Editing Balinese script (section)

{{Short description|Brahmic script used in Bali, Indonesia}}
{{Expand language|topic=cult|fa=y|langcode=id|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox writing system
| name        = Balinese script
| altname     = {{lang|ban|Aksara Bali}}<br>{{lang|ban|ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬩᬮᬶ}}
| type        = [[Abugida]]
| languages   = [[Balinese language|Balinese]]<br>[[Sasak language|Sasakese]]<br>[[Balinese Malay|Loloanese]]
| fam1        = [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|Egyptian]]
| fam2        = [[Proto-Sinaitic]]
| fam3        = [[Phoenician script|Phoenician]]
| fam4        = [[Aramaic script|Aramaic]]
| fam5        = [[Brahmi script]]
| fam6        = [[Pallava alphabet|Pallava]]
| fam7        = [[Old Kawi]]
| sisters     = [[Batak script|Batak]]<br>[[Baybayin|Baybayin scripts]]<br/>[[Javanese script|Javanese]]<br>[[Lontara script|Lontara]]<br />[[Makasar script|Makasar]]<br/>[[Old Sundanese script|Old Sundanese]]<br />[[Rencong script|Rencong]]<br />[[Rejang script|Rejang]]<br />[[Sasak script]]
| time        = 914 CE – present
| unicode     = [https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1B00.pdf U+1B00&ndash;U+1B7F]
| iso15924    = Bali
| sample      = Aksara Bali1.png
| imagesize   = 
}}
{{Writing systems in Indonesia}}
{{Contains special characters|Balinese}}

The '''Balinese script,''' natively known as {{lang|ban|Aksara Bali}} and {{lang|ban|Hanacaraka}}, ([[Balinese language|Balinese]]:  ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬩᬮᬶ) is an [[abugida]] used in the island of [[Bali]], [[Indonesia]], commonly for writing the [[Austronesian language|Austronesian]] [[Balinese language]], [[Kawi language|Old Javanese]], and the [[liturgical language]] [[Sanskrit]]. With some modifications, the script is also used to write the [[Sasak language]], used in the neighboring island of [[Lombok]].<ref name=uni>{{cite web|first1=Michael|last1=Everson|author-link=Michael Everson|first2=I Made|last2=Suatjana|title=N2908: Proposal for encoding the Balinese script in the UCS|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2005/05008-n2908-balinese.pdf|date=2005-01-23|access-date=2016-09-09}}</ref> The script is a descendant of the [[Brahmi script]], and so has many similarities with the modern scripts of South and Southeast Asia. The Balinese script, along with the [[Javanese script]], is considered the most elaborate and ornate among Brahmic scripts of Southeast Asia.<ref name=ins>Kuipers, Joel (2003). [http://home.gwu.edu/~kuipers/kuipers%20insular%20seasia%20scripts.pdf ''Indic Scripts of Insular Southeast Asia: Changing Structures and Functions''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514122716/http://home.gwu.edu/~kuipers/kuipers%20insular%20seasia%20scripts.pdf |date=2014-05-14 }}. Tokyo: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.</ref>

Though everyday use of the script has largely been supplanted by the [[Latin alphabet]], the Balinese script has a significant prevalence in many of the island's traditional ceremonies and is strongly associated with the [[Hindu]] religion. The script is mainly used today for copying {{lang|ban|lontar}} or [[palm leaf manuscripts]] containing religious texts.<ref name=ins/><ref name=fox>Fox, Richard (2013). [http://www.materiale-textkulturen.de/mtc_blog/2013_003_Fox.pdf ''Rival Styles of Writing, Rival Styles of Practical Reasoning'']. Heidelberg: Institut für Ehtnologie.</ref>

{{brahmic}}