bay+byin+
tuk+lasin+

Baybayin Tuklasin

Exploring the Ancient Script of the Philippines

In partnership with the London Filipino Centre's Baybayin Buhayin movement

Tuklasin
Panimula · Introduction

What is Baybayin?

Baybayin is a pre-colonial writing system of the Philippines for the Tagalog dialect. Its name translates to "to spell" or "to syllabicate", reflecting its core nature as an alphasyllabary.

Each character represents a consonant-vowel pair (an Abugida), modified by small diacritics called kudlit to change the vowel sound. A cross-mark (krus kudlit or virama) cancels the vowel entirely.

The golden rule: "Kung ano ang bigkas, siyang baybay."
How it is pronounced is how it shall be spelled.

Writing Rules · B17+

1
Spell as pronounced. Translate to Tagalog first before writing in Baybayin.
kitchen → kusina → kusena
2
Only Philippine alphabet characters. No C, F, J, Ñ, Q, V, X, Z: use phonetic equivalents.
Juan → Huwan → huwan+
3
Use kudlit to change vowels. To cancel a vowel on a final consonant, use a virama beneath it: the kurus (+), the kurus-ekis (×), or the pre-colonial pamudpod hook.
ka ka ke ke/ki ko ko/ku k+ k (no vowel)
4
Only , and . are used as punctuation: comma for pause, period for stop.
Pilipinas, aking mahal. → pilipinas+, aking+ mahal+.
Salawikain · Folk Proverbs

Basahin ang karunungang-bayan

Read the wisdom of the people. Each saying appears in Baybayin first, the way it was meant to be read. Tap a card to reveal its romanization and meaning.

Suportahan · Support

Baybayin Tuklasin is a free, independent project, in partnership with the London Filipino Centre's Baybayin Buhayin movement. If it has helped you read or write a little of the script, you can keep it going with a coffee.

Buy me a coffee · ko-fi.com/heyitstrini
Kasaysayan · History

A Script Born
Before Colonisation

When the Spanish arrived, they found a people who could already read and write. Two of their own chroniclers said so in print.

"So accustomed are all these islanders to writing and reading that there is scarcely a man, and much less a woman, who can not read and write in the letters proper to the island of Manila."

Fr. Pedro Chirino, S.J. · Relación de las Islas Filipinas · 1604

"All the natives, women as well as men, write in this language, and there are very few who do not write well and correctly."

Dr. Antonio de Morga · Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas · 1609
900 CE
Laguna Copperplate Inscription
Laguna Copperplate Inscription, c. 900 CE. Copper plate incised with Kawi script.
Laguna Copperplate, c. 900 CE
laguna
The oldest known document written in old Tagalog and the Kawi script, thought to be the ancestor of Baybayin. Now housed at the National Museum of Manila.
10th–13th Century
Butuan Ivory Seal
Butuan Ivory Seal. Rhinoceros-ivory seal inscribed
Butuan Ivory Seal
butuan+
A trading seal carved from rhinoceros ivory, found in Butuan City, reading "Butwan": evidence that writing was already in everyday use on pre-colonial trade routes.
c. 14th Century
Calatagan Pot
Calatagan Pot, c. 14th century. Burial jar with a Baybayin inscription around the neck.
Calatagan Pot, c. 14th century
kalatagan+
A burial jar from Calatagan, Batangas, incised with a ring of Baybayin around its neck. The script was used not only for trade and law but for the dead.
1593
Doctrina Cristiana
Doctrina Christiana, 1593. Title page of the first book printed in the Philippines.
Doctrina Christiana, 1593
dok+t+rina
The first book published in the Philippines, presented in three scripts: Spanish, Tagalog in Latin alphabet, and Baybayin. The Spaniards used Baybayin to evangelise.
1613 · 1635
The UST Baybayin Documents
UST Baybayin document, 1613. Land deed handwritten in Baybayin.
UST Baybayin document, 1613
kasulatan+
Two land deeds, the only known surviving documents handwritten entirely in Baybayin by Filipinos, kept at the University of Santo Tomas. Declared a National Cultural Treasure in 2014. The same year, 1613, the Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala recorded Tagalog words in Baybayin.
1620
The Krus Kudlit is Born
k+rus+ kud+lit+
Spanish friar Fr. Francisco Lopez introduced the krus kudlit, an 'x' or '+' below a consonant to remove its inherent vowel sound. This created the B17+ system still used today.
17th Century
Monreal Stone
Monreal Stone, Ticao Island. Stone sinker carved with a Baybayin prayer.
Monreal Stone, Ticao Island
bato
A carved stone sinker from Ticao Island, Masbate, bearing a Baybayin prayer for protection. Found being used as a doormat at a schoolhouse in 2011.
17th Century onwards
Decline Under Colonisation
pag+kawala
Spanish colonisers suppressed indigenous writing, viewing Baybayin as "of the Devil." Over 300 scrolls were destroyed. Slowly, the Latin alphabet replaced Baybayin in education and governance.
1884
Luna Signs the Spoliarium
Juan Luna, Spoliarium, 1884, with the Baybayin monogram detail.
Juan Luna, Spoliarium, 1884
bula
Juan Luna signed his prize-winning Spoliarium in Madrid with a Baybayin monogram, "Bu La". Three centuries into colonial rule, the script was still a mark of identity for the ilustrados.
1886
Rizal's Baybayin ABC
The last page of José Rizal's Tagalog translation of Wilhelm Tell, headed Catapusan, with a handwritten Baybayin syllabary beneath the note.
Rizal, Wilhelm Tell manuscript, 1886
risal+
On the last page of his Tagalog translation of Schiller's Wilhelm Tell, headed Catapusan, José Rizal added a note on spelling and wrote out the full syllabary by hand, a to ha, each character beneath its Latin sound. A national hero teaching himself, and his readers, the old letters.
1897
The Revolutionary Seal
Bonifacio decree, 1897, bearing the Haring Bayang Katagalugan seal.
Bonifacio decree, 1897
katagalugan+
Andrés Bonifacio's decree for the Haring Bayang Katagalugan carried a sunburst seal with a Baybayin ka: the script as an emblem of the nation being fought for.
2000s–Present
The Resurgence
muling+ pag+kabangon+
Baybayin appears on Philippine passports, coins, and in Windows, iOS, and Android Unicode support. House Bill 1022 proposes making Baybayin the national script. A new generation reconnects with their heritage.
Sanggunian · Sources. Colonial testimonies from the Blair & Robertson translations. Artefact images and histories courtesy of John NL Leyson, Baybayin 101 and Anatomya ng Baybayin (2025), with thanks.
Abugida · Character Set

The 17 Characters of B17+

B17+ is the modern Baybayin set: the 17 core characters completed by the krus kudlit, the cross-mark that lets a consonant close a syllable.

Mga Patinig · Vowels
Mga Katinig · Consonants
Mga Bantas · Punctuation
, Paghinto · pause A single bar. Where you would write a comma: a breath between phrases.
. Pagpunto · full stop A double bar. Where you would write a period: the end of the thought.
pilipinas+, aking+ mahal+. Pilipinas, aking mahal. These two are the only marks Baybayin uses. Type , and . on the Baybayin keyboard and you get them.

Limang Anyo · The Five Forms

Seventeen characters,
five shapes

Look closely and the whole syllabary grows from five parent strokes. Learn to draw these five and every character becomes a variation you already know. Each form carries a name: two major, three minor.

Major form · 5 characters
a
Ulo ng Kalabaw
the carabao's head
aa mama papa yaya wawa
One continuous stroke: start at the left horn, drop into the bowl, sweep up and over to the right horn.
Major form · 4 characters
ka
Kagitingan
valour
kaka dada · ra haha lala
Two parallel waves, top then bottom, both left to right; then a short vertical bar joins them.
Minor form · 3 characters
ba
Balay
the house
baba nana tata
A single arch: begin bottom-left, rise over the roof, come down to the right.
Minor form · 3 characters
o
Unawa
understanding
oo · u gaga sasa
Two curls stacked like a 3: draw the upper curl clockwise, then the lower curl closing back to the left.
Minor form · e/i and the marks
e
Ilog
the river
ee · i kekudlit k+virama
A long wave across the top, then the current beneath it in short scallops, left to right. The kudlit and virama are drops from this river.

The five-form framework is the work of John NL Leyson, Anatomya ng Baybayin; his chart groups sixteen characters and the marks, leaving nga to stand on its own. Glyphs shown in the Haraya typeface.

Mga Kudlit · Diacritics

Modifying
Character Sounds

— a ta
Base Form
The inherent vowel sound. Every consonant character carries an "A" sound by default.
e / i te
Kudlit sa Itaas
A mark above the character changes the vowel sound to E or I.
o / u to
Kudlit sa Ibaba
A mark below the character changes the vowel sound to O or U.
— (none) t+
Krus Kudlit / Virama
A cross mark cancels the vowel entirely, used for consonants at the end of a syllable.

Type in Filipino,
See Baybayin

Tingnan kung paano nabubuo sa Baybayin ang mga salitang Filipino. Type a word and watch it transform — or paste Baybayin to read it back.

Try:
Input Filipino / Tagalog
Output
B17+ Baybayin
Your Baybayin text will appear here
Syllable Breakdown
Matuto · Learn

Subukan ang
Baybayin

Pumili ng hamon para sa iyo · Choose your challenge.

Paraan · Mode
Antas · Level
1 / 10 0 tama
sa 10
bay+byin+ tuk+lasin+

Created by Trini Tait, MA Graphic Design & Art Direction, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2024

Haraya Font © Trini Tait · Baybayin: Tuklasin Learning Kit

This project is in partnership with the London Filipino Centre's Baybayin Buhayin movement

Suportahan · Support on Ko-fi