Baybayin

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Baybayin or Alibata
Type: Abugida - originated from Kavi script
Languages: Ilokano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Tagalog, Bikol languages, Visayan languages, other languages of the Philippines
Time period: ~1300-1900s
Parent writing systems: Proto-Canaanite alphabet
 Phoenician alphabet
  Aramaic alphabet
   Brahmi alphabet
    Pallava
     Old Kawi
      Baybayin or Alibata
Sister writing systems: Balinese
Batak
Buhid
Hanunó'o
Javanese
Rejang
Tagbanwa
Unicode range: 1700-171F
ISO 15924 code: Tglg
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-​based pronunciation key.

Baybayin or Alibata (known in Unicode as the Tagalog script) is a pre-Hispanic Philippine writing system that originated from the Javanese script Kavi. The writing system is a member of the Brahmic family and is believed to be in use as early as the 14th century. It continued to be in use during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines up until the late 19th Century. The term baybayin literally means spelling. Closely related scripts are Hanunóo, Buhid, and Tagbanwa.

The Baybayin script is part of the Unicode standard. In Unicode it is called the Tagalog script and is given the 1700-171F range.

Baybayin Alphabet

The writing system is an abugida system using consonant-vowel combinations. Each character, written in its basic form, is a consonant ending with the vowel "A". To produce consonants ending with the other vowel sounds, a mark is placed either above the consonant (to produce an "E" or "I" sound) or below the consonant (to produce an "O" or "U" sound). The mark is called a kudlit. The kudlit does not apply to stand-alone vowels. Vowels themselves have their own glyphs.

Ba Be Bo (in Baybayin)

In its original form however, a stand-alone consonant (consonants not ending with any vowel sound) cannot be produced. This was particularly hard for the Spanish priests who were translating books into the native language. Father Francisco Lopez introduced his own kudlit in 1620 that eliminated the vowel sound. The kudlit was in the form of a "+" sign, in reference to Christianity. This cross-shaped kudlit functions exactly the same as the virama in the Devanagari script of India. In fact, Unicode calls this kudlit the TAGALOG SIGN VIRAMA.

Ba Be Bo B (in Baybayin)
Wi-Ki-Pe-Di-A (in Baybayin)

[edit] Unicode table (requires "Tagalog Doctrina 1593" font)

    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
1700   ᜀ ᜁ ᜂ ᜃ ᜄ ᜅ ᜆ ᜇ ᜈ ᜉ ᜊ ᜋ ᜌ ᜍ ᜎ ᜏ
1710   ᜐ ᜑ ᜒ ᜓ ᜔ ᜕ ᜖ ᜗ ᜘ ᜙ ᜚ ᜛ ᜜ ᜝ ᜞ ᜟ

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