Batak alphabet   Batak

Origin

The Batak alphabet, or surat batak, is descended ultimately from the from Brahmi script of ancient India by way of the Pallava and Old Kawi scripts.

Notable features

Used to write:

The Batak languages of northern Sumatra - Karo Batak, Toba Batak, Dairi Batak, Simalungun/Timur, Angkola and Mandailing Batak, and occasionally Malay. In most Batak communities, only the datu (priests) are able to read and write the Batak alphabet and they use it mainly for calendars and magical texts.

There are slight variations in the letters and vowel diacritics used to write each language.

Karo Batak syllabic alphabet

Karo Batak is an Austronesian language with about 600,000 speaks in the central and northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Karo Batak syllabic alphabet

Vowel diacritics with ka

Karo Batak vowel diacritics

Toba Batak syllabic alphabet

Dairi Batak, which is also known as Batak Toba and Batta, is an Austronesian language spoken by about 2 million people in the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Toba Batak syllabic alphabet

Vowel diacritics with ka

Toba Batak vowel diacritics

Dairi Batak syllabic alphabet

Dairi Batak, which is also known as Dairi, Pakpak and Pakpak Dairi, is an Austronesian language with about 1.2 million speakers in the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Dairi/Pakpak syllabic alphabet

Vowel diacritics with ka

Dairi/Pakpak vowel diacritics

Simalungun/Timur syllabic alphabet

Simalungun, which is also known as Timur and Simelungan, is an Austronesian language spoken by about 800,000 people in the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Simalung/Timur syllabic alphabet

Vowel diacritics with ka

Simalung/Timur vowel diacritics

Mandaling Batak syllabic alphabet

Mandaling Batak or Batta is an Austronesian language with about 400,000 speakers in the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Mandaling Batak syllabic alphabet

Vowel diacritics with ka

Mandaling Batak vowel diacritics

Note

The fonts used on this page were created by Dr Uli Kozok of The University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

Links

Further information about Batak (includes free Batak fonts)
http://www.hawaii.edu/indolang/surat

Austronesian languages

Anutan, Balinese, Batak, Bikol, Bugis, Buhid, Cebuano, Cham, Chamorro, Cia-Cia, Dawan, Drehu, Fijian, Filipino, Hanuno'o, Hawaiian, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Indonesian, Javanese, Kadazandusun, Kapampangan, Kiribati, Makasar, Malagasy, Malay, Mandar, Maori, Marshallese, Moriori, Pangasinan, Raga, Rarotongan, Re(d)jang, Rotuman, Sakao, Samoan, Sundanese, Tagalog, Tagbanwa, Tahitian, Tausūg, Tetum, Tokelauan, Tongan, Tuvaluan, Waray-Waray, Yapese

Other languages written with the Latin alphabet

Syllabic alphabets / abugidas

Ahom, Balinese, Batak, Bengali, Brahmi, Buhid, Burmese, Chakma, Cham, Dehong Dai, Devanagari, Dhives Akuru, Ethiopic, Evēla Akuru, Gondi, Grantha, Gujarati, Gupta, Gurmukhi (Punjabi), Hanuno'o, Hmong, Javanese, Kannada, Kharosthi, Khmer, Lanna, Lao, Lepcha, Limbu, Lontara/Makasar, Malayalam, Manpuri, Modi, New Tai Lue, Oriya, Pallava, Phags-pa, Ranjana, Redjang, Shan, Sharda, Siddham, Sindhi, Sinhala, Sorang Sompeng, Sourashtra, Soyombo, Sundanese, Syloti Nagri, Tagalog, Tagbanwa, Takri, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Tocharian, Varang Kshiti

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