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All my points + good karms for a translation for this tattoo
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Only the artist can interpret correctly their work of art.
It has some Baybayin lettering, and there are suggestion of the sea, fishes, and forest.
I can make out a few lettering that says da la da sa
The big snake like drawing in the shoulder is the vowel "i" or "e" in baybayin writing system.
There is also a continues "ha" drawn lengthwise. Though, I can't figure out what it means or signifies.
My amateur interpretation of this work of art is "man of the forest and sea".
Sorry bud, I can't help much.Last edited by Dale Cardon; 04-01-2012, 06:30 PM.
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First off, the character style is Tagalog, not Bisaya or Ilokano,
(based on styles recorded by San Agustin in 1703 and de Mas
in 1843). This strongly suggests whatever the tattoo is saying
(outside of names, or gibberish) would also be in Tagalog. No
diacritics are clearly visible, hence the consonants all appear to
end in the short vowel "a" (an exception being if the tattoo is
presenting an acronym of sorts). Anyway...
...there's a large, stylized "E/I" on the deltoid.
The characters running back to front over the trapezius are:
"Da/Ra" - "La" - "E/I" - "Da/Ra" - "Sa"
If the tattoo-artist was following traditional rules, he would've
excluded the terminal syllable or consonant from every word
represented (welcome to the fucked-up world of the baybayin
syllabary, lol).
Treating the deltoid "E/I" as the first character, the sequence
could be thus be interpreted as: IDALA(NG) IDASA(L) meaning
"Pray; Chant", which I've seen before as a preface to animist
incantations or spells.
Obviously (because of the fucked-up rules of baybayin), other
interpretations are possible, especially if you treat the deltoid
"E/I" as totally separate, but the standard opening words of a
spell or curse seem as likely as any.
Again, there's the chance the characters represent an acronym
of modern meaning; or that they're total gibberish --chosen by
the artist only because they looked good.Last edited by horge; 04-04-2012, 07:57 AM.
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The letter “R”, though part of Tagalog alphabet is not represented in Baybayin. But manong horge is right; the d in baybayin can also be the r.
Traditionally, the d and r were interchangeable (example madumi /marumi or madami/marami).
On second look , I think there are some minute details that I have missed. The first character in the tattoo has a “kudlit” (diacritical mark or accent) at the top of the character. So the translation should be either “De/DI” or Re/Ri”.
There is another character that was missed because it is barely visible from the angles shown in the pics. It is on the very top of the shoulder (sorry, I don’t know the correct term for it). Though barely visible, it isn’t completely discernible. The character is very close to “ka” but could also be “ke/ki” or “ko/ku”.
The first character is De/Di or Re/Ri
Second, La
Third, Ka or Ke/Ki or Ko/Ku
Fourth, Da or Ra
Fifth, Sa
The character directly below and at the center is either E or I
Manong horge, there is something I noticed about how the E/I was drawn by the artist. I think it is very close to the Ilocano version. I might be mistaken though.
Hirap talaga interpret mga work of art ng mga artist (subject to infinite interpretation). May mga sariling mundo mga yun hehe. boxing na lang akoLast edited by Dale Cardon; 04-04-2012, 05:13 PM.
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Originally posted by horge View PostFirst off, the character style is Tagalog, not Bisaya or Ilokano,
(based on styles recorded by San Agustin in 1703 and de Mas
in 1843). This strongly suggests whatever the tattoo is saying
(outside of names, or gibberish) would also be in Tagalog. No
diacritics are clearly visible, hence the consonants all appear to
end in the short vowel "a" (an exception being if the tattoo is
presenting an acronym of sorts). Anyway...
...there's a large, stylized "E/I" on the deltoid.
The characters running back to front over the trapezius are:
"Da/Ra" - "La" - "E/I" - "Da/Ra" - "Sa"
If the tattoo-artist was following traditional rules, he would've
excluded the terminal syllable or consonant from every word
represented (welcome to the fucked-up world of the baybayin
syllabary, lol).
Treating the deltoid "E/I" as the first character, the sequence
could be thus be interpreted as: IDALA(NG) IDASA(L) meaning
"Pray; Chant", which I've seen before as a preface to animist
incantations or spells.
Obviously (because of the fucked-up rules of baybayin), other
interpretations are possible, especially if you treat the deltoid
"E/I" as totally separate, but the standard opening words of a
spell or curse seem as likely as any.
Again, there's the chance the characters represent an acronym
of modern meaning; or that they're total gibberish --chosen by
the artist only because they looked good.
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