Kawi Letter Ma

It is read ma, with a built-in a vowel. The Kawi ma syllable is consonant m plus a built-in a; a vowel sign changes that vowel, while the Kawi Sign Killer cancels it. A Kawi Conjoiner lets the next consonant join it into a stack.

Kawi developed gradually from Pallava, an older South Asian script that spread through parts of maritime Southeast Asia. One of the earliest known records of early Kawi is a stone inscription at Plumpungan, near Salatiga in Central Java, dated around 750 CE.

The Kawi script history spans from the 8th through the 16th century: it wrote Old Javanese, Sanskrit, Old Malay, Old Balinese, and Old Sundanese. Kawi appears on land grants and royal orders as well as literary works, across Java, Bali, Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, and the Philippines. Later regional forms contributed to Javanese, Balinese, Batak, and Buginese Lontara writing; a route from Kawi to Philippine Baybayin is possible but uncertain. After Islamisation, West Javanese Muslim communities preserved pre-Islamic manuscripts as heirlooms, keeping older writing traditions in family-held manuscripts after their earlier religious setting changed.

Why does 𑼪 look different across styles?

Kawi styles changed over time and across regions. A stone inscription, a palm-leaf manuscript, and a modern typeface can give 𑼪 different outlines; these are style differences within one letter, not separate Kawi characters.

If a font lacks Kawi coverage, the app may show a square fallback. If it cannot shape Kawi marks, vowel signs or stacks may look broken; that display failure does not change the character.