Tagalog (Baybayin, Alibata)

Baybayin, also known as Alibata, is an indigenous Philippine writing system that was used before the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century. The term baybayin is derived from the Tagalog word baybay, which means “to spell”. Baybayin was primarily used for personal writings, such as letters and poetry. It was also used for record-keeping by the Philippine government during the pre-colonial period. The baybayin script consists of 14 basic letters, which are combined to form syllables. Each letter has a different sound, and some letters can be used to represent multiple sounds. The baybayin script is read from left to right, and each letter is written with a single stroke. There are no upper or lower case letters, and punctuation marks are not used. Baybayin was declared as a National Cultural Treasure of the Philippines in 2015.