What ꦪ means
It marks a Javanese syllable beginning with the consonant sound in “yes.”
On its own, ꦪ has an inherent a vowel, giving ya. A vowel sign changes that vowel. A pangkon (꧀) cancels the preceding consonant’s inherent vowel so it can join the next consonant.
Javanese script developed out of Kawi, a script adapted from Pallava within the Brahmic script family; it took a distinct Javanese form by the 14th–15th centuries. Early Old Javanese writing includes the Kesongo stone (743 CE) and the Disunuh inscription (787 CE). The script served Javanese, Sanskrit, Kawi (an older literary language), Sundanese, and Sasak in inscriptions, religious and legal writing, literature, and everyday use. Balinese is a related regional script. In the traditional Aji Saka tale, the 20-letter order has a cultural origin story; it does not date the first appearance of this letter.
Why does ꦪ change shape in text?
Its spelling changes its sound and how it joins nearby letters.
A bare consonant has an inherent a vowel, which vowel signs can change. A pangkon removes the preceding consonant’s vowel so it can join the next one; a cluster may use a smaller, subjoined form. The separate sign ꦾ is a medial ya used within a cluster.
Some Javanese vowel signs are entered after their consonant but drawn before it. If ꦪ or a cluster appears as a box or breaks apart, the font or text shaper lacks Javanese support; that display problem does not change the encoded letter.
In Javanese writing, study, signs, or heritage settings, it reads as the letter ya.
A lone ꦪ reads as ya; let the conversation supply any extra meaning.
Drift: As of 27 April 2026, Latin letters are the everyday default for Javanese, while Javanese script remains visible in lessons, public signs, and cultural-preservation work.
Part of the collection
Who writes ꦪ
Loading…
What it means when someone sends it to you
3 readingsThe letter ya with its inherent a vowel; the conversation tells you why it was sent.
Related characters
1
Questions people ask
1Why is ꦪ shown as a box?
Usually the font or text shaper lacks Javanese support. The font needs the Javanese glyphs, and the software must arrange clusters; a box does not mean a different letter was stored.
More like this
13
Collections with ꦪ
1
How to type or find ꦪ
- Also called
- ya · jawa ya · aksara jawa ya
- Search it as
- aksara Jawa
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
ꦪ\A9AACodes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.