Old Tagalog, also known as Old Filipino (Tagalog: Lumang Tagalog; Baybayin: pre-virama: ᜎᜓᜋ ᜆᜄᜎᜓ, post-virama [krus kudlit]: ᜎᜓᜋᜅ᜔ ᜆᜄᜎᜓᜄ᜔; post-virama [pamudpod]: ᜎᜓᜋᜅ᜴ ᜆᜄᜎᜓᜄ᜴), is the earliest form of the Tagalog language during the Classical period. It is the primary language of pre-colonial Tondo, Namayan and Maynila. The language originated from the Proto-Philippine language and evolved to Classical Tagalog, which was the basis for Modern Tagalog. Old Tagalog uses the Tagalog script or Baybayin, one of the scripts indigenous to the Philippines.

Old Tagalog
ᬢᬕ᭄ᬮ
Pronunciation[t̪ɐ̞gal̪og]
RegionPhilippines, particularly the present-day regions of Calabarzon and Mimaropa
Era10th century AD (developed into Classical Tagalog in c. 16th century; continued as modern Southern Tagalog dialects spoken in Aurora,[1] Calabarzon, and Mimaropa, most popular is the Batangas dialect.)
Baybayin
Luzon Kawi (before c. 1300)
Language codes
ISO 639-3

Etymology

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The word Tagalog is derived from the endonym ᜆᜄ ᜁᜎᜓᜄ᜔ or ᜆᜄ ᜁᜎᜓ (taga-ilog, "river dweller"), composed of ᜆᜄ (tagá-, "native of" or "from") and ᜁᜎᜓᜄ᜔ or ᜁᜎᜓ (ílog, "river"). Very little is known about the ancient history of the language; linguists such as David Zorc and Robert Blust speculate that the Tagalogs and other Central Philippine ethno-linguistic groups had originated in Northeastern Mindanao or the Eastern Visayas.[2][3]

History

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The Baybayin script, used to write in Tagalog prior to the arrival of the Spanish in 16th century.

Old Tagalog is one of the Central Philippine languages, which evolved from the Proto-Philippine language, which comes from the Austronesian peoples who settled in the Philippines around 2200 BC.[4]

The early history of the Tagalog language remains relatively obscure, and a number of theories exist as to the exact origins of the Tagalog peoples and their language. Scholars such as Robert Blust suggest that the Tagalogs originated in northeastern Mindanao or the eastern Visayas.[5] Possible words of Old Tagalog origin are attested in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription from the 10th century, which is largely written in Old Malay.[6] The first known complete book to be written in Tagalog is the Doctrina Christiana (Christian Doctrine), printed in 1593. The book also used Baybayin script.[7]

The question has been raised about the origin of some words in the various languages of the Philippines and their possible connection to ancient Buddhist and Hindu culture in the region, as the language is influenced by Sanskrit, Malay, Tamil and Chinese.[8][9]

Writing system

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Old Tagalog was written in Baybayin, a writing system formerly used in the Philippines which belongs to the Brahmic family of scripts.

vowels
a
i
e
u
o
b
/b/ ᜊ᜔
ba
bi
be
ᜊᜒ
bu
bo
ᜊᜓ
k
/k/ ᜃ᜔
ka
ki
ke
ᜃᜒ
ku
ko
ᜃᜓᜓ
d/r
/d/ /r/ ᜇ᜔
da/ra
di/ri
de/re
ᜇᜒ
du/ru
do/ro
ᜇᜓ
g
/g/ ᜄ᜔
ga
gi
ge
ᜄᜒ
gu
go
ᜄᜓ
h
/h/ ᜑ᜔
ha
hi
he
ᜑᜒ
hu
ho
ᜑᜓ
l
/l/ ᜎ᜔
la
li
le
ᜎᜒ
lu
lo
ᜎᜓ
m
/m/ ᜋ᜔
ma
mi
me
ᜋᜒ
mu
mo
ᜋᜓ
n
/n/ ᜈ᜔
na
ni
ne
ᜈᜒ
nu
no
ᜈᜓ
ng
/ŋ/ ᜅ᜔
nga
ngi
nge
ᜅᜒ
ngu
ngo
ᜅᜓ
p
/p/ ᜉ᜔
pa
pi
pe
ᜉᜒ
pu
po
ᜉᜓ
s
/s/ ᜐ᜔
sa
si
se
ᜐᜒ
su
so
ᜐᜓ
t
/t/ ᜆ᜔
ta
ti
te
ᜆᜒ
tu
to
ᜆᜓ
w
/w/ ᜏ᜔
wa
wi
we
ᜏᜒ
wu
wo
ᜏᜓ
y
/j/ ᜌ᜔
ya
yi
ye
ᜌᜒ
yu
yo
ᜌᜓ

Phonology

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Old Tagalog Vowels
Height Front Central Back
Close i /i/ u /u/
Open a /a/
Table of consonant phonemes of Old Tagalog[10]
Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Dorsal Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Stop p b t d k ɡ ʔ
Fricative s h
Approximant w l j

See also

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References

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  1. ^ While Aurora is geographically northern Tagalog area which borders Bulacan & Nueva Ecija, Aurora Tagalog dialect is closely related to Tayabas Tagalog of Quezon mostly by accent & vocabulary.(Discovering Aurora Archived January 31, 2024, at the Wayback Machine in phinder.ph, Is it true that Aurora uses the Southern Tagalog dialect? in Reddit)[better source needed].
  2. ^ Zorc, David. 1977. The Bisayan Dialects of the Philippines: Subgrouping and Reconstruction. Pacific Linguistics C.44. Canberra: The Australian National University
  3. ^ Blust, Robert. 1991. The Greater Central Philippines hypothesis. Oceanic Linguistics 30:73–129
  4. ^ Mijares, Armand Salvador B. (2006). "The Early Austronesian Migration To Luzon: Perspectives From The Peñablanca Cave Sites". Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association (26): 72–78. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014.
  5. ^ Blust, Robert (1991). "The Greater Central Philippines Hypothesis". Oceanic Linguistics. 30 (2): 73–129. doi:10.2307/3623084. JSTOR 3623084.
  6. ^ Postma, Antoon. (1992). The Laguna Copper-Plate Inscription: Text and Commentary. Philippine Studies vol. 40, no. 2:183–203
  7. ^ Zorc, David. 1977. The Bisayan Dialects of the Philippines: Subgrouping and Reconstruction. Pacific Linguistics C.44. Canberra: The Australian National University
  8. ^ "Indian Origins of Filipino Customs". Vedic Empire. Retrieved 2013-11-09.
  9. ^ "The Indian in the Filipino - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos". Globalnation.inquirer.net. Archived from the original on 2015-06-21. Retrieved 2013-11-09.
  10. ^ Zorc, David (1993). "The Prehistory and Origin of the Tagalog People". In Øyvind Dahl (ed.). Language - a doorway between human cultures : tributes to Dr. Otto Chr. Dahl on his ninetieth birthday. Oslo: Novus. pp. 201–211.
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