what is baybayin

Baybayin is a pre-colonial Philippine script that was widely used in Luzon and other parts of the Philippines prior to and during the 16th and 17th centuries. The script is an abugida belonging to the family of the Brahmic scripts. Baybayin was used to write Tagalog, Ilocano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Bisaya, and Bikol. The term "baybayin" comes from the Tagalog root word "baybay," which means "to spell". Each consonant character combines the consonant sound and the vowel sound "a." To change this to the "e-i" sound, a kudlit or mark is placed on top of the character; for the "o-u" sound, the mark is placed at the bottom. Traditionally, baybayin was written upon palm leaves with styli or upon bamboo with knives, and the writing tools were called panulat. Baybayin is experiencing a resurgence in modern times, with government organizations, cultural groups, and artists actively bringing the ancient writing system back to life.