HomeThe Journal of Historyvol. 62 no. 1 (2016)

Romancing the Monreal Stones: Transcriptions, Decipherments, Translations, and Some Notes

Rolando O. Borrinaga

 

Abstract:

The Monreal Stones (or Batong Monreal) are the first set of stone artifacts written with baybayin, the ancient script of the Philippines, to have surfaced in this country. They were found inside a village school compound in the town of Monreal, on Ticao Island in Masbate Province. The paper presents the author’s transcriptions, decipherments, and translations of the baybayin characters on the stones, which appear to have been composed in the old Bisayan language. Notes on the possible cultural context of the writing on each artifact are also provided.