Workshop helps keep
Baybayin alive
By Lanz Christian Bañes/Times-Herald staff writer For Christine Balza, Baybayin isn't just an ancient writing system -- it's alive. "It's more of a forgotten language," Balza said, countering notions that the spidery Filipino script is dead. Balza, a ceramic and watercolor artist, hosts a monthly Baybayin workshop every third Saturday at the Bayanihan Center of Seafood City. In addition to leading hands-on practice, Balza explains the history of the alphabet during the workshop. Archaeological evidence suggests Filipinos used Baybayin as early as 900 B.C. for a variety of purposes, including marking debts, Balza said. Each of the 17 symbols of the alphabet represents a whole syllable, such as "ba" or "ta." To change the vowel sound associated with the syllable, a tiny mark or "swoosh" known as a "kudlit" is made on the top of the symbol to turn "ba" to "be/bi" or at the bottom to make it "bo/bu." It can be written left to right, like English, or from top to bottom and was open for all to learn. "It was actually mandated that children learned it," Balza said. When the Spanish came to the Philippines in the 16th century, they tried to adopt the language to Catholic Spanish tastes and wrote the "Doctrina Cristiana," which was published and reprinted for more than 275 years, Balza said. The changes to the written language included an addition of a third kudlit, shaped like a cross, which nullified the vowel sound -- the "ba" would simply be read as the Western "b" sound. The altered version of Baybayin is sometimes referred to as Alibata. Eventually, the Western alphabet slowly replaced the language until the original disappeared into obscurity. Even those in the Philippines don't really know much about it, said Christian Cabuay, a Walnut Creek resident who runs the Web site www.baybayin.com. He attended high school in the United States and college in the Philippines. But thanks to the Internet, both Cabuay and Balza, who runs the Web site www.suku-art.com, said they are seeing an explosion of interest in Baybayin. The interest is particularly sharp among Filipino-Americans like Balza and Cabuay, they said. "We're out here trying to find identity," Cabuay said as immigrants and children of immigrants try to reconcile their old heritage with an American one. The popularity is especially felt among the tattooing community, said Cabuay, who sports a few Baybayin tattoos and offers tattoo designs at www.PinoyTattoos.com. Cabuay also believes that Baybayin is not dead and, like any writing system, is evolving. He argues against purists who decry the Spanish alterations to the language. "Just like any writing system, it has to mutate," he said. The next Baybayin workshop will be at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Bayanihan Center in the Seafood City complex, 3495 Sonoma Blvd.
