How to read and say Tagalog
Letters, sounds and stress from Wikivoyage's Tagalog phrasebook. Then hear the phrases and practice them, free.
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Abbreviation (ng and mga)
Two very common words are always abbreviated:
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Although Filipino words may seem long and tongue-twisting at first, pronunciation is easier than in many other languages. Long words are almost always based on smaller root words. The only foreign sound is an initial ng found in a few words such as ngiti (smile). Unlike its neighboring languages (e.g. Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese), Filipino is not tonal. However, stressing the wrong syllable can often change the meaning of a word. Only very rarely does this occur in English (such as desert/dessert). Meanings in such cases can be closely related such as buhay (alive or life) or totally unrelated such as hapon (afternoon or Japan). There is also the use of the glottal stop, which makes a pause between two vowels. The glottal stop is often used in the Filipino language. A space will be provided for the glottal stop.
Vowels
- a
- like 'a' in "arrive"
- e
- like 'e' in "ten"
- i
- like 'i' in "fin"
- o
- like 'o' in "cord"
- u
- like 'oo' in "hoop"
Consonants
Although the Filipino alphabet contains 23 consonants, only 15 are in common use. This is a holdover from the days when the language was written in the "Abakada" alphabet, which only had 20 letters.
- b
- like 'b' in "bed"
- k
- like 'k' in "kid"
- d
- like 'd' in "dog"
- g
- like 'g' in "go"
- h
- like 'h' in "help"
- l
- like 'l' in "love"
- m
- like 'm' in "mother"
- n
- like 'n' in "nice"
- ng
- like 'ng' in "fang", but pronounced 'nang' as a stand-alone word (though most English-speakers might classify is as two letters, it is considered as a single letter in Filipino as well as in other Asian languages)
- p
- like 'p' in "pig"
- r
- like 'r' in "row" or 'r' in "feather"
- s
- like 's' in "sun" or 'z' in "haze"
- t
- like 't' in "top"
- w
- like 'w' in "weight"
- y
- like 'y' in "yes", 'ie' in "pie", or 'ee' in "flee"
In the 1970s, the alphabet was expanded to include 11 letters from the Spanish and English alphabets, and in 1987, the Spanish letters 'ch', 'll' and 'rr' were dropped, leaving only eight additional letters. Unlike the 15 common letters, these letters are normally found only in loanwords, slang and code-mixed speech.
- c
- like 's' in "supper", 'k' in "kid"
- f
- like 'f' in "fine"
- j
- like 'dg' in "edge", 'h' in "ham"
- ñ
- like 'ny' in "canyon"
- q
- like 'q' in "quest" (almost always with 'u')
- v
- like 'v' in "victory"
- x
- like 'cks' in "kicks", like 'z' in "haze" (at beginning of a word)
- z
- like 'z' in "haze"
Diphthongs
- ay
- like 'i' in "high": tatay (father)
- aw
- like 'ow' in "cow": kalabaw (carabao/water buffalo)
- ey
- like 'ay' in "say": reyna (queen)
- iw
- like "ew" in "few": baliw (crazy)
- oy
- like 'oy' in "boy": apoy (fire)
Other sounds
- ts
- as the 'ch' in "chip". Corresponds to the former letter 'ch', and usually found in Spanish loanwords.
- dy/diy
- as the 'j' in "jeep"
- ly/liy
- as the 'lli' in "million".
- ny/niy
- as the 'ny' in "canyon". Corresponds to the letter 'ñ'. However, in certain words, such as tanyag (well-known), this is pronounced as two separate letters.
- sy/siy
- as the 'sh' in "ship"
- ty/tiy
- as the 'ch' in "chip" or as the 'ti' in "tienda".