Ating Baybayin (Our Filipino Script)
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Frequently Asked
Questions & Translations

Frequently Asked Questions
(Click on the question to see the answer.)
  1. Why are there missing letters?
  2. Why are numbers not translated?
  3. What's the difference between the original script and the one with Spanish Modifications?

Frequently Asked Translations
(Click on the word to see the translation.)

  1. Pilipino/Pilipina
  2. Pinoy/Pinay
  3. Mahal Kita
  4. Strength
  5. Maganda
  6. Malaya
  7. Mabuhay
  8. Kayumanggi


Why are there missing letters?

The program was designed to work well with Tagalog words, which means that it won't work too well with foreign words or newer Tagalog words that are rooted from the English or Spanish language.

You may have learned by now that each symbol in the original Baybayin script represents a syllable. There are only 4 forms of syllables found in the Tagalog language: Single Vowel (V), Consonant-Vowel (CV), Vowel-Consonant (VC) and Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC)forms. Baybayin symbols exist for syllables in V and CV forms, however when writing syllables in VC or CVC forms, the ancient Filipinos would drop the trailing consonant. For example, when writing the words "Bathala Na" (Leave it to God), the letter "t" would be dropped making it "Bahala Na."
ba ha la na
It is still not known to this day how our ancestors were able to read back the missing consonants.

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Why are numbers not translated?

There are no numerical symbols in Baybayin. I suggest typing in the numbers in Tagalog.

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What's the difference between the original script and the one with Spanish Modifications?

The Spaniards had a hard time trying to read in the original Baybayin script because the Filipinos dropped any trailing consonants from syllables in the VC or CVC form (See answer to question #1). To simplify things, they introduced the "+" mark that was added at the bottom of the Baybayin symbols to mute the "a" sound.
ba= "ba" b= "b"

"Bahay"
Original Baybayin
With Spanish Modifications
baha
bahay
ba-ha
ba-ha-y

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Pilipino

pe-pile-lipe-pino-nu
pi-li-pi-no

Pilipina

pe-pile-lipe-pina
pi-li-pi-na

(Results would be the same using the original or modified Baybayin)

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Pinoy

Original Baybayin
Modified Baybayin
pe-pino-nu
pe-pino-nuy
pi-no
pi-no-y

Pinay

pe-pina
pe-pinay
pi-na
pi-na-y

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Mahal Kita

Original Baybayin
maha ke-kita
ma-ha-ki-ta

Modified Baybayin
mahal ke-kita
ma-ha-l-ki-ta

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Strength

This is one of those English words that just doesn't translate into Baybayin too well. There's just too many consecutive consonants. I suggest using the Tagalog translation instead. Use the Tagalog word "lakas" which should give you the following Baybayin translation:

Original Baybayin
laka
Modified Baybayin
lakas

But if you really insist on using the English word, make sure you use the Baybayin script with Spanish modifications. It would produce this result:

s t de-di ng t

Yes, I purposely left out the "h" because there is no "th" sound in Tagalog.

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Maganda

Original Baybayin
Modified Baybayin
magada
maganda
ma-ga-da
ma-ga-n-da

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Malaya

malaya
ma-la-ya

(Results would be the same using the original or modified Baybayin)

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Mabuhay

Original Baybayin
mabo-buha
ma-bu-ha

Modified Baybayin
mabo-buhay
ma-bu-ha-y

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Kayumanggi

Original Baybayin
kayo-yumage-gi
ka-yu-ma-gi

Modified Baybayin
kayo-yumangge-gi
ka-yu-ma-ng-gi

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