Kawi Letter Aa

𑼅 is Kawi’s independent letter for a long “a” vowel.

It is used when a syllable begins with the long a sound, held longer than a short a. After a consonant, Kawi uses the dependent aa sign; the choice marks the vowel’s place in the syllable.

Kawi developed gradually from Pallava, a South Indian script. A recognisable early form appears in the Plumpungan stone inscription near Salatiga, around 750 CE. By the mid-8th century, Kawi recorded land grants, royal edicts, and other official records; later it also carried Old Javanese literature.

How did Kawi change and connect to other scripts?

Kawi letter shapes changed with region, period, and writing material as the script moved from inscriptions to literary writing.

Kawi has historical connections to Javanese and Balinese scripts and Baybayin, a Philippine writing tradition; these are related script histories, not other names for 𑼅. After the 16th century, other scripts replaced Kawi in active use. In the 21st century, enthusiasts revived it for social-media writing in modern Javanese or Indonesian.

Which aa form should I use?

Use 𑼅 for an independent vowel; 𑼴 follows a consonant.

The sequence 𑼄𑼴 has two characters and can spell independent aa, but it is not the same encoded character as 𑼅. The dependent sign 𑼴 attaches to a consonant; 𑼅 stands on its own at the start of a syllable.

A keyboard enters a character; a font draws it. Successful input cannot supply a missing Kawi glyph.