Pre Colonial Philippine

o The early literary forms of the Philippines were epics, legends,

riddles and proverbs which were told and retold by the natives.
o The literature of the pre-colonial Filipinos bore the marks of
the community.
o Filipinos managed to preserved laws, legends, songs and epics
by inscribing them on barks of trees, palm leaves and bamboos.
o Some of the literary forms have managed to survived war and
tropical disasters because they retained in the common minds
and were later reduced to permanent forms.
• Riddle
• Proverbs
• Chants
• Tanaga
• Myths
• Folk songs
• Folk narratives
• The most seminal of these folk speeches is the riddle which
is tigmo in Cebuano, bugtong in Tagalog, paktakonin Ilongo
and patototdon in Bicol. Central to the riddle is the talinghaga or
metaphor because it “reveals subtle resemblances between two
unlike objects” and one’s power of observation and wit are put
to the test.
• Showcase the Filipino wit, literary talent, and keen observation
of the surroundings
• Involves reference to one or two images that symbolize the
characteristics of an unknown object that is to be guessed
The proverbs or aphorisms express norms
or codes of behavior, community beliefs or
they instill values by offering nuggets of
wisdom in short, rhyming verse.
• Chants are often used in witchcraft or
enchantments
• A literature speaking or singing
words or sounds, often primarily on
one or two main pitches called
reciting tones.
• The extended form, tanaga, a mono-riming
heptasyllabic quatrain expressing insights and lessons
on life is “more emotionally charged than the terse
proverb and thus has affinities with the folk lyric.”
Some examples are the basahanon or extended didactic
sayings from Bukidnon and
the daraida and daragilon from Pana.
• A quatrain with seven syllables each with the same
rhyme at the end of each line
• 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
• There are many different creation myths in
Philippine mythology, originating from various
ethnic groups.
•The folk song, a form of folk lyric which
expresses the hopes and aspirations, the
people’s lifestyles as well as their loves. These
are often repetitive and sonorous, didactic and
naive as in the children’s songs or Ida-
ida(Maguindanao), tulang pambata (Tagalog)
or cansiones para abbing (Ibanag).
• The folk narratives, i.e. epics and folk tales are
varied, exotic and magical. They explain how the
world was created, how certain animals possess
certain characteristics, why some places have
waterfalls, volcanoes, mountains, flora or fauna
and, in the case of legends, an explanation of the
origins of things. Fables are about animals and
these teach moral lessons.