Kawi language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kawi Bhāṣa Kawi, Old Javanese
Spoken in:	Java, Bali, Madura, Lombok, Indonesia; Manila
Region:	Malay Archipelago
Language extinction:	literary language, archaic by 14th century
Language family:	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Western Malayo-Polynesian Sundic Kawi
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:	`kaw`
ISO/FDIS 639-3:	`kaw`
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key.

Kawi (from Sanskrit: kāvya, "poet") is a language from the islands of Java, Bali, and Lombok. It is actually a literary language based on Old Javanese, but heavily interlarded with Sanskrit loanwords.

The language has its own unique alphabets for writing, including Old Kawi and Tulisan Bali, a script that evolved from Pallava script. Kawi is extinct as a spoken language, but is still used in Bali, Lombok and to some extent in Java as a literary language. It is also the main language used for the Lombok cultural practice of reading and writing literature on the leaves of the lontar palm.

One book written in Kawi that has been of some significant influence around the world is the Susila Buddhi Dharma. It was written by Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo, the founder of Subud. In this work, he provides a basic understanding of the latihan kejiwaan, or spiritual training, that he spontaneously received and then passed on to those who are interested. This training is practiced in over eighty countries around the world.