Jawi
 |
The Jawi alphabet. The chart should be read right-to-left, top-down. |
Jawi (
Arabic: جوي Jăwi) is an adapted
Arabic alphabet for writing the
Malay language. It is used as one of two official scripts in
Brunei, and is employed to a limited extent in
Malaysia, in
Indonesia, in
Patani in southern Thailand and in
Singapore as well, particularly in religious contexts.
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 Tablet (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.
| Character | Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final | Name |
|---|
| ا | ﺍ | | | ﺎ | alif |
| 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 | " | " | ' | 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 |
* 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.
*
Omniglot article about written Malay*
Roman Jawi converter and Jawi script download page*
eJawi.net
