Hanunó'o Letter U

ᜢ is Hanunó'o's independent vowel letter for u or o.

It stands where a vowel begins a word or follows another vowel; after a consonant, Hanunó'o uses the dependent sign ᜳ. The word around it determines which sound fits.

As of 2026, the Hanunó'o Mangyan people of Mindoro maintain a living writing tradition in this script. Hanunó'o belongs to the Brahmic-derived family of scripts that grew from early Indian writing traditions. Unicode describes a possible route through Pallava and Kawi between the 10th–14th centuries; the exact route is uncertain.

What did people write in Hanunó'o?

A 2013 account describes bamboo verse for courtship and social events.

That 2013 account calls the form ambahan, a traditional seven-syllable verse carved on bamboo and recited on request. A 1994 ethnographic account also records personal messages on containers, sheaths, instruments, and house beams.

The 2013 account contrasts older ambahan—archaic, serious verse for adults—with shorter, conversational modern forms, mostly used by children and often humorous. Hanunó'o is related to Tagalog (often called Baybayin), Buhid, and Tagbanwa through the Philippine Brahmic-derived tradition; that link does not prove direct descent from Tagalog or make the scripts interchangeable.

How should I distinguish ᜢ from ᜳ?

ᜢ stands on its own; ᜳ attaches to a consonant.

Hanunó'o consonant letters carry an a sound unless a vowel sign changes it; ᜳ changes that vowel to u or o. Its position depends on the consonant, so read the whole syllable.

Hanunó'o is read left to right even when carved upward in bamboo columns. The script's reading direction stays the same while its physical layout changes.