121. Sundanese

(Basa Sunda)   

Sundanese is a Polynesian language spoken by about 27 million people on the Greater Sunda island and the western third of Java in Indonesia. It is also the third most-spoken language in Indonesia.
Sundanese is used as a medium of instruction in elementary and junior high schools.

Sundanese script (Aksara Sunda)

Sundanese is normally written with the Latin alphabet, however the Sundanese script is still used to some extent. The Sundanese script developed from the Old Sundanese script (Aksara Sunda Kuna), which was used between the 14th and 18th centuries, and was standardized during the 1990s. Sundanese has also been written with a version of the Arabic script.

Notable features

• Type of writing syste: syllabic alphabet in which each consonant has an inherent vowel [ɑ]. Other vowels are indicated by separate letter or by diacritics.
• Direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines

Vowels (Aksara Swara)

Diacritics (Rarangkén)

Consonants (Aksara Ngalagena)

Numerals

Sample text in Sundanese

Transliteration

Sakumna jalma gubrag ka alam dunya teh sifatna merdika jeung boga martabat katut hak-hak anu sarua. Maranehna dibere akal jeung hate nurani, campur-gaul jeung sasamana aya dina sumanget duduluran.
Listen to a recording of this text by Bryan Chew

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Useful phrases in Sundanese | Tower of Babel in Sundanese

Links

Information about the Sundanese language and script
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundanese_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundanese_script
http://members.tripod.com/~JafarKareem/navigate.html
http://countrystudies.us/indonesia/46.htm
Latin > Sundanese script convertor and Sundanese font
http://sabilulungan.org/aksara/
Hear spoken Sundanese
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roq0guyG8Bs