Makasar script
The Makasar script, also known as Ukiri' Jangang-jangang (bird's script) or Old Makasar script, is a historical Indonesian writing system that was used in South Sulawesi to write the Makassarese language between the 17th and 19th centuries until it was supplanted by the Lontara Bugis script.
| Makasar Script Jangang-jangang 𑻪𑻢𑻪𑻢 | |
|---|---|
| Script type | |
Time period | 17th – 19th century AD |
| Direction | Left-to-right |
| Languages | Makassarese language |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Sister systems | Balinese Batak Baybayin scripts Javanese Lontara Old Sundanese Rencong Rejang |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Maka (366), Makasar |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Makasar |
| U+11EE0–U+11EFF | |
| Brahmic scripts |
|---|
| The Brahmi script and its descendants |
The Makasar script is an abugida which consists of 18 basic characters. Like other Brahmic scripts, each letter represents a syllable with an inherent vowel /a/, which can be changed with diacritics. The direction of writing is left to right. This script is written without wordspacing (scriptio continua) and with little to no punctuation. "Coda syllables", or consonants at the end of syllables, are not written in the Makasar script, so a Makasar text can contain a lot of ambiguity which can only be distinguished from context.