page_title: Makassarese language
section_title: Historical writing system
hierarchical_section_title: Makassarese language / Historical writing system
caption_attribution_description: English: Lontara script at Balla Lompoa Museum, Sungguminasa, Gowa, South Celebes, Indonesia
context_page_description: Makassarese, sometimes spelled Makasar, Makassar, or Macassar, is a language of the Makassarese people, spoken in South Sulawesi province of Indonesia. It is a member of the South Sulawesi group of the Austronesian language family, and thus closely related to, among others, Buginese.
context_section_description: Makassarese was historically written using Makasar script (also known as "Old Makassarese" or "Makassarese bird script" in English-language scholarly works).
  In Makassarese the script is known as ukiri' jangang-jangang or huruf jangang-jangang ("bird letters").
  It was used for official purposes in the kingdoms of Makasar in the 17th century but ceased to be used by the 19th century, being replaced by Lontara script.
  In spite of their quite distinctive appearance, both the Makasar and Lontara scripts are derived from the ancient Brahmi script of India. Like other descendants of that script, each consonant has an inherent vowel "a", which is not marked. Other vowels can be indicated by adding diacritics above, below, or on either side of each consonant.
caption: Museum display showing script comparison of Makasar (left), Lontara (center), and Bilang-bilang (right) at Balla Lompoa Museum, Sungguminasa, Gowa
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