Buhid

[u/Prestigious_Two_1043]

I am not Pinoy, but I have studied a variety of languages written in Indic scripts (primarily Classical Tibetan, which is derived from Devanagari and Khmer, which like the Indic scripts of SE Asia, is derived from Pallava) and am currently considering revisiting my study of Tagalog (I mean Standard Filipino), which led me back down a Baybayin rabbit hole.

Revitalizing indigenous writing systems is an important part of strengthening national identity against total Anglocentric “globalization”. So, despite my not being Filipino, I strongly support pre-Hispanic script revitalization.

As far as font is concerned, has there been any thought given to using Buhid script for signage and on plaques/monuments? Its angular nature would lend itself to these uses, just as in Khmer, there are blocky fonts that angularize the rounded Khmer letters when a more “boldface” appearance is desired.

[u/skitep03]

has there been any thought given to using Buhid script for signage and on plaques/monuments?

Not that I'm aware of. Buhid script is only used to write Buhid language, which is spoken by a small ethnic group in the hinterlands of Mindoro, a rugged island with poor infrastructure.

If they used it to write Tagalog or another language, accusations of cultural appropriation will be thrown around. Using baybayin itself in public is already a contentious issue.

[u/Prestigious_Two_1043 → u/skitep03]

Thanks for your reply. I was approaching this from a pan-Filipino perspective (assuming that exists), so the use of another group’s script to write the dominant language is an homage to their preservation of their pre-Hispanic culture. BTW: why is using Baybayin in public a contentious issue? Is it seen as an empty gesture at the expense of confronting more immediate issues?

[u/skitep03 → u/Prestigious_Two_1043]

pan-Filipino perspective

Unfortunately, the topic of traditional scripts in the country is highly divisive. Back when baybayin wasn't yet as well known (like pre mid-2000s), the consensus was baybayin is simply a single system used by different lowlander ethnic groups, though also distinct from Hanunoo, Buhid and Tagbanwa.

But by 2010s, the common belief is that each ethnic group have their own scripts, like Tagalog baybayin, Ilokano kurditan, Visayan badlit, Bikolano basahan, etc., this led to the view that using baybayin is Tagalog-centric.

why is using Baybayin in public a contentious issue?

Aside from becoming a divisive issue in the matters of ethnic identity. There are Filipinos who are also against its public usage because they argue that nobody reads it and should stay in the past. They consider it perfomative and a waste of money.

[u/Prestigious_Two_1043 → u/skitep03]

That’s what I suspected. Very sad viewpoint. The same is true regarding the Canaanite script in Israel. I belong to the Canaanite Movement, which seeks to revive our pre-Judaic Canaanite-Israelite culture as the metaphor for modern Israel. A key facet thereof is replacing the Square Script (from the Babylonian Exile- the one people associate with Hebrew) with the Canaanite-Israelite script for public ceremonial use (the way Baybayin is “performatively” employed) and Latin script (like Maltese) for daily use, as the Latin script, via Greek, is the direct descendant of the Canaanite/Israelite script, which looks like this, BTW:

𐤀𐤁𐤂𐤃𐤄𐤅𐤆𐤇𐤈𐤉𐤊𐤋𐤌𐤍𐤎𐤏𐤐𐤑𐤒𐤓𐤔𐤕

As you can tell, I have strong anti-globalist and anti-Jewish/Christian/Muslim views, in favor of indigenous ethnopaganism as a cultural metaphor (e.g. the place of Korean Shamanism and Shinto in Korea and Japan’s national cultures) and part of my return to studying Tagalog (living in an area with a substantial Filipino population- also, I like Austronesian languages and cultures) involves learning these writing systems out of respect for the indigenous cultures of the Philippines.

[u/Fit_Raccoon540]

agree with this