Kawi Conjoiner

It cancels a consonant’s built-in vowel so the next consonant joins it.

To type a Kawi conjunct, put 𑽂 before the letter it joins. In the displayed form, that letter may sit below or after its base, so the visible stack does not reveal the stored order.

It can also come before Kawi’s vowel-like r or l letters. This joining mark belongs to Kawi spelling, not to unrelated scripts.

How old is the Kawi writing tradition?

Kawi grew from Pallava, a script from South India.

The Plumpungan stele, a stone monument, is cited as the oldest early-Kawi inscription, dated about 750 CE. A 2025 study of inscriptions reports Old Javanese records from 743 CE and 787 CE, shifting the written timeline for Old Javanese. Those dates place the wider writing traditions; they do not date the creation of 𑽂 itself.

Kawi writing served land grants, royal edicts, and administrative documents, and later carried Old Javanese literature. Kawi was also used for Sanskrit, Old Malay, Old Balinese, and Old Sundanese. Its script forms developed into traditions including Javanese, Balinese, Sundanese, Batak, and Lontara.

Why is 𑽂 blank by itself?

It is a combining mark, not a standalone letter.

It has no independent reading; its job appears only in a sequence. If 𑽂 shows beside a dotted circle or the letters remain separate, the sequence may be out of order, or the app and font may not support Kawi shaping.