Philippine Literature during the Precolonial Period

Oral Tradition

The method of transmitting literary works through storytelling, chants, and songs before written records existed.

Writing System

Some early Filipinos used scripts like Baybayin to write down literature, though most were oral.

Spanish Influence on Precolonial Literature

Many early written literary works were destroyed by Spanish friars, but some survived due to resistance and geographical isolation.

Mythological Age

Stories about the creation of the world, nature, deities, and spirits.

Heroic Age

Focused on cultural heroes and mortals, often through epics that inspired and taught values.

Folktales

Traditional stories with humans, animals, or plants as characters, passed down and modified over generations.

Baybayin Writing System Origins

Derived from Kavi, an ancient Javanese script from Indonesia.

Baybayin Writing System Writing Materials

Early Filipinos used palm leaves or bamboo, knives as pens, and sap as ink.

Baybayin Writing System Structure

• 17 basic syllables (3 vowels, 14 consonants).

• Symbols could be modified using kudlit (dots, short lines, or arrowheads) to change vowel sounds