Philippine scripts

{{Short description|Indigenous scripts in the Philippines}} {{location map+ |Philippines|width=375|caption=Baybayin, its variants, and other Philippine scripts|places= {{location map~ |Philippines |marksize=6 |mark=Blue pog.svg |lat=14.35 |long=120.58 |label=Baybayin |position=left}} {{location map~ |Philippines |marksize=6 |mark=Blue pog.svg |lat=14.23 |long=121.55 |label=Luzon Kawi |position=bottom}} {{location map~ |Philippines |marksize=6 |mark=Blue pog.svg |lat=6.03 |long=121.00 |label=Jawi|position=left}} {{location map~ |Philippines |marksize=6 |mark=Blue pog.svg |lat=12.55 |long=121.05 |label=Hanunó'o|position=left}} {{location map~ |Philippines |marksize=6 |mark=Blue pog.svg |lat=12.55 |long=121.05 |label=Buhid|position=right}} {{location map~ |Philippines |marksize=6 |mark=Blue pog.svg |lat=7.13 |long=124.15 |label=Kirim|position=right}} {{location map~ |Philippines |marksize=6 |mark=Blue pog.svg |lat=9.5 |long=118.50 |label=Tagbanwa |position=top right}} {{location map~ |Philippines |marksize=6 |mark=Blue pog.svg |lat=15.55 |long=120.20 |label=Kulitan |position=top}} }} '''Indigenous Philippine scripts''' are various writing systems that developed and flourished in the Philippines around 300 BC.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}} These scripts are related to other Southeast Asian writing system that developed from South Indian Brahmi scripts. These were used in Asoka Inscriptions and Pallava Grantha, a type of writing used in the writing of palm leaf books called Grantha script around the ascendancy of the Pallava dynasty about the 5th century,<ref name="phil_script">[http://www.aijc.com.ph/pccf/mediamuseum/thehall/the-hall-ancient.htm Philippine Centrum Communication Foundation] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081026030521/http://www.aijc.com.ph/pccf/mediamuseum/thehall/the-hall-ancient.htm |date=October 26, 2008 }}. Accessed September 3, 2008.</ref> and Arabic scripts that have been used in Southeast Asian countries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawi_alphabet|title=Jawi alphabet}}</ref>{{Circular reference|date=November 2020}}<ref>Andrew Alexander Simpson (2007). Language and National Identity in Asia. Oxford University Press. pp. 356–60. {{ISBN|978-0-19-926748-4}}.</ref><ref>Mahinnaz Mirdehghan. 2010. Persian, Urdu, and Pashto: A comparative orthographic analysis. Writing Systems Research Vol. 2, No. 1, 9–23.</ref> <br/>In the 21st century, some cultural organizations have proposed the collective name of ''suyat'' for Philippine scripts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/985669/protect-all-ph-writing-systems-heritage-advocates-urge-congress|title=Protect all PH writing systems, heritage advocates urge Congress|first=Tonette|last=Orejas|website=newsinfo.inquirer.net|date=April 27, 2018}}</ref>

== Historical Philippine Indic scripts ==

=== Kawi === {{Main|Kawi script}} The Kawi script originated in Java and was used across much of Maritime Southeast Asia. It is hypothesized to be an ancestor of Baybayin.

The presence of Kawi script in the Philippines is evidenced in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, the earliest known written document found in the Philippines. It is a legal document with the inscribed date of Shaka era 822, corresponding to April 21, 900 CE. It was written in the Kawi script in a variety of Old Malay containing numerous loanwords from Sanskrit and a few non-Malay vocabulary elements whose origin is ambiguous between Kawi and Old Tagalog. A second example of Kawi script can be seen on the Butuan Ivory Seal, found in the 1970s and dated between the 9th and 12th centuries. It is an ancient seal made of ivory that was found in an archaeological site in Butuan. The seal is inscribed with the word ''Butwan'' in stylized Kawi. Declared as a National Cultural Treasure, the Butuan Ivory Seal is now housed at the National Museum of the Philippines.<ref name="NMPHseal">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/nationalmuseumbeta/Collections/Archaeo/Seal.html |title=Nation Museum Collections Seals |access-date=May 4, 2020 |archive-date=March 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170324035749/http://nationalmuseum.gov.ph/nationalmuseumbeta/Collections/Archaeo/Seal.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Baybayin === {{main|Baybayin}} [[File:Several Sulats of the Philippines.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Different variants (styles) of Baybayin, and abugidas in other Southeast Asian countries.]] Baybayin is a script that has historically been widely used in traditional Tagalog domains and in other parts of Luzon and Visayas in the Philippines prior to and during the 16th and 17th centuries. Baybayin is an abugida which uses diacritics to associate vowels with consonant symbols. The name ''Baybayin'' is Tagalog in origin and is used as an umbrella term that encompasses other Philippine variants known under other names in a number of other major Philippine ethnolinguistic domains, such as ''Badlit'' (in the Visayas), ''Kur-itan'' (in the Ilocandia), ''Basahan'' (in the Bicolandia), and ''Kulitan'' (in Pampanga).{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} Baybayin script continued to be used during the early part of the Spanish colonization of the Philippines until largely being replaced by usage of the Latin alphabet.

An earthenware burial jar found in Batangas, called the "Calatagan Pot," is inscribed with characters strikingly similar to Baybayin, and is claimed to have been inscribed ca. 1300 AD. However, its authenticity has not yet been proven.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/in-focus/the-mystery-of-the-ancient-inscription-an-article-on-the-calatagan-pot|title=In Focus: The Mystery of the Ancient Inscription (An article on the Calatagan Pot)|access-date=May 4, 2020|archive-date=November 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128074303/https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/in-focus/the-mystery-of-the-ancient-inscription-an-article-on-the-calatagan-pot/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The University of Santo Tomas Archives in Manila, one of the largest archives in the Philippines, currently possesses the most extant collections of ancient variants of Baybayin script in the world.<ref name="ustwebsite">[http://www.ust.edu.ph/index.php/landmarks/835-ust-archives.html University of Santo Tomas Archives] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524083452/http://www.ust.edu.ph/index.php/landmarks/835-ust-archives.html |date=May 24, 2013 }} ''University of Santo Tomas Website'' accessed June 17, 2012</ref><ref name="baybay">[http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/31257/ust-collection-of-ancient-scripts-in-%E2%80%98baybayin%E2%80%99-syllabary-shown-to-public UST collection of ancient scripts in ‘baybayin’ syllabary shown to public] ''Inquirer.net'' accessed 17 June 012</ref><ref name="ustbaybayin">[http://www.baybayin.com/ust-baybayin-collection-shown-to-public/ UST Baybayin collection shown to public]{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ''Baybayin.com'' accessed June 18, 2012</ref>

The use of the Baybayin was widespread during the 15th century. By the end of 17th century, its use was almost non-existent and its use in public life eventually disappeared by the 18th century. The inability of the 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 Baybayin script.<ref>[http://www.bibingka.com/dahon/extinct/extinct.htm Extinction of a Philippine script] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080925103632/http://www.bibingka.com/dahon/extinct/extinct.htm |date=September 25, 2008 }}. Accessed September 4, 2008.</ref> Buhid, Hanunóo, and Tagbanwa are the only surviving descendants of Baybayin, however their use is confined to poetry and other literary pursuits among their writers.<ref>[http://www.bibingka.com/dahon/living/living.htm Living Philippine scripts] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080925103636/http://www.bibingka.com/dahon/living/living.htm |date=September 25, 2008 }}. Accessed September 4, 2008.</ref>

== Arabic == {{main|Arabic alphabet}}

The Arabic alphabet ({{langx|ar|أَلْأَبْجَدِيَّة ٱلْعَرَبِيَّة}}, ''{{Transliteration|ar|ALA|al-ʾabjadīyaḧ l-ʿarabīyah}}'' or {{lang|ar|أَلْحُرُوف ٱلْعَرَبِيَّة}}, ''{{Transliteration|ar|al-ḥurūf l-ʿarabīyaḧ}}''), or Arabic abjad, is the Arabic script as it is codified for writing Arabic. It is written from right to left in a cursive style and includes 28 letters. Most letters have contextual letterforms.

thumb|The word for the Arabic language (العربية, al-`Arabiyya).

Unlike Baybayin (which is an abugida) and Eskayan (which is a syllabary), the Arabic script is considered an abjad, meaning it only uses consonants. Specifically, it is considered an "impure abjad".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Natural Language Processing of Semitic Languages|last=Zitouni|first=Imed|publisher=Springer Science & Business|year=2014|isbn=978-3642453588|pages=15}}</ref> As with other impure ''abjads'', such as the Hebrew alphabet, scribes devised means of indicating vowel sounds by separate vowel diacritics later on in the development of the script.

=== Jawi === {{main|Jawi alphabet}} Jawi script (Jawi: {{script/Arabic|جاوي}}) is an Arabic script for writing Tausūg, Malay, Acehnese, Banjarese, Minangkabau, and several other languages in Southeast Asia.

[[File:Undang-Undang Melaka.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A copy of ''Undang-Undang Melaka'' ('Laws of Malacca').]]

The script became prominent with the spread of Islam, supplanting the earlier writing systems. The Tausugs, Malays, and other groups that use it hold the script in high esteem as a gateway to understanding Islam and its Holy Book, the Quran. The use of Jawi script was a key factor driving the emergence of Malay as the lingua franca of the region, alongside the spread of Islam.<ref name="autogenerated2007">{{cite web |url=http://www.bt.com.bn/features/2007/09/16/an_overview_of_jawis_origins_in_brunei |title=An overview of Jawi's origin in Brunei |publisher=Brunei Times |date=July 16, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524112825/http://www.bt.com.bn/features/2007/09/16/an_overview_of_jawis_origins_in_brunei |archive-date=May 24, 2013 }}</ref> It was widely used in Sultanate of Malacca, Sultanate of Johor, Sultanate of Brunei, Sultanate of Sulu, Sultanate of Maguindanao, Sultanate of Pattani, the Sultanate of Aceh to the Sultanate of Ternate in the east as early as the 15th century.

==Contemporary Philippine scripts== right|250px|thumb|Kirim script Contemporary Philippine scripts include the modern Kulitan of the Kapampangan people, variants of reformed Baybayin, the Iniskaya script of the Eskaya people, the Jawi script, and the Kirim script.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/6251094.pdf |title=Info |publisher=dialnet.unirioja.es |access-date=February 24, 2020}}</ref><ref name="mindanews_jawi">{{cite web|url=https://www.mindanews.com/mindaviews/2016/10/marginalia-jawi-manuscripts-and-national-muslim-narrative/|title=MARGINALIA: Jawi manuscripts and national Muslim narrative|first=Mansoor L.|last=Limba|date=October 21, 2016}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/985669/protect-all-ph-writing-systems-heritage-advocates-urge-congress|title=Protect all PH writing systems, heritage advocates urge Congress|first=Tonette|last=Orejas|date=April 27, 2018}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/artandculture/577701/a-primer-on-baybayin/story/|title=A primer on Baybayin|website=GMA News Online|language=en-US|access-date=May 9, 2019}}</ref> While ''suyat'' is sometimes used as an umbrella term for these indigenous scripts, this terminology is non-standard and still considered a proposal among script advocates.

===Contemporary Philippine Indic scripts=== {{main|Buhid script|Hanunoo script|Tagbanwa script}}

In 1999, four Philippine scripts were inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World International Register, under the name ''Philippine Paleographs (Hanunoo, Buid, Tagbanua and Pala’wan)''. The four scripts, Hanunó'o/Hanunoo, Buhid/Buid, Tagbanwa, and Ibalnan scripts, were recognized by UNESCO as the only existing ''suyat'' scripts. UNESCO also recognized. The ''ambahan'' poetry made with the Hanunó'o/Hanunoo script was also cited. The inscription of the four ''suyat'' scripts was the first documentary heritage of the Philippines to be inscribed in the Memory of the World Programme.<ref>{{cite web |title=Philippine Paleographs (Hanunoo, Buid, Tagbanua and Pala'wan) - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization |url=https://www.unesco.org/en/memory-world/philippine-paleographs-hanunoo-buid-tagbanua-and-palawan |website=www.unesco.org}}</ref> Computer fonts for these three living scripts are available for IBM and Macintosh 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.<ref>[http://www.bibingka.com/dahon/misc/livfonts.htm Computer fonts of surviving ancient scripts] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917010141/http://www.bibingka.com/dahon/misc/livfonts.htm |date=September 17, 2008 }}. Accessed September 4, 2008.</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="width:75%; margin:auto; line-height:1.25em;" |+ Modern Indic scripts !Script !Region !Sample |- |Ibalnan Baybayin |Palawan |150px |- |Hanunó'o script |Mindoro |150px |- |Buhid script |Mindoro |150px |- |Tagbanwa script |Central and Northern Palawan |150px |}

===Eskayan=== left|250px|thumb|The Eskayan script The Eskayan script is the constructed script of the auxiliary Eskayan language of the island of Bohol in the Philippines. Like Yugtun and Fox script, it is based on cursive Latin. The script was developed approximately 1920–1937. "Although the script is used for representing Visayan (Cebuano)—a widely used language of the southern Philippines—its privileged role is in the written reproduction of a constructed utopian language, referred to as Eskayan or Bisayan Declarado...the Eskayan language and its script are used by approximately 550 people for restricted purposes in the southeast of the island of Bohol."<ref>Kelly, Piers. 2015. Introducing the Eskaya Writing System: A Complex Messianic Script from the Southern Philippines. ''Australian Journal of Linguistics'' Volume 36, Issue 1: 131-163.</ref>

===Jawi=== right|250px|thumb|The Jawi script The Tausūg language was previously written with the Arabic alphabet, inspired by the use of Jawi in writing the Malay language. The script used to write Tausūg differs in some aspects from Standard Arabic and Jawi, such as the way word-initial vowels are written. In Arabic, /in/ is (إن) and in Jawi it is (ان), but in Tausūg, it is (ئِن). The Tausūg Arabic script utilises the letter yā' with a ''hamza'' (ئ) to represent a short vowel. If a ''kasra'' (ئِ) is added, it becomes an 'i' sound; a ''fatha'' (ئَ) makes it is an 'a' sound, while a ''damma'' (ئُ) makes it a 'u' sound.

An example of the Arabic alphabet for written Tausūg: * '''Latin script''' – ''Wayruun tuhan malaingkan Allāh, hi Muhammad ing rasūl sin Allāh'' * '''Arabic script''' – وَيْـرُٷنْ تُـهَـنْ مَـلَـيِـڠْـكَـن هَالله، هِـمُـحَـمَّـدْ ئِـڠ رَسُـولْ سِـڠ الله * '''English translation''' – There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Tausug Alphabet – Arabic Script |- style="font-size:small" ! Character !! Isolated !! Initial !! Medial !! Final !! Name |- | ا || ﺍ || || || ﺎ || style="font-size: small;" | alip |- | ب || ﺏ || ﺑ || ـﺒ || ـﺐ || style="font-size: small;" | bā' |- | ت || ﺕ || ﺗ || ـﺘ || ـﺖ || style="font-size: small;" | tā' |- | ج || ﺝ || ﺟ || ـﺠ || ـﺞ || style="font-size: small;" | jīm |- | د || د || || || ـد || style="font-size: small;" | dāl |- | ر || ﺭ || || || ـر || style="font-size: small;" | rā' |- | س || ﺱ || ﺳ || ـﺴ || ـﺲ || style="font-size: small;" | sīn |- | غ || ﻍ || ﻏ || ـﻐـ || ـﻎ || style="font-size: small;" | gayn |- | ڠ || ڠ || ڠـ || ـڠـ || ـڠ || style="font-size: small;" | ngā' |- | ف || ﻑ || ﻓ || ـﻔ || ـﻒ || style="font-size: small;" | pā' |- | ک || ک || ﻛ || ـﻜ || ـک || style="font-size: small;" | kāp |- | گ || گ || ﮔ || ـﮕـ || ـﮓ || style="font-size: small;" | gāp |- | ل || ﻝ || ﻟ || ـﻠ || ـﻞ || style="font-size: small;" | lām |- | م || ﻡ || ﻣ || ـﻤ || ـﻢ || style="font-size: small;" | mīm |- | ن || ﻥ || ﻧ || ـﻨ || ﻦ || style="font-size: small;" | nūn |- | و || ﻭ || || || ـو || style="font-size: small;" | wāw |- | ه || ﻩ || ﻫ || ـﻬ || ﻪ || style="font-size: small;" | hā' |- | ي || ﻱ || ﻳ || ـﻴـ || ﻲ || style="font-size: small;" | yā' |- | ء || ء || || || ء || style="font-size: small;" | hamja |- | أ || أ || || || ـأ || style="font-size: small;" | alip with hamja above |- | ﺅ || ﺅ || || || ـﺆ || style="font-size: small;" | wāw with hamja above |- | ئ || ئ || ئـ || ــئـ || ـئ || style="font-size: small;" | yā' with hamja above |- | لا || لا || لا || ــلا || ــلا || style="font-size: small;" | lām alip |}

==National writing system== [[File:Inskripsyon sa Binatbat na Tanso ng Laguna.jpg|right|250px|thumb|The actual image of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription found in Lumbang River, the oldest known artifact to have a suyat writing on it.]] The ''"National Script Act"'' went before the House of Representatives of the Republic of the Philippines in 2011. The bill calls for the protection and conservation of Baybayin as the national script of the Philippines.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/2017/08/18/baybayin-government-seals.html|title=The Baybayin scripts in our government seals|last=Estrella|first=Fiel|date=August 22, 2017|website=cnn|language=en|access-date=May 9, 2019|archive-date=March 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301032054/http://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/2017/08/18/baybayin-government-seals.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Among its strategies, it aims to promote the Baybayin script by having it inscribed on all Philippine-produced or processed food products.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=6058&key=baybayin|title=House of Representatives|last=Camero|first=Jazmin|date=April 15, 2012|website=www.congress.gov.ph|access-date=May 9, 2019}}</ref>

Due to lack of congressional and senatorial sessions and support, the bill did not pass into law in the 16th Congress. It was refiled in 2016 under the 17th Congress, with little political support.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}}

The Act came before the House again in 2018. According to a press release from the House, the bill "declares there is a need to promote, protect, preserve and conserve "Baybayin" as the National Writing System of the Philippines, using it as a tool for cultural and economic development to create a consciousness, respect and pride for the legacies of Filipino cultural history, heritage and the country's authentic identity."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=10642|title=House approves Baybayin as national writing system|website=www.congress.gov.ph|publisher=House of Representatives, Republic of the Philippines|access-date=May 9, 2019}}</ref>

==Calligraphy== The diversity of Philippine scripts has also established various calligraphy techniques and styles in the Philippines. Each Philippine script has its own calligraphy, although all of them are collectively referred to as Filipino calligraphy.

<gallery mode="packed"> File:Kulitan.svg|Kulitan calligraphy File:Baybayin La.svg|Baybayin calligraphy File:Tagbanua musical instrument with inscription of Tagbanua characters.jpg|Tagbanwa musical instrument (tube zither) with Tagbanwa calligraphy File:Buhid script sample.svg|Buhid calligraphy File:Bayi, a bamboo bow from Mindoro.jpg|Bow with Hanunó'o calligraphy </gallery>

== References ==  {{reflist}}

Category:Philippine scripts Category:Writing systems