Kawi

Overview Properties List Table

The Kawi script developed from Brahmi11000–1107F in the 8th century and was used until the 16th century in Southeast Asia, specifically in the territories of Malaysia, Singapore, the Indonesian archipelago, and the Philippines. The earliest texts were found on the island of Java, where the largest number of them are also located. Over time, Kawi spread to other lands and was used for writing languages such as Old Javanese, Sanskrit, Old Malay, Old Balinese, and Old Sundanese. It became the foundation for many Southeast Asian scripts.

The Kawi script is an abugida and is written from left to right. Each consonant always has an inherent vowel. This vowel can be replaced by a dependent vowel or suppressed by a virama 𑁆 . The alphabet also includes independent vowels, which can be written together with dependent vowels.

Over the course of 800 years of usage, the letter shapes have undergone significant changes. The characters in this block are mainly based on early sources.

Properties

Range	11F00–11F5F
Characters	96

List of Characters

Table of Characters

11EE0–11EFF Makasar 11FB0–11FBF Lisu Supplement

0: Basic Multilingual Plane

1: Supplementary Multilingual Plane

2: Supplementary Ideographic Plane

3: Tertiary Ideographic Plane

4-13: Not Used

14: Supplementary Special-purpose Plane

15: Supplementary Private Use Area Plane – A

16: Supplementary Private Use Area Plane – B

Kawi

Properties

List of Characters

Signs

Independent vowels

Consonants

Dependent vowel signs

Viramas

Punctuation

Digits

Nukta