Kawi Letter Nna

It is a Kawi consonant used to spell words.

Kawi is an abugida: each consonant letter normally carries a vowel, so 𑼠 begins with the sound sequence /nna/ plus an inherent /a/. A vowel sign changes that vowel; a killer suppresses it. The letter’s role is to spell part of a word, and the surrounding Kawi text supplies the rest.

Where does Kawi writing come from?

Kawi developed gradually from earlier Pallava-related writing.

Late Pallava and early Kawi forms overlapped. The Plumpungan stele near Salatiga, dated c. 750 CE, is described in the Unicode Kawi proposal as the oldest record in early Kawi. Old Javanese inscriptions at Kesongo and Disunuh are dated 743 CE and 787 CE; these dates place written Old Javanese earlier, but do not show that this exact modern character was carved on those objects.

Kawi served practical purposes such as recording land grants and royal orders, and later carried Old Javanese literature as well as Sanskrit, Old Malay, Old Balinese, and Old Sundanese. The Laguna Copperplate Inscription in the Philippines uses an early Kawi-like form for a regional contract. Later regional forms contributed to the histories of Javanese and Balinese scripts.

How does Kawi Nna look and work in text?

Its shape can vary across Kawi styles and fonts.

A Kawi consonant can combine with a vowel sign, or with a killer or conjoiner when the spelling needs a consonant without its inherent vowel or a consonant cluster. Those combinations can change the written shape around 𑼠 without changing which base letter it is.

For typing, choose a Kawi-aware keyboard layout. Keyman’s Kawi Inscript 1.0 is one option; it uses an Inscript-based layout with layers for conjuncts. The key for Nna depends on the layout.