Tagalog phonology

In this post, I am going to teach you how to pronounce things in Tagalog hence the Tagalog phonology; phonology is a linguistic study concerning pronunciations and stuff. I am going to discuss things letter by letter. And also refer to my IPA chart (http://felipeaira.i.ph/blogs/felipeaira/2008/06/26/ipa-chart-for-tagalog/) to know how to pronounce IPA symbols. Since this page and that page contain IPA symbols, old-computer and -browser users may not have the right support for this stuff so, sadly, you may not view the symbols as well. Finally, don’t worry in the future posts, I’ll translate an English speech into Tagalog, transcribe it in IPA, and include an audio file for you to listen to.

Things about aspiration, glottal stopping, articulation, pronunciation of dipthongs, special exeptions and other stuffs which are generally discussed in phonologies will be discussed in future posts.

A

This letter is a very common letter in Tagalog. It is most of the times pronounced as /a/, but also, sometimes, as /ɐ/. What’s the difference between the two? /a/ is pronounced with the most open mouth possible, while the /ɐ/ is somehow in the midway of openness. /a/ is the standard pronunciation of the Spanish and Italian “a”, so if you speak any of the two languages, speak the “a” of that language with the mouth half-open.

The /ɐ/ is ussually pronounced when “a” is found in the first syllable which is unstressed while /a/ is used in other occurences of “a”. Take note that this is not a rule but more of a regularity so it is not applicable in all Tagalog words. Finally, /ɐ/ is almost always (this is to stay safe; but, personally, I believe always) not found in Spanish derived terms.

1. Katagalugan [kɐˈtagɐˌlʉ̞ːgan] (Tagalog-land; lit: place of the Tagalogs)

2. makasarili [mɐˈkasaɾiːˌle] (selfish; lit: pro-self)

3. mayaman [mɐˈjaːmɐn] (rich; lit: one possessing riches)

B

Perhaps, this is the easiest. B is pronounced as /b/, same as the “b” of almost all languages, including the “b” of English.

1. bobo [ˈbobo] (stupid); this is one of the exceptions in the rule stated in http://felipeaira.i.ph/blogs/felipeaira/2008/06/22/tagalog-orthography/.

2. baba [ˈbaˑbaʔ] (chin; lowness)

3. baba [bɐˈbaʔ] (one which is low)

K

Also, this is very easy. This is the same as the English “k”. This is pronounced as /k/.

1. kakakain [ˈkɐkɐˌkaːʔen] (have just eaten)

2. makakakita [mɐˈkakɐˌkiːtʰa] (will have the ability to see)

3. ka [kʰa] (you)

D

This is very easy too! This is pronounced as /d/, exactly how the “d” of most languages is pronounced. This letter, most of the time, changes to “r” [r] when surrounded by vowels; and because of such, it is most usually found at the end and at the start of words.

1. dagdag [ˈdagdag] (to add)

2. pudpod [ˈpʉ̞dpod] (to dull; to unsharpen; to blunt)

3. kadkad [ˈkadkad] (to unfold; to scrape off)

E

The “e” in Tagalog is pronounced as /ɛ/. This kind of “e” is pronounced with the mouth open while still making an “e” sound, not an /a/ sound. This is the sound found in ”bet”. It is quite similar to /e/ so be carefull.

E is only found in foreign-derived terms, mostly Spanish, since there is only two words in Tagalog that uses the letter “e” which is babae and its linked form babaeng; and even the ”e” of those two words are not pronounced as /ɛ/ but as /e/.

1. elektrisidad [ɛˈlɛˑktɾisiˌdaːd] (electricity)

2. elementarya [ɛlɛˈmɛˑnˌtaːɾja] (elementary [school])

3. pandesal [panˈdɛːsal] (a local delicacy of bread; lit. in Span.: salted bread); it is also alternatively spelt as “pandisal”, and pronounced as /panˈdiːsal/.

G

This is also very simple. Being pronounced as /g/, it has the same pronunciation as the English “g” in “get” however different from “engine”.

1. gago [ˈgaˑgo] (fool)

2. pagganda [ˈpaggɐnˌdʰa] (process of beatification)

3. bahagya [bɐˈhagyaʔ] (partial; partially)

H

This is very easy too. However, it must noted that the “h” is Tagalog is pronounced as /h/, and never silenced unlike in Spanish, Italian and French.

1. hahaba [ˈhɐhɐbaʔ] (will become long)

2. haharanahin [ˈhɐhɐɾaˌnaheːn] (will court)

3. hihilahin [ˈhihiˌlaːhen] (will pull)

I

The ”i” in Tagalog is pronounced in two different ways: /i/ and /e/. When it is found in the last syllable, it is traditionally spoken as /e/ and in all other instances, it is pronounced as /i/.

Why traditionally? Because it has been increasing nowadays that even “i”’s found in the last syllables are pronounced as /i/. That is actually wrong! It is a result of a hypercorrection due to the wrong incompetent elementary teachers acting like they are experts of the language. What is hypercorrection then? Hypercorrection is a linguistic phenomenon in which people correct certain things, such as spelling, pronunciation et cetera, in words which are not even wrong in the first place. This /e/ to /i/ hypercorrection is actually a result of unconscious Tagalism within teachers themselves. Most of the times, people would even insultingly/jokingly say “Bisaya ka man doy?” to people pronouncing the “i” found in the last syllable as /e/. That sentence means “Are you Visayan?”; it is an ethnically biased statement due to the pre-installed presumption of the Tagalogs that Visayans can’t pronounce things as well. That is wrong! Very ethnically biased. In truth, that phenomenon is not only found in Visayan languages, but also in some Northern Luzon languages, like Sambal, as well; and even in those cases, Tagalogs still consider that phenomenon to be purely Visayan.

/i/ is pronounced as the “y” in “lady”, “sanity” and “mercy”, and the “ee”/”ea”/long e in “bee”, “be”, “meal” and “seek”. It should be noted that this is not the same as the “i” in “fit”, “bit”, “thing”, “sing” and other most instances of the short i.

/e/ is pronounced as the “e” sound in “bay”, “lay”, “cane” and “sane”. Notice that when you pronounce this, your mouth is only half-open.

1. dalhin [dalˈhen] (bring)

2. inaapi [iˈnaːʔaˌpe] (being maltreated)

3. kinikitil [kʰiˈniːkʰiˌtel] (being killed)

L

The “l” in Tagalog is pronounced in two ways: /l/ and /ɭ/. /l/ is pronounced the same way you pronounce the standard “l” in Spanish, English and Italian while /ɭ/ can be quite difficult to pronounce; it is pronounced by curling your tounge inwards while pronouncing /l/. There is no actual system of determing when the “l” should be pronounced as /ɭ/ so this can be quite difficult.

1. lumalakas [ɭʉ̞ˈmaːlaˌkəs] (becoming stronger)

2. langaw [ˈɭaˑŋaʊ] (fly - insect)

3. nilalang [nilɐˈlaŋ] (being)

M

This is very easy. M is pronounced as /m/ just as it is in most languages.

1. marami [mɐˈraːme] (many)

2. mamamayan [ˈmɐmɐmɐjan] (citizen)

3. manggagamot [ˈmɐŋgaˌgaːmʊt] (doctor; lit: one who cures)

N

This is pronounced as /n/.

1. nana [ˈnɐˑnaʔ] (pus)

2. nananatili [nɐˈnaˑnɐˌtiːleʔ] (stays)

3. naninira [ˈnɐniˌniːɾaʔ] (destroys)

Ng

This letter is a digraph in Tagalog; digraphs are letters composed of two letters which have been combined. So this is only one letter not two. It is pronounced as /ŋ/ not /ŋg/. /ŋ/ is also used in English, especially in the present participles of verbs, such as “eating” and “bathing”. So it would be easy for you people to pronounce. However, some find difficulty when pronouncing /ŋ/ when it’s in the beginning of a syllable, not to worry since that is also found in English. When it is at the beginning of the syllable, it is pronounced as “singing”, “bringing” and “ringing”.

1. ngayong [ŋaˈjoŋ] (now-linked)

2. nganga [ˈŋɐˑŋaʔ] (a traditional chewing gum)

3. pangungulilang [pɐˈŋʉ̞ŋʉ̞ˌliːlaŋ] (feeling of absence; missing; linked)

O

The “o” in Tagalog is pronounced as /o/. This can be found in “caught”. This is very similar to the standard pronunciation of the Spanish “o”, and thus sound almost the same; the Spanish pronounce their “o”’s as /o̞/. The difference between the two is that /o/ is a little bit less open than /o̞/. For Anglophones, it should be noted that this is not the same as /ɔ/, which is the pronunciation of the English “o” in most instances, like in “dog”.

Sometimes, along with “u”, it is also pronounced as /ʊ/. I will discuss that on future posts.

The examples are exceptions to the rules of http://felipeaira.i.ph/blogs/felipeaira/2008/06/22/tagalog-orthography/.

1. oo [ˈʔoʔo] (yes)

2. opo [ˈʔopoʔ] (yes - formal)

3. doon [dʊˈʔon] (there)

P

This is also very easy. It is pronounced as /p/.

1. pagpapapalit [pɐgˈpapapaˌlet] (the act of letting one change something or someone; exchanging)

2. paparaanin [ˈpɐpɐɾɐˌʔaːnen] (will let one pass)

3. papunta [pɐˈpʉ̞nta] (about to go)

R

The “r” in Tagalog is pronounced in two very similay ways: /ɾ/ and /r/. What’s the difference? Hispanophones can really relate to this — the /ɾ/ is trilled once, called the tap, and /r/ is trilled more than once indefinitely. /ɾ/ is used in the Spanish pero, and /r/ is used in perro. Note that this is not pronounced as the English “r” which is /ɹ/, which is untrilled.

/ɾ/ is the standard pronunciation of “r” in Tagalog, and /r/ is usually used to pronounce “r”’s which were formerly “d”’s, but have transformed to “r”.

1. maramot [mɐˈraːmʊt] (selfish; ungenerous)

2. raw [raʊ] (supposedly)

3. resureksiyon [ɾɛsʉ̞ˈɾɛˑkɕon] (resurrection)

S

It is pronounced as /s/.

1. sinisisi [siniˈsiːse] (blames)

2. sa [sa] (in)

3. isinasaayos [isiˈnɐsɐˌʔaːjos] (making one right)

T

It is pronounced as /t/ just as in English.

1. tatay [ˈtɐtaɪ] (father)

2. titi [ˈtiːteʔ] (penis)

3. tita [ˈtiˑtʰa]

U

The Tagalog “u” is generally pronounced as /ʉ̞/ but there are exceptions, see §O. This sound is quite rare among world languages but found in almost all Philippine languages. This sound is produced by pronouncing the i-ish sound in “roses” then rounding your lips that are slightly more open.

1. uuntugin [ʉ̞ˈʔʉ̞ntʉ̞ˌgen] (will bang one’s head)

2. susunugin [sʉ̞sʉ̞ˈnʉ̞ːgen] (will burn something)

3. uhugin [ʉ̞ˈhʉ̞ˑgen] (prone to having thick mucus)

W

The “w” of Tagalog is pronounced exactly the same as the English “w”, however, in IPA, it is transcribed in two ways: /w/, when it is at the beginning of the vowel, and /ʊ/, when it’s at the end.

1. wala [wɐˈlaʔ] (nothing)

2. kawawa [kɐˈwawaʔ] (pitiful)

3. ikaw [ʔiˈkaʊ] (you)

Y

This is pronounced exactly the same as the “y” in “pay” and “yes”, however, like the above, in IPA, it is transcribe in two ways: /j/, when it’s at the beginning of the vowel, and /ɪ/, when it’s at the end.

1. yaya [ˈjajʰa] (maid)
2. niyayaya [nijɐˈjɐjaʔ] (inviting)
3. ay [aɪ] (This has no equivalent in English; it is a conjuction used to connect the subject with its predicate in irregular sentences.)