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A Quick Guide to Baybayin

The inscriptions accompanying each illustration use the beautiful strokes of the Baybayin, one of the ancient pre-colonial scripts of the Philippines. Curious to know more?

Here's a quick guide you can use to decode the script.

  • With the exception of the vowels, all Baybayin sylables end with an “a” sound. Here’s a full list:

a

i-e

u-o

ba

ka

da

ga

ha

la

ma

na

nga

pa

ra

sa

ta

wa

ya

kurlit

virama

  • Note: the syllables for “da” and “ra” are the same. That was the linguistic custom before colonization.
  • Add the kurlit symbol on top of the syllable to make an “i-e” vowel or;
  • Add the kurlit symbol on the bottom of a syllable to make an “u-o” vowel.
  • Use the virama symbol on the bottom of a syllabe to turn it into a hard consonant.

ha

becomes

hi-he

or

hu-ho

or

h-

We will update this section with more examples and details very soon but for now, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with the latest news on our progress.