Batak alphabet Origin The Batak alphabet, or surat batak, is descended ultimately from the from Brahmi script of ancient India by way of the Pallava and Old Kawi scripts. Notable features Batak is a syllabic alphabet - each consonant (aksara) has an inherent vowel. Other vowels or the absence of vowels can be indicated using diacritics which appear above, below or after the consonant letter. Batak is traditionally written from bottom to top in vertical columns running from left to right on strips of bamboo held together with string. Used to write: The Batak languages of northern Sumatra - Karo Batak, Toba Batak, Dairi Batak, Simalungun/Timur, Angkola and Mandailing Batak, and occasionally Malay. In most Batak communities, only the datu (priests) are able to read and write the Batak alphabet and they use it mainly for calendars and magical texts.
There are slight variations in the letters and vowel diacritics used to write each language. Karo Batak syllabic alphabet Karo Batak is an Austronesian language with about 600,000 speaks in the central and northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Vowel diacritics with ka Toba Batak syllabic alphabet Dairi Batak, which is also known as Batak Toba and Batta, is an Austronesian language spoken by about 2 million people in the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Vowel diacritics with ka Dairi Batak syllabic alphabet Dairi Batak, which is also known as Dairi, Pakpak and Pakpak Dairi, is an Austronesian language with about 1.2 million speakers in the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Vowel diacritics with ka Simalungun/Timur syllabic alphabet Simalungun, which is also known as Timur and Simelungan, is an Austronesian language spoken by about 800,000 people in the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Vowel diacritics with ka Mandaling Batak syllabic alphabet Mandaling Batak or Batta is an Austronesian language with about 400,000 speakers in the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Vowel diacritics with ka Note The fonts used on this page were created by Dr Uli Kozok of The University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Links Further information about Batak (includes free Batak fonts) http://www.hawaii.edu/indolang/surat Other syllabic alphabets Ahom, Balinese, Batak, Bengali, Brahmi, Buhid, Burmese, Cham, Dehong Dai/Tai Le, Devanagari, Gujarati, Gurmukhi (Punjabi), Hanuno'o, Hmong, Javanese, Kannada, Kharosthi, Khmer, Lao, Lepcha, Limbu, Lontara/Makasar, Malayalam, Manpuri, Modi, Oriya, Phags-pa, Ranjana, Redjang, Sharda, Siddham, Sinhala, Sorang Sompeng, Soyombo, Syloti Nagri, Tagalog, Tagbanwa, Tai Dam, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Tocharian, Varang Kshiti --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? vote.yahoo.com - Register online to vote today! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppiindia.shyper.com *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Posting: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
