Javanese Letter Ha

It is Javanese ha, a consonant with an inherent vowel. Its base spelling supplies the vowel “a” by default. A dependent vowel sign changes that vowel; a pangkon, the mark that cancels it, suppresses it. A following consonant can join it into a cluster.

The Javanese script descends from Brahmi through the Pallava and Kawi traditions. A Sanskrit inscription from Central Java is dated 732 CE; the oldest surviving inscription written in Old Javanese is the Sukabumi Charter, dated 804 CE.

Javanese script was used for religious, legal, heroic, moral, and historical writing, and later for Old, Middle, and Modern Javanese literature, plus some Sanskrit, Sundanese, and Sasak texts. In Javanese teaching, the traditional opening letter order, hanacaraka, is linked in the Aji Saka legend to a story of loyalty and sacrifice.

Why does ꦲ render strangely?

Attached marks or font support usually cause the problem. Javanese shaping groups consonants, vowel signs, and subjoined forms into syllable clusters. If a mark has no valid base, shaping software may show it on a dotted circle; missing font support may show a box instead. A Javanese-capable font helps when spelling with attached marks.

Latin spelling had become the practical default by the mid-20th century. In the 21st century, teaching, preservation, and some social-media writing brought renewed visibility to the Javanese script.