Baybayin Styles & Their sources
Although it is commonly believed that each =rovince in the Philippines had its own ancient alphabet, Spanish writers of the =6th century reported that the practice of writing was found only in =he Manila area at the time of first contact. Writing spread to the other =slands later, in about the middle of the 1500s. For this reason, the =paniards usually called the ancient Filipino script "Tagalog letters", =egardless of the language for which it was used.
The baybayin script, as it is known today, fell =ut of use in most areas by the end of the 1600s. In the 19th and 20th =enturies, some historians gathered old samples of baybayin writing from =arious sources and locations and assumed that each variation in style was = different alphabet that belonged exclusively to the language for =hich it was used or to the region in which it was found. However, there =as much more variation in the handwriting of individuals of a single =egion than there is in this chart of supposedly distinct alphabets. Compare =his chart to the examples of baybayin writing on the pages, The Baybayin as =ritten by Filipinos and Baybayin =andwriting of the 1600s. (Read more about baybayin variants in the main article.)
This is a chart of some baybayin forms and the =riginal source of each. They are sorted chronologically and grouped by =heir familiar region names but they are not distinct alphabets =f the different regions or languages; they are only variations of =ypestyles and handwriting. There are details for each below.
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Source Information
Doctrina 1593
From the Doctrina = Christiana,
en lengua española y tagala printed in 1593. =he Tagalog text was based
mainly on a manuscript written by Fr. Juan de =lacencia. Friars Domingo de Nieva
and Juan de San Pedro Martyr supervised =he preparation and printing of the
book, which was carried out by =n unnamed Chinese artisan. This is the earliest
example of the =aybayin that exists today and it is the only example from the
1500s. The =ample shown is my own font based on the facsimile,
Doctrina Christiana, The First Book Printed in the Philippines,
Manila, =593. National Historical Institute, Manila, 1973. 2nd printing,
1991.
Chirino 1604
From Relación de las Islas Filipinas by Pedro = Chirino,
published in 1604. The sample shown is from =I>Relación de las Islas
Filipinas, The Philippines in 1600. Manila =Historical Conservation
Society], 1969. The letter A may have been =rinted backward, so I have
reversed it for this =hart.
Lopez 1620
From Libro a naisurátan amin ti bagás ti =octrina
Cristiana... written by Francisco Lopez in 1620 but bearing =he publishing
date of 1621. This example was scanned from "Social =tudies 2 - The Nation" by
Gregorio Zaide in Junior Citizen Vol. =II No.2. 1974, p.7. The source was
verified in William H. Scott's =I>Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study
of Philippine History, 1984, =.57. See Baybayin Variants
for more information about this typeface and Final Consonants for
information about Lopez's modification of the = baybayin.
Méntrida 1637
From Alonso de =éntrida's Arte de
la lengua Bisaya-Hiligayna de la isla de Panay, =637. Méntrida's font has
been listed in some charts as the Visayan alphabet. However, like other early
Spanish writers, =éntrida considered all the variant letter shapes to be part of
one =hilippine script. He wrote the following about his typeface:
It =s to be noted that
our Bisayans have some letters with different =hapes, which I place here; but
even they themselves do not agree on the =hapes of their letters; for this
reason, and because of the limited =ypes available, I have shown the characters
according to the =agalogs. B12
This sample =as taken from the web
site Promotora Española de Lingüistica (PROEL, http://www.proel.org/a=fabetos/bisaya.htm,
bisaya3.gif) It was probably based on a chart by Juan R. Francisco in his
work "Philippine Palaeography" in the =I>Philippine Journal of
Linguistics, special monograph 3, 1973. His =hart, in turn, was based on
examples in a book by Pardo de Tavera, Contribución para el estudio de los
antiguos alfabetos =ilipinos. (1884)
Ezguerra 1663
From Domingo =zguerra's Arte de
la lengua Bisaya en la provincia de Leyte, 1663. According to William H.
Scott, the letters that Ezguerra =ecorded "contain what are probably engraver's
errorsfor example, =he use of a marginal check mark normal to Spanish usage of
the time, to =epresent two different letters of the alphabet". (Scott, 1994,
p.95) =hese were probably the alternate forms of the A and the I/E
=nd possibly the alternate form of the Da. There was no =haracter for
Ya. I have moved the alternate I/E into that =osition. The other
alternate letters are not shown here. This sample was =lso taken from the web
site Promotora Española de =ingüistica (PROEL, http://www.proel.org/a=fabetos/bisaya.htm,
bisaya3.gif) It was probably based on a chart by Juan R. Francisco in his
work "Philippine Palaeography" in the =I>Philippine Journal of
Linguistics, special monograph 3, 1973. His =hart, in turn, was based on
examples in a book by Pardo de Tavera, Contribución para el estudio de los
antiguos alfabetos =ilipinos. (1884)
San Agustín 1703
From Gaspar de San Agustín's Compendio de la =engua Tagala
written in 1703 and published in 1787. The sample =hown was scanned from
Pre-Spanish Manila, A reconstruction of the =re-History of Manila, by
Jesus T. Peralta & Lucila A. =alazar. National Historical
Institute, Manila, 1974. 2nd printing, =993. p. 78. Reproduced from Cipriano
Marcilla y Martín's Estudio de =os antiguos alfabetos Filipinos, 1895
Bergaño 1732
Possibly from Vocabulario de la lengua Pampanga en romance,
1732 by Diego Bergaño, printed in 1860. Awaiting confirmation. The sample shown
here is from the Angeles =niversity Foundation papers on Kapampangan
Linguistics. It was uploaded to =he Ancient Baybayin Scripts Network (http://gro=ps.yahoo.com/group/Alibata/files/kapam.jpg)
by Jojo Malig.
Hervás 1787
From
Saggio prattico delle lingue con prolegomeni e una raccolta =i Orazioni
Domincale in più di trecento lingue e dialetti, =/I>1787 (Practical
examples of languages with prologues and a =ollection of the Lord's prayer in
over 300 languages and dialects) =y Lorenzo Hervás y Pandura. Because this book
was not written =pecifically about the Philippines or Philippine languages, I
believe that =he type style is taken from an earlier source. It most closely
resembles = Ezguerra's typeface of 1663. The sample shown here is my own =ont.
It was based on two Austrian books that reproduced Cebuano text in =his font,
Illustrirte Geschichte der Schrift (The Illustrated =istory of Writing)
by Karl Faulman, 1880 and Sprachenhalle =/I>(Hall of Languages) by Alois
Auer, 1847. There was no letter for =B>Wa; the U/O character was
used instead in these documents. The =B>R sound was represented by the
letter Da in Bisayan words =nd the La character was used for
Spanish words. The scans =f these documents were provided by Mr. Wolfgang
=uhl.
Jacquet 1831
From Eugène =acquet's "Notice sur
l'alphabet Yloc ou Ilog" in Considérations sur =es alphabets des
Philippines, 1831. The sample shown here is a reconstruction of two low
resolution scans of a chart by Juan R. = Francisco in his work "Philippine
Palaeography" in the =I>Philippine Journal of Linguistics, special
monograph 3, 1973. His =hart, in turn, was based on examples in a book by Pardo
de Tavera, Contribución para el estudio de los antiguos alfabetos
=ilipinos. The scans were =ownloaded
from two web sites: Alibata at Pandesal by Terrio =chavez (http://alibataatpande=al.com/pilipino.html
pilipino.jpg) and Promotora Española
de Lingüistica (PROEL, http://www.proel.org/=lfabetos/tagalo5.gif).
Some examples from David Diringer's The Alphabet, A =ey to the History
of Mankind (Third edition, 1968. p.298) were used to = reconstruct the
blurred images of the scans. Diringer's source =as Fletcher Gardner's
Philippinne Indic Studies of 1943.
Enrile 1835
From Carácteres antíguos con los que escribian =stos Naturales
del Tagalog y Camarínes (Ancient characters with =hich these natives of the
Tagalogs and Camarines used to write"), the =ascual Enrile collection 18 of the
Biblioteca del Museo Naval in =adrid. (ms. 2287, doc. 32:214-214v.)
Photocopy provided by Dr. Malcolm =arren Mintz.
Mas 1843
From the chart by Sinibaldo de Mas y Sans in =I>Informe sobre el
estado de las Islas Filipinas en 1842 Vol. 1. =adrid, 1843. All of the
examples by Mas were copied into Pedro Paterno's =hart Cuadro =aleografico (1915?).
These examples are from the reproduction of Sinibaldo =e Mas' chart in William
Henry Scott's Barangay, Sixteenth-Century =hilippine Culture and Society,
1994, p. =14.
Paul Morrow
11 November =002
Last updated on 25 August, 2003
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