The Lontara and Makasar scripts are descended from the Brahmi script of ancient India. The name lontara derives from the Malay word for the palmyra palm, lontar, the leaves of which are the traditional material for manuscripts in India, South East Asia and Indonesia.
Notable features
Type of writing system: syllabic alphabet/alphasyllabary
Direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines
In common with other Brahmi-derived syllabic alphabets, each consonant has an inherent vowel [a], other vowels are indicated by adding diacritics above or below a consonant.
Used to write:
Bugis or Buginese, Makasar and Mandar, Austronesian languages spoken on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
Both scripts were once used to write laws, treaties, maps, etc in Bugis, but are now only used for marriage ceremonies. The Makasar script is still widely used to write Makasar, although the Latin alphabet is officially favoured.
Lontara consonants
Makasar consonants
Vowel diacritics
Sample text in the Lontara script
