Rejang script

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Rejang abugida
Type: Abugida - originated from Kavi script
Languages: Rejang
Time period: c. ?-1900s
Parent writing systems: Proto-Canaanite alphabet
 Phoenician alphabet
  Aramaic alphabet
   Brahmi alphabet
    Pallava
     Old Kawi
      Rejang abugida
Sister writing systems: Baybayin
Balinese
Batak
Buhid
Hanunó'o
Javanese
Tagbanwa
ISO 15924 code: Rjng


The Rejang script, sometimes spelt Redjang and locally known as Aksara Kaganga ('Ka Ga Nga alphabet') after its first three letters, is an abugida of the Brahmic family, and is related to other scripts of the region, like Batak, Buginese, and Kerinci. The script was in use prior to the introduction of Islam to the Rejang area; the earliest attested document appears to date from the mid-18th century CE.

The script was used to write Rejang, which is now spoken by about 200,000 people living in Indonesia on the island of Sumatra in the southwest highlands, north Bengkulu Province, around Argamakmur, Muaraaman, Curup, and Kepahiang, and also in the Rawas area of South Sumatra Province, near Muara Kulam. There are five major dialects of Rejang: Lebong, Musi, Kebanagung, Pesisir (all in Bengkulu Province), and Rawas (in South Sumatra Province). Most of its users live in fairly remote rural areas, of whom slightly less than half are literate.

The traditional Rejang corpus consists chiefly of ritual texts, medical incantations, and poetry.

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