Knowing the Basic Letters of the Javanese Script and Its Existence
Ditulis pada: February 05, 2022
Who says learning ancient Javanese script? For some people, learning Javanese script may be a very boring thing and seems old-fashioned. How is it possible that in this modern era, the younger generation still has to struggle with the old Javanese script? However, such an opinion is of course very wrong.
It should be noted that the Javanese script is not a series of ancient letters from the inscription era whose shape is difficult to understand. For people who understand the noble values of culture, the extension of the Javanese script is not inferior to other scripts or letters, such as Latin and Arabic.
Studying Javanese script is the same as preserving the nation's cultural values. Therefore, it is not appropriate if you think that researchers and observers of Javanese script are ancient people.
On the contrary, they are actually intelligent people who always want to know the origin of the nation's culture as contained in various ancient texts and inscriptions.
Just imagine, who else will preserve Javanese script if not the younger generation of this nation? We certainly don't want to see that various historical ancient manuscripts from Indonesia have been discovered and studied by other nations, right? Therefore, the younger generation must begin to realize the importance of learning culture, including about Javanese script.
History of the Javanese Script
The Javanese Script or Hanacaraka, which is more familiarly known as Carakan or Cacarakan in Sundanese, is a script derived from the Brahmi script which is used to write manuscripts in Javanese, Makassarese, Madurese, Malay, Sundanese, Balinese. , and the Sasak language.
The form of Hanacaraka used in this modern era has actually been determined since the time of the Mataram Sultanate (17th century), but the printed form only appeared in the 19th century.
This form of Javanese script is the result of a modification of the Kawi script and is an abugida. This can be seen in the structure of each Javanese letter which (at least) represents two Latin letters.
For example, the statement is the Javanese script ha which represents two Latin letters, namely /h/ and /a/. Each Latin letter is a complete syllable compared to the word hajj. In addition to /ha/, the Javanese script /na/ represents two Latin letters, namely /n/ and /a/. Each letter is a complete syllable compared to the word rice.
Based on this description, it can be concluded that in Javanese script, abbreviations will be found in the number of letters in writing a word. This is of course different from writing Latin script.
The use of Javanese script
Apparently, Javanese script was not only used to write scripts and inscriptions in the past. Javanese script is used as a written script in various Javanese texts as well as several other languages around the native speaker's area. Javanese script is more familiarly known as Hanacaraka or Carakan.
Javanese script grouping
In its original form, Javanese script (Hanacaraka) is written hanging or under a line. The way of writing Javanese script is the same as writing Hindi script. However, in teaching in the modern era, Javanese script writing is placed above the line.
The Javanese script (Hanacaraka) consists of 20 basic letters, 20 paired letters that function as a cover for vowel sounds, 8 "main" letters (murda script, some do not have pairs), 8 pairs of main letters, 5 swara scripts or front vowels, 5 companion characters and their 5 partners, some sandhanangan as vowels, some special characters, some punctuation marks, as well as some writing rules called pada.
Thus, it can be concluded that the Javanese script has a very complex group of letters or letters. It's no wonder that finally the younger generation views Javanese script as writing that is very difficult to learn. As an initial learning stage, the following is a group of basic letters of the Javanese script.
Basic letters of Javanese script
Some basic sequences of Javanese script are widely known to the public because they basically contain a story. The following is a basic sequence of letters or Javanese script that we often hear.
Hana Caraka, which means 'there are guards'.
Data Sawala, meaning 'different opinion'.
Padha Jayanya, meaning 'equally strong' or 'equally great'.
Maga Bathanga, meaning 'both dead'.
The series of basic letters of the Javanese script may be familiar to your ears. However, there are some important notes that are needed for those of you who are not familiar with the Javanese language and script. The following are some of the important notes in question.
/d/, /ɖ/, /j/, /b/, and /g/, in Javanese pronunciation it is always sounded explosively or there is a blowing of the letter /h/. This is done in order to give the impression of "heavy" on the Javanese accent.
/ha/ represents the phonemes /h/ and /a/. If this Javanese character is in front of a word, it will read /a/. However, this rule does not apply to names and words in foreign languages, in terms other than Javanese.
/da/, in writing Latin letters are used for the phoneme /d/ dental and pop (the tongue is behind the base of the upper incisors and pops out). /d/ here is different from /d/ in Indonesian and Malay.
/dha/, in writing Latin Javanese script is used for the phoneme /ɖ/ (d-retroflex). When pronouncing, the position of the tongue is the same as the pronunciation of the phoneme /d/ in Indonesian and Malay, but the sound is popped.
tha, in writing the Latin Javanese script is used for the phoneme /ʈ/ (t-retroflex). When pronounced, the position of the tongue is the same as the pronunciation of the phoneme /d/, but not weighted. The sound of this phoneme is almost similar to the Balinese accent when pronouncing /t/.
Meaning of Letters in Javanese Script
As previously mentioned, the series of Javanese script consists of the basic letters /ha/, /na/, /ca/, /ra/, /ka/, /da/, /ta/, /sa/, /wa/, /la/, /pa/, /dha/, /ja/, /ya/, /nya/, /ma/, /ga/, /ba/, /tha/, /nga/. Apparently, each letter in the Javanese script has its own meaning, which is as follows.
/Ha/. Hana hurip wening holy, meaning 'the existence of life is the will of the Most Holy'.
/Na/. Nur candra, gaib candra, warsitaning candara, meaning 'human hope is only always in the light of God'.
/Ca/. Cipta wening, created mandulu, created dadi, which means 'direction and purpose to the One and Only One'.
/Ra/. Rasaingsun handulusih, meaning that true love arises from the love of conscience'.
/Ka/. Karsaningsun meyu hayuning bawana, which means 'desire directed towards the welfare of nature'.
/da/. Dumadining dzat kang without winangenan, means 'to accept life as it is'.
/Ta/. Tatas, tutus, titis, titi lan wibawa, means 'fundamental, totality, one vision, thoroughness in looking at life'.
/S/. Suram ingsun handulu alamullah, which means 'forming love like God's love'.
/Wa/. The form of hana tan hit kinira, which means 'human knowledge is limited but the implications can be unlimited'.
/La/. Lir handaya paseban jati, which means 'to flow one's life solely on divine guidance'.
/Pa/. Papan kang without qibla, meaning 'the essence of Allah who is in all directions'.
/Dha/. Dhuwur wekasane endek wiwitane, which means 'to be at the top you have to start from the bottom'.
/ja/. Jumbuhing kawula lan Gusti, which means 'always trying to unite and understand God's will'.
/Yes/. Yakin marang samubarang tumindak kang dumadi, which means 'believe in divine decree or nature'.
/His/. Real without eyes, understand without being written down, it means 'understanding the nature of life'.
/Ma/. Madep mantep manembah marang Dewe, which means 'confident and steady in facing God'.
/Ga/. The true teacher is muruki, which means 'learn from the teacher of conscience'.
/Ba/. Truly Bayu is the mainstay, meaning 'to align oneself with the motions of nature'.
/Tha/. Tukul saka intention, meaning 'something must start and grow from intention'.
/Nga/. Ngracut clothing manungso, which means 'to let go of the selfishness of the human person'.
Javanese script will be used as a Windows font
As the owner of this ancestral heritage, especially the Javanese, you should feel proud because it turns out that the Javanese script will soon be used as a font in the latest Windows program on Microsoft's computers.
This statement was confirmed by an observer of Javanese language and script, namely Ki Demang Sokowaten. On the sidelines of the 5th Java Language Congress (KBJ) which took place in Surabaya, Ki Demang Sokowaten said that Unesco had helped them register the Javanese script to be entered into computer fonts with Unicode.
Ki Demang Sokowaten is very grateful because the Javanese script has been recognized and will soon be included by Unicode into computer fonts. Unicode itself is an official agency that has the authority to make code standards on computer systems in the world.
Now, we just have to wait for Microsoft to fulfill this promise. Microsoft has promised to include the Javanese script font on their latest windows. If Windows 7 doesn't exist yet, maybe we can only find Javanese script fonts on Windows 8 or the latest version of Windows.
After getting to know the basic letters of the Javanese script and their existence in the international world, do you still think that studying Javanese script is ancient?
