KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies

Manuscripts in the Malay language

01-10-2025

The Indonesian archipelago is home to hundreds of languages written in dozens of scripts. The writing traditions of these languages evolved differently and shifted in their use of scripts. To mention one, historically, the Malay language used to be written in Kawi, Javanese, Ulu, and Jawi scripts. Nonetheless, like most local languages in Indonesia, it tended to shift to Latin script post-independence of Indonesa.

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Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde
Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies