Introducing the Eskaya Writing System: A Complex Messianic Script from the Southern PhilippinesFootnote

* This paper has benefited greatly from the input of other scholars, particularly the participants in the International Workshop on Endangered Scripts of Island Southeast Asia, hosted by the Linguistic Dynamics Science Project at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 27 February–4 March 2014. Thanks especially to Asako Shiohara and Christopher Miller. I am indebted to Eskaya teachers for generously introducing me to the script, in particular Decena Nida Palma Salingay, Gaudencia Pizaña, Naning Galambao and Alberta Galambao. The Eskaya glyphs reproduced in this paper were developed with assistance from Marsiana Galambao (expert Eskaya consult), Siva Kalyan (consultant), and designers Mark Eastwood, Mikka Lagrimas, Joe Elvis de los Reyes, Michelle Gamboa, Lloyd Alden, Wap Martinez-Mercader and Cleobie Impang. Note that a font for the Eskaya script is only partially developed, although vector and image files are archived in PARADISEC.

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