The Hanunóo Mangyan:

Hanunóo is an Austronesian language spoken in the southern part of the Philippine island of Mindoro. Speakers of this language are known as Hanunóo or Hanunóo-Mangyan. The term Mangyan is the collective name for the eight indigenous peoples of Mindoro.

The Script:

Surat Mangyan, also known to local Mindoreños as Sulat Mangyan, the Hanunóo script is one of three surviving pre-Hispanic forms of writing in the Philippines. It is a version of the island's ancient script collectively known as Baybayin. Hanunóo writing is used mainly to write love songs or epic poetry called ʼambāhan, and also for regular & romantic correspondence. The script is used for writing in Hanunóo and other Mangyan languages but can also be used for writing other Filipino languages since it basically uses the same structure as other versions of Baybayin.

The Font:

Download it here in DA: [link]

The zip file contains the TTF file and documentation on how to use it. If used in your artwork, please include a credit and/or link back to either the blog ([link]) or my DA page.

The Style:

Baybayin Mangyan Brush Script is a handwriting-style from what is traditionally carved characters. This font is based on several Mangyan posters & artwork I've seen in person. The characters’ shapes, sizes and weights have been made uniform in order to present a neat and elegant printed appearance.

What's new?

I included an alternate Mangyan version of the virama (vowel cancelling kudlit) mark called a "pamudpod". It works the same way as the Spanish cross kudlit or virama which is also still available. The pamudpod works aesthetically well at the end of a word while the cross particularly works well in the middle (and at the end) of a word. You can use either one or both or neither in your composition. To access the pamudpod use the equal key ( = ) and to access the virama use the plus key ( + ).

There is a new kudlit (consonant-vowel ligatures) system?

The Nordenx fonts are created so that a standard western keyboard can easily access the baybayin 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. However, please note that the Mangyan script have different kudlit positions depending on what character is used. These different kudlit positions can be accessed by typing the keys for e, i, o, u, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 (see sample image above). Using these keys, you can easily and accurately position your kudlits to write the proper Mangyan syllables. To render kudlit in the classical baybayin i/e & o/u locations, just use the i an o keys respectively.

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.

For more info about Mangyan: [link]
For more info about Hanunóo: [link]

For more info on the new features included in this font set, please read the rich text format (.rtf) file that is included in the zip.



Font UPDATED to v.1.01 on July 5, 2010
* Glyph for Ga replaced
* New kudlit positions for Ra assigned to key 7 and 8
* New suggested keystroke for Di/Du (ae)
* Various glyph cleanup and re-alignments