Tagbanwa

Tagbanwa alphabet   
Tagbanwa alphabet

Origin

The Tagbanwa alphabet is one of a number of closely related scripts
used in the Philippines until the 17th Century AD. It is thought to
have descended from the Kawi script of Java, Bali and Sumatra, which
in turn descended from the Pallava script, one of the southern Indian
scripts derived from Brahmi.

Notable features

  • Tagbanwa is a syllabic alphabet in which each consonant has an
    inherent vowel /a/. Other vowels are indicated either by separate
    letters, or by diacritics. When vowels appear at the beginning of
    words or one they own, they are represented by separate letters.
  • Tagbanwa is traditionally written on bamboo in vertical columns
    from bottom to top and left to right. Though it is read from left
    to right in horizontal lines.

Used to write

Tagbanwa (a.k.a. Apurahuano), an Austronesian
language with about 8,000 speakers in the central and northern regions
of the Philippine island of Palawan.

Tagbanwa alphabet

Tagbanwa alphabet

Links

Free Tagbanwa font
http://youpibouh.thefreecat.org/download/tagbanwa.htm

Paul Morrow’s excellent site about Philippine history, language, writing, etc
http://www.mts.net/~pmorrow

A fascinating introduction to the alphabets of the Philippines by Hector Santos
http://www.bibingka.com/dahon

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