The

Filipino

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The Vowels

like the u in up and cut (in the majority of English dialects)

e i o
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like the e in end and bed

like the i in machine and marine

like the o in old and sold

The Consonants
K, P & T
In English we aspirate the letters k, p and, t. That means that we tend to release some air when we pronounce these sounds. These letters are not as explosive in Filipino. This light Filipino sound can be heard in English words where these letters follow an s. For example, skate, spare and, stand.
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D, L, N & T
The letters d, l, n, and, t are pronounced in a slightly different way too. In English we place the tip of the tongue against the back of the upper front teeth for these sounds but in Filipino the tip of the tongue is placed lightly on the edge of the upper front teeth. Again, it is a lighter sound than the English 4/15/12 44 equivalents. Free template from

The Letter R
The Filipino r is very different from the English r. It is sounded by flicking the tip of the tongue against the back of the upper front teeth. This r sound can be compared to the double d in "ladder" but only if the word is not overenunciated. Some Filipinos, especially in the north, really roll their r's by rapidly repeating this action in a machine gun fashion. Others roll their rs from the back of the throat. However, these variations are not important to a student and may even seem like an affectation when sounded by a non-Filipino. Only a single flick of the tongue 4/15/12 Free template from 55 is necessary.

The Letter NG
This is a single letter in the Filipino alphabet and its sound is not at all foreign to the English speaker. It can be found in words such as sing and hang etc. The difficulty for non-Filipinos is that the ng sound is often at the beginning of a word or a syllable.

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The Accent Marks (Mga Tuldk)

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These marks are placed above vowels only and they do not change the sound of the vowels as they do in other languages such as French. They merely mark which syllables should be stressed or if a vowel should be clipped short with a glottal stop or both. Notice that the name of each tuldk contains the very accent mark it describes.
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Pahils (Acute) Paiw (Grave) Pakupy (Circumflex)

Pahils /
The pahils is the most common tuldk. It simply shows which syllable or syllables should be accented or stressed in a word. (Hils simply means slanted.) bon (supplies, > ban (buried) allowance) bta (bathrobe) > bat (suffer) bhis (style of > bihs (all dressed up) dressing) btas (hole) > buts (punctured) gling (come > galng (skill, luck) from) hpon > Hapn (Japanese) (afternoon) 4/15/12 Free template from 88 samantla > samantal (take advantage)

Paiw \
The paiw mark is found only at the ends of words. It does not mark a stress on that syllable. Instead, it signifies that the vowel sound should be clipped short in the throat. (Iw means slash as with a knife.)

bata (bathrobe) > bat (child) baga (ember) > bag (lung) suka (vomit) > suk (vinegar)
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Pakupy ^ The pakupy mark is a combination of the pahils and the paiw marks. It signifies a stress on the marked syllable and a glottal stop on the vowel. (A kupy is a Filipino hat or long ago, a helmet.)

basa (to read) > bas (wet) Hindi (an Indian > hind (no, not) language)
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Malumay or Banayad Malumay words have no accent marks but there is a stress on the second last syllable. This class of word is so common that most dictionaries do not mark them with a pahils tuldk. Examples:
babae lalaki Filipino kahapon

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1111

l a l a m u n a n

Malum
Malum words are pronounced the same way as malumay, with the stress on the second last syllable, but they also have a glottal stop on the final vowel. This is marked with the paiw tuldk. Examples:

bat
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har

tangh malab balit al

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Mabils
Mabils or quick words have a single stress on the final syllable which is signified by a pahils tuldk. Examples:

is
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talag bibg tanng magand

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Marags
A marags word is quick like a mabils word with the stress on the final syllable but it also has a final glottal stop like a malum word. Examples:
dag
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big

salit
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panibugh salap
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Marin
A marin or stressed word can contain the same stress pattern as any of the four types mentioned above but with an extra stressed syllable. Therefore there are four types of marin words. Examples: Maring
Malumay Maring Malum Maring Mabils Maring Marags
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> > > >

linlangan lbangan maar paraln dlit

nakassir inank nagbbir

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Malaw-aw
Malaw-aw is a very rare type of pronunciation that was more common in the days before the Spanish language influenced Filipino speech. It is marked with a hyphen or gitlng instead of a tuldk. The gitling represents a glottal stop before the vowel of the final syllable. Examples:

tung-ol (a kind of banner)

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alw-iw (babbling of water) bag-ang (molar) ig-ig (to shake up) (variant)
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The Word Ng
The first obstacle for a student of Filipino is often the word "ng". It is roughly the equivalent of the English word "of". It is pronounced nang but it is always abbreviated because it is used so often in Filipino speech and writing. There is another word which is spelled "nang" and pronounced the same way. It has several meanings such as a conditional "when" and "in order to" etc. Ng is also a letter in the Filipino alphabet but when it is recited as part of the alphabet, it is pronounced nga.
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The Word Mga

"Mga" is another very common Filipino abbreviation which is pronounced mang. It makes nouns plural just like the letter s does in English and it takes on the meaning of "approximate" when dealing with numbers.
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Presented by: Miss Alita Rose V. Bulay MAT-English Presented to: Dr. Carmelie Grace Daquin
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