ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 N2588
2003-06-09
Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set
International Organization for Standardization
Organisation Internationale de Normalisationеждународная организация по стандартизации
Doc Type: Working Group Document
Title:
Final proposal for encoding the Buginese script in the UCS
Source: Michael Everson
Status:Expert Contribution
Replaces: N1930 (1998-11-24), N1657 (1997-12-08), UTR#3
Action:For consideration by JTC1/SC2/WG2 and UTC
Date:
2003-06-09
The Buginese script is used on the island of Sulawesi, mainly in the southwest. It is of the Brahmic typeand is perhaps related to Javanese. It bears some affinity with Tagalog as well, and it does not
traditionally record final consonants (but see note on the VIRAMA below). Buginese may be theeasternmost representative of the Brahmi scripts. Sirk (1983) reports that the Buginese language (anAustronesian language) has a rich traditional literature making it one of the foremost languages ofIndonesia. As of 1971 as many as 2.3 million speakers of Buginese were reported in the southern part ofSulawesi; SIL International’s Ethnologue gives a population of 3,500,000 native speakers in all countries– 4,000,000 inluding second-language speakers. The script has contemporary use, and a variety oftraditional literature has been printed in it. Andy Mallarangeng and Jim Henry made the font used here
and put it into the public domain in 1995.
Buginese literature was studied extensively by B. F. Matthes (a Dutch missionary) in the 19th century.
Matthes published a Buginese-Dutch dictionary in 1874 with a supplement in 1889, as well as agrammar. The script was previously also used to write the Makassar, Bimanese, and Madurese languages.
For Makassar, Matthes 1858 also gives an older alphabet, which uses different shapes for the letters, andlacks the HA, but the difference seems to be a change in font style only.

Structure
Vowel signs are used in a manner similar to that employed by other Brahmi-derived scripts. Consonants
have an inherent /a/ vowel sound. Consonant conjuncts are not formed.
A traditional VIRAMA does not seem to exist, but in the only coded character set (the BugisA font) so far
found for Buginese, the designers (Mallarangeng and Henry) include one with the following, rathersensible, rationale:
We have added one feature to the font. Because the written language does not include syllable final consonants,
it is impossible to transcribe many non-Bugis words, such as “batik”. The final ‘k’ would be ‘ka’ and so one
would be forced to read “batika”. We propose that a line under a character be used to mark such a vowel-lessconsonant.

This innovation is paralleled by a similar innovation in Hanunóo and Tagalog; it is always a visible sign,and since conjuncts are not formed in Buginese, ZWNJ is not necessary to force the display of the glyph.

Ordering
Several orderings are attested. In one, BUGINESE LETTER A is the first letter in the sequence (a, ka, ga, nga,ngka, pa, ba, ma, mpa, ta, da, na, nra, ca, ja, nya, nyca, ya, ra, la, wa, sa, ha); in another, specified in1

Fossey and following Matthes, BUGINESE LETTER A follows BUGINESE LETTER SA and precedes BUGINESELETTER HA (ka, ga, nga, ngka, pa, ba, ma, mpa, ta, da, na, nra, ca, ja, nya, nyca, ya, ra, la, wa, sa, a, ha).
Both of these orderings differ from the usual Brahmic order in that the order of consonant series is velars,
labials, dentals, palatals, and liquids, rather than the Brahmic velars, palatals, dentals, labials, liquids. The
third ordering is given in a font sampler file by Mallarangeng and Henry; it is based on the traditional
order of the Javanese script: ha na ca ra ka da sa wa la pa ja ya ma ga ba nga (The Javanese order ishana caraka, data sawala, padha jayanya, maga bathanga, a sentence which means ‘There were (two)emissaries, they began to fight, their valour was equal, they both fell dead’.) The Matthes order isfollowed in this proposed encoding.

Punctuation and digits
Buginese seems to use spaces between certain units, which are noted by Sirk 1983 to be “longer than aword in its grammatical definition”. One punctuation symbol, BUGINESE PALLAWA, is used “to separate
rhythmico-intonational groups, thus functionally corresponding to the full stop and comma of the Latin
script”. U+0662 ARABIC-INDIC DIGIT TWO or a doubling of the vowel sign (especially VOWEL SIGN E andVOWEL SIGN O) is also apparently used sometimes to denote word reduplication (Matthes 1875:16, 1858§37). Another separation mark, BUGINESE END OF SECTION, is also attested in a text printed by theImprimerie Nationale (see example below).
Unique Buginese digits, if any, are unknown. Latin digits are certainly known in Indonesia; it is possiblethat Arabic digits (in addition to ARABIC-INDIC DIGIT TWO ) are, or have been, used with the Buginesescript.
The position of the dot above the syllable YA is significant (Matthes 1858; 1875). When it is in its normal
position (to the left of the character) the syllable reads iya. When it is centred above the character, thesyllable reads yi. Two different characters are proposed here to handle this.

Unicode Character Properties
Spacing letters, category “Lo”, bidi category “L” (strong left to right)
xx00-xx16

Non-spacing marks, category “Mc” (spacing combining), bidi category “ON” (other neutral); combining
priorities in parentheses:
xx1A (224)xx1B (226)

Non-spacing marks, category “Mn” (nonspacing), bidi category “ON” (other neutral); combining
priorities in parentheses:
xx17, xx19, xx1C, xx1D (230)xx18 (228)

Symbols, category “Po”, bidi category “L” (strong left to right)
xx1E-xx1F

NOTE: Combining priorities here are expressed generally. In the Imprimerie font, BUGINESEVOWEL SIGN I and BUGINESE VOWEL SIGN U centre with their consonants. In the “inverted italic”
style, the BUGINESE VOWEL SIGN I is placed slightly to the left of centre and the BUGINESEVOWEL SIGN U is placed slightly to the right of centre. The BUGINESE VOWEL SIGN YI, used onlywith BUGINESE LETTER YA, has strong left positioning. Buginese fonts require precomposedglyphs for proper positioning of the combining marks (except BUGINESE VOWEL SIGN E andBUGINESE VOWEL SIGN O which are spacing).

2

Bibliography
Daniels, Peter T., and William Bright, eds. 1996. The world’s writing systems. New York; Oxford: Oxford
University Press. ISBN 0-19-507993-0
Faulmann, Carl. 1990 (1880). Das Buch der Schrift. Frankfurt am Main: Eichborn. ISBN 3-8218-1720-8
Fossey, Charles. 1948. Notices sur les caractères étrangers, anciens et modernes. Paris: Imprimerie
Nationale.
Haarmann, Harald. 1990. Die Universalgeschichte der Schrift. Frankfurt: Campus. ISBN 3-593-34346-0
Imprimerie Nationale. 1990. Les caractères de l’Imprimerie Nationale. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale
Éditions. ISBN 2-11-081085-8
Matthes, B. F. 1858. Makassaarsche Spraakkunst. Amsterdam: Het Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap.
Matthes, B. F. 1875. Boeginesche Spraakkunst. Den Haag: Martinus Nijhoff.
Nakanishi, Akira. 1990. Writing systems of the world: alphabets, syllabaries, pictograms. Rutland, VT:Charles E. Tuttle. ISBN 0-8048-1654-9Sirk, Ü. 1983. The Buginese language. (Languages of Asia and Africa). Moscow: Nauka. [From UTR#3]
Unicode Consortium. 1992. Unicode Technical Report #3: exploratory proposals.

ExamplesSample from Imprimerie Nationale 1990:302.

Transcription:
1
ianae sæpulo æpapæsala lotara rilau yanataro
2
kuwae matowae amana gaparitana makasa kori haṅgærænao
3sesæbu arua pulona pitu kori sæpilona pitu ulæ muhara
4kori æsona ese nabe ¶5pasalæ panæhaebi mula mulai masi lopie kuiri
6cerana tona nalao ripasere lima riala sitaa, kuiri
7tana wugi tona nalao risabawa lima riwula simana, kuiri
8cerana tona nalao ribaṅgara koaregi rimapawa koaregi
Note the BUGINESE END OF SECTION in line 4.

3

Sample from Matthes 1875:18.

Modern transcription. I have retained the hyphenation, punctuation, and capitalization of the originaltranscription, and italicized the consonants with multiple letter romanizations.
Æṅka æṅka-gare, æṅka seuwa wætu, æṅkaseuwa aru makunrai ri-Luwu masala-uli,
3
Iyaro aru-masala-ulie, ana seuwa-uwa
4
riyidona riyabona, na-anapatola, ri-ta5
nae ri-Luwu. Masara-ni idona, abona,
6
saba malasa-makuwana anana. Turu-manæ-toni sa7
nrowe sibawa tabie mabura. Mabela-ni makæ8dae, æṅka pinrana ri-lasana iya-ro aru-masa9
la-ulie. Mau bauna tæ-paule-ni tauwe10memauiwi, saba makæñena na-makæbo-kala11i-laina.
1
2

Note the use of ∞∏ iya in lines 3 and 8, and the use of ∞∑ yi in line 4.

4

From Fossey 1948:377.

From the Senseido Encyclopaedia of Linguistics.
5

From Daniels & Bright 1996.

6

A. Administrative
1. Title
Final proposal for encoding the Buginese script in the UCS.
2. Requester’s nameMichael Everson
3. Requester type (Member body/Liaison/Individual contribution)
Individual contribution.
4. Submission date2003-06-09
5. Requester’s reference (if applicable)
N1930, N1657, UTR#3
6. Choose one of the following:
6a. This is a complete proposal
Yes.
6b. More information will be provided later
No.

B. Technical – General
1. Choose one of the following:
1a. This proposal is for a new script (set of characters)
Yes.
Proposed name of script
Buginese.
1b. The proposal is for addition of character(s) to an existing blockNo.
1b. Name of the existing block
2. Number of characters in proposal
32
3. Proposed category (see section II, Character Categories)
Category B.1.
4a. Proposed Level of Implementation (1, 2 or 3) (see clause 14, ISO/IEC 10646-1: 2000)
Level 24b. Is a rationale provided for the choice?
Yes.
4c. If YES, reference
Buginese requires Level 2 implementation as other Brahmic scripts do.
5a. Is a repertoire including character names provided?
Yes.
5b. If YES, are the names in accordance with the character naming guidelines in Annex L of ISO/IEC 10646-1: 2000?
Yes.
5c. Are the character shapes attached in a legible form suitable for review?
Yes.
6a. Who will provide the appropriate computerized font (ordered preference: True Type, or PostScript format) for
publishing the standard?
Michael Everson.
6b. If available now, identify source(s) for the font (include address, e-mail, ftp-site, etc.) and indicate the tools used:
Michael Everson, Fontographer.
7a. Are references (to other character sets, dictionaries, descriptive texts etc.) provided?
Yes. See http://idris.com/scripts/Bugis.html and ftp://mp.cs.niu.edu/pub/henry/readme.txt, and the bibliography below.
7b. Are published examples of use (such as samples from newspapers, magazines, or other sources) of proposedcharacters attached?
Yes.
8. Does the proposal address other aspects of character data processing (if applicable) such as input, presentation,sorting, searching, indexing, transliteration etc. (if yes please enclose information)?
Yes, sorting and the use of the VIRAMA are discussed above.
9. Submitters are invited to provide any additional information about Properties of the proposed Character(s) or
Script that will assist in correct understanding of and correct linguistic processing of the proposed character(s) orscript. Examples of such properties are: Casing information, Numeric information, Currency information, Display
behaviour information such as line breaks, widths etc., Combining behaviour, Spacing behaviour, Directional
behaviour, Default Collation behaviour, relevance in Mark Up contexts, Compatibility equivalence and other Unicode7normalization related information. See the Unicode standard at http://www.unicode.org for such information on otherscripts.
AlsoseeUnicode
Character
Database
http://www.unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/
UnicodeCharacterDatabase.html and associated Unicode Technical Reports for information needed for considerationby the Unicode Technical Committee for inclusion in the Unicode Standard.
Character properties given below.

C. Technical – Justification
1. Has this proposal for addition of character(s) been submitted before? If YES, explain.
Yes. This is a revised proposal.
2a. Has contact been made to members of the user community (for example: National Body, user groups of the scriptor characters, other experts, etc.)?
Yes.
2b. If YES, with whom?
Andy Mallarangeng, a Buginese who was at university in North America some years ago.
2c. If YES, available relevant documents
Andy made the font used in this proposal which had a file “bugis.txt” attached to it.
3. Information on the user community for the proposed characters (for example: size, demographics, information
technology use, or publishing use) is included?
Buginese is used on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, mainly in the southwest.
4a. The context of use for the proposed characters (type of use; common or rare)
Used to write the Bugis language.
4b. Reference
5a. Are the proposed characters in current use by the user community?
Yes.
5b. If YES, where?
In Indonesia.
6a. After giving due considerations to the principles in Principles and Procedures document (a WG 2 standingdocument) must the proposed characters be entirely in the BMP?
Yes. Positions 1A00-1A1F are proposed.
6b. If YES, is a rationale provided?
Yes.
6c. If YES, referenceContemporary use and accordance with the Roadmap.
7. Should the proposed characters be kept together in a contiguous range (rather than being scattered)?
Yes.
8a. Can any of the proposed characters be considered a presentation form of an existing character or character
sequence?
No.
8b. If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
8c. If YES, reference
9a. Can any of the proposed characters be encoded using a composed character sequence of either existing charactersor other proposed characters?
No.
9b. If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
9c. If YES, reference
10a. Can any of the proposed character(s) be considered to be similar (in appearance or function) to an existingcharacter?
No.
10b. If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
10c. If YES, reference
11a. Does the proposal include use of combining characters and/or use of composite sequences (see clauses 4.12 and4.14 in ISO/IEC 10646-1: 2000)?
Yes.
11b. If YES, is a rationale for such use provided?
Yes.
11c. If YES, reference
Brahmic vowels.
12a. Is a list of composite sequences and their corresponding glyph images (graphic symbols) provided?
No.
12b. If YES, reference813a. Does the proposal contain characters with any special properties such as control function or similar semantics?
No.
13b. If YES, describe in detail (include attachment if necessary)
14a. Does the proposal contain any Ideographic compatibility character(s)?
No.
14b. If YES, is the equivalent corresponding unified ideographic character(s) identified?

9Proposal for encoding Buginese in the UCSTABLE XX - Row 1A: BUGINESE
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G = 00
P = 00Proposal for encoding Buginese in the UCSTABLE XX - Row 1A: BUGINESEhex
000102030405060708090A
0B0C
0D0E0F
101112131415161718191A
1B
1C
1D1E
1F

Group 00NamehexName

BUGINESE LETTER KA
BUGINESE LETTER GA
BUGINESE LETTER NGA
BUGINESE LETTER NGKA
BUGINESE LETTER PA
BUGINESE LETTER BA
BUGINESE LETTER MA
BUGINESE LETTER MPA
BUGINESE LETTER TABUGINESE LETTER DABUGINESE LETTER NABUGINESE LETTER NRA
BUGINESE LETTER CABUGINESE LETTER JABUGINESE LETTER NYABUGINESE LETTER NYCABUGINESE LETTER YA
BUGINESE LETTER RABUGINESE LETTER LA
BUGINESE LETTER VABUGINESE LETTER SABUGINESE LETTER A
BUGINESE LETTER HABUGINESE VOWEL SIGN I
BUGINESE VOWEL SIGN YIBUGINESE VOWEL SIGN UBUGINESE VOWEL SIGN E
BUGINESE VOWEL SIGN O
BUGINESE VOWEL SIGN AE
BUGINESE VIRAMABUGINESE PALLAWABUGINESE END OF SECTIONPlane 01Row xx11