| Surat Batak ᯘᯮᯒᯖ᯲ ᯅᯖᯂ᯲ | |
|---|---|
 "Surat Batak" in Toba variant. | |
| Script type | |
Period | c. 1300–present |
| Direction | Left-to-right  |
| Languages | Batak languages |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Sister systems | Direct family relationships is unclear. Sister scripts on hypothesis of common Kawi origin: Balinese Baybayin scripts Javanese Lontara Makasar Old Sundanese Rencong Rejang |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Batk(365), Batak |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Batak |
| U+1BC0–U+1BFF | |
| This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. | |
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| TheBrahmi script and its descendants |
TheBatak script (natively known asSurat Batak,Surat na Sampulu Sia (lit. 'the nineteen letters'), orSisiasia) is awriting system used to write theAustronesianBatak languages spoken by several million people on theIndonesian island ofSumatra. The script may be derived from theKawi andPallava script, ultimately derived from theBrahmi script of India, or from the hypothetical Proto-Sumatran script influenced by Pallava.[1]
The Batak magicians and priests ordatu used the Batak script mainly for magical texts and divinatory purposes. It is unknown how many non-specialists were literate in the Batak script, but judging from the widespread tradition of writing love laments, especially among the Karo, Simalungun, and Angkola-Mandailing Batak, it is likely that a considerable part of the non-specialist population was able to read and write the Batak script. After the arrival of Europeans in the Batak lands, first German missionaries and, from 1878 onwards, the Dutch, the Batak script was, alongside the Roman script, taught in the schools, and teaching and religious materials were printed in the Batak script. Soon after the first World War the missionaries decided to discontinue printing books in the Batak script.[2] The script soon fell out of use and is now only used for ornamental purposes.
The Batak script was probably derived fromPallava andOld Kawi scripts, which ultimately were derived from theBrahmi script, the root of almost all the Indic and Southeast Asian scripts.
Batak is written from left to right and top to bottom. Like all Brahmi-based scripts, each consonant has an inherent vowel of/a/, unless there is adiacritic (in Toba Batak calledpangolat) to indicate the lack of a vowel. Other vowels, finalŋ, and final velar fricative[x] are indicated by diacritics, which appear above, below, or after the letter. For example,ba is writtenba (one letter);bi is writtenba.i (i follows the consonant);bang is writtenbaŋ (ŋ is above the consonant); andbing isbaŋ.i. Final consonants are written with thepangolat (here represented by "#"):bam isba.ma.#. However,bim is writtenba.ma.i.#: the first diacritic belongs to the first consonant, and the second belongs to the second consonant, but both are written at the end of the entire syllable. Unlike most Brahmi-based scripts, Batak does not form consonant conjuncts.
The basic characters are calledsurat. Each consonant has an inherent vowel of/a/. The script varies by region and language. The major variants are betweenKaro,Mandailing,Pakpak/Dairi,Simalungun/Timur, andToba:
| Surat (Basic characters) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| IPA | a | ha | ka | ba | pa | na | wa | ga | dʒa | da | ra | ma | ta | sa | ja | ŋa | la | ɲa | tʃa | nda | mba | i | u |
| Transcription | a | ha | ka | ba | pa | na | wa | ga | ja | da | ra | ma | ta | sa | ya | nga | la | nya | ca | nda | mba | i | u |
| Karo |  | |  |  |  |  1 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  5 |  |  | |||
| Mandailing | |  |  |  | | | | | |  |  4 | | |  |  | ||||||||
| Pakpak | | | | | |  | | | | | | | | | |||||||||
| Toba | | | | | | 2 | | | | 3 | | | | | |||||||||
| Simalungun |  |  | | |  |  |  |  |  | |  |  |  | |  |  6 | |||||||
Alternate forms:
^1
(used in Mandailing)^2
^3
^4
^5
^6
Diacritics are used to change the pronunciation of a character. They can change the vowel from the inherent/a/, mark a final [velar nasal]/ŋ/, mark a finalvelar fricative/x/, or indicate a final consonant with no vowel:
| Latin Trans. | Batak Diacritics | Latin Trans. | Batak Diacritics with/ka/ | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karo | Mand. | Pakp. | Sima. | Toba | Karo | Mand. | Pakp. | Sima. | Toba | |||
| -a | ka | | | | | | ||||||
| -e |   | |  | | | ke |   |  |  |  | | |
| -i |   | | | | | ki |   |  | |  | | |
| -o |  |  | | | | ko |  |  |  |  | | |
| -ou |  | kou |  | |||||||||
| -u | |  | | | | ku | |  |  |  | | |
| -ng |  | | | | | kang |  |  | |  | | |
| -h |  | | | kah |  | |  | |||||
| – |  |  | | | | k |  |  |  |  | | |
The diacritic for U used by Mandailing, Pakpak, Simalungun, and Toba can formligatures with its base character:
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In Mandailing, the diacritictompi can be used to change the sound of some characters:
| ha | + | tompi | = | ka | sa | + | tompi | = | ca |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| + |  | = | | | + | | = |  |
| + | | = | |
The diacritics for Ng () and H () are usually written above spacing vowel diacritics instead of above the base character.
Examples:
ping,
pong,
peh, and
pih.
Vowel diacritics are reordered for closed syllables (that is, syllables where the final consonant has no vowel). Consonants with no vowel are marked by the Batakpangolat orpanongonan diacritic, depending on the language.
When they are used for a closed syllable (like "tip"), both the vowel diacritic and the pangolat or panongonan are written at the end of the syllable.
Examples of closed syllables usingpangolat:
| ta | + | vowel | + | pa | + | pangolat | = | syllable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| + | | + | | = |  | ||
| ta | + | pa | + | pangolat | = | tap | ||
| + | | + | | + | | = |  |
| ta | + | e | + | pa | + | pangolat | = | tep |
| + | | + | | + | | = |  |
| ta | + | e | + | pa | + | pangolat | = | tep |
| + | | + | | + | | = |  |
| ta | + | i | + | pa | + | pangolat | = | tip |
| + | | + | | + | | = |  |
| ta | + | o | + | pa | + | pangolat | = | top |
| + | | + | | + | | = |  |
| ta | + | u | + | pa | + | pangolat | = | tup |
Batak is normally written without spaces or punctuation (asscriptio continua). However, special marks orbindu are occasionally used.
They vary greatly in size and design from manuscript to manuscript.
| Examples | Name | Function |
|---|---|---|
 | Bindu na metek (small bindu) | Begins paragraphs and stanzas |
 | ||
 | Bindu panarboras (rice-shaped bindu) | |
 | Bindu judul (title bindu) | Separates a title from the body of the text |
 | Bindu pangolat | Trailing punctuation |
Batak script was added to theUnicode Standard in October 2010 with the release of version 6.0.
The Batak script was registered in Unicode byUli Kozok, a German scholar of Batak literature. Before being documented by Uli Kozok, there were several versions of the Batak script based on Batak sub-ethnic groups, including Toba, Karo, Simalungun, Mandailing, and Pakpak. Uli succeeded in unifying the Batak script, with minor differences considered as variations.[3]
Currently, the Batak script is listed in Unicode with the status of a limited use script. For its status to be elevated to recommended, evidence must be submitted to Unicode showing that the Batak script is still in use.
The Unicode block for Batak is U+1BC0–U+1BFF:
| Batak[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+1BCx | ᯀ | ᯁ | ᯂ | ᯃ | ᯄ | ᯅ | ᯆ | ᯇ | ᯈ | ᯉ | ᯊ | ᯋ | ᯌ | ᯍ | ᯎ | ᯏ |
| U+1BDx | ᯐ | ᯑ | ᯒ | ᯓ | ᯔ | ᯕ | ᯖ | ᯗ | ᯘ | ᯙ | ᯚ | ᯛ | ᯜ | ᯝ | ᯞ | ᯟ |
| U+1BEx | ᯠ | ᯡ | ᯢ | ᯣ | ᯤ | ᯥ | ᯦ | ᯧ | ᯨ | ᯩ | ᯪ | ᯫ | ᯬ | ᯭ | ᯮ | ᯯ |
| U+1BFx | ᯰ | ᯱ | ᯲ | ᯳ | ᯼ | ᯽ | ᯾ | ᯿ | ||||||||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
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