Baybayin (Alibata) typography
by rod ~ February 28th, 2010. Filed under: Philippines.
The “Baybayin writing system” also commonly known as the “Alibata” was an old script structure used by these ancient Philippine settlers long before the first Spanish colonizers arrived in 1521. It originated from the ancient Javanese system, the Old Kawi script. It is part of the Brahmic family of syllables derived from the Vatteluttu system (the precursor of the modern Tamil script) used in ancient southern India and Sri Lanka. The Baybayin uses an abugida system based mainly on consonant syllabications and vowel arrangements. It was used even during the Spanish times up until the end of their rule in 1898. Baybayin (Alibata) is now slowly being reintroduced to Filipinos and has become quite popular in the graffiti and tattoo scene. via flickr, nordenx, allphilippines, flickr, nicopuertollano.com, and flickr again.
