Baybayin Boxed Type Font ©

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Note: You must install this font to see the Baybayin characters on this page.

Font Created by: Dahn Jacob (daneru / taga-bundok)

Baybayin Boxed Type is a stylized modern font and should not be considered a historically accurate
example of the Baybayin. The characters’ shapes, sizes and weights have been made uniform in order to
present a neat and elegant printed appearance

Instructions: (borrowed from Morrow’s Fonts and Nordenx’s Fonts.)

Baybayin Spelling
The most important thing to remember when writing Baybayin script is to spell the words as they sound and not as
they are spelled in modern Filipino or other languages. e.g. The words ng and mga should be spelled nang and
manga.

1. Each character (or titik) is a complete syllable with an a vowel sound.

e.g. bb = baba
2. To change the vowel sound to e or i, place a mark (called a kudlít) above the character.

e.g. bibe = bibe

3. To change the vowel sound to o or u, place the kudlít below the character.

e.g. bobo = bobo

4. Only use the vowel characters A I U when the syllable has no consonant.

e.g. bbE = babae

5. If a character is not pronounced with any vowel, do not write it. For example, the letters n and k should not be

written in the word bundók. e.g. budo = bu(n)dó(k).

6. Or, as an alternative, characters without vowels may be written if you use the so-called “reformed” Baybayin which
was introduced by a Spaniard, Francisco Lopez, in 1620. Just place an underscore (_) under the character to
cancel the sound of the vowel.

e.g. bun_dok_ = bundók

And Remember:

* da and ra are usually represented by the same character ( d ) in Tagalog.

* you can use da for ra but baybayin modern also provides an alternative script for ra ( r ).

* nga is one character ( N ), not two: ng (na, ga).

Typing with the Baybayin Boxed Type Fonts
The fonts are Unicode compliant but a standard western keyboard can also access the characters. Typing with these
fonts is as simple as typing with any other fonts. If you know the basic spelling rules of the Baybayin, that is enough.
You don’t have to learn awkward keyboard maneuvers such as dead keys and you do not need switch letters around
to make the kudlíts appear in their proper places.

One Important Note: If your application (word processor, etc.) has an auto correction feature, turn it off. A feature
such as Capitalize first letter of sentences will shift your first character to upper case. This may produce an alternate
character for some keys, which may not be correct for what you intend to write.

All of the consonants are typed by using the corresponding upper or lower case keys except for nga ( N ) which
is typed by shifting to the upper case N. Using the shift key also produces some non-Filipino letters. See the chart
below.

The small marks that are written above and below the Baybayin characters are called kudlíts. They change the vowel
sound of the character. They are also typed by using only the corresponding lower case keys – i or e for the kudlít
above a character, and u or o for the kudlít below.

The vowel characters are typed by shifting to the corresponding upper case keys. These are only used in syllables

that have no consonant. A = A, I = I or E, U = U or O.

If you prefer to write in the Spanish “reformed” Baybayin system, the cross-shaped kudlít (+) can be typed by using
the underscore/low line key (_). This is called a virama in English (from ancient Sanskrit) or a sabát in Tagalog. It
cancels the vowel sound that is always pronounced with any consonant of the Baybayin.

Typing the period or full stop key ( . ) produces this multipurpose punctuation mark ( . ).
This is the Baybayin equivalent of a period. It ends a sentence. In ancient documents, it was also used like a comma,
or to mark a clause in a sentence. Often its use seemed completely random.

Typing the comma ( , ) produces this mark ( , )

It is just a different form of the multipurpose punctuation mark ( || ).

Use these charts to help you as you learn to write Baybayin and learn to use this font.

The Vowel Characters

Only use these letters when the vowel is not attached to a consonant. For example, at the beginning of a word or a

syllable, like the a in ako: Ako

key to produce these characters.
or the second i in hatiin htiIn_ You must use the shift
Baybayin
Character A E E O O
Keystroke (shift) A (shift) E (shift) I (shift) O (shift) U
The Kudlits
The kudlits are only typed after consonant characters (listed below). They should never be used with the vowel
characters (shown above). Note the slight difference between the the vowels “e and I” – e with two kudlit and i has
one; and “o and u” – o with one kudlit and u with two. . Also, the virama or cross kudlit is on it’s side – looking more
like a capital letter “T” than a “+”. These are unique characteristics of Daneru’s writing incorporated in his fonts.

e i o u _
Baybayin
Kudlit

Keystroke e i o u _

The Consonant Characters

Simply typing the corresponding upper or lower case letters on your keyboard produces the consonant characters.

The one exception is the Filipino letter Nga N , which is obtained by typing an upper case N (shift n). Remember
that each consonant character contains the sound of a, so if you don’t want that sound, you must type a kudlit after
the character.

b k d g h l m n
Baybayin
Character

Keystroke Bb Kk Dd Gg Hh Ll Mm n

N @ P r s t w y
Baybayin
Character

Keystroke N (nga) @ P Rr Ss Tt Ww Yy
Non-Filipino Sounds and Letters
Baybayin characters can substitute some letters that were not used by ancient Filipinos or they can be approximated
by a combination of characters. Type these letters as you would normally and a Baybayin substitute will appear. For
the letter j with a phonetic sound of “diya”, type either j. In this particular set of font, I combined “d” with a virama
followed by ”ya” , incorporated as one key stroke. As shown in the table below.

For example:

Phonetic Fa, Ja, Ja, Qua, Qua, Va, Xa, Xa, Za,
/Sound Pa Diya Ha K’wa Kuwa Ba k’sa Sa

P j h Q q B x z
Baybayin
Equivalent

Keystroke P j Hh Q q V Bb Xx Ss Z z
Equivalent j Eng. j Spa. q Eng. q Spa. x Tag. x, z, s

Punctuation
Punctuation is very basic in the Baybayin script so it has been duplicated on many different keys. Baybayin modern
subtly altered some for use in modern writing (this is based on how I use Baybayin in my handwriting).

You can simply use the scripts for period ( . ): . ; and comma ( , ): , ; for most of these alternatives if you wish.
 . , : ; ! ? ( ) [ ] {} / \ |
Baybayin
Punctuation

Keystroke . , : ; ! ? ( ) [ ] { } / \ |

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