Javanese Letter Nga

A Javanese syllabic letter for nga, with an inherent a vowel. The “ng” is the nasal heard at the end of English “sing”; a Javanese vowel mark can change the built-in vowel. For word-final ng, the usual spelling uses cecak ꦁ, a separate sign.

Javanese script developed from Kawi, an older script descended from Brahmi, an ancient South Asian writing tradition. Kawi was used across the islands of Southeast Asia from the 8th century through the 16th century, and its transition to modern Javanese script took place between the 14th and 15th centuries. Kawi appears in inscriptions and palm-leaf manuscripts.

Kawi was used to write Old Javanese and Sanskrit; Javanese script later also served Javanese, Sundanese, and Sasak. The Aji Saka story gives a traditional cultural origin for the ma, ga, ba, tha, nga letter row. It is a legend, not a historical record of who invented this letter.

How do I type ꦔ?

Use a Javanese input method or transliterator. On the Java Kongres QWERTY layout, press a for ꦔ. A Javanese transliterator converts Latin-letter input into script and lets you choose the vowel mark or consonant form the word needs.

What makes Javanese text render incorrectly?

Missing Javanese font support can make a glyph appear as a box. Javanese also needs script-aware shaping to position vowel marks and subjoined consonants; an unsupported or invalid mark may appear with a dotted circle. This changes the display, not the character stored in the text.

When a syllable looks odd, compare its vowel mark and any subjoined consonant before deciding the base letter ꦔ is wrong.