Jawi

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.

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 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.

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

External links

Alphabetic writing systems | Arabic-derived alphabets | Malay language

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Introduction

Letters

Further reading

External links