Basahan

Basahan script,[1] also known as Guhit, is one of the ancient scripts of the Philippines used by the early native Bicolanos before the Spanish conquest of the Philippines.

Basahan Guhit, Súrat Bikolnon
Type	Abugida
Languages	Bicol
Parent systems	Proto-Sinaitic alphabet Phoenician alphabet Aramaic alphabet Brāhmī Tamil Pallava Old Kawi Basahan
Sister systems	In the Philippines: Baybayin Buhid Kulitan Hanunó'o Tagbanwa script In other countries: Balinese Batak Javanese Lontara Sundanese Rencong Rejang

Front cover of Mintz's bikol dictionary shows Basahan script.

Alphabet

Surat guhit (basahan)

The Basahans of pre-Hispanic Bicolanos have three stand-alone vowels (a, i, o) and fifteen consonants (ba, ka, da, ga, ha, la, ma, na, nga, pa, ra, sa, ta, wa, ya). This script can be called an abugida because signs represent syllables, that is a consonant with a vowel.

Way of writing

Historic:, Traditional:, Modern:

According to Scott, when e.g. the sign for ba has to be read as be / bi it has a kaldit (a small "v" shaped diacritic sign) on the left (or above), if it has to be read as bu / bo the kaldit is on the right (resp. below). The basahan of the older bikolanos has an own sign for /r/ while the basahans of Tagalog (Baybayin) and Ilokano (Kurdita) have not.[2] In his time the kaldit was called kaholoan or holo according to Marcos de Lisboa, author of the earliest dictionary of Bikol.[3][2]

Reference

1. Lisboa, Maŕcos de (1865). "basahan". Vocabulario de la Lengua Bicol (in Spanish and Bikol). p. 60. Retrieved 2019-12-01. BASAHAN. pc. El a, b, c, de ellos por donde aprenden á leer que tiene quince letras consonantes, y tres vocales, a, e, o.
2. Scott, William Henry (2004). Barangay. Ateneo de Manila University Press. p. 186. ISBN 971-550-135-4.
3. Lisboa, Maŕcos de (1865). "caholoan". Vocabulario de la Lengua Bicol (in Spanish and Bikol). p. 86. Retrieved 2019-12-01. CAHOLOAN. pc. Una virgula de esta manera, V. que ponen á los lados de sus caractéres, etc.