Every September 8, the whole world commemorates International Literacy Day. According to the Big Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI), script means a system of graphic signs used by humans to communicate and more or less represents speech. However, each country has different character traits.
Script is a basic thing to help someone communicate through writing. The differences between each country make these characters have their own special characteristics.
Paku script
Paku script is the oldest script in the world. This script appeared about 3,000 years ago in the Euphrates and Tigris river valleys, now Iraq.
Hangeul script
The Hangeul script used by Korean people is the youngest script in the world. Hangeul was created by King Sejong (1397-1540) in 1443 during the Joseon Dynasty.
Chinese Script
The most difficult script is Han Script or Chinese Script, which is a morphemic script used in writing Chinese and several Asian languages. In Chinese it is called Hanzi.
Latin script
Latin script or alphabet has the most users in the world. About 2,500 years ago, the alphabet was used by Semitic peoples.
Reporting from indonesia.go.id, Indonesia is the largest archipelagic country in the world which has cultural diversity, including language and script. In fact, each region has a different language and script from one another.
If we investigate further, behind the diversity of regional languages, we find various similarities, for example in terms of vocabulary. These regional languages not only contain a wealth of linguistic features but also local wisdom and noble cultural values of the Indonesian nation.
Unique Facts about Indonesian Script
Based on data display on the website of the Language and Literature Diversity Laboratory at the Language Development and Development Agency (BPPB), there are 718 regional languages record in the country. This number is the result of verification based on research and regional language mapping initiated from 1992 to 2019 by BPPB, an institution under the Ministry of Education and Culture.
From the data displayed on the website, you can see how rich the Indonesian nation is with cultural diversity in the form of regional languages. On Papua Island alone, based on this verification, there are 428 regional languages spoken by the local community. One of the elements in regional languages is dialect and script for writing vocabulary. Scripts produced from elements of traditional writing in regional languages are also known as Indonesian scripts.
Currently there are 12 regional scripts which are part of Indonesia’s literary and cultural wealth. The 12 local scripts are Javanese, Balinese, Old Sundanese, Bugis or Lontara, Rejang, Lampung, Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, Mandailing, and Kerinci (Rencong or Incung).
Uniquely, even though there are 428 regional languages in Papua
in reality there are almost no local scripts there. An effort made to develop a script system using the Tobati language used by the people around Jayapura.
The Center for Development and Protection, the Language Development and Development Agency (BPPB) also launched the Tobati Language Script System book in 2016. The process of determining this script system involves speakers who convey symbols for something expressed in the Tobati language.
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