INTRO
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Before our present "Makabagong Alpabetong Filipino",we had the "Abakada".but way before that,our native writing is in "Baybayin" script which later on mistakenly renamed as "Alibata"-(which is derived from the first 3 letters of the arabic alphabet.)
Before our present "Makabagong Alpabetong Filipino",we had the "Abakada".but way before that,our native writing is in "Baybayin" script which later on mistakenly renamed as "Alibata"-(which is derived from the first 3 letters of the arabic alphabet.)
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The Baybayin script has 3 symbols which represent the five vowels a,e,i,o,u.
and basically,there are 14 symbols for consonants:ba,ka,da,ga,ha,la,ma,na,nga,pa,sa,ta,wa and ya.(See chart)
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notice that vowels are single letters only while consonants consist of 2 letters each and they always end with a vowel.
for better understanding let's divide the consonants into 2sets:
consonants that ends with "A" are the basic symbols:ba,ka,da,ga,ha,la,ma,na and so on. ex. M,D,N in baybayin are Ma,Da,Na.
for better understanding let's divide the consonants into 2sets:
consonants that ends with "A" are the basic symbols:ba,ka,da,ga,ha,la,ma,na and so on. ex. M,D,N in baybayin are Ma,Da,Na.
2nd set are the same with the 1st,only it has a hash mark or kudlit (some uses a dot or arrow head instead of kudlit).
this mark differentiates these 2nd set from the 1st.
when a kudlit is placed above a symbol,this consonant will end with a vowel "E or I".
so consonants like Ma,Da,Na would look like these:
this mark differentiates these 2nd set from the 1st.
when a kudlit is placed above a symbol,this consonant will end with a vowel "E or I".
so consonants like Ma,Da,Na would look like these:
and it would read as "me-de-ne"or "mi-di-ni" and when a kudlit is placed below a symbol,this consonant will have "O or U" vowel sound.thus Ma,Da,Na becomes "mo-do-no"or"mu-du-nu"
The letter "R" don't have a unique symbol in early baybayin script.but it is represented by the "DA"symbol
then later on,a symbol for "R" was added in other variations of the script.this specific symbol was proposed by one of authorities in baybayin modernization,Norman Delos santos and is now widely used and accepted in baybayin communities.
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SPANISH MODIFIED BAYBAYIN
aside from kudlit mark a cross "+"sign or "virama" is added below a consonant symbol.
the purpose of this is to omit the vowel sound from each consonant thus making it a single letter.
ex. Ma,Da,Na will become M,D,N
the purpose of this is to omit the vowel sound from each consonant thus making it a single letter.
ex. Ma,Da,Na will become M,D,N
so how does your name look like in baybayin?
To give you an idea let me show you with my username "MEDAN" 
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the fun with our script is that words can be written in different ways possible.MEDAN can be written in 4ways,this is how it looks:
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FIG.8
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FIG.9
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FIG.10
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FIG.11
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FIG8 IS THE PROPER AND PRACTICAL WAY OF WRITING IT.
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How it works:
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looking at the chart,basic symbols for MEDAN are Ma,Da,Na
FIG.12
but if we convert each letter of the word,
kung babasahin ay ganito "ma-e-da-a-na"hindi "me-dan".gaya rin ng word na BOTE at IBON
iba na pag binasa kasi nga by syllable ang pagbasa sa baybayin letters.kaya pag sinalin ang word like MEDAN sa baybayin,hindi letra por letra kundi per syllable.my username has 2syllables "me/dan" basic characters:see fig.12 w/ kudlit above
w/kudlit below
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now what symbols do we use?ibabase natin sa sound ng word hindi sa spelling nito.so instead of looking for m,e,d,a,n in baybayin chart,we look for "me","da" and "n" so we use
ngayon ang gagawin natin para maging "ME" yung "MA" symbol, -> lagyan ng kudlit sa ibabaw.
now, the last letter of the 2nd syllable "dan" in me/dan have consonant "n"pero wala ng kasunod na vowel.sa early baybayin rules,ang word na consonant ang dulo na wala ng karugtong na vowel,ang last letter na yun ay di na sinusulat.so, MEDAN = MEDA
But in our time, its hard to tell if these character symbol means MEDAN or MEDAL.
.... continue next..
.... continue next..
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Natutuwa ako dun sa mga nagpa-tattoo ng Alibata. It's a brilliant way to show one's love for his/her country. Astig. 
