Jawi to Rumi
Paste Jawi script and get the Rumi (Latin) reading instantly. Useful for signboards, old books and school exercises. Free, no sign-up.
word not in the dictionary, spelt by syllable rulesword more than one reading, click to choose
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How to read Jawi here
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Paste or type Jawi
Copy Jawi from a message, document or web page and paste it on the left. The Rumi reading appears straight away.
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Check the marked readings
Words that can be read two ways are underlined with dots; click to see the other reading. Words not in the dictionary are highlighted in yellow.
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Copy the Rumi
Press Copy, or press the swap button to go back to writing Rumi into Jawi.
Why one Jawi spelling can have two readings
Jawi writes vowels with the letters alif, wau and ya, but wau can stand for u or o, and ya for i or e. So some spellings match more than one Rumi word.
بيرو
Reads as biru or biro. The converter picks the more common reading and offers the other.
ڤيلو
Reads as pelo or pilu. The sentence decides which one is meant.
Words not in the dictionary
Names, abbreviations and new words are read letter by letter. That reading is only an estimate and is highlighted.
Words you see on signboards
Learn the Jawi alphabet →- جالنjalan · road, street
- سکولهsekolah · school
- مسجدmasjid · mosque
- کلوارkeluar · exit
Frequently asked questions
Can I paste Jawi from WhatsApp, a PDF or a website?
Yes. Letters typed with other keyboards are normalised first (for example the Arabic kaf ك is read as ک, ڬ as ݢ and ی as ي), so text from different sources can still be read.
Why is the Rumi reading sometimes wrong?
Jawi does not write every vowel, so one spelling can stand for more than one word. Readings with alternatives are underlined with dots; words not in the dictionary are read letter by letter and highlighted in yellow. Check the reading before you rely on it.
Are capital letters restored?
Jawi has no capital letters. The converter capitalises the first word of each sentence; names of people and places need checking by hand.
Does it translate Malay into English?
No. It changes the script only: Jawi letters into Malay written in Latin letters (Rumi). The words stay in Malay.
Is my text sent to a server?
No. The dictionary is downloaded to your browser and the conversion runs on your device. Your text is not stored.