Old Tagalog, also known as Old Filipino ( tl, Lumang Tagalog; Baybayin: pre-virama: , post-virama rus kudlit ; post-virama amudpod ), is the earliest form of the

Tagalog language Tagalog (, ; ; '' Baybayin'': ) is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by the ethnic Tagalog people, who make up a quarter of the population of the Philippines, and as a second language by the majority. Its standardized form, ...

during the Classical period. It is the primary language of pre-colonial Tondo,

Namayan Namayan (Baybayin: Pre-Kudlit: or (''Sapa''), Post-Kudlit: ), also called Sapa,Locsin, Leandro V. and Cecilia Y. Locsin. 1967. ''Oriental Ceramics Discovered in the Philippines.'' Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company. Maysapan or Nasapan, an ...

and

Maynila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

. The language originated from the

Proto-Philippine language The Proto-Philippine language is a reconstructed ancestral proto-language of the Philippine languages, a proposed subgroup of the Austronesian languages which includes all languages within the Philippines (except for the Sama–Bajaw languages ...

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.

Etymology

The word ''Tagalog'' is derived from the endonym (''taga-ilog'', "river dweller"), composed of (''tagá-'', "native of" or "from") and (''ílog'', "river"). Very little is known about the ancient history of the language; linguists such as

David Zorc R. David Zorc (also R. David Paul Zorc; born 1943) is an American linguist primarily known for his work on Austronesian languages and linguistics, particularly the Philippine languages. Education Zorc graduated ''cum laude'' with an A.B. in Phi ...

and

Robert Blust Robert A. Blust (; ; May 9, 1940 – January 5, 2022) was an American linguist who worked in several areas, including historical linguistics, lexicography and ethnology. He was Professor of Linguistics at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. Blus ...

speculate that the Tagalogs and other Central Philippine ethno-linguistic groups had originated in Northeastern

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

or the Eastern Visayas.

History

Old Tagalog is one of the

Central Philippine languages The Central Philippine languages are the most geographically widespread demonstrated group of languages in the Philippines, being spoken in southern Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and Sulu. They are also the most populous, including Tagalog (and ...

, which evolved from the

, which comes from the Austronesian peoples who settled in the Philippines around 2200 BC. 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

suggest that the Tagalogs originated in northeastern Mindanao or the eastern Visayas. Possible words of Old Tagalog origin are attested in the

Laguna Copperplate Inscription The Laguna copperplate inscription ( tl, Inskripsyon sa binatbat na tanso ng Laguna, literal translation: ''Inscription on flattened copper of Laguna'') is an official acquittance inscribed onto a copper plate in the Shaka year 822 (Gregorian ...

from the 10th century, which is largely written in

Old Malay Malay was first used in the first millennia known as Old Malay, a part of the Austronesian language family. Over a period of two millennia, Malay has undergone various stages of development that derived from different layers of foreign influen ...

. The first known complete book to be written in Tagalog is the (Christian Doctrine), printed in 1593. The book also used Baybayin script. 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 Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

, Malay,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

and

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

Writing system

Old Tagalog was written in Baybayin, a writing system formerly used in the Philippines which belongs to the

Brahmic family The Brahmic scripts, also known as Indic scripts, are a family of abugida writing systems. They are used throughout the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and parts of East Asia. They are descended from the Brahmi script of ancient India ...

of scripts.

Phonology

References

External links