Baybayin

Baybayin ᜊᜌ᜔ᜊᜌᜒᜈ᜔
Baybayin written in baybayin (virama-pamudpod)
Script type	Abugida
Time period	14th to 16th century[1][2] – 18th century (revived in modern times)[3]
Direction	Left-to-right
Print basis	Writing direction (different variants of baybayin): Left-to-Right (down) Left-to-Right (up)[citation needed] Right-to-Left (down)[citation needed]
Languages	Tagalog, Sambali, Ilocano, Kapampangan, Bikolano, Pangasinan, Bisayan languages[4]
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Aramaic Brahmi script Tamil-Brahmi script Pallava script Kawi script Baybayin
Child systems	• Buhid script • Hanunuo script • Kulitan • Palaw'an script • Tagbanwa script
Sister systems	In Indonesia: • Balinese (Aksara Bali, Hanacaraka) • Batak (Surat Batak, Surat na sampulu sia) • Javanese (Aksara Jawa, Dęntawyanjana) • Lontara (Mandar) • Makasar (Jangang-jangang) • Sundanese (Aksara Sunda, Kagangaca) • Rencong (Rentjong) • Rejang (Redjang, Surat Ulu)
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Tglg (370), ​Tagalog (Baybayin, Alibata)
Unicode
Unicode alias	Tagalog
Unicode range	U+1700–U+171F
The theorised Semitic origins of the Brahmi script are not universally agreed upon.[5]
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

This article contains Baybayin script. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Baybayin characters.

Baybayin (ᜊᜌ᜔ᜊᜌᜒᜈ᜔,^[a] Tagalog pronunciation: [bajˈbajɪn]; also formerly known as alibata) is a Philippine script. The script is an abugida belonging to the family of the Brahmic scripts. Geographically, it was widely used in Luzon and other parts of the Philippines prior to and during the 16th and 17th centuries before being replaced by the Latin alphabet during the period of Spanish colonization. It was used in the Tagalog language and, to a lesser extent, Kapampangan-speaking areas; its use spread to the Ilocanos in the early 17th century. In the 19th and 20th centuries, baybayin survived and evolved into multiple forms—the Tagbanwa script of Palawan, and the Hanuno'o and Buhid scripts of Mindoro—and was used to create the constructed modern Kulitan script of the Kapampangan and the Ibalnan script of the Palawan people.^{[citation needed]} Under the Unicode Standard and ISO 15924, the script is encoded as the Tagalog block.

The Archives of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, one of the largest archives in the Philippines, currently possesses the world's biggest collection of ancient writings in baybayin.^[6][7][8] The chambers which house the writings are part of a tentative nomination to UNESCO World Heritage List that is still being deliberated on, along with the entire campus of the University of Santo Tomas.^{[citation needed]}

Despite being primarily a historic script, the baybayin script has seen some revival in the modern Philippines. It is often used in the insignia of government agencies and books are frequently published either partially or fully in baybayin. Bills to require its use in certain cases and instruction in schools have been repeatedly considered by the Congress of the Philippines.^[9]

For modern computers and typing, characters are in the Unicode Basic Multilingual Plane (BMP) and were first proposed for encoding in 1998 by Michael Everson together with three other known indigenous scripts of the Philippines.^[10]

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).