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Proposals from the Script Encoding Initiative

Title
Proposal for encoding the Batak script in the UCS

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https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0q292328

Authors
Everson, Michael
Kozok, Uli

Publication Date
2008-10-07

Peer reviewed

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University of California
 JTC1/SC2/WG2 N3320R
L2/08-011R
2008-10-07
Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set
International Organization for Standardization
Organisation Internationale de Normalisation
Международная организация по стандартизации

Doc Type: Working Group Document

Title: Proposal for encoding the Batak script in the UCS
Source: UC Berkeley Script Encoding Initiative (Universal Scripts Project)
Author: Michael Everson and Uli Kozok
Status: Liaison Contribution
Action: For consideration by JTC1/SC2/WG2 and UTC
Replaces: UTR#3, N3293R
Date: 2008-10-07

1. Introduction. The Batak script is used on the island of Sumatra to write the five Batak dialects Karo,
Mandailing, Pakpak, Simalungun, and Toba. (These dialects can differ as much as the related languages
English and Dutch do.) The script is called surat na sampulu sia ‘the nineteen letters’, or si-sia-sia. Batak
is read from left to right. (Descriptions of Batak writing, like those of Tagalog and Buhid, which talk
about writing vertically bottom-to-top along the length of a piece of bamboo, are based on an observation
of practical writing behaviour. Anyone engraving Latin script with the point of a knife on bamboo in the
same way would do likewise.) The Batak script is taught in schools more for cultural purposes than as a
practical writing system for Batak, which, when written, uses Latin ortho graphy (though the
overwhelming majority of writing by Bataks is in Indonesian, as elsewhere in Indonesia). Batak script
does enjoy public display for instance in the signage of shops and governmental institutions.

2. Structure. The Batak script is of the Brahmic type. It has a vowel killer which is called pangolat in
Mandailing, Pakpak, and Toba (where it has the shape @≤); the Karo call the killer pĕnĕngĕn, and the
Simalungen call it panongonan (it has the shape @≥ for those groups). Consonant conjuncts are not
formed. (It is worth noting that this simplification, found also in other insular Southeast Asian scripts
outside of Java and Bali, is a sensible and appropriate response to the CV(C) structure of the languages in
the region, and is by no means a “corruption” of the original Brahmic prototype.) Batak has three
independent vowels (A, I, U) and makes use of a number of vowel signs and two consonant signs.

3. Dependent vowel signs. The dependent vowels are as follows (shown with í RA and ì SIMALUNGUN
RA and with ô SIMALUNGUN SA for VOWEL SIGN U FOR SIMALUNGUN SA):

íß rĕ = í ra +  -ĕ í® rĕ = í ra +  -ĕ (Pakpak)
í© re = í ra +  -e
í™ ri = í ra +  -i ì´ ri = ì ra +  -i (Simalungun)
í¨ ro = í ra +  -o í≠ ro = í ra +  -o (Karo)
íÆ ru = í ra +  -u ôØ su = ô sa +  -u (Simalungun)
í∞ rang = í ra +  -ng
í± rah = í ra +  -h
í≤ r = í ra +  killer ì≥ r = ì ra +  (Simalungun)

1
It should be noted that some of the vowel signs are limited to use by certain groups. Only the Karo and
Pakpak have the sound ĕ, and use @ß VOWEL SIGN E for it, though the Pakpak sometimes use @® VOWEL
SIGN PAKPAK E instead. Karo writers use either the @® VOWEL SIGN PAKPAK E or the @≠ VOWEL SIGN KARO O
for o; VOWEL SIGN KARO O is used by the Simulungun for ou. Karo writers always use @¨ VOWEL SIGN O
for u (though the other groups use it for o); Karo writers may use either @™ VOWEL SIGN I or @´ VOWEL
SIGN KARO I for i.

4. Rendering. The vowel signs @™ VOWEL SIGN I, @´ VOWEL SIGN KARO I, @¨ VOWEL SIGN O, the consonant
sign @¨ CONSONANT SIGN H h, and the two killers @≤ PANGOLAT and @≥ PANONGONAN are spacing marks.
The characters  VOWEL SIGN EE e and  CONSONANT SIGN NG are non-spacing marks, the former drawn
to the left side of the character and the latter to the right side. (When the two occur together on a
consonant, there are two marks above: í©∞ reng; í RA +  VOWEL SIGN EE +  CONSONANT SIGN NG.) The
character @Æ VOWEL SIGN U is placed under a consonant and somewhat to the right; it can ligate with its
base consonant.

¿ u = Ä a + @Æ -u ¡ u = Å Sa + @Æ -u
¬ hu = Ç ha + @Æ -u √ hu = É S ha + @Æ -u
ƒ hu = Ñ M ha + @Æ -u
≈ bu = Ö ba + @Æ -u ΔÆ bu* = Ü K ba + @Æ -u
« pu = á pa + @Æ -u » pu = à S pa + @Æ -u
… nu = â na + @Æ -u ~ nu = ä M na + @Æ -u
À wu = ã wa + @Æ -u à wu = å S wa + @Æ -u
Õ wu = ç P wa + @Æ -u
Œ gu = é ga + @Æ -u œ gu = è S ga + @Æ -u
– ju = ê ja + @Æ -u — du = ë da + @Æ -u
“ ru = í ra + @Æ -u ” ru = ì S ra + @Æ -u
‘ mu = î ma + @Æ -u ’ mu = ï S ma + @Æ -u
÷ tu = ñ S ta + @Æ -u ◊ tu = ó N ta + @Æ -u
ÿ su = ò sa + @Æ -u Ÿ su = ô S sa + @Æ -u (Mandailing)
⁄ su = ö M sa + @Æ -u ôØ su = ô S sa +  -u (Simalungun)
€ yu = õ ya + @Æ -u ‹ yu = ú S ya + @Æ -u
› ngu = ù nga + @Æ -u
fi lu = û la + @Æ -u fl lu = ü S la + @Æ -u
‡ nyu = † nya + @Æ -u ·Æ cu* = · ca + @Æ -u
‚Æ ndu* = ¢ nda + @Æ -u „Æ mbu*= „ mba + @Æ -u

Note that the forms given with asterisks above do not occur since the letters are only used in Karo, which
writes ܨ bu, °¨ cu, ¢¨ ndu, and £¨ mbu. Note too that while Mandailing may write Ÿ for su, in
Simalungun the @Æ VOWEL SIGN U vowel is not used with this letter. Instead the diacritic  VOWEL SIGN U
FOR SIMALUNGUN SA is used—only with this letter: ôØ. 

The non-spacing consonant modifier  TOMPI is used to change the value of Ç, É, or Ñ (all ha) to ka
as Ƕ, ɶ, Ѷ in Mandailing, and to change ò, ô, or ö (all sa) to ca as ò¶, ô¶, ö¶ in Mandailing.
The consonant signs  CONSONANT SIGN NG and  CONSONANT SIGN H are usually rendered above the

2
spacing vowels @ß VOWEL SIGN E, @™ VOWEL SIGN I, @´ VOWEL SIGN KARO I, and @¨ VOWEL SIGN O: as in
á™∞ ping, á¨∞ pong, áß± pĕh, à´± pih.

The main peculiarity of Batak rendering has to do with the way vowel glyphs are re-ordered when the
killer (PANGOLAT or PANONGONAN) is used to close the syllable by killing the inherent vowel of a final
consonant. This re-ordering is entirely regular and there are no exceptions to it.

ñá≤ tap = ñ ta + á pa + @≤ PANGOLAT

ñáß≤ tĕp = ñ ta + @ß -ĕ + á pa + @≤ PANGOLAT
ñá©≤ tep = ñ ta +  -e + á pa + @≤ PANGOLAT
ñá™≤ tip = ñ ta + @™ -i + á pa + @≤ PANGOLAT
ñá¨≤ top = ñ ta + @¨ -o + á pa + @≤ PANGOLAT
ñ«≤ tup = ñ ta + @Æ -u + á pa + @≤ PANGOLAT

So although the backing store for tip is TA + I + PA + PANGOLAT, the display is not *ñ™á≤ (which cannot
occur) but rather ñá™≤. One way a font might implement this would be with a set of triplets, Vowel +
Consonant + Killer = glyph-CVK. In the event that a visual order were entered in the text stream, an
error state could be indicated with the retention of the dotted circle, thus:

ñá™≤ tip = ñ ta + @™ -i + á pa + @≤ PANGOLAT (correct)

ñá™@≤ tapiK = ñ ta + á pa + @™ -i + @≤ PANGOLAT (incorrect)

Another way of putting this is to say that the PANGOLAT cannot follow a VOWEL SIGN, but only a LETTER.

There are other ways in which a font might implement this behaviour; apparently the preferred method in
the Uniscribe model could differ from the description above.

This regular re-ordering poses no significantly new architectural challenge for the Brahmic model; indeed
glyph reordering in complex syllables in Tai Tham is far more complex. There are moreover a number of
reasons for preferring logical order for Batak. Both open and closed syllables are very frequent in the
languages which use Batak: áí¨≤Çò™≤ por-kis, ïâ¨ùò¨≤Çâ¨≤ ma-no-ngos-kon,
ïâ≤ëáñ¨≤Çâ¨≤ man-da-pot-kon, ïí¨≤Çí¨≤ê mor-kor-ja, ñí«≤¬ ta-rup-ku.
Phonetic syllable structure is easier to process, to sort, to search, if logical ordering is used, because these
cannot be mis-identified as áí¨Çò™ paro\kasi\, ïâ¨ùò¨Ç⨠manongaso\kano\,
ïâëáñ¨Ç⨠mana\dapato\kano\, ïí¨Çí¨ê maro\karo\ja, ñí«¬ tarapu\ku—all
of which have valid syllable structures. Moreover, like other languages of Indonesia, most speakers are
literate in Bahasa Indonesian, and their experience with computing is with that language, which has an
extremely phonetic orthography. Their expectation will be to input their language by sound. Similar
discussion held with users of the Balinese and Javanese scripts likewise indicated that phonetic input was
their expectation. Visual order in the UCS is used with Thai and Lao for reasons of legacy, and with Tai
Tham because of its similarity to Thai. All other Brahmic scripts in the UCS use logical order, and Batak
need be no exception.

5. Unification. Karo, Mandailing, Pakpak, Simalungun, and Toba each use the script in a different way.
While language groups share most of their letters in common, sometimes a letter with a value in one
language has a different value in another. The letter †, for instance is nya in Simalunge, Toba, and
Mandailing, but ca in Karo; compare Latin c, which may be [k] or [s] or [ts] or [tʃ] or [dʒ] depending on
language. This proposal encodes the superset of forms, regardless of pronunciation. There is a core of
3
common letters and a set of dialect-specific letters. In this way the encoding model for the Batak script is
analogous to the model for Cyrillic, as opposed to the model for Old Italic.

6. Punctuation. Punctuation is not normally used, all letters simply running together, but a number of
BINDU characters do exist and are occasionally used to disambiguate similar words or phrases. The ø
BINDU PANGOLAT is trailing punctuation, following a word, surrounding the previous character somewhat.

The bindu apparently appears in several forms. The major mark used to begin texts is called the
∫ BINDU GODANG ‘large bindu’. In letters written on bamboo, the ª BINDU
PINARJOLMA ‘human-being-shaped bindu’ is used instead of the BINDU GODANG. There are many glyph
variants of the bindu pinarjolma; when it is more snake-like than anthropomorphic, it is sometimes called
bindu pinarulok ‘snake-shaped bindu’. The actual length of the glyph for these marks is up to the font
designer. It will readily be seen that the variation in the shapes of Batak punctuation is very free.

The minor mark used to begin paragraphs and stanzas is called the º BINDU NA METEK ‘small bindu’. It
may have a number of variants such as Ω BINDU PINARBORAS ‘rice-shaped bindu’, again used to separate
sections of text. These marks can be written as large signs that physically separate sections of text, for
instance by means of a long trailing line leading from them. A sign called æ BINDU JUDUL ‘title bindu’ is
also sometimes used to separate a title from the main text which normally begins on the same line.

7. Collating order. The unified collation order is given below. For reference, the “alphabetical order” of
each language is given subsequently

Ä a > Å a > Ç ha > É ha > Ñ ha > Ö ba > Ü ba >

S S M K

á pa > à pa > â na > ä na > ã wa >> ç wa > å wa >

S M P S

é ga > è ga > ê ja > ë da > í ra > ì ra > î ma > ï ma >

S S S

ñ ta >> ó ta > ò sa > ô sa > ö sa > õ ya > ú ya >

S N S M S

ù nga > û la > ü la > † nya >> ° ca > ¢ nda > £ mba > § i > • u
S

7.1. The Karo alphabet.

Ä a, ha, Ç ka, Ü ba, á pa, â na, ã wa, é ga, ê ja, ë da, í ra, î ma,
ó ta, ò sa, õ ya, ù nga, û la, °/† ca, ¢ nda, £ mba, § i, • u
N

7.2. The Pakpak alphabet.

Ä a, ha, Ç ka, Ö ba, á pa, â na, ç wa, é ga, ê ja, ë da, í ra, î ma,
ó ta, ò sa, ca, õ ya, ù nga, û la, § i, • u
7.3. The Simaluungun alphabet.

Å a, É ha, ka, Ö ba, à pa, â na, å wa, è ga, ê ja, ë da, ì ra, ï ma,
ñ ta, ô sa, ú ya, ù nga, ü la, † nya, § i, • u

4
7.4. The Toba alphabet.

Ä a, Ç ha, ka, Ö ba, á pa, â na, ã/ç wa, é ga, ê ja, ë da, í ra, î ma,
ñ/ó ta, ò sa, õ ya, ù nga, û la, † nya, § i, • u
7.5. The Mandailing alphabet.

Ä a, Ñ ha, Ѷ ka, Ö ba á pa, ä na, ã wa, é ga, ê ja, ë da, í ra, î ma,
M

ñ ta, ö sa, õ ya, ù nga, û la, † nya, ö¶ ca, § i, • u

8. Character names. The character names used follow Kozok 1999. Language identifiers are used to
distinguish the characters in UCS terms; usually the language identifier chosen was SIMALUNGUN
because Simalungun is the most common variant. It should be noted, however, that the use of the
modifier does not imply that a character is only used in Simalungun Batak; the designation is arbitrary.

9. Linebreaking. Opportunities for line-break occur after any full orthographic syllable, defined as
C(V(Cp|F)) where a consonant C may be followed by a vowel V which may be followed either by a
killed consonant Cp or a final -ng or -h F. Batak punctuation marks can be expected to have behaviour
similar to that of Devanagari DANDA.

10. Unicode Character Properties.

1BC0;BATAK LETTER A;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BC1;BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN A;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BC2;BATAK LETTER HA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BC3;BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN HA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BC4;BATAK LETTER MANDAILING HA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BC5;BATAK LETTER BA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BC6;BATAK LETTER KARO BA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BC7;BATAK LETTER PA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BC8;BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN PA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BC9;BATAK LETTER NA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BCA;BATAK LETTER MANDAILING NA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BCB;BATAK LETTER WA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BCC;BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN WA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BCD;BATAK LETTER PAKPAK WA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BCE;BATAK LETTER GA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BCF;BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN GA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BD0;BATAK LETTER JA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BD1;BATAK LETTER DA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BD2;BATAK LETTER RA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BD3;BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN RA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BD4;BATAK LETTER MA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BD5;BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN MA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BD6;BATAK LETTER SOUTHERN TA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BD7;BATAK LETTER NORTHERN TA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BD8;BATAK LETTER SA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BD9;BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN SA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BDA;BATAK LETTER MANDAILING SA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BDB;BATAK LETTER YA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BDC;BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN YA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BDD;BATAK LETTER NGA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BDE;BATAK LETTER LA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BDF;BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN LA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BE0;BATAK LETTER NYA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BE1;BATAK LETTER CA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BE2;BATAK LETTER NDA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BE3;BATAK LETTER MBA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BE4;BATAK LETTER I;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BE5;BATAK LETTER U;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BE6;BATAK SIGN TOMPI;Mn;7;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
1BE7;BATAK VOWEL SIGN E;Mc;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BE8;BATAK VOWEL SIGN PAKPAK E;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
1BE9;BATAK VOWEL SIGN EE;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
1BEA;BATAK VOWEL SIGN I;Mc;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BEB;BATAK VOWEL SIGN KARO I;Mc;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BEC;BATAK VOWEL SIGN O;Mc;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BED;BATAK VOWEL SIGN KARO O;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
1BEE;BATAK VOWEL SIGN U;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
1BEF;BATAK VOWEL SIGN U FOR SIMALUNGUN SA;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
1BF0;BATAK CONSONANT SIGN NG;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
1BF1;BATAK CONSONANT SIGN H;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
1BF2;BATAK PANGOLAT;Mn;9;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BF3;BATAK PANONGONAN;Mn;9;L;;;;;N;;;;;

5
1BFA;BATAK SYMBOL BINDU GODANG;Po;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BFB;BATAK SYMBOL BINDU PINARJOLMA;Po;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BFC;BATAK SYMBOL BINDU NA METEK;Po;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BFD;BATAK SYMBOL BINDU PINARBORAS;Po;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BFE;BATAK SYMBOL BINDU JUDUL;Po;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1BFF;BATAK SYMBOL BINDU PANGOLAT;Po;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;

11. 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
Kozok, Uli. 1999. Warisan leluhur: sastra lama dan aksara Batak. Jakarta: École française d’Extrême-
Orient. ISBN 979-9023-33-5
Kozok, Uli. 2004. Reference list to the Batak-Dutch Dictionary by H. N. Van der Tuuk = Daftar rujukan
untuk Kamus Batak-Belanda oleh H. N. Van der Tuuk. Jakarta: Wedatama Widya Sastra. ISBN
979-3258-37-3
Meerwaldt, J. H. 1904. Handleiding tot de beoefening der bataksche taal. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
Unicode Consortium. 1992. Unicode Technical Report #3: exploratory proposals.
van der Tuuk, H. N. A Grammar of Toba Batak.

12. Acknowledgements. This project was made possible in part by a grant from the U.S. National
Endowment for the Humanities, which funded the which funded the Universal Scripts Project (part of the
Script Encoding Initiative at UC Berkeley) in respect of the Batak encoding. Any views, findings,
conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the
National Endowment of the Humanities.

6
Proposal for encoding the Batak script in the UCS Michael Everson

Row 1B: BATAK DRAFT

hex Name
1BC 1BD 1BE 1BF
C0 BATAK LETTER A
C1 BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN A
C2 BATAK LETTER HA
0
Ä ê †  C3
C4
C5
C6
BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN HA
BATAK LETTER MANDAILING HA
BATAK LETTER BA
BATAK LETTER KARO BA
C7 BATAK LETTER PA

Å ë ° 
C8 BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN PA
C9 BATAK LETTER NA
1 CA BATAK LETTER MANDAILING NA
CB BATAK LETTER WA
CC BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN WA
CD BATAK LETTER PAKPAK WA

Ç í ¢ @≤
CE BATAK LETTER GA
2 CF BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN GA
D0 BATAK LETTER JA
D1 BATAK LETTER DA
D2 BATAK LETTER RA

É ì £ @≥
D3 BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN RA
D4 BATAK LETTER MA
3 D5 BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN MA
D6 BATAK LETTER SOUTHERN TA
D7 BATAK LETTER NORTHERN TA
D8 BATAK LETTER SA

Ñ î § ¥
D9 BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN SA
4 DA BATAK LETTER MANDAILING SA
DB BATAK LETTER YA
DC BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN YA
DD BATAK LETTER NGA

Ö ï • μ
DE BATAK LETTER LA
DF BATAK LETTER SIMALUNGUN LA
5 E0 BATAK LETTER NYA
E1 BATAK LETTER CA
E2 BATAK LETTER NDA
E3 BATAK LETTER MBA

Ü ñ  ∂
E4 BATAK LETTER I
6 E5 BATAK LETTER U
E6 BATAK SIGN TOMPI
E7 BATAK VOWEL SIGN E
E8 BATAK VOWEL SIGN PAKPAK E
E9 BATAK VOWEL SIGN EE
7
á ó @ß ∑ EA
EB
EC
ED
BATAK VOWEL SIGN I
BATAK VOWEL SIGN KARO I
BATAK VOWEL SIGN O
BATAK VOWEL SIGN KARO O
EE BATAK VOWEL SIGN U

à ò @®
EF BATAK VOWEL SIGN U FOR SIMALUNGUN SA
8 F0 BATAK CONSONANT SIGN NG
F1 BATAK CONSONANT SIGN H
F2 BATAK PANGOLAT
F3 BATAK PANONGONAN
F4 (This position shall not be used)
9
â ô  π F5
F6
F7
F8
(This position shall not be used)
(This position shall not be used)
(This position shall not be used)
(This position shall not be used)
F9 (This position shall not be used)

ä ö @™
FA BATAK SYMBOL BINDU GODANG
A ∫ FB BATAK SYMBOL BINDU PINARJOLMA
FC BATAK SYMBOL BINDU NA METEK
FD BATAK SYMBOL BINDU PINARBORAS
FE BATAK SYMBOL BINDU JUDUL
FF BATAK SYMBOL BINDU PANGOLAT

B
ã õ @´ ª

C
å ú @¨ º
D
ç ù @≠ Ω
E
é û @Æ æ
F
è ü  ø
7
Figures.

Figure 1. Description in Dutch of the Batak script.

8
 Figure 2. Sample of Batak text on a sign for a hospital in Sumatra.

Figure 3. Photograph of a person writing of Batak text.

The hand position shows right-to-left directionality.

Figure 4. Sample of Batak text showing one example of BINDU NA METEK and two examples of BINDU
PINARBORAS, one of which has a trailing line following from it. This kind of formatting would be
achieved by a higher-level protocol in an encoded text.
9
Figure 5. Sample of Batak text awr by van der Tuuk, showing BINDU PINARBORAS and BINDU PANGOLAT.

Figure 6. Sample of Batak text showing three examples of BINDU NA METEK.

Figure 7. Sample of Batak text showing BINDU GODANG in the first line.

10
 Figure 8. Sample of Toba Batak text set by van der Tuuk,
showing BINDU GODANG, BINDU JUDUL, and BINDU PANGOLAT.

11
 Figure 9. Sample of Mandailing Batak text
showing BINDU GODANG, BINDU JUDUL, and BINDU PANGOLAT.

Figure 10. Sample of Batak text showing BINDU PINARJOLMA

set as a kind of drop-cap with text nestled within it.

12
 Figure 11. Sample of Batak text showing BINDU GODANG above and BINDU NA METEK in the centre.

Figure 12. Sample of Batak text showing two examples of BINDU PINARBORAS, one with a trailing line.

13
Figure 13. Sample of Batak text showing a number of examples of BINDU PINARJOLMA.

14
A. Administrative
1. Title
Pro po s al fo r enco di ng the Batak s cri pt i n the BMP o f the UCS
2. Requester’s name
UC Berkel ey Scri pt Enco di ng Ini ti ati v e (Uni v ers al Scri pts Pro ject); autho rs : Mi chael Ev ers o n and Ul i Ko zo k
3. Requester type (Member body/Liaison/Individual contribution)
Li ai s o n co ntri buti o n.
4. Submission date
2 0 0 8 -1 0 -0 7
5. Requester’s reference (if applicable)
6. Choose one of the following:
6a. This is a complete proposal
No .
6b. More information will be provided later
Yes .

B. Technical – General
1. Choose one of the following:
1a. This proposal is for a new script (set of characters)
Yes .
1b. Proposed name of script
Batak.
1c. The proposal is for addition of character(s) to an existing block
No .
1d. Name of the existing block
2. Number of characters in proposal
58.
3. Proposed category (A-Contemporary; B.1-Specialized (small collection); B.2-Specialized (large collection); C-Major extinct; D-
Attested extinct; E-Minor extinct; F-Archaic Hieroglyphic or Ideographic; G-Obscure or questionable usage symbols)
Categ o ry A.
4a. Is a repertoire including character names provided?
Yes .
4b. If YES, are the names in accordance with the “character naming guidelines” in Annex L of P&P document?
Yes .
4c. Are the character shapes attached in a legible form suitable for review?
Yes .
5a. Who will provide the appropriate computerized font (ordered preference: True Type, or PostScript format) for publishing the
standard?
Mi chael Ev ers o n.
5b. If available now, identify source(s) for the font (include address, e-mail, ftp-site, etc.) and indicate the tools used:
Mi chael Ev ers o n, Fo nto g rapher.
6a. Are references (to other character sets, dictionaries, descriptive texts etc.) provided?
Yes .
6b. Are published examples of use (such as samples from newspapers, magazines, or other sources) of proposed characters attached?
Yes .
7. 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 .
8. 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) or script. 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 Unicode normalization related information. See the Unicode standard at http://www.unicode.org
fo r s uch i n fo rmat i o n on o t h er s cri p t s . Al s o s ee Un i co de Ch aract er Dat ab as e
http://www.unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/UnicodeCharacterDatabase.html and associated Unicode Technical Reports for information
needed for consideration by the Unicode Technical Committee for inclusion in the Unicode Standard.
See abo v e.

C. Technical – Justification
1. Has this proposal for addition of character(s) been submitted before? If YES, explain.
Yes . UTR# 3 , N3 2 9 3 R
2a. Has contact been made to members of the user community (for example: National Body, user groups of the script or characters,
other experts, etc.)?
Yes .
2b. If YES, with whom?
Ul ri ch Ko zo k
2c. If YES, available relevant documents
3. Information on the user community for the proposed characters (for example: size, demographics, information technology use, or
publishing use) is included?
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Peo pl e i n no rthern Sumatra.
4a. The context of use for the proposed characters (type of use; common or rare)
Tradi ti o nal us e.
4b. Reference
5a. Are the proposed characters in current use by the user community?
Yes .
5b. If YES, where?
In Sumatra.
6a. After giving due considerations to the principles in the P&P document must the proposed characters be entirely in the BMP?
Yes .
6b. If YES, is a rationale provided?
Yes .
6c. If YES, reference
Co ntempo rary us e and acco rdance wi th the Ro admap.
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 characters or 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 existing character?
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 and 4.14 in ISO/IEC
10646-1: 2000)?
No .
11b. If YES, is a rationale for such use provided?
11c. If YES, reference
11d. Is a list of composite sequences and their corresponding glyph images (graphic symbols) provided?
No .
11e. If YES, reference
12a. Does the proposal contain characters with any special properties such as control function or similar semantics?
No .
12b. If YES, describe in detail (include attachment if necessary)
13a. Does the proposal contain any Ideographic compatibility character(s)?
No .
13b. If YES, is the equivalent corresponding unified ideographic character(s) identified?

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