71. Buhid Alphabet

 

Origin

The Buhid or Mangyan alphabet 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.
The Buhid alphabet is still used in the Philipines by the Buhid people of Mindoro.

Notable features

• Type of writing syste: syllabic alphabet in which each consonant has an inherent vowel [a]. Other vowels are indicated by separate letter or by diacritics.
• Direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines

Used to write

Buhid, an Austronesian language spoken by about 8,000 people in the province of Mindoro in the Philippines.
Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines which is spoken by about 10.5 million people.

Sample text in Buhid

Links

Ancient scripts of the Philippines (in English and Tagalog)
http://www.mts.net/~pmorrow/bayeng1.htm
About ancient Filipino writing
http://www.bibingka.com/dahon/tagalog/tagalog.htm