This written tradition was preserved by writers of Surakarta and Yogyakarta, and later became the basis of the modern written standard of the language. The rise of Mataram in the 17th century shifted the main literary form of Javanese to be based on the inland variety. The Arabic abjad was also adopted (as Pegon) to write Javanese. Many of the written works in this variety were Islamic in nature, and several of them were translation from works in Malay. In its early form, Modern Javanese literary form was based on the variety spoken in the north coast of Java, where Islam had already gained foothold among the local people. The change in the literary system happened as Islam started to gain influence in Java. Modern Javanese emerged as the main literary form of the language in the 16th century. However, Old Javanese works and poetic tradition continue to be preserved in the Javanese-influenced Bali, and the variety is also used for religious purposes. Both Old and Middle Javanese written forms the not been widely used in Java since early 16th century. The form of Old Javanese found in several texts from 14th century onward (mostly written in Bali) is sometimes referred to as "Middle Javanese". Almost half of the entire vocabularies found in Old Javanese literature are Sanskrit loanwords, although Old Javanese also borrowed terms from other languages in the Maritime Southeast Asia. The writing system used to write Old Javanese is a descendant of the Pallava script from India. This language variety is also called kawi or 'of poets, poetical', although this term could also be used to refer to the archaic elements of New Javanese literature. Old Javanese is commonly written in the form of verses. Between the 9th and the 15th century, this form of Javanese flourished in the island of Java. The earliest attested form of Old Javanese can be found in the Sukabumi inscription, which dates from 804 CE. In general, the history of the Javanese language can be divided into two distinct phases: 1) Old Javanese and 2) New Javanese. Blust's suggestion has been further elaborated by Alexander Smith, who includes Javanese in the Western Indonesian grouping (which also includes GNB and several other subgroups), which Smith considers as one of Malayo-Polynesian's primary branches. However, Blust also expresses the possibility that Greater North Borneo languages are closely related to many other western Indonesian languages, including Javanese. Robert Blust also does not include Javanese in the Greater North Borneo subgroup, which he proposes as an alternative to Malayo-Sumbawan grouping. Alexander Adelaar does not include Javanese in his proposed Malayo-Sumbawan grouping (which also covers Malayic, Sundanese, and Madurese languages). Malayo-Javanic has been criticized and rejected by various linguists. This grouping is also called "Malayo-Javanic" by linguist Berndt Nothofer, who was the first to attempt a reconstruction of it based on only four languages with best attestation at the time (Javanese, Sundanese, Madurese, and Malay). Using lexicostatistical method, Isidore Dyen classified Javanese as part of the "Javo-Sumatra Hesion", which also includes the Sundanese and "Malayic" languages. Javanese is part of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family, although its precise relationship to other Malayo-Polynesian languages is hard to determine. 11 Demographic distribution of Javanese speakers.Īlong with Indonesian, Javanese is an official language in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Javanese is also spoken by traditional immigrant communities of Javanese descent in Suriname, Sri Lanka and New Caledonia. There are speakers of Javanese in Malaysia (concentrated in the West Coast part of the states of Selangor and Johor) and Singapore. Most speakers of Javanese also speak Indonesian for the official and commercial purposes as well as a means to communicate with non-Javanese-speaking Indonesians. Its closest relatives are the neighboring languages such as Sundanese, Madurese, and Balinese. It has several regional dialects and a number of clearly distinct status styles. Javanese is the largest of the Austronesian languages in number of native speakers. It is the native language of more than 98 million people (more than 42% of the total population of Indonesia). There are also pockets of Javanese speakers on the northern coast of western Java. Javanese ( / dʒ ɑː v ə ˈ n iː z/ Basa Jawa Aksara Jawa: ꦧꦱ ꦗꦮ Pegon: باساجاوا Javanese pronunciation: ) is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia.
Two Javanese speakers, recorded in Indonesia.