PRE-COLONIAL PHILIPPINE LITERATURE

• The literature of a formative past by the various groups of people who inhabited the archipelago
• A literature of varying human interest
• Close to the religious and political organizations of the ancient Filipinos
• Versifications: 

               Octosyllabic - Legendary and religious poems
               Dodecasyllabic - Romance

Riddle (Bugtong) - made up of one or more measured lines with rhymes and may consist of 4 to 12                                    syllables

                               -Showcase the Filipino wit, literary talent, and keen observation of the                                                    sorroundings

                               -Involves reference to one or two images that symbolize the characteristics of an                                   unknown object that is to be guessed

     Purpose of Bugtong:

         1. To entertain - living in remote areas, before the advent of electricity, families would sit                                               around the fire and the elders would quiz the younger generation with riddles.

         2. To educate - riddles serve the function of passing down knowledge from one generation to                                      the next. They require thinking in order to solve them.

         3. To tittilate - many ols Filipino riddles contain double entendres that were intended to amuse                                    the men and shock the women

         4. To curse, without expressly cursing - a riddle could be made up against an enemy, rival town,                                                                         or suitor.

         5. To preserve the culture - riddles communicate the old ways from one generation to the next   

Salawikain and Sawikain (Epigrams/Maxims/Proverbs)

-Short poems that have been customarily been used and served as laws or rules on good behavior by our ancestors

-Allegories or parables that impart lessons for the young

-Often expressing a single idea, that is usually satirical and had a witty ending

Bulong (Chants)

-Used in a witchcraft or enchantments

Kasabihan (Sayings)

-Used in teasing or to comment on a person's acutations

Tanaga

-A quatrain with seven syllables each with the same rhyme at the end of each line

Ambahan

-Traditional poetry of the Hanunoo Mangyans of Oriental Mindoro which is normally inscribed on bamboo using a pre-colonial syllabic writing system called the Surat Mangyan

-seven-syllable metric lines

-can be composed of more than four lines

-recited by parents to educate their children, by the youth to express their love, by the old to impart experiences, or by the community in tribal ceremonies

-on some occasions like burial rites, the ambahan is used for entertainment

Myths

-derived from Philippine folk literature, which is the traditional oral literature of the Filipino people. This refers to a wide range of material due to the ethnic mix of the Philippines

Ancient Metrical Tales

-Aliguyon

-Biag ni Lam-ang

-Ibalon

-Hinilawod

.

Folk Songs

-a form lyric which expresses the people's hopes, aspirations, and lifestyles

-repetitive and sonorous, didactic and naive

-traditional songs and melodies

-inspired by the reaction of the people to their environment

uyayi - lullaby

komintang - war song

kundiman - melancholic love song

harana - serenade

tagay - drinking song

mambayu - Kalinga rice-pounding song

subli - dance-ritual of courtship/marriage

Tagulaylay - song of the dead