When the Spanish came to the Philippines, they found in use the baybayin, a native writing system, that was an abjad or a consonant writing system. The baybayin was still in its early stages of development as a writing system, lacking symbols for all the vowel sounds of the various Philippine dialects and not yet totally uniform in appearance across varying geographic regions. The Philippine Baybayin is one of a dozen or so...
Read MoreInterestingly enough, the hindu mythological name of “Bala” : Means “young” in Sanskrit. It is a transcription of both the masculine form बाल and the feminine form बाला (a minor Hindu goddess). See Behind the Name: Etymology and History of First Names) Among Filipino baybayin enthusiasts who see deeper meaning in them, the LA baybayin symbol is said to be...
Read MoreWe need to remember and understand the indigenous worldview of our Philippine ancestors, and maybe even embrace it again. It was one where there was a respect for all of life because of the belief that all things had a soul and meaning. In order to understand the deeper meanings of Baybayin symbols and to accept that they are NOT just one-dimensional letters in an alphabet, we Filipinos need to rediscover in what ways our ancestors...
Read MoreThere is a small but growing number of Filipinos that believe that the symbols of the baybayin writing system have deeper meanings. It is not uncommon for letters, pictographs and symbols to have deep hidden meanings—even magical power, for cultures around the world have rich histories and stories connected to symbols, letters and written words. Other countries and cultures too have symbols and writing systems that were...
Read MoreThere is a small but growing number of Filipinos that believe that the symbols of the baybayin writing system have deeper meanings. It is not uncommon for letters, pictographs and symbols to have deep hidden meanings—even magical power, for cultures around the world have rich histories and stories connected to symbols, letters and written words. Other countries and cultures too have symbols and writing systems that were...
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