Hi Gavin and all the forum members,
I think the forum members especially Jentayu and Tunggulametung had already done great job in translating the scripts written on the blade of the Bangsamoro spear.
Anyhow I just want to contribute some little info that might be useful in addition to their works.
I don't know any of the Bangsamoro language (i.e. Bajau, Tausug, Illanun etc).
Anyhow the Bangsamoro language basically has a very strong resemblance with the Malay language (i.e. we shared words such as
keris, golok, pisau, tumpul, sumbing, kota, batu, kerbau etc).
Even we Malay always consider the Bangsamoro as Malay of the Philippines.
Okay, let's proceed with the transliteration of the text written on the blade of the Bangsamoro spear.
The first line appear as
بــجــاﻻن دتــوﺀ كــمــيــد
Or it might be
بــجــاﻻن دتــوﺀ كــمــيـــل
It's transliteration is
bjalan dtu' kmid or
bjalan dtu' kmil.
In the current Malay spelling it should appear as
bejalan Datu' Kamid or
bejalan Datu' Kamil.
I only understand the words
Datu' Kamid or
Datu' Kamil who must be the name of a royal family or a ruler somewhere in Southern Philippines.
The words
bejalan do carry meaning in Malay (i.e. walking) anyhow IMVHO it doesn't really relevance in this very particular phrase.
Bejalan might has a totally different meaning in the Bangsamoro language.
One thing, I prefer the first transliteration just because IMVHO the name of
Kamid is more longer and widely used compare to
Kamil which I consider as rather new in usage in South East Asia.
بـ ± b (i.e. it must be alphabet
بـ ± b because alphabet
تـ ± t,
ثـ ± th,
نـ ± n and
يـ ± i very seldom to meet with the alphabet
ـجـ ± j in Malay language group phonetically)
ـجـ ± j (i.e. it must be
ـجـ ± j because it is more in the usage compare to
ـحـ ± h and
ـخـ ± kh in Malay language group)
ـا ± a
ﻻ ± la
ن ± n (i.e. this alphabet
ن ± n must be at the end of the word because it is just not right phonetically to have alphabet
د ± d as the last one in any words in Malay language group)
د ± d (i.e. this alphabet
د ± d must be the first alphabet of a new word in this particular text)
تـ ± t
ـو ± u
ﺀ ± ' [i.e. in the olden days it is a normal practices in Jawi to add
ﺀ ± ' (i.e. hamzah) at the end (i.e. placed at the top of the used vowel alphabet) of the words to make it sound in between of a wovel sound and a k sound which carries totally different meanings such as
datu' (i.e. rulers title) and
datuk (grandfather) or
bala' (i.e. disaster) and
balak (i.e. logwood)]
كـ ± k
ـمـ ± m
ـيـ ± i
ـد ± d or
ـل ± l (i.e. the alphabet actually looks more like
ـل ± l but historically we seldom found name
Kamil used among South East Asian Muslim during those olden days; personally I believe the alphabet is actually
ـد ± d)
The second line appear as
نــاكــر كــن دتــوﺀ حــاســم
Or it might be
نــاكــد كــن دتــوﺀ حــاســم
It's transliteration is
nakr kn dtu' hasm or
nakd kn dtu' hasm.
In the current Malay spelling it should appear as
nakarkan Datu' Hasim or
nakadkan Datu' Hasim.
I only understand the words
Datu' Hasim who must be of another royal family or a ruler in the Southern Philippines.
The words
nakarkan or
nakadkan do not carry meaning in Malay.
نـ ± n
ـا ± a (i.e. alphabet
نـ ± n at the beginning of any word can not be written alone by itself; it must be followed by another alphabet)
كـ ± k
ـر ± r or
ـد ± d (i.e. IMVHO here the writing of alphabet
ـر ± r looks very closely similar to alphabet
ـد ± d).
كـ ± k
ـن ± n
د ± d
تـ ± t
ـو ± u
ﺀ ± ' (i.e. kindly ref to my explanation on the same alphabet above)
حـ ± h
ـا ± a
سـ ± s
ـم ± m
In summary it seems the text is letting us know that the particular Bangsamoro spear in your custody was actualy got something to do with the life and the deed of two royal families or rulars somewhere in Southern Philippines by the name
Datu' Kamid or
Datu' Kamil and
Datu' Hasim.
So sorry, this little info which I can offer you here, Gavin
It still has to be referred to any Bangsamoro language expert regarding the actual meaning of the text.
mohd