The Baybayin script is now a part of the Unicode standard. In the most recent version of the Unicode, it is called the Tagalog script and is given the 1700-171F range.
I realize that, when I included the text files (.rtf) to the font set package file (.zip), I neglected to change the wordings from the original draft (which I use as a template). There is a line in there that says that my fonts are Unicode Compliant; they are not at the moment. I apologize for this blunder and I aim to rectify my mistake. I am in the process of making all my fonts Unicode Compliant (since last year, my main problem was doing more than I can handle). From now on, I won't release a font until they are fully compliant and standardized.
My next release will be updates on the current five font sets I have out. The first four will be upgraded to include features from the latest font (Kufic).
Features to add:
- alternative kudlits (hollow & solid) to differentiating soft & hard vowels.
- alternative (artistic/funtional) representations for certain characters.
- alternative syllable repeater/doubling method, the "2" kudlit.
- keystrokes 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 rendering alternative 2nd kudlit characters.
The sun was leftover from earlier days when I was just beginning to learn how to make fonts. This replacement will be symbolic of the change & transfer from historic based Morrow's Fonts into modern/artistic based Nordenx Fonts.
I also chose the Tamaraw to represent my (birthplace) home province (Mindoro) and the native Mangyan tribes that kept their script alive. Like the Tamaraw, Baybayin is endangered - but it is still alive, and it needs all our efforts to keep it alive.
Updates will be comming soon. Please, visit us again later for more details.
Mabuhay!
10 comments:
What program do you use to make your fonts? Great work!
There's an open source program called FontForge: http://fontforge.sourceforge.net/
This is truly an inspiration, especially to artists of filipino origin who want to connect to their roots. I too am currently in the process of "modernizing" baybayin for graphic design and illustrative appeals, to fit the use of my works. I don't have much at the moment (since I have just started recently), but I have developed ideas. I did, however, adopted your use
of the "ra" character into my baybayin writing, since I too am often confused between the "da" and "ra". Your approach in solving that was very simple.
It is nice to see that you are making an effort to not only perserve the ancient writing system of our ancestors but also making it appealing to a "modern" audience. Thank you for sharing, this is a very interesting blog.
Great Project hopping for Unicode support soon.
I'm also looking to make a Logo using this font for the Non-Profit OLPC_Philippines Project
One Laptop Per Child
Ka Ba Ta An over Philippine Araw please see
.
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Philippines
.
Hi Nordenx!
I am practicing and writing with baybayin (forget alibata, it is a misnomer). I have found that for some reason, the writing seems to be more profound and I am proud that I am writing with our own script. A friend of mine asked why is this not taught in schools in P.I.?
It is not too late to resurrect baybayin and put it to modern use. I hope to someday come with a website featuring poems and essays in baybayin. I adopted the ra in your babayin in my writing although in Paul Morrow's website, the Bikolanos do have a ra character similar to yours but the cross is on the upper bar of the letter da.
I have a suggestion, we all know that the spaniards try to introduce the "krus" to denote silent or complex syllables to baybayin but the Filipinos resisted using it. While I was writing, I also find the "krus" to be awkward and not in agreement with the simplicity of the baybayin characters' overall structure. Instead, I adapted "mahabang kudlit" or an underscore (underline) underneath the letter to denote silent or complex syllables. I find this is more acceptable and more in keeping with the form and spirit of baybayin.
What do you think, man? Although the "krus" has a history. I think an adoption of "mahabang kudlit" makes more sense. I like to put it into practice and promote for others to use it as well. I would appreciate your input in this.
Thank you all for your kind comments. :)
@ F.S. SANTOS:
I integrated the cruz/cross (+) Kudlit or Virama for historic & linguistic significance, but in my own writing I cancel out vowels using an equis/ex (x) Kudlit for stylistic reasons, i.e.. I am crossing out (x) a vowel instead without adding (+) something to the script... A Mahabang Kudlit as you put it is also quite an acceptable stylistic variant to the Virama. The existing version of Baybayin still in use by the Mangyan tribes of Mindoro (particularly the Hanunoo) has a similar long kudlit mark called the "Pamudpod" virama which underlines/underscores a character with a slope/curved line from the upper right side to the bottom left of the script.
Thanks to all your comments as they inspire me to slowly but surely continue on with this project. I am about 20% into writing a book about Baybayin that hopefully gets published in the future for our children's prosperity & heritage.
Hi Norman!
Thanks for your immediate response.
Can you show how the "pamudpod" looks like? Does it basically cancel out the whole letter (d/) or does it look like an underline(d_) like the "mahabang kudlit" that I proposed? When I try to write in baybayin and makes mistakes with my kudlit, I basically cancel it out inadvertently making an "ekis" or "krus." This makes the writing process messy especially when correcting mistakes. That is another reason why I think we should use mahabang kudlit instead of "krus" or "ekis"(to avoid confusion when people try to rectify mistakes by canceling the wrong kudlit).
Your response is really interesting and show your thorough knowledge on baybayin's history and significance. You also give me hope, that we can modernize and bring back baybayin.
For those who would like to see how the Pamudpod Virama and the Hanunoo script looks like, here's the Adobe Acrobat PDF file from the Unicode Consortium:
href="http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1720.pdf
What is the licence for your fonts? I'd like to include them in Debian:
http://www.debian.org/
My contact information is here, please send me an email about this:
http://wiki.debian.org/PaulWise
I see you are using free software (fontforge) to create the font, I hope you would like to contribute your font to Debian, and perhaps translate some part of Debian to Baybayin.
how about use two kudlits instead, one at top, and other at bottom to indicate consonant only?
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