Please click here to leave an anniversary message (in any language you choose). You do not need to be a member of Lowlands-L to do so. In fact, we would be more than thrilled to receive messages from anyone. Click here to read what others have written so far.
What’s with this “Wren” thing?
The oldest extant version of the fable
we
are presenting here appeared in 1913 in the first volume of a two-volume anthology
of Low
Saxon folktales (Plattdeutsche
Volksmärchen “Low German Folktales”)
collected by Wilhelm Wisser (1843–1935). Read
more ...
Masbate—many markets,
manly rodeo, magnificent
beaches
and more ... Here Bondod Island
Language information:
Masbatenyo (or Masbateño, also known as Minasbate) is used by well over half a million people in or
from the Philippine province of Masbate and in some adjacent areas. It is usually
counted
as one
of the
Visayan (or Bisayan) languages, which are used on the Central Philippine Visayan
Islands. It is specifically classified
as one of the Central Visayan languages. (N.B.: Contrary to common belief,
Visayan is not a single language; it is a group of languages.) However, within
this group it is typologically peripheral, sharing some features with the neighboring
group of Bikol (or Bicolano) languages. For this reason Masbatenyo may be regarded
as belonging to the transitional “Bisakol” group. Its closest relatives are Capiznon and Hiligaynon (Ilonggo) used
on neighboring Panay Island, also Porohanon, Romblomanon and Waray-Waray, as
well as Bisakol languages such as Sorsogon and Northern Samar.
Like
several other
languages of the Philippines,
Masbatenyo and most other Visayan languages
used
to
be written with the Baybayin script (which is more popularly
known as Alibata),
one
of
several
syllabaries
used on the Philippine Islands since pre-colonial times. Its closest relative
appears
to be the Tagbanwa script of the Philippines’ Palawan Island. These scripts appear to be at least partly derived from the
Jawi script of Java, Bali and Sumatra, which is derived from the Brahmi-derived
Pallava script of Southern India. Even now, some Baybayin letters resemble letters
in other Filipino and Indonesian scripts, in the Lao, Khmer and Cham scripts
as well as in South Indic scripts such as the ones used for Malayalam, Telugu
and Kannada. In its pre-colonial form, the Baybayin script omits all syllable-final
consonants. The colonial Spanish administration introduced a revised version
that sought to remedy this. Though there are people who wish to continue the
Baybayin tradition, the script is now practically defunct and is used mostly
for decorative
purposes.
Genealogy: Austronesian > Malayo-Polynesian > Western > Philippines > Central > Visayan > Central > Peripheral (Bisakol)
Frontpage
