Ancient Philippine scripts
Encyclopedia
Ancient Philippine scripts are systems of writing that developed and flourished in the Philippine islands in about 300 BC. These scripts are related to other Southeast Asian systems of writing that developed from South Indian Brahmi script
s used in Asoka Inscription
s and Pallava Grantha, a type of writing used in the writing of palm leaf books called grantha during the ascendancy of the Pallava dynasty about the 5th century.
sought to show that the system of writing, particularly the Baybayin script
, was introduced into the Philippines from the Coast of Bengal
sometime before the 8th century. In attempting to show such relationship, Taylor presented graphic representations of Kistna and Assam
letters like g, k, ng, t, m, h, and u, which resemble the same letters in Baybayin.
Fletcher Gardner argued that the Philippine scripts have "very great similarity" with the Asoka alphabets. T. H. Pardo de Tavera supported Gardner's view, and he also wrote that "the ancient Filipino alphabets have resemblance with the characters of the Asokan inscriptions." David Diringer
, accepting the view that the alphabets of the Indonesian archipelago have their origins from India, opined that these, particularly that which is used in the Ci-Aruton inscriptions of the West Javan rajah, King Purnavarman, constituted the earliest types of Philippine syllabic writing. These according to Diringer were brought to the Islands through the Buginese characters in Celebes
. The script would fall within the middle of the 5th century.
The Dravidian
influence on the ancient Filipino scripts was obviously of Tamil origin," wrote V. A. Makarenko, in proposing another view on the origin of Philippine scripts. Based primarily on the work of H. Otley Beyer
, this theory argues that these scripts reached the Philippines via the last of the "six waves of migration that passed through the Philippine archipelago from the Asian continent about 200 BC," constituting the Malayans and Dravidians, "primarily the Tamil
from Malaya
and the adjacent territories and from Indonesia and South India as well."
, Hanunóo
, and Tagbanwa are the only surviving Philippine scripts, however its use are confined to writing poems and other literary pursuits among its native speakers. Computer fonts for these three living scripts are available for IBM
and McKintosh platforms, and come into two styles based on actual historical and stylistic samples. PostScript
and TrueType
fonts as well a concise manual that gives a background of these ancient scripts and a short tutorial on how to write with them are included in each package.
In general, there are two observable features of the ancient Philippine scripts. These include:
The scripts found in the Samar
-Leyte
area as reported by Alzina straddle the two categories-they show both lineo-angular and curvi-linear features.
Much earlier writing techniques were also devised by early Filipinos, dating 900 AD. The Philippine copperplate was inscribed by hammering the letters onto the metal using a sharp instrument. The letters show closely joined and overlapping dots from the hammering.
Brāhmī script
Brāhmī is the modern name given to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of scripts. The best-known Brāhmī inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dated to the 3rd century BCE. These are traditionally considered to be early known examples of Brāhmī writing...
s used in Asoka Inscription
Edicts of Ashoka
The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of 33 inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, made by the Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty during his reign from 269 BCE to 231 BCE. These inscriptions are dispersed throughout the areas of modern-day Bangladesh, India,...
s and Pallava Grantha, a type of writing used in the writing of palm leaf books called grantha during the ascendancy of the Pallava dynasty about the 5th century.
Introduction and development
Isaac TaylorIsaac Taylor (canon)
Isaac Taylor , son of Isaac Taylor, was a philologist, toponymist, and Anglican canon of York .- Life :...
sought to show that the system of writing, particularly the Baybayin script
Baybayin
Baybayin , is a pre-Spanish Philippine writing system. It is a member of the Brahmic family and is recorded as being in use in the 16th century...
, was introduced into the Philippines from the Coast of Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
sometime before the 8th century. In attempting to show such relationship, Taylor presented graphic representations of Kistna and Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
letters like g, k, ng, t, m, h, and u, which resemble the same letters in Baybayin.
Fletcher Gardner argued that the Philippine scripts have "very great similarity" with the Asoka alphabets. T. H. Pardo de Tavera supported Gardner's view, and he also wrote that "the ancient Filipino alphabets have resemblance with the characters of the Asokan inscriptions." David Diringer
David Diringer
David Diringer was a British linguist, palaeographer and writer. He was the author of several well-known books about writing systems.- Bibliography :* The Alphabet: A Key to the History of Mankind; ISBN 81-215-0748-0...
, accepting the view that the alphabets of the Indonesian archipelago have their origins from India, opined that these, particularly that which is used in the Ci-Aruton inscriptions of the West Javan rajah, King Purnavarman, constituted the earliest types of Philippine syllabic writing. These according to Diringer were brought to the Islands through the Buginese characters in Celebes
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
. The script would fall within the middle of the 5th century.
The Dravidian
Dravidian peoples
Dravidian peoples is a term used to refer to the diverse groups of people who natively speak languages belonging to the Dravidian language family. Populations of speakers of around 220 million are found mostly in Southern India. Other Dravidian people are found in parts of central India, Sri Lanka,...
influence on the ancient Filipino scripts was obviously of Tamil origin," wrote V. A. Makarenko, in proposing another view on the origin of Philippine scripts. Based primarily on the work of H. Otley Beyer
H. Otley Beyer
Henry Otley Beyer was an American anthropologist, who spent most of his adult life in the Philippines teaching Filipinos and other scholars about Philippine indigenous culture...
, this theory argues that these scripts reached the Philippines via the last of the "six waves of migration that passed through the Philippine archipelago from the Asian continent about 200 BC," constituting the Malayans and Dravidians, "primarily the Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
from Malaya
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...
and the adjacent territories and from Indonesia and South India as well."
Extinction and disappearance
The use of the Tagalog script was widespread during the 15th century. By the end of 17th century, its use was almost non-existent. By the 18th century, it was extinct. The inability of the ancient script to record the new sounds introduced by the Spaniards, the rapid acquisition of literacy in the Latin script with its concomitant social and material benefits, and the disruption of traditional family activities were the main culprits for the loss of the Tagalog script. BuhidBuhid script
Buhid, is an indigenous Brahmic script of the Philippines, closely related to Baybayin, and is used today by the Mangyans to write their language, Buhid.- Unicode :Buhid script was added to the Unicode Standard in March, 2002 with the release of version 3.2....
, Hanunóo
Hanunó'o script
Hanunó’o is one of the indigenous scripts of the Philippines and is used by the Mangyan people of southern Mindoro to write the Hanunó’o language. It is an abugida descended from the Indic scripts, closely related to Baybayin, and is famous for being written vertical but written upward, rather than...
, and Tagbanwa are the only surviving Philippine scripts, however its use are confined to writing poems and other literary pursuits among its native speakers. Computer fonts for these three living scripts are available for IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
and McKintosh platforms, and come into two styles based on actual historical and stylistic samples. PostScript
PostScript
PostScript is a dynamically typed concatenative programming language created by John Warnock and Charles Geschke in 1982. It is best known for its use as a page description language in the electronic and desktop publishing areas. Adobe PostScript 3 is also the worldwide printing and imaging...
and TrueType
TrueType
TrueType is an outline font standard originally developed by Apple Computer in the late 1980s as a competitor to Adobe's Type 1 fonts used in PostScript...
fonts as well a concise manual that gives a background of these ancient scripts and a short tutorial on how to write with them are included in each package.
Characteristics
The most interesting paleographic peculiar characteristic of ancient Philippine scripts is its being traditionally written from bottom to top, with the succeeding lines following on the right. However, when the Spaniards attempted to use the script in their desire to spread Roman Catholicism, like printing the Doctrina Cristiana in the Tagalog language and script, the direction of writing was changed and consequently the axis of the symbols also changed. These changes may be described in brief: "the direction of writing proceeded from left to right, with the succeeding lines written below the previous line; while the axis of the symbols was rotated to a ninety degree position, in which the symbols for i and u in composition with any consonant became above and below, respectively. In the traditional position, the i and u were on the right and left, respectively, of the consonant with which they are composed."In general, there are two observable features of the ancient Philippine scripts. These include:
- the curvi-linear character -
- TagbanwaTagbanwaTagbanwa, also known as Apurahuano, is one of the indigenous writing systems of the Philippines. The Tagbanwa language, an Austronesian language, with about 8, 000 speakers in the central and northern regions of Palawan, is dying out as the younger generations of Tagbanua are learning Cuyonon...
- Tagalog scriptBaybayinBaybayin , is a pre-Spanish Philippine writing system. It is a member of the Brahmic family and is recorded as being in use in the 16th century...
- IlokoBaybayinBaybayin , is a pre-Spanish Philippine writing system. It is a member of the Brahmic family and is recorded as being in use in the 16th century...
- Tagbanwa
- the lineo-angular trait -
- Hanunó'o scriptHanunó'o scriptHanunó’o is one of the indigenous scripts of the Philippines and is used by the Mangyan people of southern Mindoro to write the Hanunó’o language. It is an abugida descended from the Indic scripts, closely related to Baybayin, and is famous for being written vertical but written upward, rather than...
The scripts found in the Samar
Samar
Samar, formerly and also known as Western Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catbalogan City and covers the western portion of Samar as well as several islands in the Samar Sea located to the west of the mainland...
-Leyte
Leyte
Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...
area as reported by Alzina straddle the two categories-they show both lineo-angular and curvi-linear features.
Writing technique
The early Filipinos wrote on many different materials; leaves, palm fronds, tree bark and fruit rinds, but the most common material was bamboo. The writing tools or panulat were the points of daggers or small pieces of iron. Once the letters were carved into the bamboo, it was wiped with ash to make the characters stand out more. Sharpened splits of bamboo were used with colored plant saps to write on more delicate materials such as leaves.Much earlier writing techniques were also devised by early Filipinos, dating 900 AD. The Philippine copperplate was inscribed by hammering the letters onto the metal using a sharp instrument. The letters show closely joined and overlapping dots from the hammering.