Hanunuo script

Hanunoo (IPA: [hanunuʔɔ]), also rendered Hanunó'o, is one of the scripts indigenous to the Philippines and is used by the Mangyan peoples of southern Mindoro to write the Hanunó'o language.[1][2]

Hanunó'o
(Mangyan Baybayin/Surat Mangyan)
ᜱᜨᜳᜨᜳᜢ
Type
LanguagesHanunó'o
Time period
c. 1300–present
Parent systems
Sister systems
In the Philippines:

Buhid (Mangyan Baybayin, Surat Mangyan)
Kulitan (Súlat Kapampángan)
Tagbanwa script
Ibalnan script
In other countries:
Balinese
Batak
Javanese
Lontara
Sundanese
Rencong

Rejang
DirectionLeft-to-right
ISO 15924Hano, 371
Unicode alias
Hanunoo
U+1720–U+173F

Brahmic scripts
The Brahmic script and its descendants
Northern Brahmic
Southern Brahmic

It is an abugida descended from the Brahmic scripts, closely related to Sulat Tagalog, and is famous for being written vertical but written upward, rather than downward as nearly all other scripts (however, it's read horizontally left to right). It is usually written on bamboo by incising characters with a knife.[3][4] Most known Hanunó'o inscriptions are relatively recent because of the perishable nature of bamboo. It is therefore difficult to trace the history of the script.[2]

Structure

Fifteen basic characters of the Hanunó'o script each represent one of the fifteen consonants /p/ /t/ /k/ /b/ /d/ /ɡ/ /m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /l/ /r/ /s/ /h/ /j/ /w/ followed by the inherent vowel /a/.[4] Other syllables are written by modifying each of these characters with one of two diacritics (kudlit) which change the vowel sound to /i/ or /u/.[3] The glyph for /la/ is the same as that for /ra/ but the glyphs for /li/ and /ri/ are distinct, as are those for /lu/ and /ru/. There are also three glyphs that represent vowels which stand alone (phonetically preceded by a glottal stop, transliterated as q).[5] Final consonants are not written, and so must be determined from context.[3] Dutch anthropologist Antoon Postma, who went to the Philippines from the Netherlands in the 1950s, introduced the pamudpod sign (  ᜴ ) to indicate a syllable final consonant.[6] (The pamudpod functions as a virama.)

Hanunó'o vowels
Initial Dependent
transcriptionaiuiu
letter ᜠ ᜡ ᜢ ᜲ ᜳ
Hanunó'o syllables[6]
transcriptionkgngtdnpbmyrlwsh
consonant + a ᜣ ᜤ ᜥ ᜦ ᜧ ᜨ ᜩ ᜪ ᜫ ᜬ ᜭ ᜮ ᜯ ᜰ ᜱ
consonant + i ᜣᜲ ᜤᜲ ᜥᜲ ᜦᜲ ᜧᜲ ᜨᜲ ᜩᜲ ᜪᜲ ᜫᜲ ᜬᜲ ᜭᜲ ᜮᜲ ᜯᜲ ᜰᜲ ᜱᜲ
consonant + u ᜣᜳ ᜤᜳ ᜥᜳ ᜦᜳ ᜧᜳ ᜨᜳ ᜩᜳ ᜪᜳ ᜫᜳ ᜬᜳ ᜭᜳ ᜮᜳ ᜯᜳ ᜰᜳ ᜱᜳ
with pamudpod ᜣ᜴ ᜤ᜴ ᜥ᜴ ᜦ᜴ ᜧ᜴ ᜨ᜴ ᜩ᜴ ᜪ᜴ ᜫ᜴ ᜬ᜴ ᜭ᜴ ᜮ᜴ ᜯ᜴ ᜰ᜴ ᜱ᜴

Note: With the proper rendering support, the Hanunó'o syllable ngu above (ᜥᜳ) should resemble an italic V joined with two short, parallel diagonal lines ( \\ ).

The script makes use of single ( ᜵ ) and double ( ᜶ ) danda punctuation characters.[6]

Direction of writing
Hanunó'o alternative letters ra and wu.
A bamboo bow (bayi,[7] ᜪᜬᜲ) from Oriental Mindoro, inscribed with Hanunó'o.

The Hanunó'o script is conventionally written away from the body (from bottom to top) in columns which go from left to right.[3] Within the columns, characters may have any orientation but the orientation must be consistent for all characters in a text. The characters are typically vertical with the /i/ diacritic on the left and the /u/ on the right, or horizontal with the /i/ on the top and the /u/ on the bottom.[5] Left-handed people often write in mirror image, which reverses both the direction of writing (right to left instead of left to right) and the characters themselves.[4]

Learning the script

Young Hanunó'o men and women (called layqaw)[8] learn the script primarily in order to memorize love songs. The goal is to learn as many songs as possible, and using the script to write the songs facilitates this process. The script is also used to write letters, notifications, and other documents. The characters are not memorized in any particular order; learners typically begin by learning how to write their name. Literacy among the Hanunó'o people is high despite a lack of formal education in the script.[4]

Unicode
Main article: Hanunoo (Unicode block)

The Unicode range for Hanunó'o is U+1720–U+173F:

Hanunoo[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+172x ᜠ ᜡ ᜢ ᜣ ᜤ ᜥ ᜦ ᜧ ᜨ ᜩ ᜪ ᜫ ᜬ ᜭ ᜮ ᜯ
U+173x ᜰ ᜱ ᜲ ᜳ ᜴ ᜵ ᜶
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 13.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

See also

References
  1. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/985669/protect-all-ph-writing-systems-heritage-advocates-urge-congress
  2. Postma, Antoon (July 1971). "Contemporary Mangyan Scripts". Philippine Journal of Linguistics. 2 (1): 1–12.
  3. Rubino, Carl. "The Hanunoo Script". Ancient Scripts of the Philippines. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  4. Conklin, Harold C. (2007). Fine Description: Ethnographic and Linguistic Essays. New Haven: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies. pp. 320–342.
  5. Daniels, Peter; William Bright (1996). The World's Writing Systems. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 481–484.
  6. "Chapter 17: Indonesia and Oceania" (PDF). Unicode Consortium. March 2020.
  7. Harold C. Conklin (1953). Hanunóo-English Vocabulary. University of California Press. p. 79. báyi (1): a hunting bow, usually of bamboo; frequently extended to mean bow and arrows collectively. báyi (2): the bamboo part of a gitgit (violin) bow
  8. T.L.S. (Times literary supplement). Oxford University Press. 1966. p. 204. layqaw refers to a category of 'marriageable but unmarried youth'
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