Nulisa Aksara Jawa Keyboard Help

Nulisa Aksara Jawa keyboard shortcuts

The keyboard layout is designed with Indonesian qwerty keyboard layout (equal to American/US-basic layout) as the logic basis. Therefore, even though theoritically it could also work for other keyboard layout (British, German, DVORAK, etc), but no test have been done on those layouts. If you use non-Indonesian keyboard, I would love to hear your feedback!

Please refer to this combination table for the intended output. Don't rely on the On-Screen keyboard, as it has many limitations. If the pressed button doesn't produce the same result as below, please contact the author.

If you type the key on the left, followed by key on top, you'll get the following characters.

If you type the key on the top, followed by key on left, you'll get the following characters.

Aksara Nglegena & Sandhangan

Aksara Swara and Murda

Punctuation and symbols

^[1] ZWJ = Zero-Width Joiner

^[2] The question mark sign (?) is a switcher (rotation). Type it multiple times to go through the 5 long vowels (sandhangan)

Hidden features. They're still in testing mode, and may change in the future.

• SHIFT+SPACE: Normal space
• CTRL+SPACE: Normal space

How to write down:

This is the inverse table of the tables above. You can get the output displayed on the top row (white) by typing the letters on the lower row (grey). There might be more than one way to type a character.

These are based on the complete list of Javanese Unicode block. So this table shows that you are able to write any Javanese character using this keyboard.

• To type ꦥ+ꦵ (tolong), type 'pa' then ALT+3, or 'p???' (3x question marks)
• To type ꦫꦼ, type 'ra' then ALT+0, or 'raqx'
• To type ꦭꦼ, type 'la' then ALT+0, or 'qx', left arrow, 'l', 'backspace' (a little bit complex)
• To type ꦎꦴꦀ auṁ, type 'Au' then ALT+2, or 'Au', space, '-', left arrow, backspace
• To type ꦉꦴ (long ꦉ), type 'rxu'

Typing tests and input samples

ToC: Welcome! | Nulisa Aksara Jawa keyboard shortcuts | Typing tests and input samples | Usage Notes | Development Notes | Change History

These are some sample text and how you can achive the output. These are the intended input and output. If you tried them and they mismatch, please inform the author.

If you have a better example, I would also like to know, so I can add them here.

These are mostly in modern Javanese language. But I also include some example of old Javanese. For non-Javanese language, theoretically they can also be typed, phonetically, using the keyboard.

2.1 Alternate / variant / multiple combinations

Most of the problems can be solved with a space, then after you get the form that you want, delete the space.

• To type 'pasangan ra' (if you don't want 'cakra'), for example in the phrase 'anak raja', type 'anak' as usual, then hard space (SHIFT+SPACE or CTRL+SPACE), then type 'raja' as usual, then remove the space. The same if you want to type 'pasangan ya', (and not 'pengkal'), for example in the phrase 'anak yuyu'. See also akrab (p.3)

  Latin	anak raja (son of king)
  Aksara (wrong)	ꦲꦤꦏꦿꦗ /ana kraja/
  Aksara (right)	ꦲꦤꦏ꧀ꦫꦗ
  Input	[a] [na] [k] [ ] [ra] [ja] (then delete the [ ])
  Latin	anak remaja (teenager)
  Aksara (wrong)	ꦲꦤꦏꦽꦩꦗ /ana kremaja/
  Aksara (right)	ꦲꦤꦏ꧀ꦉꦩꦗ
  Input	[a] [na] [k] [ ] [re] [ma] [ja] (then delete the [ ])
  Latin	anak yuyu (baby crab)
  Aksara (wrong)	ꦲꦤꦏꦾꦸꦪꦸ /ana kyuyu/
  Aksara (right)	ꦲꦤꦏ꧀ꦪꦸꦪꦸ
  Input	[a] [na] [k] [ ] [y] [u] [y] [u] (then delete the [ ])

  
  
• The same if you don't want to type the murda, you can use the same trick.

  Latin	anak ayam (chick)
  Aksara (wrong)	ꦲꦤꦏꦪꦩ꧀ /ana kayam/ ꦲꦤꦑꦪꦩ꧀ /ana khayam/
  Aksara (right)	ꦲꦤꦏ꧀ꦲꦪꦩ꧀ (anak ayam)
  Input	[a] [na] [k] [ ] [a] [ya] [m] (then delete the [ ])
  Latin	hak-hak (rights)
  Aksara (wrong)	ꦲꦑꦏ꧀ /a khak/
  Aksara (right)	ꦲ꦳ꦏ꧀ꦲ꦳ꦏ꧀ (hak hak)
  Input	[ha] [~] [k] [ ] [ha] [~] [k] (then delete the [ ])
  Latin	latihan nyanyi (practice singing)
  Aksara (wrong)	ꦭꦠꦶꦲꦟꦾꦚꦶ /latihann yanyi/
  Aksara (right)	ꦭꦠꦶꦲꦤ꧀ꦚꦚꦶ
  Input	[la] [t] [i] [ha] [n] [ ] [nya] [ny] [i] (then delete the [ ])

  
  
• Or, if you want to separate 'n' with 'y', to not form 'ny' (nya). Sundanese also type 'nya' ꦚ as 'na'+'pengkal' ꦤꦾ

  Latin	mangan yuyu (eating crab)
  Aksara (wrong)	ꦩꦔꦚꦸꦪꦸ /manga nyuyu/
  Aksara (right)	ꦩꦔꦤ꧀ꦪꦸꦪꦸ
  Input	[ma] [nga] [n] [ ] [y] [u] [y] [u] (then delete the [ ])
  Latin	nyanyi (sing)
  Javanese	ꦚꦚꦶ
  Sundanese	ꦤꦾꦤꦾꦶ
  Input	[na] [(] [na] [(] [q] [i]

  
  
• Or, if you don't want the final 'r', 'h', 'ng' to form 'sesigeg' ('layar', 'wignyan', 'cecak'). Compare also dir-ya vs di-rya (p.3)

  Latin	pulo Ryukyu (Ryukyu Island)
  Aksara (wrong)	ꦥꦸꦭꦺꦴꦂꦪꦸꦏꦾꦸ /pulor yuku/
  Aksara (right)	ꦥꦸꦭꦺꦴꦫꦾꦸꦏꦾꦸ
  Input	[p] [u] [l] [o] [ ] [r] [y] [u] [k] [y] [u] (then delete the [ ])

  
  (or the opposite)

  Latin	Duryyodhana (a character in Mahabharata)
  Aksara (wrong)	ꦢꦸꦫꦾ꧀ꦪꦺꦴꦝꦤ *
  Aksara (right)	ꦢꦸꦂ‌ꦪꦾꦺꦴꦝꦤ
  Input	(type as usual) [d] [u] [r] [y] [y] [o] [dha] [na]

  * you should never get this result with Nulisa keyboard
  
  
• If you want to form 'cakra' + 'pepet' instead of 'cakra keret', 'ra' + 'pepet' instead of 'pa cerek', and 'la' + 'pepet' instead of 'nga lelet'.

  Latin	(I cannot think of a justified example, so don't do this)
  With cakra keret (normal)	ꦏꦽꦩꦼꦱ꧀ (kremes)
  With cakra+pepet (abnormal)	ꦏꦿꦼꦩꦼꦱ꧀ (kremes)
  Input	[k] [r] backspace [ ] [qx] [m] [x] [s] (then delete the [ ])
  With cakra keret (normal)	ꦊꦩꦃ (lemah)
  With cakra+pepet (abnormal)	ꦭꦼꦩꦃ (lemah)
  Input	[la] [ ] [qx] [ma] [h] (then delete the [ ])
  With cakra keret (normal)	ꦉꦒ (rega)
  With cakra+pepet (abnormal)	ꦫꦼꦒ (rega)
  Input	[ra] [ ] [qx] [ga] (then delete the [ ])

2.2 Ambiguity

Some combination may result in (visual) ambiguity. Currently the computer know how to read it (because the character codes/order is different), but the human may not. Fortunately the practical usage of these examples are pretty low.

• Ambiguity with "cecak telu".

  [k] [~] [q] [ja]	ꦏ꦳꧀ꦗ = ꦏ ꦳ ꧀ ꦗ
  [k] [za]	ꦏ꧀ꦗ꦳ = ꦏ ꧀ ꦗ ꦳

  
  
• "pasangan na + pengkal" and "pasangan nya".

  [k] [n] [*]	ꦏ꧀ꦤꦾ = ꦏ ꧀ ꦤ‌ ꦾ
  [k] [nya]	ꦏ꧀ꦚ = ꦏ ꧀ ꦚ

  
  
• Ambiguity between numbers and 'nglegena'. Ambiguity mostly resolved by wrapping the numbers in "꧇" or "꧈"

  [1] [2] [3] [6] [7] [8] [9] [0]	꧑ ꧒ ꧓ ꧖ ꧗ ꧘ ꧙ ꧐
  [ga] [lx] [ngya] [E] [la] [Pa] [ya] [<]/["]	ꦒ ꦊ ꦔꦾ ꦌ ꦭ ꦦ ꦪ ꧞ ꧆

2.3 Notes on typing Js like a pro 😎

Remember:

1. Js is abugida; it has inherent vowel.
2. Js is phonetic; you type what you hear, not what you read.
3. Wrap the numbers in "꧇" or "꧈" to avoid ambiguity.

So, the second point usually is the crucial one.

• If you have a word, as much as possible, find the root-word, and if it's a derivative word (word + suffix/prefix/affix), then if necessary, some consonant need to be 'doubled'. For example

  Latin	nulisa (='nulis' + '-a')
  Aksara (👎)	ꦤꦸꦭꦶꦱ /nu li sa/ = amateur
  Aksara (👍)	ꦤꦸꦭꦶꦱ꧀ꦱ /nu lis sa/ = pro 😎
  Input	[n] [u] [l] [i] [s] [s] [a]

  While this is not strictly right or wrong issue, the 👎 one should be avoided in writing Js.

Usage Notes

ToC: Welcome! | Nulisa Aksara Jawa keyboard shortcuts | Typing tests and input samples | Usage Notes | Development Notes | Change History

How to use the keyboard (for user), or read the codes (for developer)

• Adeg-adeg (sentence openings). Type the pipe symbol (|) to get 'adeg-adeg' ꧋. Type \ to get ꧊. 'Rerenggan kiwa/tengen' ꧁ and ꧂ can be typed using { and }.
• Nglegena. This is the basic 20 letters (consonantal syllables), and also the 16 murda letters and mahaprana letters. They can stand alone by themselves, and by default assigned the voice of 'a' /ɔ/.
• Sandhangan (vowels). This is the basic 4 vowels ('wulu', 'suku', 'taling', 'pepet'), and 6 long vowels (including 'tarung', see double vowels). They cannot stand alone by themselves, and must be joined by a nglegena. Also for the sake of category, I would include here the 8 'aksara swara' vowels (A/E/I/O/U/Ai/Ii/II), even though these vowels can stand by themselves, without nglegena. To type standalone sandhangan
  • 'qe' - 'taling' ꦺ
  • 'qi' - 'wulu' ꦶ
  • 'qo' - 'taling tarung' ꦺꦴ
  • 'qu' - 'suku' ꦸ
  • 'qx' - 'pepet' ꦼ
• Letters. When you type a letter, if it's a vowel (a/e/i/o/u/x), then you get the character 'ha' with the appropriate 'sandhangan' immediately (one-to-two mapping, or in the case of 'o', one-to-three). If you type a consonant, you will get the 'nglegena' form with the pangkon attached (one-to-two, or one-to-three in the cases of 'f','v','z').
• X-Q rule. Typing 'x' will give you ('ha'+)'pepet'. Typing 'q' will give you 'pangkon'. These are the only arbitrary placement that you need to memorize. It just happened to fit nicely in QWERTY keyboard, because X and Q are unused letters (while 'f', 'v', and 'z', even though not found in native Javanese language, they are 'aksara rekan', and frequently used in words borrowed from Indonesian)
• Pangkon (virama). So, why the 'nglegena' was attached with 'pangkon' by default? Well, it's because if you just type a consonant, it could be anywhere, in the start, middle, or end of a syllable. If it's in the start, you just need to add a vowel, and the pangkon will be replaced by the appropriate 'sandhangan' (minus the 'ha', they're not needed anymore), if it's in the middle, it will transform to 'wyanjana', if it's 'r' or 'y'. If it's in the end, it would transform to 'sesigeg' if it's 'r', 'h', or 'ng'
  • Rule 1: Pangkon + Vowel will remove the 'pangkon' and add a 'sandhangan' where appropriate.
  • Rule 2: Pangkon + Consonant will turn the consonant into 'pasangan', followed by another 'pangkon'
  • Rule 3: Pangkon + Consonant + Pangkon + Consonant will put a Zero-Width Joiner after first pangkon, so that it won't try to form a double subscript glyphs.
• Sesigeg (final consonants). If you type an 'r', an 'h', or an 'n'-followed-by-'g', you will get a 'sesigeg' ('layar', 'wignyan', or 'cecak'). If it is immediately followed by a 'wyanjana' and/or a vowel, they will transform to 'ra', 'ha', and 'nga' automatically (+ applicable 'sandhangan'), because 'layar', 'wignyan', or 'cecak' are basically 'ra pangkon', 'ha pangkon', and 'nga pangkon'. So all rules regarding 'pangkon' + 'letter' would apply to them as well. To type them independently, you can use:
  • 'R' - 'layar'
  • 'H' - 'wignyan'
  • 'Y' - 'cecak'
• Double consonants. If you type these two/three letters in sequence, you would get different character (replacing the first one)
  • 'ny' - 'nya pangkon' ꦚ꧀ (replacing 'na pangkon' ꦤ꧀)
  • 'ng' - 'cecak'   ꦁ (see sesigeg)
  • 'nn' - 'na murda' ꦟ꧀
  • 'th' - 'tha pangkon' ꦛ꧀ (replacing 'ta pangkon' ꦠ꧀)
  • 'dh' - 'dha pangkon' ꦝ꧀ (replacing 'da pangkon' ꦢ꧀)
  • 'nj' - 'nya pangkon ja pangkon' ꦚ꧀ꦗ꧀ (nasal sound)
  • 'nc' - 'nya pangkon ca pangkon' ꦚ꧀ꦕ꧀ (nasal sound)
• Double vowels. If you type these two/three letters in sequence, you would get different character (replacing the first one)
  • 'aa' - 'tarung' ꦴ
  • 'ai' - 'dirga mure' ꦻ
  • 'au' - 'dirga mure + tarung' ꦻꦴ
  • 'ii' - 'wulu melik' ꦷ
  • 'i'/'e' + any other vowel - instead of 'ha' in the middle, you get 'ya'
  • 'uu' - 'suku mendhut' ꦹ
  • 'u'/'o' + any other vowel - instead of 'ha' in the middle, you get 'wa'
• Wyanjana (medial consonants). If you type a consonant followed by an 'r' or a 'y', you will get 'wyanjana' ('cakra' or 'pengkal'), followed by a 'pangkon'*. You need to type a vowel afterwards, lest you would have an invalid 'wyanjana'+'pangkon' combination. If you type a consonant followed by an 'r' followed by an 'x', you will get a 'cakra keret' instead of 'cakra + pepet'. To type them independently, you can use:
  • '&' (SHIFT+7) or (ALT+7) - 'cakra keret'
  • '(' (SHIFT+8) or (ALT+8) - 'pengkal'
  • ')' (SHIFT+9) or (ALT+9) - 'cakra'
  • *Now, I know it's highly unusual to see 'wyanjana' with 'pangkon', but I decided for the sake of code brevity. Otherwise I have to make separate rules for 'wyanjana'. Instead, since they ends with 'pangkon', all the rules for 'pangkon' also applies for them. In one way, it makes sense, because if you only type 'br' for example, it doesn't have a vowel yet. If you leave it like that, of course it's wrong. Only after you type a vowel would the 'pangkon' get replaced by applicable 'sandhangan'
• Rekan. They're supplementing the letters that aren't found in Javanese language, namely 'f/v/z'. Some sources equate 'f' and 'v' as 'pa + cecak telu', while some others differentiate them. I subscribe to the second group: 'f' as 'pa + cecak telu'(+'pangkon') and 'v' as 'wa + cecak telu'(+'pangkon'). 'z' is 'ja + cecak telu'(+'pangkon'). Writing 'f/v/z' would also ends with 'pangkon'. For other rekan that uses 'cecak telu':
  • ꦒ꦳ GA + CECAK TELU = غ (γa).
  • ꦗ꦳ JA + CECAK TELU = ز (za) and for Indonesian 'za'.
  • ꦢ꦳ DA + CECAK TELU = ذ (dza).
  • ꦥ꦳ PA + CECAK TELU = ف (fa) and for Indonesian 'fa'.
  • ꦮ꦳ WA + CECAK TELU = ڤ (va) and for Indonesian 'va'.
  • ꦔ꦳ NGA + CECAK TELU = ع ('a).
  • ꦱ꦳ SA + CECAK TELU = ش (ša).
  • ꦲ꦳ HA + CECAK TELU = ح (ḥa) and for Indonesian 'ha'.
  For these letters there are no shortcuts, you have to be creative, and found a way to write it your own with the available means. For example, to type 'dza', you can type 'da'+'~' (tilde), 'dzi' = 'da'+'~'+'q'+' i'.
  For Chinese 'rekan', I couldn't find any reliable source regarding their history, list, and usage (pronounciation), only from Wikipedia, and they're archaic/not proper pinyin/mandarin and not suitable for modern usage. I'm not listing them here for now, because I'm planning to build a systematic index of every Chinese syllable and their Js counterpart (Indeks:Pinyin-Aksara Jawa).
• Murda and Mahaprana. I store them in the capital Latin consonant letters, but it doesn't necessarily mean they're Javanese capital letter, it's just for convenience and mnemonic. Their number is only 10 single-letter Murda ('KGCJTDNPBS') and 3 multi-letters Murda. Below are some double consonant combinations for murda letters.
  • 'Th' - 'tta mahaprana pangkon' ꦜ꧀ (replacing 'Ta pangkon' ꦡ꧀)
  • 'Dh' - 'dda mahaprana pangkon' ꦞ꧀ (replacing 'Da pangkon' ꦣ꧀)
  • 'jny' - 'nya murda pangkon' ꦘ꧀
  • the 10 murda above can also be written by typing the 10 corresponding nglegena with 'h'. So 'kh' = "K", 'gh' = 'G', etc. Except 'dh' and 'th'.
  The other 10 capital Latin consonant letters (QZHRY) and (FVMLW) doesn't store 'murda' letters. I used Q for 'Ka Sasak', Z for 'Sa Mahaprana' (to differentiate from S, 'Sa Murda'), and H, R, Y for 'wyanjana'. If you typed a murda it will also attached by 'pangkon' and the above 'pangkon' rules apply. (FVMLW) are currently unused. The six capital Latin vowel letters and x (AEIOUX) are used for 'aksara swara' (see sandhangan above). Some special 'aksara swara' (long vowels):
  • 'Aa' - 'A tarung' ꦄꦴ (long-A)
  • 'Ai' - 'Ai' ꦍ e.g. ꦍꦱ꧀ꦭꦤ꧀ꦝꦶꦪ /Aislandhiya/
  • 'Au' - 'O tarung' ꦎꦴ e.g. ꦎꦴꦱ꧀ꦠꦿꦭꦶꦪ /Oostraliya/
  • 'Ii' - 'Ii' ꦇ (long-I)
  • 'II' - 'I Kawi' ꦅ
  • (The 'I' and 'Long I' history is messed up between Old Javanese/Kawi, and Modern Javanese. Read in Wikipedia or ask me if you want to know)
  • 'Uu' - 'U tarung' ꦈꦴ (long-U)
  • 'Oo' - 'O tarung' = 'Au' ꦎꦴ (long-O)
• Special letters. 'Aksara ganten'
  • 'rx' - 'pa cerek' ꦉ (replacing 'ra pepet' ꦫꦼ)
  • 'lx' - 'nga lelet' ꦊ
  • 'RR' - 'ra agung + pangkon' ꦬ꧀
• Numbers. For numbers, you just typed it normally. The only difference with normal numbers is that Javanese numbers are always enclosed/surrounded by 'pada pangkat' ꧇ (looks like a semicolon) by typing a semicolon ':'. Rule:
  • when a non-number followed by number, it's separated by 'pada pangkat'
  • when a number followed by non-number, it's separated by 'pada pangkat' as well
  • if the number is in the beginning, it's started with 'pada pangkat'
  • if a number is at the end, followed by period ('pada lungsi')
  • a number will be ended with 'pada pangkat' before the 'pada lungsi' automatically, except if it's at the very end, and there's no more character to follow, then you have to manually close the 'pada pangkat' by typing semicolon ':'.
• Special characters. See the visual mapping of the keyboard for reference, or the table above. They might move in the future. I'm trying to make it as intuitive as possible. Some special combinations:
  • ꧅꧉ꦧ꧀ꦖ꧉꧅or ꧅ꦧ꧀ꦖ꧅or ꧅ꦧ꧀ꦕ꧅ 'purwapada' - to introduce a poem.
    
    It can be typed as such: '/.bcha./' or '/bcha/' or '/bCa/' or '/bca/'
  • ꧅꧉ꦟ꧀ꦢꦿ꧉꧅or ꧅ꦟ꧀ꦢꦿ꧅ 'madyapada' - to indicates a new song within a poem.
    
    It can be typed as such: '/.Ndra./' or '/Ndra/'
  • ꧅꧉ꦆ꧉꧅or ꧅ꦆ꧅ 'wasanapada' - to end a poem.
    
    It can be typed as such: '/.I./' or '/I/'
  • ꧋꧆꧋ 'pada guru'/'pada bab'/'uger-uger' - to introduce a letter (legacy).
    
    It can be typed as such: '|"|'
  • ꧉꧆꧉ or ꧉ ꧆ ꧉ 'pada pancak' - to end a letter (legacy).
    
    It can be typed as such: '.".'
• Invalid combinations. I have tried to reduce the possibility of invalid combinations as minimal as possible.
  • Combination of a 'pangkon', 'sesigeg', 'wyanjana', 'panyangga' and themselves is not allowed (eg. q+q)
  • Combination of a 'number' and number's 'pada pangkat', and a 'pangkon', 'sesigeg', 'wyanjana', 'panyangga' is not allowed. (But the reverse is allowed)
  • Combination of a 'pada pangkat' and another 'pada pangkat' is not allowed

All Documentation Versions

• Nulisa Aksara Jawa Keyboard Help 2.0.1
• Nulisa Aksara Jawa Keyboard Help 2.0
• Nulisa Aksara Jawa Keyboard Help 1.1.1
• Nulisa Aksara Jawa Keyboard Help 1.1
• Nulisa Aksara Jawa Keyboard Help 1.0