142. Eskayan

   

Eskayan is a language isolate spoken on the Philippine island of Bohol. The exact number of speakers is uncertain and while the language is unrelated to any other, it does share syntactic and morphological features with Boholano-Visayan, the main language of Bohol, and there are also Spanish influences. The Eskayan people speak Cebuano as their everyday language and use Eskayan for prayers, songs and formal speeches.
Eskayan is written with a syllabic script consisting of over 1,000 symbols, some of which are shown below. The symbols are apparently modelled on human body parts, though resemble cursive Latin letters. The earliest known written document in Eskayan dates from 1908. Apparently a man named Pinay invented the script, though nobody knows when he did so.
A method of writing Eskayan with the Latin alphabet is also used in schools. It is not completely standardised.

Notable features

• Type of writing system: syllabary
• Direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines
• Used to write: Eskayan

Eskayan script

Eskayan numerals

Eskayan sample text (Latin alphabet)

Samnat yo bantelar,
Datong con Bathala,
Ya abeya cloper meboy secwes
Nemte ya chdid loning
Ya moy beresa gui
Samnat eclabolto
Gona yonoy dokerkedo
Bentod ya hondog yel moy sebar
Chda a chdiam yel keman pay
Edlac esto mesesabla
Lo-ya bac Lobor,
Chdire esto ebetangke chda loreker
Parong esto topete
Ya droser, ya secwes Do-o moy sam
Tewergoyo asado chda carna
Ya lacyo booy.

Translation

This is the land I love,
The land God gave to me,
Caressed by the sun, Bathed by the sea,
And kissed by the cool breeze
Night and day.
Here's where the early heroes lived,
Here's where they wrought peace and here they bled,
Here rise the marvelous cone-shaped hills,
Here's sweet kinampay grows.
Blessed with white sandy beaches,
Rivers that water valleys,
Seas teem with fishes and cows graze on the plains,
In ev'ry home love reigns,
God keep my homeland always free,
Let her forever be,
I pledge my strength, my heart and soul,
To my dear home, Bohol.

A recording of this text
Source: http://www.ling.hawaii.edu/~uhdoc/eskaya/Translation%202.html

Links

Information about Eskayan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskayan_language
http://www.ling.hawaii.edu/~uhdoc/eskaya/Eskaya.html
http://www.bibingka.com/dahon/mystery/eskaya.htm