Filipinoorthography (Filipino:Ortograpiyang Filipino, Palatitikang Filipino) specifies the correct use of thewriting system of theFilipino language, thenational and co-officiallanguage of the Philippines.
In 2013, theKomisyon sa Wikang Filipino released theOrtograpiyang Pambansa (“National Orthography”), a new set of guidelines for writing the Filipino language.
The modern Filipino alphabet introduced since 1987 consists of 28 letters (20 if you only count native letters).
| Letter | Name | Phoneme | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | ey | /a/ | Becomes[ɐ] in unstressed syllables and[ä] in stressed syllables. |
| B | bi | /b/ | |
| C | si | /k/,/s/ | Only appears in unassimilated loanwords or foreign names,[k] applies to⟨ca, co, cu⟩, while[s] applies to⟨ce, ci⟩. Formerly used for Tagalog words under Spanish orthography. |
| D | di | /d/ | Is often allophonic with[ɾ] in intervocalic positions. |
| E | i | /e/,/ə/ | Normally[e~e̞], but can become[ɛ] in emphatic speech. InNorthern Luzon, it is sometimes pronounced as[ə]. |
| F | ef | /f/ | Often indistinguishable from[p]. Only appears in unassimilated loanwords or foreign names. |
| G | dyi | /ɡ/,/dʒ/,/h/ | In unassimilated loanwords or foreign names,[dʒ] often applies to those from English, while[h] applies to those from Spanish. |
| H | eyts | /h/ | Speakers fromLuzon tend to pronounce the name of the letter as[e̞t͡ʃ]. |
| I | ay | /i/ | Becomes[ɪ] in unstressed syllables and[i] in stressed syllables. |
| J | dyey | /dʒ/,/h/ | Normally rewritten as⟨dy, diy⟩ to represent[dʒ] or as⟨h⟩ to represent[h]. Only appears in unassimilated loanwords or foreign names, the former corresponds to English, while the latter to Spanish. |
| K | key | /k/,/kʷ/ | Not to be confused with[kʰ].[kʷ] only applies to⟨kw, kuw⟩. |
| L | el | /l/ | |
| M | em | /m/ | |
| N | en | /n/,/nʲ/ | [n.j~nʲ] only applies to⟨ny, niy⟩. |
| Ñ | enye | /nʲ/ | Exclusively appears in unassimilated Spanish loanwords. |
| Ng | en dyi | /ŋ/ | Comparative to⟨ng⟩ in "sing," "running," etc. Not to be confused with theindirect case markerng (originallyng̃ with atilde over the g), which is[nɐŋ]. |
| O | o | /o/ | Normally[o~o̞], but can become[ɔ] in emphatic speech. |
| P | pi | /p/ | Not to be confused with[pʰ]. |
| Q | kyu | /kʷ/ | Only appears in unassimilated loanwords or foreign names. Formerly used for Tagalog words under Spanish orthography. |
| R | ar | /ɾ/ | Normally[ɾ], but can become[ɹ~r] in consonant clusters. |
| S | es | /s/ | |
| T | ti | /t/ | Not to be confused with[tʰ]. |
| U | yu | /u/ | Becomes[ʊ] in unstressed syllables and[u] in stressed syllables. |
| V | vi | /v/ | Often indistinguishable from[b]. Only appears in unassimilated loanwords or foreign names. |
| W | dobolyu | /w/ | |
| X | eks | /ks/,/s/ | Normally rewritten as⟨eks, ks, s⟩. Only appears in unassimilated loanwords or foreign names. |
| Y | way | /j/ | |
| Z | zi | /z/ | Often indistinguishable from[s]. Only appears in unassimilated loanwords or foreign names. Alternatively pronounced as[zeɪ̯]. |
When glottal stop occurs at the beginning of a word or between vowel letters, it is not written:
After a consonant, it is written as a hyphen:
At the end of a word, it is indicated with agrave accent mark⟨`⟩:
Final stress is indicated with anacute accent mark⟨´⟩:
(The acute accent mark is also used in foreign loan words, particularly Spanish)
When both acute and grave accents occur on the same letter, they merge into acircumflex⟨ˆ⟩:
During thePre-Hispanic Era, most of thelanguages of the Philippines were written inabugida, an ancientsegmentalwriting system. Examples of this ancient Philippine writing system which descended from theBrāhmī script are theKawi,Baybayin,Buhid,Hanunó'o,Tagbanwa,Butuan,Kulitan and otherBrahmic family of scripts known to antiquity. A controversial and debatable script of the Philippines is theEskayan script.
Baybayin script began to decline in the 17th century and became obsolete in the 18th century. The scripts that are still in use today by the indigenousMangyan groups of the Philippines are the Buhid and the Hanunó'o script.[2]
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When theSpaniards arrived in 1521 and began tocolonize the islands of thePhilippines in 1565, they introduced theLatin script to theCatholicized Filipinos. When most of the Philippine languages were first written in the Latin script, they used theSpanish alphabet. This alphabet was called theAbecedario, the original alphabet of the Catholicized Filipinos, which variously had either 28, 29, 31, or 32 letters. Until the first half of the 20th century, most Philippine languages were widely written in a variety of ways based on Spanish orthography.
The writing system of theMuslim Filipinos in the different independentsultanates ofMindanao during the Spanish colonization shifted fromabugida script toArabic alphabet while the writing system of most of the CatholicizedChinese Filipinos shifted fromWritten Chinese to Abecedario alphabet.
Virtually unutilized from the Abecedario were the lettersK andW, which are both used extensively in most Philippine languages today due to the imposition of the Abakada alphabet. Relics of this Abecedario alphabet can still be seen in the way "Castilianized"indigenous and Chinese-originsurnames are written. Some examples ofindigenous Filipino surnames areMacasáquit,Guintô,Bañaga,Guipit,Abucajo,Abueg,Bangachon,Dagohoy,Valarao andDimaculañgan. Some examples ofChinese-origin surnames areGuanzón,Cojuangco,Siapuatco,Yapchulay,Locsín,Quisumbing,Tuazon andYuchengco.[3] Many indigenous place names are also written using Spanish orthography, often either coexisting or competing with theirindigenized forms if they exist (Bulacán orBulakán,Caloocan orKalookan,Taguig orTagig, etc.).Parañaque would be written in the indigenized system asParanyake, but the latter spelling is so far unaccepted and not known in use.Marikina on the other hand gained acceptance over the olderMariquina.
Quite notable are proper nouns wherein the letterY is written before consonants and is pronouncedI.Iloilo andIlocos were spelledarchaically asYloylo orYloílo andYlocos. Surnames in the Philippines such asYbañez,Ysagan,Ybarra,Yldefonso andYlagan are evidences of theOld Spanish writing system.Ylang Ylang, a native Philippine tree valued for its perfume, is another example. The use of the letterY at the beginning of words, however, gradually shifted to the letterI reflecting revisions in Spanish orthography.
The representation of certain sounds were largely derived from Spanish orthography but differed in several ways. The letterH was utilized to represent thevoiceless glottal fricative (/h/) in the orthographies of mostPhilippine languages during the Spanish period in contrast to the orthography of Spanish which uses the letterJ (the letterH in Spanish is silent). Spanish loanwords likeJesús,Justicia, orJardín, however, often retained their original spelling in Spanish.Archaic use of the letterX in the Old Spanish writing system that is pronounced in a guttural way (quite similar phonetically toH in English even though the sound is different) is evident in surnames such asRoxas. Another example isMéxico, Pampanga.
To represent/k/, "c" was used before the vowels "a", "o", and "u" (i.e.cayo,cong,culang) and at final positions (pumasoc) while a silent "u" was used between "q" and "e" or "i" (i.e. "aquing", "quilala") reflecting Spanish orthography. This is because should "c" be utilized before either "i" or "e", the sound produced would instead be representing/s/ (like Spanishciudad). These two combination of letters ("ci" and "ce") were not used in native words and "s" was used in all cases to represent/s/. Likewise, in representing/ɡ/, "g" was used before "a", "o", "u" (i.e. "gamit", "tago", "gutom") and at final positions while a silent "u" was used between "g" and "e" or "i" to (i.e. "guitna") so that "gue" represents/ɡe/ and "gui" represents/ɡi/.
The letter W as used today was absent. Instead, "u" was utilized ("gaua", "aua", "uala") and diphthongs written as "aw" today (araw) was written with "ao" (arao). Words like "huwag" and "kapwa" were written as houag and capoua.
A common practice in the orthography of some of the Philippine languages during theSpanish colonial period up to the 1960s was the use oftilde written overg̃, a letter which was notably used to shorten the wordsnang (ergative case marker) andman͠gá (pluralization particle) intong̃ andmg̃á respectively. No literature could be found that pertained to the rules that governed the usage of this letter or that explained its disappearance. Today, these two words are usually just simply written asng andmga.[4]
Originally, there was a large tilde that spanned bothn andg (as in n͠g) when a vowel follows theNgdigraph. This tilde indicates that then͠g and the vowel should be pronounced as one syllable, such asn͠ga in the three-syllable wordpan͠galan (English:name) – syllabicated as [pa-n͠ga-lan], not [pan-ga-lan]. The use of the tilde over the two letters is now virtually non-existent.
Due to technical constraints, machine-printed variants ofn͠ga emerged, which includedñga,ng̃a, and evengña as in the case ofSagñay – syllabicated as [sa-ngay]. TheNg digraph letter is similar to, but not the same as, the prepositional wordng (English:of/of the), originally spelledng̃ with a tilde over theg only. The wordsñg andng̃ are shortened forms of the wordnang. There are some words with no tilde written over theng digraph as in the case ofbarangay (Filipino:baranggaySpanish:barangay) from the Tagalog wordbalan͠gay since it is syllabicated as [ba-rang-gay].[5]Ilonggo used to be written asYlongo orIlongo without a tilde over theng since it is syllabicated as [i-long-go]. Another example is Zamboanga syllabicated as [zam-bo-ang-ga]. Words that end inng digraph such asang (English:the),utang (English:debt) andsaguing (English:banana) also didn't have tildes over then org or bothng.
Contraction of certain words were indicated by two commas such asiba andat → "iba, t,"; Indicated today by a single quotation mark as in English (i.e. iba't).
Diacritic marks were also utilized.Acute ( ´ ),grave ( ` ) andcircumflex ( ˆ ) were required and only used with the vowels. The latter two may only appear at the end of a word ending in a vowel.Diacritics had no impact on the primary alphabetical order. Possible combinations include:á, à, â, é, è, ê, í, ì, î, ó, ò, ô, ú, ù and û.
Punctuation marks were also borrowed from Spanish. Quotation marks like« » instead of the quotation marks (" ") were used. The inverted question mark (¿) and inverted exclamation mark (¡) were also utilized at the beginning of phrases ending with either the regular question mark/exclamation mark.
Thevowels were pronounced in a shortvowel length[A (ah), E (eh), I (ih), O (oh), U (uh)] while theconsonants were pronounced asB (be), C (se), Ch (che), D (de), F (efe), G (he), H (ache), J (hota), K (ka), L (ele), LL (elye), M (eme), N (ene), NG (nang), Ñ (enye), Ñg or Ng̃ or N͠g or Gñ (ñga or ng̃a or n͠ga or gña), P (pe), Q (ku), R (ere), RR (er-re), S (ese), T (te), V (ve), W (wa), X (ekis), Y (ya or i griega or ye), Z (zeta). This alphabet gradually fell out of use since 1940 due to the imposition of the Abakada alphabet.
Collation of theAbecedario (32 letters):[6]
| Majuscule Forms | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A | B | C | Ch | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | Ll | M | N | Ng | Ñ | Ng̃ orÑg orN͠g orGñ | O | P | Q | R | Rr | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
| Minuscule Forms | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | b | c | ch | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | ll | m | n | ng | ñ | ng̃ or ñg or n͠g or gñ | o | p | q | r | rr | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z |
Filipino doctor and student of languagesTrinidad Pardo de Tavera in his 1887 essayEl Sanscrito en la lengua Tagalog made use of a new Tagalog orthography rather than what had then been in use. In 1889, the new bilingualLa España Oriental, of whichIsabelo de los Reyes was an editor, newspaper began publishing using the new orthography stating in a footnote that it would "use the orthography recently introduced by ... learned Orientalis". This new orthography, while having its supporters, was also not initially accepted by several writers. Soon after the first issue ofLa España,Pascual H. Poblete'sRevista Católica de Filipina began a series of articles attacking the new orthography and its proponents. A fellow writer, Pablo Tecson was also critical. The attacks included that the letters "k" and "w" were of German origin and foreign in nature, thus those promoting it were deemed "unpatriotic". These two publications would eventually merge asLa Lectura Popular in January 1890 and would eventually make use of both spelling systems in its articles.[7][8]
Pedro Serrano y Laktaw, a schoolteacher, published the first Spanish-Tagalog dictionary using the new orthography in 1890. In April 1890, Jose Rizal authored an articleSobre la Nueva Ortografia de la Lengua Tagalog in the Madrid-based periodicalLa Solidaridad. In it, he addressed the logicality, in his opinion, of the new orthography and its criticisms, including those by Pobrete and Tecson. Rizal described the orthography promoted by Tavera as "more perfect" than what he himself had developed.[7][8]José Rizal had also suggested a reform of the orthography of the Philippine languages by replacing the lettersC andQ withK.[9] Rizal got the idea after reading an 1884 essay by Trinidad Pardo de Tavera about the ancientBaybayin script.[10][11][12] The new orthography was however not broadly adopted initially and was used inconsistently in the bilingual periodicals of Manila.[7]
The revolutionary society Kataás-taasan, Kagalang-galang Katipunan ng̃ mg̃á Anak ng̃ Bayan orKatipunan made use of the k-orthography and the letter k featured prominently on many of its flags and insignias.
Article XIII, section 3 of the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines provided for the "...development and adoption of a common national language based on one of the existing native languages". For this purpose, theInstitute of National Language (INL) was subsequently set-up. After numerous debates among the different language representatives of the Philippines, the NLI passed a resolution dated November 9, 1937 recommending thatTagalog serve as basis for the national language. PresidentManuel L. Quezon issued Executive Order 134 in December 1937 officially proclaiming this decision.
In 1940, theBalarílà ng Wikang Pambansâ (English:Grammar of the National Language) of grammarianLope K. Santos introduced theAbakada alphabet. This alphabet consists of 20 letters and became the standard alphabet of the national language.[13] The alphabet was officially adopted by the Institute for the Tagalog-Based National Language to “indigenize" the writing system (The Latin script itself (the alphabet) was introduced by the Catholic missionaries of Spain, leaving nothing really to "indigenize").
The Spanish-based orthographies of other Philippine languages that were still using its old orthography[14][15][16][17] began to be gradually replaced with the propagation of the new K-orthographies as more people became familiar with it. The Spanish-based orthographies were gradually wiped out since 1940, due to the imposition of Abakada. The Abakada orthography gradually influenced the languages of the Philippines.
The Abakada orthography was guided by theBalarilà of Santos.Vowels were pronounced with a shortvowel length, whileconsonants were pronounced by appending shortA's at the end. Hence, the nameAbakada, from the first 4 letters of the alphabet.
Collation of theAbakada (20 letters):
| Majuscule Forms | |||||||||||||||||||
| A | B | K | D | E | G | H | I | L | M | N | Ng | O | P | R | S | T | U | W | Y |
| Minuscule Forms | |||||||||||||||||||
| a | b | k | d | e | g | h | i | l | m | n | ng | o | p | r | s | t | u | w | y |
TheWikang pambansa (national language) was designated asPilipino in 1959. In 1971, the alphabet was expanded to 31 letters: a, b, c, ch, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, ll, m, n, ñ, ng, o, p, q, r, rr, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z.
In 1987, the official language calledPilipino was renamed toFilipino. Article XIV Section 6 of the1987 Constitution states that "the National language of the Philippines is Filipino. As it evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages".[18]
The Pilipino alphabet was reduced to 28 letters, with the SpanishCh,Ll andRr digraphs being dropped from being considered as distinct letters (TheAssociation of Spanish Language Academies itself abandoned the use ofCh andLl as separate listings in alphabeticalcollations in 1994. Since 2010,ch andll are no longer considered distinct letters. Each digraph is now treated as a sequence of two distinct characters, finding occasional use as conjoined pairs.).
TheModern Filipino alphabet is primarilyEnglish alphabet plus the SpanishÑ and TagalogNg digraph; these are alphabetised separately in theory. Today, the Modern Filipino alphabet is used, and may also serve as the alphabet for alllanguages of the Philippines.
Collation of the Modern Filipino Alphabet (28 letters):
| Majuscule Forms | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 |
| Minuscule Forms | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 |
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(August 2018) |
In August 2007, theCommission on the Filipino Language made available adraft version of Filipino orthography open for comment.[19] This document is a result of a series of consultations with various teachers, instructors,linguists and others in the field that took place between 2006 and 2007.
The document begins by detailing the letters of the alphabet, their order and their names. One set of names is based on English letter names; the other, similar to the formerAbakada. Some exceptional names are those letters which were not part of theAbakada:C,se,Q,kwa andX,eksa.
It goes on to namepunctuation marks, and describes the use of theacute,grave andcircumflexaccents in Filipino. Words that already exist in the language are preferred over aborrowed term, for example,tuntunin vs.rul (derived from Englishrule). In terms of spelling, issues concerning the use ofy-/iy- andw-/uw- are codified according to the number of precedingconsonants and the origin of the word if it is borrowed.
Lastly, it provides spelling guidelines for words offoreign origin. It focuses mainly on the two languages that have provided a large number oflexical items to theFilipino language, namelySpanish andEnglish. In short, regarding borrowings from these two languages, Spanish words of common usage are written in a manner consistent with Filipinophonology. These words are already in common usage, thus they will not revert to their Spanish spelling. On the other hand, if the words come from English or another foreign source or if the term is derived from Spanish that does not already have aphonetic spelling, it should be spelled phonetically and the use of the 8 new letters is allowed.
Examples:
Below is an example of orthography between the Tagalog (Early Spanish-style system) and Filipino (derived from multiple tribe coalitions.) The text used for comparison is the Filipino version of theLord's Prayer. The phrase in square brackets is thedoxology "for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever".
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