The Extinction of Baybayin

Part of my extended Cultural Studies Research
is the reinvention of Baybayin, an ancient
Philippine script that is on the verge of
extinction since it is no longer used and
western letters have been adapted to the
language. For example:

French = Comment allez vous
Spanish = Como estas
Tagalog = Ku musta

There are actually a vast number
of Baybayin variations belonging to particular
regions of the Philippines it is not strictly
for the Tagalog Language. In the above
image I have began to make variations
of the script and below is the Paleographic
Chart from which I am working from.*




Tagalog and english are the national languages of the Philippines -

The word Tagalog derived from tagá-ílog, from tagá- meaning
"native of" and ílog meaning "river", from Filipino Muslims of that
era thus, it means "river dweller." There are no surviving written
samples of Tagalog before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th
century. Very little is known about the history of the language since
the Spanish wished to displace the pre hispanic roots of the Islamic
Malay filipinos. However, according to linguists such as Dr. David
Zorc and Dr. Robert Blust, the Tagalogs originated, along with their
Central Philippine cousins, from Northeastern Mindanao or Eastern
Visayas. **


I would like to argue, that although, it might be true that the
evidence of written samples in Baybayin script cannot be found
before the arrival of the Spanish, apparently there is an existing
book called Doctrina Christiana by an anonymous writer, which is
the first book ever printed in Manila, 1593.*** It was written in
Baybayin and Gothic Letters where some of the typographic and
phonetic basis of Baybayin can be found.

Also because of the inadequate research and documentation
on native tribes and the existence of their culture, language,
script, artforms, etc. the current usage of Baybayin is just not
known to the public. Below is a picture of a Hanunóo boy of
Mindoro Philippines, carving letters into a piece of bamboo in
a web article by Paul Morrow. The Hanunóo script is one of
three forms of the baybayin that is still in use today. (From
The Alphabet: A Key to the History of Mankind by David
Diringer 1948, p. 300)***






Another mysterious link to Baybayin is that the name Alibata
was adopted to form the new Baybayin by Paul Rodriguez
Verzosa in the 20th century. Versoza was a member of the
National Language Institute while he was studying the orgin
of Baybayin, however a further explanation to the invention of
his name remains unknown.

"In 1921 I returned from the United States to give public lectures
on Tagalog philology, calligraphy, and linguistics. I introduced the
word alibata, which found its way into newsprints and often
mentioned by many authors in their writings. I coined this word in
1914 in the New York Public Library, Manuscript Research Division,
basing it on the Maguindanao (Moro) arrangement of letters of the
alphabet after the Arabic: alif, ba, ta (alibata), “f” having been
eliminated for euphony's sake." (Verzosa, Paul Rodriguez.
Pangbansang Titik nang Pilipinas (Philippine National Writing).
Manila, 1939. From Michael Y. Cueva (e-mail, November 5, 2002)****


I support my argument that through my secondary research
I have found articles to be contradictory. Some state that Baybayin
is close to extinction then on the contrary there is still some
evidence of its usage. The goal of my project is to uncover, discover
and trace the information regarding Baybayin, perhaps understand
why Versoza invented the name Alibata and to artistically recreate
the script in a contemporary manner by using the disciples of
design, typography and caligraphy.

*
Don Pedro Alejandro Paterno
http://www.mts.net/~pmorrow/paterno.htm

**
Tagalog definition on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagalog_language


***
Morrow, Paul Last updated 28 November, 2007
Baybayin - The Ancient Script of the Philippines
http://www.mts.net/~pmorrow/bayeng1.htm#variant

****
Doctrina Christiana
The first book printed in the Philippines, Manila, 1593.
A Facsimile of the copy in the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, Library
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16119/16119-8.txt

*****
Morrow, Paul Last updated 28 November, 2007
Baybayin - The Ancient Script of the Philippines
http://www.mts.net/~pmorrow/bayeng1.htm#variant

All sites viewed by me - 16 December 2007


some more progress later today
--------------------------------->