- Ancient Philippine scripts
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 IndianBrahmi script s used in Asoka Inscriptions and Pallava Grantha, a type of writing used in the writing of palm leaf books called "grantha" during the ascendancy of thePallava dynasty about the5th century AD . [http://www.aijc.com.ph/pccf/mediamuseum/thehall/the-hall-ancient.htm Philippine Centrum Communication Foundation] . Accessed September 03, 2008.]Introduction and development
Isaac Taylor sought to show that the system of writing, particularly the
Tagalog script , was introduced into the Philippines from the Coast of Bengal sometime before the8th century AD . In attempting to show such relationship, Taylor presented graphic representations ofKistna andAssam letters like g, k, ng, t, m, h, and u, which resemble the same letters in Tagalog.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 inscription s 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 theBuginese characters inCelebes . [ [http://iloko.tripod.com/scripts.html Tripod: Philippine scripts] . Accessed September 03, 2008.] The script would fall within the middle of the5th century AD .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. Otiey 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 about200 BC ," constituting the Malayans and Dravidians, "primarily theTamil fromMalaya 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. [ [http://www.bibingka.com/dahon/extinct/extinct.htm Extinction of a Philippine script] . Accessed September 04, 2008.]Buhid s,Hanunóo s, andTagbanwa s are the only surviving Philippine scripts, however its use are confined to writing poems and other literary pursuits among its native speakers. [ [http://www.bibingka.com/dahon/living/living.htm Living Philippine scripts] . Accessed September 04, 2008.] Computer fonts for these three living scripts are available forIBM andMcKintosh platforms, and come into two styles based on actual historical and stylistic samples.PostScript andTrueType 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. [ [http://www.bibingka.com/dahon/misc/livfonts.htm Computer fonts of surviving ancient scripts] . Accessed September 04, 2008.]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 spreadRoman 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 -
**Tagbanwa
**Tagalog script
**Iloko
* the lineo-angular trait -
*Hanunó'o script 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.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.http://www.mts.net/~pmorrow/bayeng1.htm. Accessed September 04, 2008.] 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. [http://www.bibingka.com/dahon/lci/lci.htm#lci_graphics The Languna Copperplate Inscription] . Accessed September 04, 2008.]ee also
*
Laguna Copperplate Inscription References
External links
* [http://iloko.tripod.com/scripts.html Iloko Tripod]
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