Sister in Baybayin = SI-TI?
December 9, 2007 by Christian
I came across this “Alibata” tattoo of “Sister” in the BMEInk gallery. The person probably went to an online Baybayin / Alibata any typed in “Sister” choosing original Baybayin. The result would be SI-TE as you see in the photo below. They might have thought that it was also a language translation as well.

A couple problems with this 1) There’s a Tagalog translation of sister (Kapatid or Ate), why not use that? 2) Sister could also be phonetically translated but would need to use modern Baybayin.
Below is a Kapatid (KA-PA-TI) and Ate (A-TE) in Baybayin.

Here’s sister (SI-S-TE-R) phonetically:

This is a classic example getting a Baybayin tattoo without the proper research or consultation. The fonts were obviously downloaded from the internet and translated using an online program. The end result is a tattoo that doesn’t make sense language wise or culturally. Unfortunately, I see issues like these rising due to the popularity of Baybayin tattoos.
Hanzi Smatter would be proud
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i like your alibata/baybayin translations.
i like your alibata/baybayin translations.