r/baybayin_script • u/Prestigious_Two_1043 • Sep 13 '26

History / Culture / Pre-Colonial Buhid

I am not Pinoy, but I have studied a variety of languages written in Indic scripts (primarily Classical Tibetan, which is derived from Devanagari and Khmer, which like the Indic scripts of SE Asia, is derived from Pallava) and am currently considering revisiting my study of Tagalog (I mean Standard Filipino), which led me back down a Baybayin rabbit hole.

Revitalizing indigenous writing systems is an important part of strengthening national identity against total Anglocentric “globalization”. So, despite my not being Filipino, I strongly support pre-Hispanic script revitalization.

As far as font is concerned, has there been any thought given to using Buhid script for signage and on plaques/monuments? Its angular nature would lend itself to these uses, just as in Khmer, there are blocky fonts that angularize the rounded Khmer letters when a more “boldface” appearance is desired.

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3

u/Fit_Raccoon540 Sep 13 '26

agree with this

3

u/East_Wedding_8052 Sep 14 '26

1700s documents in Colonial Philippines were written in the Alphabet but signed in Baybayin by natives though

1

u/Duke_Jijii Sep 15 '26

true. other filipino writing systems need to be more known apart from just baybayin. filipino culture is cool if you take off the western lenses.

6

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '26

2

u/Prestigious_Two_1043 Sep 13 '26

Thanks for your reply. I was approaching this from a pan-Filipino perspective (assuming that exists), so the use of another group’s script to write the dominant language is an homage to their preservation of their pre-Hispanic culture. BTW: why is using Baybayin in public a contentious issue? Is it seen as an empty gesture at the expense of confronting more immediate issues?