Jump to content

Batak script

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Nohat (talk | contribs) at 16:09, 4 October 2003 (first start at a stub on Batak alphabet... really just needs images of all the letters and a couple examples to be complete). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

The Batak alphabet is a type of alphabet called an abugida that is used to write the Batak languages of northern Sumatra, a group Austronesian languages spoken by about 3 million people on the Indonesian island of Bali. In most Batak communities, only the priests, or datu are able to use the Batak alphabet, and use it mainly for magical texts and calendars.

The Batak alphabet was probably derived from Pallava and Old Kawi alphabets, which ultimately were derived from the Brahmi alphabet, the root of almost all the Indic and Southeast Asian abugidas.

Like most abugidas, each letter has an inherent vowel of /a/. Other vowels are indicated by using diacritics, which can appear above, below, to the left, or to the right of the consonant.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Batak_script&oldid=1524454"