Ulu scripts

The terms "surat" and "ulu" are the origin of the name Surat Ulu. While "ulu" ('upstream') refers to the highland region where the rivers in South Sumatra and Bengkulu originate (the Barisan Mountains), "Surat" refers to the script. The user community first referred to this script family as Surat Ulu.{{Cite web|title=Aksara Kaganga Bengkulu – Kantor Bahasa Provinsi Bengkulu|date=26 January 2017 |url=https://kantorbahasabengkulu.kemdikbud.go.id/aksara-kaganga-bengkulu/|language=id-ID|access-date=2021-11-10}}{{sfn|Sarwono|Rahayu|2014|pp=4}}{{sfn|Pudjiastuti|1996|pp=46}}{{efn|"Surat ulu is a local name and a common term for its supporting community to refer to scripts known as rencong or Ka-Ga-Nga by Western scholars. According to Jalil (from the village of Muara Timput) and Meruki (from the village of Ujung Padang), and Pidin (from the village of Napal Jungur), several informants called the Pallava-derived local scripts as Surat Ulu. Westenenk's notes (1922:95), published in TBG edition 61, demonstrate that the Surat Ulu term is a local term used by the community that supports the Ulu writing tradition."{{sfn|Sarwono|Rahayu|2014|pp=4 - 5}}}}{{efn|"Old people in southern Sumatra frequently refer to the Lampung script as the Ulu script..."{{sfn|Pudjiastuti|1996|pp=46}}}}

The Rencong script ({{Langx|nl|Rèntjong-schrift}}) is another well-known naming system. "Rencong" is thought to be derived from the Old Malay word mèncong, which means oblique or italics.{{Cite web|title=Carian Umum|url=https://prpm.dbp.gov.my/cari1?keyword=mencong|website=prpm.dbp.gov.my|access-date=2021-11-10}}{{Cite web|title=Hasil Pencarian - KBBI Daring|url=https://kbbi.kemdikbud.go.id/entri/mencong|website=kbbi.kemdikbud.go.id|access-date=2021-11-10}} It could also be derived from the word runcing ('sharp'), as this script family was originally written with a sharp knife tip.{{Cite journal|last=Pitri|first=Nandia|date=2019|title=Batik Incung dan Islam di Kerinci|url=https://ejournal.iainkerinci.ac.id/index.php/islamika/article/download/450/322/1892|journal=Jurnal Islamika: Jurnal Ilmu-Ilmu Keislaman|volume=19|issue=2|pages=27–39|doi=10.32939/islamika.v19i02.450 |s2cid=226806123 |doi-access=free}} Regardless of its origin, Western scholars frequently use this term to refer to this family of scripts.{{sfn|Sarwono|Rahayu|2014|pp=1}}{{efn|Regarding the naming relationship between the Rencong script and Surat Ulu, L. C. Westenenk writes as follows:{{Verse translation|lang=nl

|Toen ik dit eerste opstel schreef, wist ik n.l. niet, of de bij Europeanen gebruikelijke term "rèntjong-schrift" inderdaad ergens door Maleisch wordt gebezigd. Het is mij nu gebleken, dat dit in het landschap Rawas (Palembang) het geval is. Elders noemt men het gewonlijk: soerat oeloe = bovenlandsch schrift.{{Cite book|last=Westenenk|first=L. C.|date=1919|url=https://onesearch.id/Record/IOS1.INLIS000000000246518|title=Aanteekeningen omtrent het hoornopschrift van Loeboek Blimbing in de marga Sindang Bliti, onder-afdeeling Redjang, afdeeling Lebong, residentie Benkoelen|location=Weltevreden|publisher=Albrecht & Co.|pages=448–459}}

|When I wrote the first essay, I had no idea whether the term "rencong script" used by Europeans was also used by Malay. It has now become clear to me that this is the case in the Rawas (Palembang) landscape. Surat Ulu (upriver scripts) is another name for it.

|attr1=Westenenk (1919)

}} }}

The Kaganga script is another name coined by Mervyn A. Jaspan (1926-1975), an anthropologist at the University of Hull. He was probably not aware that most Brahmi script lineages use KA Ga and Nga as the first characters of the alphabetic order.{{Cite book|last=M. A. Jaspan|date=1964|url=http://archive.org/details/folkliteratureof00maja|title=Folk literature of South Sumatra: Redjang Ka-Ga-Nga Texts|others=Internet Archive|language=English}} The name "Kaganga" is derived from the first three letters of the Pāṇini sequence, which is used in the Brahmi (Indian) script family.{{sfn|Sarwono|Rahayu|2014|pp=1}}{{efn|According to Mohammad Noeh, these scripts are "referred to as the Ka Ga Nga writing, which is an ancient script system originating from India."{{sfn|Pudjiastuti|1996|pp=2}}}} This is equivalent to the word "alphabet," which is derived from the names of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet (Α-Β, alpha-beta), and the word "abjad," which is derived from the names of the first four letters of the Arabic alphabet (ا-ب-ج-د, alif-ba-jim-dal).

Several tribes have their own names in addition to the three mentioned above. For example, this script family is known as the surat ʁincung among the Pasemah ethnic group.{{Cite book |last=Mahdi |first=Sutiono |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/906670726 |title=Aksara base besemah : pelajaghan mbace nga nulis urup ulu (surat ghincung) |date=2014 |others=Dewi Saputri |isbn=978-602-9238-64-8 |location=Bandung |oclc=906670726}}

Rencong script was often written on tree bark, bamboo, horns and palmyra-palm leaves.Miller, Christopher. (2011). [https://www.unicode.org/notes/tn35/indonesian-philippine.pdf Indonesian and Philippine Scripts and extensions not yet encoded or proposed for encoding in Unicode as of version 6.0: A report for the Script Encoding Initiative.]

The term "Rencong" is often confused with "Rejang", which refers to a specific Rencong alphabet that was used to write various dialects of the Rejang language and for writing Malay in the region.

This map below shows the distribution of various Rencong alphabets in South Sumatra:

File:South_Sumatra_Rencong_Scripts_Map.png

File:Kerinci MSS detail.jpg|Detail of a Kerinci manuscript (KITLV Or. 239). The text reads (Voorhoeve's spelling): "haku manangis ma / njaru ka'u ka'u di / saru tijada da / tang [hitu hadik sa]", which is translated by Voorhoeve as: "I am weeping, calling you; though called, you do not come" (hitu adik sa- is the rest of 4th line).

File:Nama Instansi.jpg|Signboard of government office buildings in Kerinci Regency

File:Nama Jalan.jpg|Street sign in Kerinci Regency

File:Plang SDN 1 Podomoro, Pringsewu, Lampung.jpg|SDN 1 Podomoro signboard, Pringsewu, Lampung

File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Handschrift op 20 bamboelatjes TMnr A-3291.jpg|Gelumpai inscribed with the Rejang script

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• Rejang alphabet
• Lampung alphabet
• Komering script

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• {{cite book|last1=Sarwono|first1=Sarwit|last2=Rahayu|first2=Ngudining|date=2014|url=http://repository.unib.ac.id/7492/1/Pusat%20penulisan.pdf|title=Pusat Penulisan dan Para Penulis Manuskrip Ulu di Bengkulu|location=Universitas Bengkulu|publisher=UNIB Press|isbn=978-979-9431-85-1|language=id}}
• {{cite book|url=http://repositori.kemdikbud.go.id/12730/1/Aksara%20dan%20naskah%20kuno%20lampung%20dalam%20pandangan%20masyarakat%20lampung%20kini.pdf|title=Aksara dan Naskah Kuno Lampung Dalam Pandangan Masyarakat Lampung Kini|last=Pudjiastuti|first=Titik|publisher=Proyek Pengkajian dan Pembinaan Nilai-nilai Budaya Pusat Direktorat Sejarah dan Nilai Tradisional Direktorat Jenderal Kebudayaan Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan|year=1996|location=Jakarta|language=ID}}

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{{Kawi family}}

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Category:Brahmic scripts

Category:Indonesian scripts