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| THE FILIPINO ALPHABET |
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The new Filipino
alphabet has 28 letters.
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A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N
Ñ NG O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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Eight
letters were added from the old Tagalog alphabet of 15
consonants (katinig) and 5 vowels (patinig). It is read just
like the English alphabet except for the letter Ñ which is
read enye.
The additional 8 letters C, F, J, Ñ, Q,
V, X, Z are used for foreign
words.
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A.
PRONUNCIATION
Vowel Sounds
The
5 vowel sounds are a, e, i, o, u.
Pronunciation is similar
to Spanish or Italian vowels.
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| (a) sound |
anak
ako
apat
aso |
child
me
four
dog |
| (e) sound |
Enero
eroplano
edad
petsa |
January
airplane
age
date |
| (i) sound |
ibon
ilaw
ina
ikot |
bird
light
mother
turn |
| (o) sound |
oo
opo
oras
oro |
yes
yes (polite form)
time
ore |
| (u) sound |
ulo
ulam
ubi
ulit |
head
food
yam
repeat
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Consonant
Sounds
The following are 15 consonant sounds and
their examples. |
Stops,
Voiceless
p, t, k, ' |
pato
tao
kilay
bata' |
dove
person
eyebrow
child
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Voiced
b, d, g |
baba
daga
gulay
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chin
rat
vegetable
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Fricatives, Voiceless
s,
h |
sama
himig
|
join
tune |
Nasals, Voiced
m, n,
g |
mapa
nayon
ngipin |
map
village
teeth |
Laterals, Voiced
l |
lapis
ulo |
pencil
head |
Flap, Voiced
r |
relo
rosas
|
clock
rose |
Semi-vowel, Voiced
w,
y |
wika
yelo
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language
ice |
B. STRESS
Vowel
Sounds
There are three basic stresses in Filipino.
The stress goes on the first syllable for words with two
syllables, stress on the second syllable for words with three
syllables and stress on the third syllable for words with four
or more syllables.
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Stress on
First Syllable |
áso
gábi
túbo
sáya
dáhon
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dog
taro
pipe
skirt
leaf
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Stress on
Second Syllable |
babáe
laláki
maáyos
maláyo
malápit |
girl
boy
neat
far
near |
Stress on
Third Syllable |
kabatáan
pamahíin
binabása
nalulúngkot
natatákot |
youth
tradition
reading
lonely
afraid |
In some words, however, a shift in stress results in a
difference of meaning.
Stress on
First Syllable |
Stress on
Second Syllable |
sáya (skirt)
túbo (pipe)
gábi (yam)
búkas
(tomorrow)
bálat (birthmark) |
sayá (happy)
tubó (sugarcane)
gabí (night)
bukás
(open)
balát (skin)
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