{"id":1486,"date":"2017-08-10T21:34:53","date_gmt":"2017-08-11T02:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.henrydelrosario.com\/?p=1486"},"modified":"2020-09-28T08:31:03","modified_gmt":"2020-09-28T12:31:03","slug":"ancient-filipino-poems-and-baybayin-calligraphy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.henrydelrosario.com\/?p=1486","title":{"rendered":"Baybayin Calligraphy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Two ancient Filipino poems in traditional Baybayin. (Calligraphy \u00a9 2017 Henry Del Rosario)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two Ancient Filipino Poems<\/h2>\n
Buw\u00e1ng pangino\u00f3n k\u00f3,\npayam\u00e1nin m\u00f3 ak\u00f3.<\/pre>\n
\u201cMy Moon Lord,
\nmake me rich.\u201d
\n<\/p>\n
Lakap\u00e1ti, pak\u00e1nin\nm\u00f3 yar\u00edng al\u00edpin m\u00f3.\nHuw\u00e1g m\u00f3 p\u00f3ng gut\u00famin.<\/pre>\n
\u201cLakapati, feed
\nthis servant of yours.
\nDo not let him starve.\u201d<\/p>\n
I found these two poems after reading Jean-Paul G. Potet’s “Baybayin: the Syllabic Alphabet of the Tagalogs” and Christian Cabuay’s “An Introduction to Baybayin.” What’s fascinating is that these are poems written before Philippines was the “Philippines” (before Spanish colonization)!<\/p>\n
The “Moon Lord” and the rice-field fertility Goddess, “Lakapati” are references to ancient Filipino mythology. Some people may be familiar with the Hinilawod<\/a>— a 30-hour long, oral epic poem from ancient Philippines.<\/p>\n
These poems are also composed in heptasyllable lines. Seven syllable lines are a hallmark of other Filipino poetic forms such as the Tanaga or Ambahan.<\/p>\n
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In a different calligraphy style (Calligraphy \u00a9 2017 Henry Del Rosario)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Baybayin Script<\/h2>\n
According to Potet, a French linguist and Baybayin scholar, Baybayin was originally carved on bamboo and then rubbed with ash to make the letters stand out. He has collected extensive evidence that Filipinos wrote bottom to top as well as left to right. Here are some other high-yield notes about Baybayin:<\/p>\n