Basahan


Basahan script, 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.

Alphabet

The Basahans of pre-Hispanic Bicolanos have three stand-alone vowels and fifteen consonants. This script can be called an abugida because signs represent syllables, that is a consonant with a vowel.

Way of writing

According to Scott, when e.g. the sign for ba has to be read as be / bi it has a kaldit on the left, if it has to be read as bu / bo the kaldit is on the right. The basahan of the older bikolanos has an own sign for /r/ while the basahans of Tagalog and Ilokano have not. In his time the kaldit was called kaholoan or holo according to Marcos de Lisboa, author of the earliest dictionary of Bikol.