- Source: Basahan
Basahan script, also known as Guhit, is the native name used by Bicolanos to refer to Baybayin.
The word basahan was already recorded in a book entitled Vocabulario de la Lengua Bicol by Marcos de Lisboa in 1628, which states it has three vowels and fifteen consonants.
Alphabet
Ancient characters of Tagalog and Camarines people has three stand-alone vowels (a, e/i, o/u) and fifteen consonants (ba, ka, da, ga, ha, la, ma, na, nga, pa, ra, sa, ta, wa, ya). This script can be called an abugida because signs represent syllables, that is a consonant with a vowel.
Way of writing
Historic:, Traditional:, Modern:
According to Scott, when e.g. the sign for ba has to be read as be / bi it has a kaldit (a small "v" shaped diacritic sign) on the left (or above), if it has to be read as bu / bo the kaldit is on the right (resp. below). The ancient characters of Tagalog and Camarines people had its own character for /r/, in contrast to more common modern Baybayin version and Ilokano Kurdita. In his time the kaldit was called kaholoan or holo according to Marcos de Lisboa, author of the earliest dictionary of Bikol.
According to Lisboa, the writing of the old Bikolnons started from the bottom up, writing to the right. However, some scholars such as Ignacio Villamor who have studied the 'basahan' of pre-Hispanic Filipinos strongly emphasize that they all wrote the scriptures in a straight line starting from left to right, then returning on the left at the beginning, keep writing right.
References
External links
sample of Basahan script font
Basahan