The History and Resurgence of Alibata

The current years have noticed a revival of sorts in the recognition of the alibata, the Philippines' pre-Spanish writing method. From becoming an ancient script talked about only in passing in classes in Philippine History, alibata has gained sufficient reputation to inspire the creation of hundreds of internet websites devoted to it.

To be in a position to get an concept of how the resurgence of alibata came about, it is essential to initial give the origins and history of the language a great close appear.

As was described earlier, alibata, or baybayin, is a pre-colonization type of writing that was utilized by the individuals living in the region that would later become recognized as the Philippines. According to Spanish accounts, the script was applied by numerous of the ethno-linguistic groups in the location (with particular variations, of course), such as the Tagalogs, Mangyans and these in the Visayan islands.

Usage of the script started to decline in the 17th century nevertheless, primarily simply because of the introduction of the Spanish language (the official language of the government and the Church). Alibata could not accurately depict its sounds and the Castilian letters had been also a lot simpler to discover. By the 18th century, some Spanish accounts claim that reading and writing in alibata have currently turn out to be uncommon.

ALIBATA'S RESURGENCE

The current rise in reputation of the ancient script particularly amongst the youth can be attributed to quite a few various factors, with the 1st 1 getting the fact that much more and additional persons are taking conscious efforts to market it.

Raymond Cosare, a professor at the Far Eastern University for instance, holds alibata writing lessons for children at the Bahay Nakpil in Quiapo, Manila. The respected Neo-Angono Artists however, lately painted a mural that showed showed Andres Bonifacio with the alibata "K" tattooed on his arm. By sporting alibata tattoos, Filipino celebrities like international wrestling star Batista, UFC champion Brandon Vera and Bamboo bassist Nathan Azarcon have also inadvertently promoted the writing technique.

One more cause that could clarify the new identified reputation of alibata is that quite a few Filipinos use it to reconnect to their roots. Possessing existed for the duration of the pre-Spanish instances, the alibata offers modern day Filipinos-a persons who were bombarded by foreign culture and values throughout the 400 years they have been beneath foreign rulers-a sense of identity, an notion of who they are and exactly where they came from.

Alibata has develop into common mainly because quite a few Filipinos now see it as a supply of pride. A created program of writing is a sign of progress and civilization, so the existence of alibata is proof that the early Filipinos, as opposed to what a lot of of the early colonizers have repeatedly espoused, had a wealthy created culture and civilization. Additional than just an ordinary writing technique, the alibata is a symbol of just how far the Filipinos have progressed and created on their personal. The ancient writing program, says Cosare in an interview, "tends to make Filipino persons prouder of who they are".

The author runs a net site committed to alibata.