Filipino/Pronunciation

Filipino has 23 consonants and 5 vowels, and is pronounced much like Spanish:

Vowels

a - as in father

e - as in echo

i - as in eager

o - as in boy

u - as in zoo

Note: Marks on top of vowels such as the "o" in tatló indicate that that syllable is stressed, although they are rarely used in everyday writing.

Consonants

b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, ñ, ng, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z

Most of the consonants are pronounced as in English (with less aspiration on the letters b, d, g, k, p, t) or as in Spanish.

Notes:

• The letter C, as in English, can be pronounced as a /k/ or an /s/, depending on the word.

• Ñ is pronounced as /ny/ as in piñata.

• The single letter Ng is pronounced as the "ng" in singer.

• The geminate Ll is pronounced as /ly/ as in paleontology.

• Y can either be pronounced as the regular "y" as in yellow or "ee" as in Yng (a Filipino-Chinese last name).

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