Balinese script

Aksara Bali ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬩᬮᬶ
Script type	Alphabet
Time period	c. 1000–present
Direction	Left-to-right
Languages	Balinese Sasak
Related scripts
Parent systems	Proto-Sinaitic alphabet Phoenician alphabet Aramaic alphabet Brāhmī Pallava Old Kawi Aksara Bali
Sister systems	Batak Baybayin Kulitan Buhid Hanunó'o Javanese Lontara Old Sundanese Rencong Rejang Tagbanwa
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Bali (360), ​Balinese
Unicode
Unicode alias	Balinese
Unicode range	U+1B00–U+1B7F

The Balinese script, natively known as Aksara Bali and Hanacaraka, is an alphabet 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. 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.

Though everyday use of the script has largely been supplanted by the Latin alphabet, the Balinese script has 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.

Characteristics

There are 47 letters in the Balinese script, each representing a syllable with inherent vowel /a/ or/ə/ at the end of a sentence, which changes depending on the diacritics around the letter. Pure Balinese can be written with 18 consonant letters and 9 vowel letters, while Sanskrit transliteration or loan words from Sanskrit and Old Javanese utilizes the full set. A set of modified letters are also used for writing the Sasak language. Each consonant has a conjunct form called gantungan which nullifies the inherent vowel of the previous syllable.

Punctuation includes a comma, period, colon, as well as marks to introduce and end section of a text. Musical notation uses letter-like symbols and diacritical marks in order to indicate metrical information. Text are written left to right without word boundaries (Scriptio continua).

There is also a set of "holy letters" called aksara modre which appears in religious texts and protective talismans. Most of them are constructed using diacritic ulu candra with corresponding characters. A number of additional characters, known to be used inline in text (as opposed to decoratively on drawings), remains under study and those characters are expected to be proposed as Balinese extensions in due course.

Letters

A basic letter in Balinese is called aksara (ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭ), and each letter stands for a syllable with inherent vowel /a/.

Consonants

Consonants are called wianjana (ᬯ᭄ᬬᬜ᭄ᬚᬦ) or aksara wianjana (ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬯ᭄ᬬᬜ᭄ᬚᬦ). Balinese script has 33 consonants, however only 18 consonants called wreṣāstra (ᬯᬺᬱᬵᬲ᭄ᬢ᭄ᬭ) are used for writing basic vocabulary in Balinese language. The rest consonants are, known as sualalita (ᬰ᭄ᬯᬮᬮᬶᬢ), mainly used for writing Sanskrit and Kawi loanwords in Balinese language. The consonants can be arranged into Sanskrit order and hanacaraka traditional order.

Hanacaraka traditional order

The consonants can be arranged in hanacaraka traditional order. The sequence forms a poem of 4 verses narrating the myth of Aji Saka. However, the hanacaraka sequence only has the 18 consonants of aksara wreṣāstra (ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬯᬺᬱᬵᬲ᭄ᬢ᭄ᬭ) and exclude aksara sualalita (ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬰ᭄ᬯᬮᬮᬶᬢ). However, this table below include aksara sualalita as the current romanization have no diacritics for the consonants.

ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬯ᭄ᬬᬜ᭄ᬚᬦ Aksara Wianjana Consonants

Poem

First Line

Second Line

Third Line

Fourth Line

IPA

[ha]

[na]

[tʃa]

[ra]

[ka]

[da]

[ta]

[sa]

[wa]

[la]

[ma]

[ga]

[ba]

[ŋa]

[pa]

[dʒa]

[ja]

[ɲa]

Aksara Latin Latin Transcription

ha

na

ca

ra

ka

da

ta

sa

wa

la

ma

ga

ba

nga

pa

ja

ya

nya

Aksara Wreṣāstra ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬯᬺᬱᬵᬲ᭄ᬢ᭄ᬭ

ᬳ

ᬦ

ᬘ

ᬭ

ᬓ

ᬤ

ᬢ

ᬲ

ᬯ

ᬮ

ᬫ

ᬕ

ᬩ

ᬗ

ᬧ

ᬚ

ᬬ

ᬜ

Aksara Sualalita ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬰ᭄ᬯᬮᬮᬶᬢ

ᬡ

ᬙ

ᬔ

ᬥ ᬟ ᬠ

ᬣ ᬝ ᬞ

ᬰ ᬱ

ᬖ

ᬪ

ᬨ

ᬛ

Sanskrit order

As other Brahmic scripts, consonants in Balinese script can be arranged into Sanskrit order. Thus, Balinese script had been influenced by Shiksha. The table below uses Sanskrit order.

Aksara Wianjana ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬯ᭄ᬬᬜ᭄ᬚᬦ Consonants
Warga (Place of articulation)	Pancawalimukha					Ardhasuara ᬅᬭ᭄ᬥᬲ᭄ᬯᬭ (Semivowels)	Ūṣma ᬊᬱ᭄ᬫ (Fricatives)	Wisarga ᬯᬶᬲᬭ᭄ᬕ (Glottal)
	Unvoiced		Voiced		Anunāsika ᬅᬦᬸᬦᬲᬶᬓ Nasal
	Alpaprāṇa ᬅᬮ᭄ᬧᬧ᭄ᬭᬵᬡ Unaspirated	Mahāprāṇa ᬫᬵᬳᬵᬧ᭄ᬭᬵᬡ Aspirated	Alpaprāṇa ᬅᬮ᭄ᬧᬧ᭄ᬭᬵᬡ Unaspirated	Mahāprāṇa ᬫᬵᬳᬵᬧ᭄ᬭᬵᬡ Aspirated
Kaṇṭhya ᬓᬡ᭄ᬞ᭄ᬬ (Guttural)	ᬓ [ka] ka Ka1	ᬔ [kʰa] kha Ka mahaprana	ᬕ [ga] ga Ga1	ᬖ [gʰa] gha Ga gora	ᬗ [ŋa] nga Nga1			ᬳ [ha] ha Ha12
Tālawya ᬢᬵᬮᬯ᭄ᬬ (Palatal)	ᬘ [tʃa] ca Ca murca1	ᬙ [tʃʰa] cha Ca laca3	ᬚ [dʒa] ja Ja1	ᬛ [dʒʰa] jha Ja jera	ᬜ [ɲa] nya Nya1	ᬬ [ja] ya Ya1	ᬰ [ɕa] śa ça Sa saga
Mūrdhanya ᬫᬹᬭ᭄ᬠᬜ (Retroflex)	ᬝ [ʈa] ṭa Ta latik	ᬞ [ʈʰa] ṭha Ta latik m.5	ᬟ [ɖa] ḍa Da murda a.4	ᬠ [ɖʰa] ḍha Da murda m.5	ᬡ [ɳa] ṇa Na rambat	ᬭ [ra] ra Ra1	ᬱ [ʂa] ṣa Sa sapa
Dantya ᬤᬦ᭄ᬢ᭄ᬬ (Dental)	ᬢ [ta] ta Ta1	ᬣ [tʰa] tha Ta tawa	ᬤ [da] da Da lindung1	ᬥ [dʰa] dha Da madu	ᬦ [na] na Na kojong1	ᬮ [la] la La1	ᬲ [sa] sa Sa danti16
Oṣṭhya ᬑᬱ᭄ᬞ᭄ᬬ (Labial)	ᬧ [pa] pa Pa1	ᬨ [pʰa] pha Pa kapal	ᬩ [ba] ba Ba1	or ᬪ [bʰa] bha Ba kembang7	ᬫ [ma] ma Ma1	ᬯ [wa] wa Wa1

^1 Aksara wreṣāstra. They are, in traditional order: ha na ca ra ka / da ta sa wa la / ma ga ba nga / pa ja ya nya.
^2 The consonant ha is sometimes not pronounced. For example, ᬳᬸᬚᬦ᭄ hujan (lit. rain) is pronounced ujan.
^3 The exact form of ca laca is unknown because only the appended (gantungan) form is left. However, the independent form is included in Unicode.
^4 alpaprana ^5 mahaprana
^6 Actually an alveolar consonant, but classified as dental by tradition
^7 The former of the two letter forms is more frequently used.

Vowels

Vowels, called suara (ᬲ᭄ᬯᬭ) or aksara suara (ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬲ᭄ᬯᬭ), can be written as independent letters when vowels appear in initial position. They are described in the following list:

Aksara suara ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬲ᭄ᬯᬭ Vowels
Warga (Place of articulation)	Aksara suara hŗeşua ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬲ᭄ᬯᬭᬳᬺᬱ᭄ᬯ (Short vowels)					Aksara suara dirgha ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬲ᭄ᬯᬭᬤᬷᬭ᭄ᬖ (Long vowels)
	Balinese script	Balinese script	Latin Transliteration	IPA	Name	Name	Balinese script	Balinese script	Latin Transliteration	IPA
Kaṇṭhya ᬓᬡ᭄ᬞ᭄ᬬ (Guttural)		ᬅ	a	[a]	A kara			ᬆ	ā	[ɑː]
Tālawya ᬢᬵᬮᬯ᭄ᬬ (Palatal)		ᬇ	i	[i]	I kara			ᬈ	ī	[iː]
Mūrdhanya ᬫᬹᬭ᭄ᬠᬜ (Retroflex)		ᬋ	ṛ	[ɹ̩]	Ra repa			ᬌ	ṝ	[ɹ̩ː]
Dantya ᬤᬦ᭄ᬢ᭄ᬬ (Dental)		ᬍ	ḷ	[l̩]	La lenga			ᬎ	ḹ	[l̩ː]
Oṣṭhya ᬑᬱ᭄ᬞ᭄ᬬ (Labial)		ᬉ	u	[u]	U kara			ᬊ	ū	[uː]
Kaṇṭha-Tālawya ᬓᬡ᭄ᬞ᭄ᬬᬢᬵᬮᬯ᭄ᬬ (Palato-guttural)		ᬏ	e	[e] [ɛ]	E kara	Airsanya		ᬐ	ai	[aːi]
Kaṇṭha-Oṣṭhya ᬓᬡ᭄ᬞ᭄ᬬᬑᬱ᭄ᬞ᭄ᬬ (Labio-guttural)		ᬑ	o	[o] [ɔ]	O kara			ᬒ	au	[aːu]

Gantungan and Gempelan

Gantungan (ᬕᬦ᭄ᬢᬸᬗᬦ᭄) (appended letters) and gempelan (ᬕᬾ‌ᬾ‌ᬫ᭄ᬧᬮᬦ᭄) (attached letters) has to be used to represent consonant cluster as zero vowel sign (adeg-adeg) may not used in middle of sentence in general. Thus, as some Brahmic family (Javanese), consonant cluster is written in stack. Each consonant letter has a corresponding either gantungan or gempelan (for pa, pha, sa and ṣa only) form, and the presence of gantungan and gempelan eliminate the inherent vowel [a] of the letter it is appended to. For example, if the letter na (ᬦ) is appended with gantungan da (◌᭄ᬤ), the pronunciation becomes nda (ᬦ᭄ᬤ).

Gantungan or gempelan can be applied with pangangge (diacritic) to a letter. However, attaching two or more gantungan to one letter is forbidden; this condition is known as tumpuk telu (three layers). Adeg-adeg may be used in the middle of a sentence to avoid such situation. For example, tamblang with consonant cluster mbl is written as ᬢᬫ᭄‌ᬩ᭄ᬮᬂ.

The forms of gantungan and gempelan are as follows:

Gantungan Gempelan ᬕᬦ᭄ᬢᬸᬗᬦ᭄ ᬕᬾ‌ᬾ‌ᬫ᭄ᬧᬮᬦ᭄
Warga (Place of articulation)	Pancawalimukha					Ardhasuara ᬅᬭ᭄ᬥᬲ᭄ᬯᬭ (Semivowels)	Ūṣma ᬊᬱ᭄ᬫ (Fricatives)	Wisarga ᬯᬶᬲᬭ᭄ᬕ (Glottal)
	Unvoiced		Voiced		Anunāsika ᬅᬦᬸᬦᬲᬶᬓ Nasal
	Alpaprāṇa ᬅᬮ᭄ᬧᬧ᭄ᬭᬵᬡ Unaspirated	Mahāprāṇa ᬫᬵᬳᬵᬧ᭄ᬭᬵᬡ Aspirated	Alpaprāṇa ᬅᬮ᭄ᬧᬧ᭄ᬭᬵᬡ Unaspirated	Mahāprāṇa ᬫᬵᬳᬵᬧ᭄ᬭᬵᬡ Aspirated
Kaṇṭhya ᬓᬡ᭄ᬞ᭄ᬬ (Guttural)	◌᭄ᬓ Ka	◌᭄ᬔ Ka mahaprana	◌᭄ᬕ Ga	◌᭄ᬖ Ga gora	◌᭄ᬗ Nga			◌᭄ᬳ Ha
Tālawya ᬢᬵᬮᬯ᭄ᬬ (Palatal)	◌᭄ᬘ Ca murca	◌᭄ᬙ Ca laca	◌᭄ᬚ Ja	◌᭄ᬛ Ja jera	◌᭄ᬜ Nya	◌᭄ᬬ Ya	◌᭄ᬰ Sa saga
Mūrdhanya ᬫᬹᬭ᭄ᬠᬜ (Retroflex)	◌᭄ᬝ Ta latik	◌᭄ᬞ Ta latik m.	◌᭄ᬟ Da madu a.	◌᭄ᬠ Da madu m.	◌᭄ᬡ Na rambat	◌᭄ᬭ Ra	◌᭄ᬱ Sa sapa
Dantya ᬤᬦ᭄ᬢ᭄ᬬ (Dental)	◌᭄ᬢ Ta	◌᭄ᬣ Ta tawa	◌᭄ᬤ Da lindung	◌᭄ᬥ Da madu	◌᭄ᬦ Na kojong	◌᭄ᬮ La	◌᭄ᬲ Sa danti
Oṣṭhya ᬑᬱ᭄ᬞ᭄ᬬ (Labial)	◌᭄ᬩ Ba	◌᭄ᬪ Ba kembang	◌᭄ᬧ Pa	◌᭄ᬨ Pa kapal	◌᭄ᬫ Ma	◌᭄ᬯ Wa

Diacritics

Diacritics (pangangge (ᬧᬗ᭢‌ᬗ᭄ᬕ), pronounced /pəŋaŋɡe/, also known as sandhangan when referring to the Javanese script) are symbols that cannot stand by itself. When they are attached to the independent letters, they affect the pronunciation. The three types of diacritics are pangangge suara, pangangge tengenan (pronounced /t̪əŋənan/) and pangangge aksara.

Pangangge suara

Pangangge suara (ᬧᬗ᭢‌ᬗ᭄ᬕᬲ᭄ᬯᬭ) change inherited vowel of consonant letter. For example, the letter ᬦ (na) with ulu (◌ᬶ) becomes ni (ᬦᬶ); ka (ᬓ) with suku (◌ᬸ) becomes ku (ᬓᬸ). The diacritics in this category is summarized in the following list:

Pangangge suara ᬧᬗ᭢‌ᬗ᭄ᬕᬲ᭄ᬯᬭ
Warga (Place of articulation)	Balinese script		Transliteration	IPA	Name
Kaṇṭhya ᬓᬡ᭄ᬞ᭄ᬬ (Guttural)		◌ᭂ	e / ê / ě 1	[ə]	Pepet
		◌ᬵ	ā	[ɑː]	Tedung
Tālawya ᬢᬵᬮᬯ᭄ᬬ (Palatal)		◌ᬶ	i	[i]	Ulu
		◌ᬷ	ī	[iː]	Ulu sari
Oṣṭhya ᬑᬱ᭄ᬞ᭄ᬬ (Labial)		◌ᬸ	u	[u]	Suku
		◌ᬹ	ū	[uː]	Suku ilut
Kaṇṭha-Tālawya ᬓᬡ᭄ᬞ᭄ᬬᬢᬵᬮᬯ᭄ᬬ (Palato-guttural)		◌ᬾ	e / é 1	[e] [ɛ]	Taling
		◌ᬿ	ai	[aːi]	Taling detya
Kaṇṭha-Oṣṭhya ᬓᬡ᭄ᬞ᭄ᬬᬑᬱ᭄ᬞ᭄ᬬ (Labio-guttural)		◌ᭀ	o	[o] [ɔ]	Taling tedung
		◌ᭁ	au	[aːu]	Taling detya matedung

^1 As first romanization of Balinese Language was developed during Dutch Colonial Era, letter e represents sound [ə] and letter é represents sound [e] and [ɛ] as in Van Ophuijsen Indonesian and Dutch orthography. After 1957, sounds [ə], [e] and [ɛ] are represented with e as in current Indonesian orthography with exception for new learner and dictionary usage.

Many consonants can form ligatures with tedung:

Pangangge tengenan

Pangangge tengenan (ᬧᬗ᭢‌ᬗ᭄ᬕᬢᭂᬗᭂᬦᬦ᭄), except adeg-adeg, adds a final consonant to a syllable. It can be used together with pangangge suara. For example, the letter ᬦ (na) with bisah (◌ᬄ) becomes ᬦᬄ (nah); ᬓ (ka) with suku (◌ᬸ) and surang (◌ᬃ) becomes ᬓᬸᬃ (kur). Compared to Devanagari, bisah is analogous to visarga, cecek to anusvara, and adeg-adeg to virama.

Adeg-adeg is zero vowel diacritics as in other Brahmic scripts in Balinese script. Adeg-adeg, as virama in Devanagari, suppress kills the inherent vowel /a/ in the consonant letter. Adeg-adeg is used on impossibility of gantungan and gempelan usage such as succeeded by punctuation marks, attachment of two or more gantungan to one letter (tumpuk telu, lit. three layers), preservation of combination (watek ksatriya, ᬯᬢᭂᬓ᭄‌ᬓ᭄ᬱᬢ᭄ᬭᬶᬬ rather than ᬯᬢᭂᬓ᭄ᬓ᭄ᬱᬢ᭄ᬭᬶᬬ) and disambiguation.

Pangangge tengenan ᬧᬗ᭢‌ᬗ᭄ᬕᬢᭂᬗᭂᬦᬦ᭄
Balinese script		IPA	Translit.	Name
	◌ᬄ	[h]	h	Bisah
	◌ᬃ	[r]	r	Surang
	◌ᬂ	[ŋ]	ng	Cecek
	◌᭄	[∅]		Adeg-adeg

Pangangge aksara

Pangangge aksara (ᬧᬗ᭢‌ᬗ᭄ᬕᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭ) is appended below consonant letters. Pangangge aksara are the appended (gantungan) forms of the ardhasuara (semivowel) consonants. Guwung macelek is the appended form of the vowel ra repa (ᬋ).

Pangangge aksara ᬧᬗ᭢‌ᬗ᭄ᬕᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭ
Balinese script		IPA	Translit.	Name
	◌᭄ᬭ	[ra]	ra	Cakra Guwung
	◌ᬺ	[rə]	rě	Guwung macelek
	◌᭄ᬯ	[ʋa]	ua	Suku kembung
	◌᭄ᬬ	[ja]	ia	Nania

Numerals

Main article: Balinese numerals

Balinese numeral	Balinese numeral	Hindu numeral	Name		Balinese numeral	Balinese numeral	Hindu numeral	Name
	᭐	0	Bindu Windu			᭕	5	Lima
	᭑	1	Siki Besik			᭖	6	Nem
	᭒	2	Kalih Dua			᭗	7	Pitu
	᭓	3	Tiga Telu			᭘	8	Kutus
	᭔	4	Papat			᭙	9	Sanga Sia

Balinese numerals are written in the same manner as Hindu numerals. For example, 25 is written with the Balinese numbers 2 and 5. If the number is written in the middle of a text, carik has to be written before and after the number to differentiate it from the text. Below is an example of how a date is written using Balinese numerals (date: 1 July 1982, location: Bali):

Balinese script	Transliteration
Bali, 1 Juli 1982. ᬩᬮᬶ᭞᭑᭞ᬚᬸᬮᬶ᭞᭑᭙᭘᭒᭟	Bali, 1 Juli 1982.

Other symbols

There are some special symbols in the Balinese script. Some of them are punctuation marks, and the others are religious symbols. The symbols are described in the following list:

Symbol	Symbol	Name	Remarks
	᭞	Carik Carik Siki.	Written in the middle of a sentence, like a comma (,). Also, written surrounding numerals to differentiate them from the text.
	᭟	Carik Kalih Carik Pareren	Written at the end of a sentence, like a full stop (.).
	᭝	Carik pamungkah	Functions like a colon (:).
	᭟᭜᭟	Pasalinan	Used at the end of a prose, letter, or verse.
	᭚	Panten or Panti	Used at the beginning of a prose, letter, or verse.
	᭛	Pamada	Used at the beginning of religious texts. This symbol is a ligature of the letters ma, nga, ja, and pa, forming the word mangajapa, which roughly means "praying for safety".
	ᬑᬁ‌ᬵ	Ongkara	Sacred symbol of Hinduism. This symbol is pronounced "Ong" or "Om".

Orthography

Balinese Language

Assimilation

Assimilation in Balinese occurs with-in the word. Balinese script represents assimilation occurred, however Latin script sometimes may not represent this. In general, alveolar consonants are assimilated into palatal, retroflex or labial. There are more specific descriptions in assimilation combination:

• ᬦ [n] assimilated into ᬜ [ɲ] if succeeded by palatal consonants, such as consonant cluster nc ᬜ᭄ᬘ and nj ᬜ᭄ᬚ. For example, word wianjana is written as ᬯ᭄ᬬᬜ᭄ᬚᬦ ([wyaɲdʒana]), not written as ᬯ᭄ᬬᬦ᭄ᬚᬦ ([wyandʒana]).
• ᬲ [s] assimilated into ᬰ [ɕ] if succeeded by palatal consonants, such as consonant cluster sc ᬰ᭄ᬘ. For example, word pascad is written as ᬧᬰ᭄ᬘᬤ᭄ ([paɕcad]), not written as ᬧᬲ᭄ᬘᬤ᭄ ([pascad]).
• ᬤ [d] assimilated into ᬚ [dʒ] if succeeded by palatal consonants, such as consonant cluster dny ᬚ᭄ᬜ. For example, word yadnya is written as ᬬᬚ᭄ᬜ ([jadʒɲa]), not written as ᬬᬤ᭄ᬜ ([jadɲa]).
• ᬦ [n] assimilated into ᬡ [ɳ] if preceded by retroflex consonants, such as consonant cluster rn ᬭ᭄ᬡ. For example, word karna is written as ᬓᬭ᭄ᬡ ([karɳa]), not written as ᬓᬭ᭄ᬦ ([karna]).
• ᬲ [s] assimilated into ᬱ [ʂ] if succeeded by retroflex consonants, such as consonant cluster st (ṣṭ) ᬱ᭄ᬝ and sn (ṣṇ) ᬱ᭄ᬡ. For example, word dusta (duṣṭa, lie) is written as ᬤᬸᬱ᭄ᬝ ([duʂʈa]), not written as ᬤᬸᬲ᭄ᬝ ([dusʈa]).
• ᬦ [n] assimilated into ᬫ [m] if succeeded by labial consonants. For example, word tanbara is written as ᬢᬫ᭄ᬪᬭ ([tambʰara]), not written as ᬢᬦ᭄ᬪᬭ ([tanbʰara]).

Liquid Consonant-Schwa Combination

Liquid consonant, ᬭ [r] and ᬮ [l], may not be combined with ◌ᭂ (pepet, schwa) [ə] as ᬭᭂ and ᬮᭂ. These combination, rě [rə] and lě [lə], sholuld be written as ᬋ (re repa) and ᬍ (le lenga). Word kěrěng (lit. eat a lot) and lekad are written as ᬓᭂᬋᬂ and ᬍᬓᬤ᭄. While combination of ◌᭄ᬮ (gantungan [l]) and ◌ᭂ (pepet) is possible as in ᬩ᭄ᬮ‍ᭂᬕᬜ᭄ᬚᬸᬃ (bleganjur), combination of ◌᭄ᬭ (cakra or gantungan [r]) and ◌ᭂ pepet is not allowed. If the combination follows a word which ends in a consonant, ◌᭄ᬋ (gempelan re repa) may be used as in ᬧᬓ᭄ᬋᬋᬄ (Pak Rěrěh, Mr. Rěrěh). If the combination is in a word, ◌ᬺ (guwung macelek) may be used instead as in ᬓᬺᬱ᭄ᬡ (Krěsna, Krishna).

Latin Script Transliteration

Latin script transliteration into Balinese script is based on phonetics. As vocabulary expands, foreign sounds are introduced and have no equivalent on Balinese script. In general, transliteration of foreign sounds is shown as below.

Foreign Sound Transliteration
IPA	Foreign Sound Latin Script	Balinese Language		Example
		Latin Script	Balinese Script	Foreign Word	Balinese Language		Meaning
					Latin Script	Balinese Script
[f]	f	p	ᬧ	telefon	telepon	ᬢᬾᬮᬾᬧᭀᬦ᭄	telephone
[v]	v	p	ᬧ	vitamin	pitamin	ᬧᬶᬢᬫᬶᬦ᭄	vitamine
[kw], [k], [q]	q	k	ᬓ	quantum	kuantum	ᬓ᭄ᬯᬦ᭄ᬢᬸᬫ᭄	quantum
[x]	x	kṣ	ᬓ᭄ᬱ	taxi	taksi	ᬢᬓ᭄ᬱᬶ	taxi
[z]	z	j	ᬚ
[z]	z	s	ᬲ

Font

There are some fonts for Balinese script as of 2016. Bali Simbar, JG Aksara Bali, Aksara Bali, Tantular Bali, Lilitan, Geguratan and Noto Sans Balinese are some fonts that included Balinese script. The fonts have different degree of compatibility each other.

Bali Simbar is first font for Balinese script by I Made Suatjana Dipl Ing at 1999. Bali Simbar is not compatible for Mac-OS and Unicode. JG Aksara Bali, was designed by Jason Glavy, has over 1400 Balinese glyphs, including a huge selection of precomposed glyph clusters. The latest version of JG Aksara Bali is released on 2003, thus has no compatibility with Unicode. Bali Simbar and JG Aksara Bali, in particular, may cause conflicts with other writing systems, as the font uses code points from other writing systems to complement Balinese's extensive repertoire as Balinese script was not included in Unicode at the creation time.

Aksara Bali by Khoi Nguyen Viet is the first hacked Unicode Balinese font with a brute-force OpenType implementation. The results depend on how well other OpenType features are implemented in the renderer. The font has about 370 Balinese glyphs. The team of Aditya Bayu Perdana, Ida Bagus Komang Sudarma, and Arif Budiarto has created a small series of Balinese fonts: Tantular Bali, Lilitan, and Geguratan, all using hacked Unicode and a brute-force OpenType implementation. Tantular has about 400 Balinese glyphs. Due to the script's complexity, some fonts have different input methods compared to other Indic scripts and may exhibit several flaws.

The other font is Noto Sans Balinese from Google. Noto Sans Balinese is compatible with Unicode. Due to the script's complexity, Noto Sans Balinese may exhibit several flaws.

Unicode

Balinese script was added to the Unicode Standard in July, 2006 with the release of version 5.0.

The Unicode block for Balinese is U+1B00–U+1B7F:

Balinese[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+1B0x

ᬀ

ᬁ

ᬂ

ᬃ

ᬄ

ᬅ

ᬆ

ᬇ

ᬈ

ᬉ

ᬊ

ᬋ

ᬌ

ᬍ

ᬎ

ᬏ

U+1B1x

ᬐ

ᬑ

ᬒ

ᬓ

ᬔ

ᬕ

ᬖ

ᬗ

ᬘ

ᬙ

ᬚ

ᬛ

ᬜ

ᬝ

ᬞ

ᬟ

U+1B2x

ᬠ

ᬡ

ᬢ

ᬣ

ᬤ

ᬥ

ᬦ

ᬧ

ᬨ

ᬩ

ᬪ

ᬫ

ᬬ

ᬭ

ᬮ

ᬯ

U+1B3x

ᬰ

ᬱ

ᬲ

ᬳ

᬴

ᬵ

ᬶ

ᬷ

ᬸ

ᬹ

ᬺ

ᬻ

ᬼ

ᬽ

ᬾ

ᬿ

U+1B4x

ᭀ

ᭁ

ᭂ

ᭃ

᭄

ᭅ

ᭆ

ᭇ

ᭈ

ᭉ

ᭊ

ᭋ

ᭌ

᭎

᭏

U+1B5x

᭐

᭑

᭒

᭓

᭔

᭕

᭖

᭗

᭘

᭙

᭚

᭛

᭜

᭝

᭞

᭟

U+1B6x

᭠

᭡

᭢

᭣

᭤

᭥

᭦

᭧

᭨

᭩

᭪

᭫

᭬

᭭

᭮

᭯

U+1B7x

᭰

᭱

᭲

᭳

᭴

᭵

᭶

᭷

᭸

᭹

᭺

᭻

᭼

᭽

᭾

᭿

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0 2.^ Grey area indicates non-assigned code point

Gallery

• 
  Page from a Bible printed with Balinese script
• 
  Balinese palm-leaf manuscript
• 
  Sign at Pura Puseh Temple, Batuan, Bali
• 
  Street sign in Singaraja, written in Latin and Balinese script
• 
  Klungkung Regent's Office sign

References

• Surada, I Made. 2007. Kamus Sanskerta-Indonesia. Surabaya: Penerbit Paramitha.
• Simpen, I Wayan. Pasang Aksara Bali. Diterbitkan oleh Dinas Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Provinsi Daerah Tingkat I Bali.

External links

• Entry on Balinese at Omniglot.com -- A guide to writing systems
• Computerization of Balinese Script
• http://unicode-table.com/en/sections/balinese/
• http://www.alanwood.net/downloads/index.html and download http://www.alanwood.net/downloads/aksrbali.zip