawi script was the official script for Unfederated Malay States during British protectorate. Today, the script is used for religious and Malay cultural administration in Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis and Johor. The Malays in Patani still use Jawi today.

Letters

Character	Isolated	Initial	Medial	Final	Name
ا	ﺍ			ﺎ	alif
ب	ﺏ	ﺑ	ﺒ	ﺐ	ba
ت	ﺕ	ﺗ	ﺘ	ﺖ	ta
ث	ﺙ	ﺛ	ﺜ	ﺚ	tsa
ج	ﺝ	ﺟ	ﺠ	ﺞ	jim
ح	ﺡ	ﺣ	ﺤ	ﺢ	hha
چ	ﭺ	ﭼ	ﭽ	ﭻ	ca
خ	ﺥ	ﺧ	ﺨ	ﺦ	kha
د	ﺩ			ﺪ	dal
ذ	ﺫ			ﺬ	dzal
ر	ﺭ			ﺮ	ra
ز	ﺯ			ﺰ	zai
س	ﺱ	ﺳ	ﺴ	ﺲ	sin
ش	ﺵ	ﺷ	ﺸ	ﺶ	syin
ص	ﺹ	ﺻ	ﺼ	ﺺ	shad
ض	ﺽ	ﺿ	ﻀ	ﺾ	dhad
ط	ﻁ	ﻃ	ﻄ	ﻂ	tho
ظ	ﻅ	ﻇ	ﻈ	ﻆ	zho
ع	ﻉ	ﻋ	ﻌ	ﻊ	ain
غ	ﻍ	ﻏ	ﻐ	ﻎ	ghain
ڠ					nga
ف	ﻑ	ﻓ	ﻔ	ﻒ	fa
ڤ	ﭪ	ﭬ	ﭭ	ﭫ	pa
ق	ﻕ	ﻗ	ﻘ	ﻖ	qaf
ك	ﻙ	ﻛ	ﻜ	ﻚ	kaf
ڬ					gaf
ل	ﻝ	ﻟ	ﻠ	ﻞ	lam
م	ﻡ	ﻣ	ﻤ	ﻢ	mim
ن	ﻥ	ﻧ	ﻨ	ﻦ	nun
و	ﻭ			ﻮ	wau
ۏ					va
ه	ﻩ	ﻫ	ﻬ	ﻪ	ha
ي	ﻱ	ﻳ	ﻴ	ﻲ	ya
ڽ					nya

Further reading

★ H.S. Paterson (& C.O. Blagden), 'An early Malay Inscription from 14th-century Terengganu', ''Journ. Mal. Br.R.A.S.'', II, 1924, pp. 258-263.

★ R.O. Winstedt, ''A History of Malaya'', revised ed. 1962, p. 40.

★ J.G. de Casparis, ''Indonesian Paleography'', 1975, p. 70-71.

External links

★ Omniglot article about written Malay

★ Roman Jawi converter and Jawi script download page

★ eJawi.net

★ The easy way to write in Jawi