Balinese script

Balinese script
Aksara Bali
ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬩᬮᬶ
Script type
Time period
914 CE – present
DirectionLeft-to-right Edit this on Wikidata
LanguagesBalinese
Sasakese
Loloanese
Related scripts
Parent systems
Sister systems
Batak
Baybayin scripts
Javanese
Lontara
Makasar
Old Sundanese
Rencong
Rejang
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Bali (360), ​Balinese
Unicode
Unicode alias
Balinese
U+1B00–U+1B7F
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The Balinese script, natively known as Aksara Bali and Hanacaraka, (Balinese: ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬩᬮᬶ) is an abugida used in the island of Bali, Indonesia, commonly for writing the Austronesian Balinese language, Old Javanese, and the liturgical language Sanskrit. With some modifications, the script is also used to write the Sasak language, used in the neighboring island of Lombok.[1] The script is a descendant of the Brahmi script, and so has many similarities with the modern scripts of South and Southeast Asia. The Balinese script, along with the Javanese script, is considered the most elaborate and ornate among Brahmic scripts of Southeast Asia.[2]

Though everyday use of the script has largely been supplanted by the Latin alphabet, the Balinese script has a significant prevalence in many of the island's traditional ceremonies and is strongly associated with the Hindu religion. The script is mainly used today for copying lontar or palm leaf manuscripts containing religious texts.[2][3]

  1. ^ Everson, Michael; Suatjana, I Made (2005-01-23). "N2908: Proposal for encoding the Balinese script in the UCS" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  2. ^ a b Kuipers, Joel (2003). Indic Scripts of Insular Southeast Asia: Changing Structures and Functions Archived 2014-05-14 at the Wayback Machine. Tokyo: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
  3. ^ Fox, Richard (2013). Rival Styles of Writing, Rival Styles of Practical Reasoning. Heidelberg: Institut für Ehtnologie.