Jawi (script)
| Jawi alphabet |
|
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Languages |
Malay Acehnese Banjarese Minangkabau Tausūg several other languages in Southeast Asia |
|
Time period
|
~circa 1300 AD to the present |
|
Parent systems
|
Egyptian
|
Jawi (Jawi: جاوي Jāwī; Pattani: Yawi; Acehnese: Jawoë) is an Arabic alphabet for writing the Malay language, Acehnese, Banjarese, Minangkabau, Tausūg and several other languages in Southeast Asia.
Jawi is one of the two official scripts in Brunei, used as an alternative script in Malaysia and Malay dominated areas in Indonesia. Usage wise, it was the standard script for the Malay language but has since been replaced by a Latin alphabet called Rumi, and Jawi has since been relegated to a script used for religious, cultural and some administrative purposes. It can be typed with the Jawi keyboard. Day-to-day usage of Jawi is maintained in more conservative Malay-populated areas such as Kelantan in Malaysia and Pattani. Jawi is still commonly used on road and building signs, and taught in primary and religious schools in Brunei and parts of Indonesia.
The word "Jawi" (جاوي) is an adjective for the Arabic noun Jawah (جاوة). Both terms may have originated from the term "Javadwipa", the ancient name for Java. "Jawah" and "Jawi" may have been used by the Arabs as the catch-all terms in referring to the entire Maritime Southeast Asia and its peoples, similar to the kind of understanding by the later Europeans when coining the terms Malay Archipelago and Malay race.
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