Philippine E-Journals

Learn to Write in the Old Filipino Alphabet

Evergisto Bazaco

Discipline: History

 

Abstract:

WHEN the first Spaniards penetrated into the Philippines they noted that the natives used hieroglyphics written on bamboo and palm leaves. It was a difficult matter to ascertain the Latin equivalents of the written signs, for not all the natives used the same system of writing; likewise, the early Europeans had no knowledge of the Filipino dialects, nor the Filipinos of the Spanish language. It took long and patient labor before the Iberians were able to untangle the puzzle and decipher the nature and identity of the sounds for which the signs stood.