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The Basic Syllables (Akara Wrestra)

Table 1 Basic Syllables
No

Regular
Form

Appended
Form

Regular
Form

Appended
Form

Romanized

No

Romanized

ha or a

10

la

na

11

ma

ca

12

ga

ra

13

ba

ka

14

nga

da

15

pa

ta

16

ja

sa

17

ya

wa

18

nya

syllable has an appended form, which kill the previous syllable sound. The appended form
appears below the syllable that precedes it.
Cakra (disc)

Paksa (force)

Walaka (a non-priest)

Raka (bigger brother)

Krama (member)

Reference: http://www.babadbali.com/aksarabali/alphabet-c.htm

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The Vowels (Akara Suara)

ha
gantungan or gempelan as well.
Table 2 Vowel Signs
No

Vowel Sign

Name

Romanized

No

N/A (implied)

N/A (implied)

tedong

Vowel Sign

Name

Romanized

taleng

taleng-repa

ai

ulu

taleng tedong

ulu-sari

10

taleng-repa
tedong

au

suku

11

pepet

suku-ilut

12

pepet tedong

Tedong, ulu sari, and suku ilut are pronounced longer than their counterparts (inherent
vowel, ulu, suku
becoming mdep. If it appears in the holy texts, that are meant to be recited, those
vowels can be pronounced even longer than normal reading.
Examples:
Kdep (sold)

Angklung (musical
instrument)

Jro (house)

Daitya (giant)

Siya (nine)

Patt (should be)

Kayu (wood)

Dw (two)

Sela (yam)
Reference: http://www.babadbali.com/aksarabali/alphabet-c.htm

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Table 3 Independent Vowels

No

Independent
Vowel Form

Name

Romanized

No

a kara

a kara tedong

Independent
Vowel Form

Name

Romanized

u kara tedong

e kara

i kara

airsania

ai

i kara tedong

o kara

u kara

10

o kara tedong

au

Examples:
Upacra (Ceremony)

Eka (One)

All of the basic syllables can have any of the vowel signs, except:
ra cannot have or appended to it.
la cannot have or appended to it.

No

Illegal

Replaced by

The Appended
Form

Name

ra +

Romanized

r
ra repa

ra +

la +

la lenga
4

la +

Examples:
Talr (therefore)

Krng (eat a lot)

Reference: http://www.babadbali.com/aksarabali/alphabet-c.htm

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Semi-Vowels (Arda Suara)

ra, wa (ua), la, ya (ia).

Table 5 Semi Vowels

No

Semi Vowel Sign

Name

Romanized

guwung

ra

Same glyph as gantungan ra

guwung macelek

Only happened when arda

suara ra + (pepet)

guwung macelek tedong

Only happened when arda

suara ra + (pepet tedong)

suku kembung

ua

Same glyph as gantungan wa

gantungan la

la

Same glyph and name as

gantungan la

nania

ia

Same glyph as gantungan ya

Remarks

Examples:
Pak Raman (Mr. Raman)

Pakraman (Membership)

Baglug (A persons name)

Rubag lugu (Naive Rubag)

Reference: http://www.babadbali.com/aksarabali/alphabet-c.htm

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Akara walalita
Table 6 Aksara walalita
No

Regular Form

Appended Form

Name

Romanized

na rambat

da madu

dha

ta tawa

tha

ta

sa saga

sa sapa

ga gora

gha

ba kembang

bha

pa kapal

pha

Examples:
Gaitri (chain)

Bhiama (decree)

Garudha (big eagle)

iwa (Gods name)

Partha (mans name)

Laghu (low tone in

singing)

Reference: http://www.babadbali.com/aksarabali/alphabet-c.htm

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Sound Killers (Pangangge Tengenan)

To end the sound of a syllable, one may add one of the signs: ardha chandra, surang, cecek,
bisah, or adegadeg.
Table 7 Sound Killers
No

Sign

Name

Romanized

cecek

...ng

surang

...r

bisah

...h

adegadeg

N/A

Remarks

Only appears at the end of

words with same vowels

Can appear anywhere

Only appears at the end of

words with same vowels

inherent sound of the syllable.

This is the default sound killer

Examples:
Cengceng (musical
instrument)

Kara (ear)

Bangkung (pig)

Kapal (ship)

Manah (logic)

Reference: http://www.babadbali.com/aksarabali/alphabet-c.htm

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Miscellaneous Signs

The following two signs, if combined with some syllables, become part of the Akara Modre,
which are used to write words in Sanskrit, usually part of prayers.
Table 8 Miscellaneous Signs
No

Sign

Name

Romanized

or

Ulu candra

...ng

or

Ulu ricem

...m

Remarks

Only appears in Sanskrit texts

Examples:

Siddham

Holy Symbol Ongkara

has a special name Ongkara This word is used almost everywhere in the text, as it is the

(May God blesses you)

(May peace be everywhere)

Reference: http://www.babadbali.com/aksarabali/alphabet-c.htm

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Miscellaneous Syllables

There are two more syllables that apparently borrowed from Javanese. Their existence in
Balinese script is very rare, but they exist. For the syllable CHA, the normal form of it does
not exist. If CHA appears in a text, it is always paired with the normal form of CA
Table 9 Miscellaneous Syllables
No

Syllabe

N/A

Appended Form

Name

Romanized

cha

cha

kha

kha

Numerals

The Balinese use decimal system for numbers. There is a simple one-to-one mapping to the
Arabic digits, as shown in the following table.
Table 10 The Digits
Digic

Glyph

Digic

Glyph

Reference: http://www.babadbali.com/aksarabali/alphabet-c.htm

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Glyph

Name

Usage

Carik

Comma

Carik Pareren

Panten

Pasalinan

Pamada

Carik Agung

Period.
Used at the end of a sentence.

story, or verse

or verse

Used at the beginning of

religious texts

Used at the end of religious

texts

Carik Pamungkah Colon

Idem

Idem

Reference: http://www.babadbali.com/aksarabali/alphabet-c.htm