Batak alphabet

Surat Batak ᯘᯮᯒᯖ᯲ ᯅᯖᯂ᯲
Type	Alphabet
Languages	Batak languages
Time period	c. 1300–present
Parent systems	Origins of Brahmi script unclear. On Aramaic origin hypothesis: Proto-Sinaitic alphabet Phoenician alphabet Aramaic alphabet Brāhmī Detailed descent of Batak script from Brahmi unclear. Hypotheses of Kawi origin or direct descent through Pallava: Pallava alphabet Old Kawi Surat Batak
Sister systems	Direct family relationships unclear. Sister scripts on hypothesis of common Kawi origin: Balinese Baybayin Kulitan Buhid Hanunó'o Javanese Lontara Old Sundanese Rencong Rejang Tagbanwa
Direction	Left-to-right
ISO 15924	Batk, 365
Unicode alias	Batak
Unicode range	U+1BC0–U+1BFF

The Batak script, natively known as surat Batak, surat na sapulu sia (the nineteen letters), or si-sia-sia, is an alphabet used to write the Austronesian Batak languages spoken by several million people on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The script may be derived from the Kawi and Pallava script, ultimately derived from the Brahmi script of India, or from the hypothetical Proto-Sumatran script influenced by Pallava.^[1]

History

In most Batak communities, only the priests, or datu were able to use the Batak script, and used it mainly for magical texts and calendars. After the arrival of Europeans in the Batak lands, first German missionaries and, from 1878 onwards, the Dutch, the Batak script was, alongside the Roman script, taught in the schools, and teaching and religious materials were printed in the Batak script. Soon after the first World War the missionaries decided to discontinue printing books in the Batak script. The script soon fell out of use and is now only used for ornamental purposes.

Origin

The Batak script 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.

Structure

Batak is written from bottom to top within one column, and left to right for columns. Like most abugidas, each consonant has an inherent vowel of /a/, unless there is a diacritic (in Toba Batak called pangolat) to indicate the lack of a vowel. Other vowels, final ŋ, and final velar fricative [x] are indicated by diacritics, which appear above, below, or after the letter. For example, ba is written ba (one letter); bi is written ba.i (i follows the consonant); bang is written ba^ŋ (ŋ is above the consonant); and bing is ba^ŋ.i. Final consonants are written with the pangolat (here represented by "#"): bam is ba.ma.#. However, bim is written ba.ma.i.#: the first diacritic belongs to the first consonant, and the second belongs to the second consonant, but both are written at the end of the entire syllable. Unlike most Brahmi-based scripts, Batak does not form consonant conjuncts.

Letters

Letters are called sia. Each consonant has an inherent vowel of /a/. The script varies by region and language. The major variants are between Karo, Mandailing, Pakpak/Dairi, Simalungun/Timur, and Toba:

Sia (Letters)

IPA

a

ha

ka

ba

pa

na

wa

ga

dʒa

da

ra

ma

ta

sa

ja

ŋa

la

ɲa

tʃa

nda

mba

i

u

Transcription

a

ha

ka

ba

pa

na

wa

ga

ja

da

ra

ma

ta

sa

ja

nga

la

nya

ca

nda

mba

i

u

Karo

1

5

Mandailing

4

Pakpak

Toba

2

3

Simalungun

6

Alternate forms:
^1 (used in Mandailing) ^2 ^3 ^4 ^5 ^6

Diacritics

Diacritics are used to change the pronunciation of a letter. They can change the vowel from the inherent /a/, mark a final [velar nasal] /ŋ/, mark a final velar fricative /x/, or indicate a final consonant with no vowel:

Latin Trans.	Batak Diacritics						Latin Trans.	Batak Diacritics with /ka/
	Karo	Mand.	Pakp.	Sima.	Toba			Karo	Mand.	Pakp.	Sima.	Toba
-a							ka
-e							ke
-i							ki
-o							ko
-ou							kou
-u							ku
-ng							kang
-h							kah
–							k

Ligatures with U

The diacritic for U used by Mandailing, Pakpak, Simalungun, and Toba can form ligatures with its base letter:

Batak Script Description  + =    a + -u = u  + =  a + -u = u (Simalungun)  + =    ha + -u = hu (Mandailing)  + =    ha + -u = hu (Simalungun)  + =    ha + -u = hu  + =    ka + -u = ku (Mandailing)  + =    ba + -u = bu  + =    pa + -u = pu (Mandailing)  + =    pa + -u = pu (Pakpak, Toba)  + =    pa + -u = pu (Simalungun)  + =    na + -u = nu  + =    na + -u = nu (Mandailing)  + =    wa + -u = wu (Mandailing, Toba)  + =    wa + -u = wu (Pakpak, Toba)  + =    wa + -u = wu (Simalungun)  + =    ga + -u = gu  + =    ga + -u = gu (Simalungun)  + =    ja + -u = ju

Batak Script Description  + =    da + -u = du  + =    ra + -u = ru  + =    ra + -u = ru (Simalungun)  + =    ma + -u = mu  + =    ma + -u = mu (Simalungun)  + =    ta + -u = tu  + =    ta + -u = tu  + =    sa + -u = su (Pakpak)  + =    sa + -u = su (Mandailing)  + =    sa + -u = su (Mandailing)  + =    sa + -u = su (Simalungun)  + =    ya + -u = yu  + =    ya + -u = yu (Simalungun)  + =    nga + -u = ngu  + =    la + -u = lu  + =    la + -u = lu (Simalungun)  + =    nya + -u = nyu  + =    ca + -u = cu (Mandailing)

Tompi

In Mandailing, the diacritic tompi can be used to change the sound of some letters:

ha	+	tompi	=	ka	sa	+	tompi	=	ca
	+		=			+		=
	+		=			+		=
	+		=			+		=

Placement of diacritics for Ng and H

The diacritics for Ng () and H () are usually written above spacing vowel diacritics instead of above the base letter.
Examples: ping, pong, peh, and pih.

Diacritic reordering for closed syllables

Vowel diacritics are reordered for closed syllables (that is, syllables where the final consonant has no vowel). Consonants with no vowel are marked by the Batak pangolat or panongonan diacritic, depending on the language. When they are used for a closed syllable (like "tip"), both the vowel diacritic and the pangolat/panongonan are written at the end of the syllable.

Examples of closed syllables using pangolat:

ta	+	vowel	+	pa	+	pangolat	=	syllable
			+		+		=
ta			+	pa	+	pangolat	=	tap
	+		+		+		=
ta	+	e	+	pa	+	pangolat	=	tep
	+		+		+		=
ta	+	e	+	pa	+	pangolat	=	tep
	+		+		+		=
ta	+	i	+	pa	+	pangolat	=	tip
	+		+		+		=
ta	+	o	+	pa	+	pangolat	=	top
	+		+		+		=
ta	+	u	+	pa	+	pangolat	=	tup

Punctuation and ornaments

Batak is normally written without spaces or punctuation (as scriptio continua). However, special marks or bindu are occasionally used. They vary greatly in size and design from manuscript to manuscript.

Examples	Name	Function
	Bindu na metek (small bindu)	Begins paragraphs and stanzas
	Bindu panarboras (rice-shaped bindu)	Variant of bindu na metek, serves same function
	Bindu judul (title bindu)	Separates a title from the body of the text
	Bindu pangolat	Trailing punctuation

Unicode

Batak script was added to the Unicode Standard in October 2010 with the release of version 6.0.

Block

The Unicode block for Batak is U+1BC0–U+1BFF:

Rendering

Unicode fonts for Batak must handle several requirements to properly render text:

Rendering Requirements	Examples
	Latin Trans.	Image	Unicode Text
Correct placement of one or more diacritics	ke		ᯂᯩ
	ke (Mand.)		ᯄ᯦ᯩ
	ping		ᯇᯪᯰ
	reng		ᯒᯩᯰ
Ligatures with U	hu (Mand.)		ᯄᯮ
	hu (Sima.)		ᯃᯮ
	gu		ᯎᯮ
	lu		ᯞᯮ
Diacritic reordering for closed syllables	tip		ᯖᯪᯇ᯲

Gallery

• 

  Batak book about the art of divination from a rooster (Robert C. Williams Paper Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, USA)

• 

  Batak script carved into a bamboo tube with wooden stopper (Museum of the Tropics in Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

• 

  Bamboo inscribed with Simalungun Batak script (National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, The Netherlands)

• 

  Batak palm leaf book (Museum of the Tropics in Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

• 

  Book of formulas, recipes, and rules applied by Batak priests (Museum of the Tropics in Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

• 

  Magic book used by priests of the Toba Batak tribe (National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, The Netherlands)

• 

  Manuscript in Batak Toba language, central Sumatra, early 1800s. (Robert C. Williams Paper Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, USA)

Citations

Sources

• Kozok, Uli (January 2009). Surat Batak: Sejarah Perkembangan Tulisan Batak : Berikut Pedoman Menulis Aksara Batak Dan Cap Si Singamangaraja XII (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Gramedia. ISBN 979-9101-53-0. 

• Everson, Michael; Kozok, Uli (7 October 2008), N3320R: Proposal for encoding the Batak script in the UCS (PDF) 

• Kozok, Uli. "Kursus Kilat Aksara Batak (Quick Course in Batak Script)" (in Indonesian). Retrieved 20 April 2011. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Batak letters.

• Entry on Batak at Omniglot.com – A guide to writing systems
• Transtoba2 – Roman to Toba Batak script transliteration software by Uli Kozok and Leander Seige (GNU GPL)
• Uli Kozok's Batak Script website with free Batak fonts.
• http://unicode-table.com/en/sections/batak/