Editing Jawi script (section)

{{Short description|Arabic alphabet used in Southeast Asia}}
{{distinguish|Javanese script|pegon script|JavaScript}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Infobox writing system
| name        = Jawi
| altname     = {{Script/Arabic|جاوي}}
| type        = [[Abjad]]
| sisters     = [[Pegon script]]
| languages   = {{plainlist|
* [[Acehnese language|Acehnese]]
* [[Banjarese language|Banjarese]]
* [[Betawi language|Betawi]]
* [[Maguindanao language|Maguindanao]]
* [[Maranao language|Mëranaw]]
* [[Malay language|Malay]]
* [[Minangkabau language|Minangkabau]]
* [[Tausūg language|Tausūg]]
* [[Ternate language|Ternate]]
* several other languages in Southeast Asia
}}
| time        = {{Circa|9th century}} to the present (limited use in cultural & religious affairs only)
| fam1        = [[Proto-Sinaitic script|Proto-Sinaitic]]
| fam2        = [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]]
| fam3        = [[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]]
| fam4        = [[Nabataean alphabet|Nabataean]]
| fam5        = [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]]
| unicode     = 
| iso15924    = 
| sample      = File:Letter from William Farquhar to Sultan Muhammad Kanzul Alam, the Sultan of Brunei, dated 28 November 1819.jpg
| caption     = Letter from [[William Farquhar]] to Sultan Muhammad Kanzul Alam, the sultan of [[Brunei]], dated 28 November 1819.
| imagesize   = 
| direction   = Right-to-left
| official script = Co-official: {{flag|Brunei}}
Regional: {{flag|Indonesia}}, {{flag|Malaysia}}
}}
{{Writing systems in Indonesia}}
{{Islamic Culture}}

'''Jawi''' ({{lang|ms-Arab|{{Script/Arabic|جاوي}}}}; {{langx|ace|Jawoë}}; [[Kelantan-Pattani Malay|Kelantan-Pattani]]: ''Jawi''; {{IPA|ms|d͡ʒä.wi}}) is a [[writing system]] used for writing several languages of [[Southeast Asia]], such as [[Acehnese language|Acehnese]], [[Banjarese language|Banjarese]], [[Betawi language|Betawi]], [[Maguindanao language|Magindanao]], [[Malay language|Malay]], [[Maranao language|Mëranaw]], [[Minangkabau language|Minangkabau]], [[Tausug language|Tausūg]], [[Ternate language|Ternate]] and many other languages in Southeast Asia. Jawi is based on the [[Arabic script]], consisting of all 31 original Arabic letters, six letters constructed to fit [[phoneme]]s native to Malay, and one additional phoneme used in foreign loanwords, but not found in [[Classical Arabic]], which are ''ca'' ({{angbr|{{Script|Arab|[[چ]]}}}} {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}}), ''nga'' ({{angbr|{{Script|Arab|[[ڠ]]}}}} {{IPA|/ŋ/}}), ''pa'' ({{angbr|{{Script|Arab|[[ڤ]]}}}} {{IPA|/p/}}), ''ga'' ({{angbr|{{Script|Arab|[[ݢ]]}}}} {{IPA|/ɡ/}}), ''va'' ({{angbr|{{Script|Arab|[[ۏ]]}}}} {{IPA|/v/}}), and ''nya'' ({{angbr|{{Script|Arab|[[ڽ]]}}}} {{IPA|/ɲ/}}).

Jawi was developed during the [[Spread of Islam in Southeast Asia|advent of Islam]] in [[Maritime Southeast Asia]], supplanting the earlier [[Brahmic scripts]] used during Hindu-Buddhist era. The oldest evidence of Jawi writing can be found on the 14th century [[Terengganu Inscription Stone]], a text in [[Classical Malay]] that contains a mixture of Malay, Sanskrit and Arabic vocabularies. However, the script may have used as early as the 9th century, when [[Peureulak Sultanate]] has been established by the son of a Persian preacher. There are two competing theories on the origins of the Jawi alphabet. Popular theory suggests that the system was developed and derived directly from the [[Arabic script]], while scholars like [[Richard Olaf Winstedt|R. O. Windstedt]] suggest it was developed with the influence of the [[Perso-Arabic alphabet]].<ref>{{citation |last=Winstedt |first=Richard Olaf |title=Malay Chronicles from Sumatra and Malaya |journal=Historians of South-East Asia of Historical Writing on the Peoples of Asia |volume=2 |year=1961 |page=24}}</ref>

The ensuing trade expansions and the spread of Islam to other areas of Southeast Asia from the 15th century carried the Jawi alphabet beyond the traditional Malay-speaking world. Until the 20th century, Jawi was the standard script of the Malay language, and gave birth to traditional [[Malay literature]] when it featured prominently in official correspondences, religious texts, and literary publications. With the arrival of Western influence through colonization and education, Jawi was relegated to religious education, with the Malay language eventually adopting a form of the [[Latin script|Latin alphabet]] called ''[[Malay alphabet|Rumi]]'' that is currently in general usage.

Today, Jawi is one of two [[Official script|official scripts]] in [[Brunei]]. In Malaysia, the position of Jawi is protected under Section 9 of the [[National Language Act 1963/67]], as it retains a degree of official use in religious and cultural contexts. In some states, most notably [[Kelantan]], [[Terengganu]] and [[Pahang]], Jawi has co-official script status as businesses are mandated to adopt Jawi signage and billboards. Jawi is also used as an alternative script among Malay communities in Indonesia and Thailand.<ref>{{cite book |title=Language and National Identity in Asia|author=Andrew Alexander Simpson |year=2007 |pages=356–60 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-926748-4}}</ref>

Until the early 20th century, there was no standard spelling system for Jawi. The earliest [[Spelling reform|orthographic reform]] towards a standard system was in 1937 by The Malay Language and Johor Royal Literary Book Pact. This was followed by another reform by [[Zainal Abidin Ahmad (writer)|Za'aba]], published in 1949. The final major reform was the ''Enhanced Guidelines of Jawi Spelling'' issued in 1986'','' which was based on the Za'aba system. Jawi can be typed using the [[Jawi keyboard]].