Old Tagalog

Old Tagalog (Tagalog: Lumang Tagalog; Baybayin: pre-virama: ᜎᜓᜋ ᜆᜄᜎᜓ, post-virama [krus kudlit]: ᜎᜓᜋᜅ᜔ ᜆᜄᜎᜓᜄ᜔; post-virama [pamudpod]: ᜎᜓᜋᜅ᜕ ᜆᜄᜎᜓᜄ᜕) refers to the unattested, pre-Hispanic stage of the Tagalog language. The language originated from the Proto-Philippine language and evolved to Classical Tagalog spoken during Spanish occupation, which was the basis for Modern Tagalog. Old Tagalog sparsely used Baybayin, one of the scripts indigenous to the Philippines.

Old Tagalog
ᜆᜄᜎᜓ
Pronunciation	[t̪ɐ̞gal̪og]
Region	Philippines, particularly the present-day regions of Calabarzon and Mimaropa
Era	10th century AD (developed into Classical Tagalog in c. 16th century; continued as modern Southern Tagalog dialects spoken in Aurora,[1] Calabarzon, and Mimaropa, most popular is the Batangas dialect.)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Greater Central Philippine Central Philippine Old Tagalog
Writing system	Baybayin Luzon Kawi (before c. 1300)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–

No manuscripts, inscriptions, or written records in Tagalog are known from the pre-colonial period.

History

The Baybayin script, used to write in Tagalog prior to the arrival of the Spanish in 16th century.

Old Tagalog is one of the Central Philippine languages, which evolved from the Proto-Philippine language, which comes from the Austronesian peoples who settled in the Philippines around 2200 BC.^[2]

The early history of the Tagalog language remains relatively obscure, and a number of theories exist as to the exact origins of the Tagalog peoples and their language. Scholars such as Robert Blust suggest that the Tagalogs originated in northeastern Mindanao or the eastern Visayas.^[3] Possible words of Old Tagalog origin are attested in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription from the 10th century, which is largely written in Old Malay.^[4]

The question has been raised about the origin of some words in the various languages of the Philippines and their possible connection to ancient Buddhist and Hindu culture in the region, as the language is influenced by Sanskrit, Malay, Tamil and Chinese.^[5][6]

Writing system

Main article: Baybayin

Old Tagalog was written in Baybayin, a writing system formerly used in the Philippines which belongs to the Brahmic family of scripts.

The italicized letters are foreign.

vowels ᜔ a ᜀ i e ᜁ u o ᜂ

b /b/ ᜊ᜔ ba ᜊ bi be ᜊᜒ bu bo ᜊᜓ

k /k/ ᜃ᜔ ka ᜃ ki ke ᜃᜒ ku ko ᜃᜓᜓ

d/r /d/ /r/ ᜇ᜔ da/ra ᜇ di/ri de/re ᜇᜒ du/ru do/ro ᜇᜓ

g /g/ ᜄ᜔ ga ᜄ gi ge ᜄᜒ gu go ᜄᜓ

h /h/ ᜑ᜔ ha ᜑ hi he ᜑᜒ hu ho ᜑᜓ

l /l/ ᜎ᜔ la ᜎ li le ᜎᜒ lu lo ᜎᜓ

m /m/ ᜋ᜔ ma ᜋ mi me ᜋᜒ mu mo ᜋᜓ

n /n/ ᜈ᜔ na ᜈ ni ne ᜈᜒ nu no ᜈᜓ

ng /ŋ/ ᜅ᜔ nga ᜅ ngi nge ᜅᜒ ngu ngo ᜅᜓ

p /p/ ᜉ᜔ pa ᜉ pi pe ᜉᜒ pu po ᜉᜓ

s /s/ ᜐ᜔ sa ᜐ si se ᜐᜒ su so ᜐᜓ

t /t/ ᜆ᜔ ta ᜆ ti te ᜆᜒ tu to ᜆᜓ

w /w/ ᜏ᜔ wa ᜏ wi we ᜏᜒ wu wo ᜏᜓ

y /j/ ᜌ᜔ ya ᜌ yi ye ᜌᜒ yu yo ᜌᜓ

Phonology

Old Tagalog Vowels

Height	Front	Central	Back
Close	i /i/		u /u/
Open		a /a/

Table of consonant phonemes of Old Tagalog^[7]

	Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Dorsal	Glottal
Nasal	m	n	ŋ
Stop	p b	t d	k ɡ	ʔ
Fricative		s		h
Approximant	w	l	j

See also

• Proto-Philippine language
• Filipino language
• Dambana
• Baybayin
• Filipino alphabet
• Languages of the Philippines
• Suyat
• Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI)