Welcoming the New Year with Ink and Heritage

The January 2026 Baybayin Meet-up kicked off the year with a vibrant celebration of culture and community, welcoming a fresh batch of students eager to learn the script of our ancestors. Participants delved into the fundamental rules of the Baybayin syllabary, mastering the use of kudlits to shift vowel sounds and practicing the essential principle of “Kung ano’ng bigkas, siyang baybay” (write it as it sounds). The session wasn't just about mechanics; it was a linguistic journey across the archipelago as we learned to write "to celebrate" in various languages, from the Ilocano Panangrambak to the T’boli Helobung.

Since Baybayin is phonetic (Kung ano’ng bigkas, siyang baybay), here is how those different regional words for "celebrate" are written.

The + or x sign under a character is the kudlit used to cancel the vowel sound at the end of a syllable.

• Pagdiriwang (Tagalog): ᜉᜄ᜔ᜇᜒᜇᜒᜏᜅ᜔ (Pa-g-di-ri-wa-ng)

• Kasaulogan (Bisaya): ᜃᜐᜂᜎᜓᜄᜈ᜔ (Ka-sa-u-lo-ga-n)

• Kasadyahan (Hiligaynon): ᜃᜐᜇ᜔ᜌᜑᜈ᜔ (Ka-sa-d-ya-ha-n)

• Panangrambak (Ilocano): ᜉᜈᜅ᜔ᜇᜋ᜔ᜊᜃ᜔ (Pa-na-ng-ra-m-ba-k)

• Maglami-lami (Tausug): ᜋᜄ᜔ᜎᜋᜒ ᜎᜋᜒ (Ma-g-la-mi-la-mi)

• Helobung (T’Boli): ᜑᜒᜎᜓᜊᜓᜅ᜔ (He-lo-bu-ng)

The theme of celebration continued as we explored the diverse festivals that color the Philippines every January. From the rhythmic beats of Cebu’s Sinulog and the soot-painted faces of Aklan’s Ati-Atihan to the coastal traditions of the Pangisdaan Festival in Navotas, the meetup highlighted the deep connection between our writing and our lived traditions. This cultural immersion culminated in a spirited team game where participants decoded festival clues written in Baybayin, putting their new skills to the test in a race to identify and write down these iconic Filipino events. We also wrote our New Year’s manifestations on a headdress similar to the one used in the Sinulog festival as a way to remind us of our hopes for the New Year.

-Angel

Head of Baybayin

-Paolo & Jocelyn

Tagasanay