Balinese letter ba

The Balinese ba letter supplies b and its inherent a. At a word end, that vowel can weaken to a short, unstressed sound. A vowel sign changes the vowel; ᭄ (adeg-adeg) suppresses it. By itself, ᬩ is a letter sample or spelling fragment, not a complete message.

Writing traditions from the Indian subcontinent reached Bali through religion, trade, and politics. Balinese forms developed through Kawi, an older regional script tradition, and are related to Javanese script. The oldest discovered Old Balinese inscription, Sukawana A I, dates to AD 882; undated Buddhist clay tablets may point to Indian religious influence in Bali by the 8th century.

Lontar manuscripts—texts written on dried palm leaves—held histories, medicine, poetry, ritual knowledge, and family memory. Balinese script also wrote Javanese, Sasak, Sanskrit, Malay, and Arabic. It appears in ritual writing, public signs, and digital text, giving those settings Balinese cultural context. Latin script began to predominate after Dutch colonization in 1849. A 2018 Bali regulation requires Balinese script above Latin on certain public signs.

How do I type ᬩ?

On a Unicode Balinese keyboard, type B to start ᬩ. Then enter a vowel or following consonant. In Keyman's Aksara Bali Unicode keyboard, version 1.1.1, a temporary ? marks unfinished input.

Press Space after each word for automatic changes; use Shift-Space for a literal space. Type / to force visible adeg-adeg instead of automatic joining.

Why does Balinese ba join the next consonant?

It can join the next consonant as a subjoined form. When another consonant follows without a vowel, ᬩ can appear below or beside it as a gantungan or gempelan.

Unicode stores vowel signs after their base, but fonts may place them around it. Balinese normally omits written spaces between words, so joined consonants can cross word boundaries. Fonts can change a joined shape without changing the text.