Old Sundanese (

Sundanese script Standard Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Baku'', ) is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Kuno'') which was used by the ancient Sundanese between the 14th and 18th ...

: ,

Old Sundanese script Old Sundanese script () is a script that developed in West Java in the 14th–18th centuries which was originally used to write Old Sundanese language. The Old Sundanese script is a development of the Pallava script which has reached the stage o ...

Basa_Sunda_Buhun_Letters_in_Old_Sundanese_script

, Buda script: Tulisan_basa_sunda_buhun_buda

Sundanese Alphabet Standard Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Baku'', ) is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Kuno'') which was used by the ancient Sundanese between the 14th and 18th ...

: ) is the earliest recorded stage of the

Sundanese language Sundanese (: , ; Sundanese script: ) is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by the Sundanese. It has approximately 40 million native speakers in the western third of Java; they represent about 15% of Indonesia's total population. Classifica ...

which is spoken in the western part of Java. The evidence is recorded in inscriptions from around the 12th to 14th centuries and ancient

palm-leaf manuscripts Palm-leaf manuscripts are manuscripts made out of dried palm leaves. Palm leaves were used as writing materials in the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia reportedly dating back to the 5th century BCE. Their use began in South Asia and sp ...

from the 15th to 17th centuries AD. Old Sundanese is no longer used today, but has developed into its descendant, modern Sundanese.

Written Evidence

Old Sundanese is recorded in stone inscriptions such as the

Kawali Inscription The Astana Gede inscriptions, also known as Kawali inscriptions, refers to six inscriptions discovered in Kabuyutan Kawali area, Ciamis Regency, West Java; the main inscription (Kawali I) bears the longest scripts. All of the inscriptions were writt ...

Ciamis Ciamis ( su, ᮎᮤᮃᮙᮤᮞ᮪) is a town and district which serves as the regency seat of Ciamis Regency in West Java, Indonesia. Government GOVERNMENT Since regional autonomy was implemented in 2001, Ciamis Regency has experienced regional ...

, and the

Batutulis inscription The Batutulis inscription is an ancient Sunda Kingdom inscription dated 1533, located at Batutulis village, South Bogor, West Java. Batutulis inscription is located in the ancient site of the capital Pakuan Pajajaran, ''Batutulis'' means 'inscrib ...

Bogor Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.Kabantenan inscription from the Bekasi area. Other remains documenting the use of Old Sundanese are

palm-leaf manuscript Palm-leaf manuscripts are manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed ...

s from the

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

Garut Garut is a district and town in West Java of Indonesia, and the former capital of Garut Regency. It is located about 75 km to the southeast of the major city of Bandung. History The modern history of Garut started on March 2, 1811 when Balub ...

, and

Bogor Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.Garut Garut is a district and town in West Java of Indonesia, and the former capital of Garut Regency. It is located about 75 km to the southeast of the major city of Bandung. History The modern history of Garut started on March 2, 1811 when Balub ...

Sri Baduga Museum Sri Baduga Museum (Indonesian ''Museum Sri Baduga'') is a state museum located in Bandung, Indonesia. As a state museum, the museum features various items related with the province of West Java, such as Sundanese crafts, furnishings, geologic hi ...

, the

National Library of Indonesia The National Library of Indonesia ( id, Perpustakaan Nasional Republik Indonesia, Perpusnas) is the legal deposit library of Indonesia. It is located at Gambir, on the south side of Merdeka Square, Jakarta. It serves primarily as a humanities ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, and the Bodleian Library in London.

Characteristics

Lexicon

The vocabulary used in Old Sundanese is still mostly recognizable for speakers modern Sundanese, either with the same meaning or having undergone a change of meaning. The use of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

which is adapted to the pronunciation or writing of the ancient Sundanese is mixed quite clearly. This is because of the nuances of the use of ancient Sundanese in

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

and

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

religious texts. In some parts, the same vocabulary is often found, even combined with sentence strings in

Old Javanese Old Javanese or Kawi is the oldest attested phase of the Javanese language. It was spoken in the eastern part of what is now Central Java and the whole of East Java, Indonesia. As a literary language, Kawi was used across Java and on the island ...

. In other parts, we also find the use of

Old Malay Malay was first used in the first millennia known as Old Malay, a part of the Austronesian language family. Over a period of two millennia, Malay has undergone various stages of development that derived from different layers of foreign influen ...

vocabulary and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

. The lexicon of Old Sundanese has been collected in an Old Sundanese–Indonesian dictionary.

Morphology

The morphology of word formation can generally be recognized in modern Sundanese with some exclusions, for example the use of the

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...

a- in the word ''awurung''. The

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...

-''keun'' has a grammatical function similar to that of -''kan'' in

Indonesian language Indonesian ( ) is the official language, official and national language of Indonesia. It is a standard language, standardized variety (linguistics), variety of Malay language, Malay, an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that has be ...

. In addition, the use of insertion affixes (

infix An infix is an affix inserted inside a word stem (an existing word or the core of a family of words). It contrasts with ''adfix,'' a rare term for an affix attached to the outside of a stem, such as a prefix or suffix. When marking text for int ...

) ''-in-'' and ''-um-'' in the word ''ginawé'' (

word stem In linguistics, a word stem is a part of a word responsible for its lexical meaning. The term is used with slightly different meanings depending on the morphology of the language in question. In Athabaskan linguistics, for example, a verb stem is ...

''gawé; 'to do') and ''gumanti'' (the root word ''ganti:'' 'replace') are insertions that are classified as productive used in old Sundanese, now words that include ''-in-'' and ''- um-'' is often considered monomorphemic. The following words are often not perceived as interpolated words such as ''sumebar'' which consists of ''sebar'' and ''-um-'', ''cumeluk'' which consists of ''celuk'' and '' -um-'' or ''tinangtu'' which consists of ''tangtu'' and ''-in-'' and ''pinareng'' consists of ''pareng'' and ''-in-''. The last is the use of insertion ''-ar-'' which serves to make a noun or adjective plural, for example in the word ''karolot'' (word stem ''kolot;'' 'the elders') which is still used until now.

Syntax

At the syntactic level, in general the sentence form in ancient Sundanese still has similarities with modern Sundanese. One of the features of ancient Sundanese that can be distinguished from the structure of modern Sundanese is the use of the predicate-subject pattern in the sentence structure of the ancient Sundanese language with predicates in the form of a verb (verb) and a subject in the form of a noun (noun) which is quite consistent. Another characteristic feature is the use of ma particles which can act as reinforcement for previous phrases or clauses. In sentence construction, the particle ma functions as a marker that separates the clauses, and serves to introduce new information.

Writing system

Writing systems that use the Old Sundanese language include

and Buda script. These two characters can be seen from the inscriptions and ancient manuscripts stored in a place called Kabuyutan. These two characters has different functions. Old Sundanese script usually can be found on the inscriptions describing important events that occurred in the Sundanese region, while the Buda script is widely used to write things that have a high level of sacredness in lontar or gebang manuscripts.

Example Usage

Inscription

The following is an example of the use of the old Sundanese language recorded in the Kawali inscription. Diplomatic transliteration was done by archaeologists Hasan Jafar & Titi Surti Nastiti. ''"nihan tapak walar nu sang hyang mulia tapa(k) inya parĕbu raja wastu mangadĕg di kuta kawali nu mahayu na kadatuan surawisesa nu marigi sakuliling dayĕh najur sakala desa aya ma nu pa(n)deuri pakĕna gawe rahayu pakĕn hĕbĕl jaya dina buana"'' Translation: These are the traces (tapak) (in) Kawali (of) the hometown of His Majesty King Wastu (who) established the defense (reigned in) Kawali, who had beautified the Surawisesa palace, which made a defensive trench around the royal territory, which prospered the whole settlement. To those who are to come, should apply salvation as the foundation of victorious life in the world.

Old Manuscripts

The old Sundanese language used in lontar and gebang manuscripts can be distinguished based on the form of the text, namely poetry and

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...

Poetry

Some of the ancient Sundanese manuscripts that contain texts in the form of poetry include '' Sewaka Darma'', '' Carita Purnawijaya'', ''

Bujangga Manik Bujangga Manik is one of the precious remnants of Old Sundanese literature. It is told in octosyllabic lines — the metrical form of Old Sundanese narrative poetry — in palm-leaf manuscript kept in the Bodleian Library of Oxford University in ...

'', '' Sri Ajnyana'','''' '' Kawih Pangeuyeukan'' and '' Sanghyang Swawarcinta''. The old Sundanese language written in the form of poetry texts generally uses an eight syllable pattern, although in some texts this rule is not so strict. : ''Pendakian Sri Ajnyana'' Text: : "''Sakit geui ngareungeuheun'' : ''cicing hanteu dék matingtim,'' : ''usma ku raga sarira.'' : ''Béngkéng upapen rasana,'' : ''dosa a(ng)geus kanyahoan,'' : ''ngeureuy teuing gawé hala,'' : ''hanteu burung katalayahan,'' : ''Ja kini teuing rasana,'' : ''Kasasar jadi manusa.'' : ''Saurna Sri Ajnyana:'' : ''‘Adiing, ambet ka dini.'' : ''Mulah ceurik nangtung dinya.'' : ''Dini di lahunan aing.'' : ''Tuluy dirawu dipangku"''

Prose

Old_Sundanese_gebang_manuscript_Sanghyang_Raga_Dewata

Texts containing Sundanese in prose include ''

Sanghyang Siksa Kandang Karesian Sanghyang Siksa Kandang Karesian is a didactic text, providing the reader with religious and moralistic rules, prescriptions and lessons. The title means something like “the book of rules with guidance to be a '' resi'' (wise or holy man)”. This ...

'', '' Amanat Galunggung'','''' '' Sanghyang Sasana Maha Guru'', and '' Sanghyang Raga Dewata''. The following are examples of sentences used in the ''Amanat Galunggung''.'''' ''"Awignam astu. Nihan tembey sakakala Rahyang Ba/n/nga, masa sya nyususk na Pakwan makangaran Rahyangta Wuwus, maka manak Maharaja Dewata, Maharaja Dewata maka manak Baduga Sanghyang, Baduga Sanghyang maka manak Prebu Sanghyang, Prebu Sanghyang maka manak Sa(ng) Lumahing rana, Sang Lumahing Rana maka manak Sa(ng) Lumahing Winduraja, Sa(ng) Lumahing Winduraja maka manak Sa(ng) Lumahing Tasikpa(n)jang, Sang Lumahing Tasik pa(n)jang (maka manak) Sa(ng) Lumahing Hujung Kembang, Sa(ng) Lumahing Hujung Kembang maka manak Rakeyan Darmasiksa."''

References

{{Sundanese-stub Languages attested from the 14th century Languages extinct in the 18th century Sundanese language