Baybayin Modern Damo Font ©

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

Font Created by: Norman de los Santos (Nordenx)

Baybayin Modern Fonts are stylized composites from publications & handwriting
examples from the past. This font is a modern representation and should not be
considered a historical example of the Baybayin; however it is based on the traditional
characters’ shapes, structure, and form. The glyph’s strokes, sizes and weights have
been made uniform in order to present a neat and elegant printed appearance. The
font is calligraphic & artistic representations of my handwriting.

Instructions: (modified from Morrow’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 a small cross (+) 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 Modern Fonts
The Nordenx 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 plus/equal key (+/=) either shifted or not. 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 or the second i in hatiin htiI You must
use the shift key to produce these characters.

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).

e i o u =
Baybayin
Kudlit
 +
Keystroke e i o u + =
Note: Damo Font has two different styles for the virama, accessed by the + and = keys (see above).
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.

Baybayin
Character b k d g h l m n
Keystroke Bb Kk Dd Gg Hh Ll Mm n
Baybayin
Character N @ p r s t w y
Keystroke N (nga) @ Pp 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 c, type either k or s depending on which
sound you want.

For example:

Phoneme Fat, Pat Jack, Jamon, K’wa Ka Vat, Bat Exam, Sa, Za,
/Sound D’ya Hamon ek’sam Xa

f j h q k v x z
Baybayin
Equivalent
Keystroke F f, Pp Jj Hh Qq Kk V v, Bb Xx Ss, Z z
(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 . , : ; ! ? ( ) [ ] { } / \ |

Font Alignment & Size

Baybayin Modern Font is slightly raised or superscripted compared to roman
characters; this is intentional as to provide space for the lower kudlits and the curvy
slash or serifs below some characters.

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Nordenx © 2010