Jawi is not simply Arabic used for Malay. Malay writers expanded the Arabic-derived inventory so that six important Malay consonants could be written directly: چ c, ڤ p, ݢ g, ڠ ng, ڽ ny, and ۏ v. Recognising their dots and joining patterns is one of the fastest ways to stop guessing at unfamiliar words.
The six letters at a glance
The labels below use the code points required for this guide. They are ordinary Unicode characters, not manually selected presentation-form glyphs; a Jawi-capable font supplies their initial, medial, final, and isolated shapes.
| Letter | Rumi | Name | Unicode identity | Joining | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| چ | c | ca | U+0686 ARABIC LETTER TCHEH | joins on both sides | چاري cari |
| ڤ | p | pa | U+06A4 ARABIC LETTER VEH | joins on both sides | ڤادي padi |
| ݢ | g | ga | U+0762 ARABIC LETTER KEHEH WITH DOT ABOVE | joins on both sides | تيݢ tiga |
| ڠ | ng | nga | U+06A0 ARABIC LETTER AIN WITH THREE DOTS ABOVE | joins on both sides | اورڠ orang |
| ڽ | ny | nya | U+06BD ARABIC LETTER NOON WITH THREE DOTS ABOVE | joins on both sides | ڽاڽي nyanyi |
| ۏ | v | va | U+06CF ARABIC LETTER WAW WITH DOT ABOVE | does not join to the following letter | ۏيديو video |
The Unicode names can look surprising: U+06A4 is called “VEH” even though Malaysian Jawi uses ڤ for /p/. Unicode names identify characters; they do not prescribe how Malay speakers name or pronounce them.
There is also a genuine digital complication around ga. This guide follows contemporary Malaysian dictionary data and uses ݢ (U+0762, ARABIC LETTER KEHEH WITH DOT ABOVE). Older publications, keyboards, and databases may instead encode Jawi ga as ڬ (U+06AC, ARABIC LETTER KAF WITH DOT ABOVE). Treat that second character as a documented legacy or source-preserving variant, not as the code point for new examples in this guide.
چ for c /tʃ/
Malay c has the stable sound /tʃ/, like the beginning of English chair. Jawi چ is built on the shape family of ج, but its three dots distinguish it from ج j. It joins on both sides when the neighbouring letters permit joining.
چاري بوکو ايت دالم بيليق.
Cari buku itu dalam bilik.
Look for that book in the room.
اديق سوک چوچي تاڠن سنديري.
Adik suka cuci tangan sendiri.
The younger child likes to wash their own hands.
Compare چاري cari “look for” with جاري jari “finger.” Substituting ج does not produce a decorative variant; it changes the consonant and can change the word.
ڤ for p /p/
Arabic has ف f, but native Malay contrasts /p/ and /f/. Jawi therefore uses ڤ, conventionally called pa, for Rumi p. Its three dots appear above the same basic shape family as ف. It joins on both sides.
ڤادي ايت سوده کونيڠ.
Padi itu sudah kuning.
The rice plants are already yellow.
تولوڠ توتوڤ ڤينتو دڤن.
Tolong tutup pintu depan.
Please close the front door.
The contrast is visible in ڤاهم paham “understand” and فهم faham “understand”: both Rumi variants occur historically, but contemporary standard Malaysian Rumi prefers faham, and established Jawi spelling must be checked lexically. The lesson is not “change every ف to ڤ”; it is “use ڤ when the standard word has /p/.”
ݢ for g /g/
The letter ݢ represents the hard /g/ of gigi, never the /dʒ/ of English gem. It is distinct from ک k. Both are dual-joining, so the dot above remains the crucial cue inside a connected word.
ديا ممڤوڽاءي تيݢ اورڠ انق.
Dia mempunyai tiga orang anak.
They have three children.
ݢورو ايت ماسوق ک کلس.
Guru itu masuk ke kelas.
The teacher went into the classroom.
English speakers must resist assigning the English “soft g” value /dʒ/. Malay g remains /g/ before every vowel; j is written ج.
ڠ for ng /ŋ/
Malay treats ng as one consonant, /ŋ/. The letter ڠ packages that sound into one Jawi character. It can occur at the beginning, middle, or end of a syllable, even though English normally excludes /ŋ/ from word-initial position.
اورڠ ايت سدڠ منوڠݢو بس.
Orang itu sedang menunggu bas.
That person is waiting for the bus.
بوڠا د هلامن ساڠت سوبور.
Bunga di halaman sangat subur.
The flowers in the yard are thriving.
ڽ for ny /ɲ/
The digraph ny is also one consonant, /ɲ/, close to the sound in Spanish ñ. Its Jawi letter ڽ belongs to the noon-shaped family and joins on both sides. Do not spell ny as separate ن + ي; that sequence normally signals /n/ followed by /y/ or vowel-supporting ya.
ماري کيت ڽاڽي برسام-سام.
Mari kita nyanyi bersama-sama.
Let’s sing together.
باڽق کروسي ماسيه کوسوڠ.
Banyak kerusi masih kosong.
Many chairs are still empty.
ۏ for v /v/
The letter ۏ (va) is used principally in modern loans and names containing /v/: ۏيديو video, اونيۏرسيتي universiti, and اکتيۏيتي aktiviti. It is waw-shaped and, like و, does not connect to the next character on its left. That break is expected, not a space.
ۏيديو ايت دراکم د اونيۏرسيتي.
Video itu dirakam di universiti.
The video was recorded at the university.
اکتيۏيتي ايت برمولا ڤوکول سمبيلن.
Aktiviti itu bermula pukul sembilan.
The activity begins at nine o’clock.
In casual speech, some speakers merge /v/ toward /b/ or /f/, but (formal) spelling retains the standardized letter. Pronunciation variation is not permission to improvise a new written form.
Common Mistakes
❌ جاري بوکو ايت.
Incorrect for cari buku itu — ج is j, not c.
✅ چاري بوکو ايت.
Cari buku itu.
Look for that book.
❌ فادي ايت سوده کونيڠ.
Incorrect for padi — ف represents f in this native word.
✅ ڤادي ايت سوده کونيڠ.
Padi itu sudah kuning.
The rice plants are already yellow.
❌ کورو ايت ماسوق کلس.
Incorrect for guru — ک is k, not g.
✅ ݢورو ايت ماسوق ک کلس.
Guru itu masuk ke kelas.
The teacher went into the classroom.
❌ نياڽي لاݢو ايت.
Incorrect — ny must be written with the single letter ڽ.
✅ ڽاڽي لاݢو ايت.
Nyanyi lagu itu.
Sing that song.
❌ ويديو ايت بارو.
Incorrect in standardized Jawi — plain و does not mark the loan consonant v here.
✅ ۏيديو ايت بارو.
Video itu baru.
The video is new.
Key Takeaways
All six letters solve real Malay sound contrasts. Five are dual-joining; only waw-shaped ۏ breaks the connection to the following letter. Learn each as a sound-plus-shape unit, use contemporary ݢ in new text, and consult the digital Jawi guide when a font or search result displays legacy ڬ instead.
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- Joining and Non-Joining LettersA1 — Learn how Jawi letters connect, where a connection must break, and how connected word shapes speed up reading.
- Spelling Native Malay Roots in JawiA2 — Build reliable Jawi spellings from Malay syllable structure while learning where lexical convention outranks mechanical transliteration.
- English and Other Modern Loans in JawiB2 — Understand how contemporary Malaysian Jawi standardizes modern loans, clusters, new consonants, and technical vocabulary.
- C and J: Stable Malay ValuesA1 — Pronounce Malay c as /tʃ/ and j as /dʒ/ consistently, including inside derived words and across affix boundaries.
- NG and NY as Single Consonants in Malaysian MalayA1 — Pronounce Malay ng /ŋ/ and ny /ɲ/ as single nasal consonants in both familiar and word-initial positions.