Filipino alphabet
Set of letters in Filipino and other Philippine languages
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The Filipino alphabet (Filipino: Alpabetong Filipino, formerly Alfabetong Filipino[a]) is the official alphabet of Filipino, the national language and one of the two official languages of the Philippines. The standard Filipino alphabet is made up of 28 letters, comprising the entire letter set of the ISO basic Latin alphabet, the Spanish letter Ñ, and the native digraph NG. The digraph was retained from the 31-letter[1] "enriched" Filipino alphabet (Filipino: Pinagyamang Alpabetong Filipino), which was adopted from the 20-letter Abakada alphabet (Filipino: Abakada). Today, the Filipino alphabet is mainly used to write all the languages of the Philippines.
| Majuscule form | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 form | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 |
| Filipino alphabet Alpabetong Filipino Alpabeto nga Filipino Alpabeto a Filipino Alpabeto na Filipino | |
|---|---|
| |
| Script type | |
Period | 1987–present |
| Direction | Left-to-right |
| Official script |  Philippines |
| Languages | Filipino, other Philippine languages |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Latn (215), Latin |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Latin |
| |
In 2013, the Comission on the Filipino Language (Filipino: Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino) published the Ortograpiyang Pambansa ("National Orthography"), a new set of guidelines that resolved the problems in phonemic representation previously encountered when writing many Philippine languages and dialects. This was followed in 2014 by the KWF Manwal sa Masinop na Pagsulat ("KWF Handbook on Proper Writing") that provided a broader scope of typographic, stylistic, and formatting guidelines not previously covered.
Letters
Standard alphabet
The letters in the Alpabeto are called a títik, most of each representing a distinctive sound. They are classified as a patínig (vowel) or a katínig (consonant).[2] The letters W and Y may be classified as a malapatínig (semivowel).[3] The names of the letters are pronounced and collated in the same way as in English, except for the letter Ñ.[1]
| Letter | Name | IPA | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | ey | /a/ | Becomes [ɐ] in unstressed syllables and [ä] in stressed syllables. |
| B | bi | /b/ | |
| C | si | /k/, /s/ | For words not yet assimilated to Filipino, /k/ generally applies to those containing ⟨ca, co, cu⟩ and /s/ to ⟨ce, ci⟩ in both Spanish and English. Historically, native words containing ⟨ka, ko, ku⟩ were spelled ⟨ca, co, cu⟩ under the Spanish-based orthography of many Philippine languages. |
| D | di | /d/ | Often allophonic with [ɾ] in intervocalic position, which is usually reflected in spelling (e.g., dami "amount" vs. marami "many"). However, not all words follow this convention (e.g., dali "ease" vs. madali "easy"), and some have diverged to carry distinct meanings (e.g., madamdamin "passionate" vs. maramdamin "sensitive"). |
| E | i | /e/, /ə/ | Normally [e ~ e̞], but can become [ɛ] in emphatic speech. Also normally /ə/ from local languages in which it exists, as the letter Ë representing it was only introduced in 2013.[4] |
| F | ef | /f/ | Often indistinguishable from [p]. Generally written for proper names (e.g., Felix, Ifugao) and words of English origin (e.g., fakulti "teaching staff"). Also written for Filipino words of Teduray origin (e.g., faga "meteorite") and from other local donor languages in which ⟨f⟩ exists. |
| G | ji[b], dyi | /ɡ/, /dʒ/, /h/ | For words not yet assimilated to Filipino, /g/ generally applies to those containing ⟨ga, go, gu⟩ in English and Spanish, /dʒ/ to ⟨ge, gi⟩ in English, and /h/ to ⟨ge, gi⟩ in Spanish. |
| H | eyts | /h/ | Alternatively pronounced as [e̞tʃ]. |
| I | ay | /i/ | Becomes [ɪ] in unstressed syllables and [i] in stressed syllables. |
| J | jey[b], dyey | /dʒ/, /h/ | Sometimes indistinguishable from [ds] or [s]. Usually respelled as ⟨dy, diy⟩ to represent [dʒ] or [ʒ], or as ⟨h⟩ to represent [h] or [x]. For words not yet assimilated to Filipino, [dʒ] and [ʒ] generally apply to those from English, and [h] and [x] from Spanish. Also written for Filipino words of Bahasa Sug origin (e.g., julup "imbecile") and from other local donor languages in which ⟨j⟩ exists. |
| K | key | /k/ | Not to be confused with [kʰ]. Always unaspirated in clear speech and often unreleased in coda, e.g., /aˈnak̚/ (child). [kʷ] only applies to ⟨kw, kuw⟩ (e.g., bakwit "evacuee", kuwintas "necklace"). |
| L | el | /l/ | |
| M | em | /m/ | |
| N | en | /n/ | [n.j ~ ɲ] only applies to ⟨ny, niy⟩ (e.g., pinya "pineapple", kaniya "his/her[s]/its") |
| Ñ | énye | /ɲ/ | Usually respelled as ⟨ny, niy⟩. Generally written for proper names (e.g., Niño, Malacañan) and recent words of Spanish origin (e.g., ñu "wildebeest"). Also written for Filipino words of Ivatan origin (e.g., iñinen "to lament") and from other local donor languages in which ⟨ñ⟩ exists. |
| NG | énji[b], éndyi | /ŋ/ | Comparable to ⟨ng⟩ in English along and singer. Not to be confused with the indirect case marker ng (historically ng̃) pronounced [nɐŋ]. [ŋg] only applies to words of Spanish origin containing ⟨ngl, ngr⟩ (e.g., Ingles "English"). |
| O | o, ow | /o/ | Normally [o ~ o̞], but can become [ɔ] in emphatic speech. |
| P | pi | /p/ | Not to be confused with [pʰ]. Always unaspirated in clear speech and often unreleased in coda (e.g., /haˈrap̚/ "front"). |
| Q | kyu | /kʷ/, /k/ | Usually respelled as ⟨kw, kuw, k⟩. Generally written for proper names (e.g., Tariq, Siquijor) and words of English (e.g., quits), Spanish (e.g., quedan "warehouse receipt"), and Arabic origins (e.g., talaq "husband-initiated divorce"). Also written for Filipino words of ultimate Latin origin (e.g., quorum) and from local donor languages in which ⟨q⟩ exists. Historically, native words containing ⟨ke, ki⟩ were spelled ⟨que, qui⟩ under the Spanish-based orthography of many Philippine languages. |
| R | ar | /ɾ/ | Normally [ɾ], but can become [ɹ ~ r] within consonant clusters. |
| S | es | /s/ | |
| T | ti | /t/ | Not to be confused with [tʰ]. Always unaspirated in clear speech and often unreleased in coda (e.g., /ˈapat̚/ "four"). |
| U | yu | /u/ | Becomes [ʊ] in unstressed syllables and [u] in stressed syllables. |
| V | vi | /v/ | Often indistinguishable from [b]. Generally written for proper names (e.g., Valdez, Davao) and words of English origin (e.g., varayti "variety"). Also written for Filipino words of Chabacano origin (e.g., vinta "outrigger boat") and from other local donor languages in which ⟨v⟩ exists. |
| W | dóbolyú | /w/ | |
| X | eks | /ks/, /s/, /h/, /ɰ/ | Usually respelled as ⟨eks, ks, s, h⟩. Generally written for proper names (e.g., Roxas, Mexico) and words of English origin (e.g., xerox "photocopy"). Also written for Filipino words of Boînën origin (e.g., axag[c] "to appropriate") and from other local donor languages in which ⟨x⟩ exists. |
| Y | way | /j/, /i/ | /i/ generally applies to proper names (e.g., Syquia, Famy) and words of English origin (e.g., party-list "proportional representation system for under-represented sectors"). For common nouns, only applies to y ("and") as part of words of Spanish origin (e.g., ala-una y medya "one-thirty"). Historically, words beginning with ⟨i⟩ were spelled beginning with ⟨y⟩ under the Spanish-based orthography of many Philippine languages, as evident in surnames (e.g., Ybañez, Ybarra) and archaic place names (e.g., Yligan, Ylocos) and plant names (e.g., ylang-ylang[d], ypil). |
| Z | zi | /z/ | Often indistinguishable from [s]. Generally written for proper names (e.g., Mendoza, Zamboanga) and words of English origin (e.g., zigzag). Also written for Filipino words of Ibanag origin (e.g., ziga "hardship") and from other local donor languages in which ⟨z⟩ exists. Alternatively pronounced as [zeɪ̯]. |
Extended alphabet
| Letter | Name | IPA | Context | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ä | ey patuldók | [6] | ||
| B̓ | bi kuwít-taás, bi pasingáw | [7] | ||
| CH | síeyts | [8] | ||
| Ë | i patuldók | [1] | ||
| Ḟ | ef pontók-laagna | [9] | ||
| FY | éfway | [8] | ||
| G̓ | ji kuwít-taás, ji pasingáw | [5] | ||
| K̇ | key pontók-laagna | [9] | ||
| LL | élye | [10] | ||
| S̃ | es tílde, es pabakúlod | [11] | ||
| T̃ | ti tílde, ti pabakúlod | [11] | ||
| W̓ | dóbolyú kuwít-taás, dóbolyú pasingáw | [11] |
Diacritics
The diacritics used alongside the Alpabeto are the acute accent ⟨◌́⟩ (tuldík pahilís), the grave accent ⟨◌̀⟩ (tuldík paiwà), the circumflex ⟨◌̂⟩ (tuldík pakupyâ), the tilde ⟨◌̃⟩ (tuldík tílde or tuldík pabakúlod), the umlaut ⟨◌̈⟩ (tuldík patuldók), the macron ⟨◌̄⟩ (tuldík pahabâ), the above-comma ⟨◌̓⟩ (tuldík kuwít-taás or tuldík pasingáw), and the inverted double-breve ⟨◌͡◌⟩ (tuldík árko). The acute and grave accents tend to be optional pronunciation guides, with the latter placed exclusively on word-final vowels. The circumflex is also optional on word-final vowels, but is required when placed on word-initial or -medial vowels. The tilde and above-comma are placed exclusively on consonants, while the macron and inverted double-breve are placed exclusively on vowels; the latter is the only diacritic that spans two adjacent vowels, which indicates the absence of an intervocalic glottal stop /ʔ/.
The following table lists all possible combinations of vowels and vocalic diacritics, with the letter X representing a penultimate syllable. As of 2024, not all of these combinations have been attested in Filipino or other Philippine languages with state-sanctioned orthographies. However, the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino is currently leading the efforts to standardize and harmonize the orthographies of all Philippine languages under a unified Filipino alphabet:
| Acute accent (◌́) | á /ˈa/ |
ā́ /ˈaː/ |
é /ˈe/ |
ḗ /ˈeː/ |
ë́ /ˈə/ |
ë̄́ /ˈəː/ |
í /ˈi/ |
ī́ /ˈiː/ |
ó /ˈo/ |
ṓ /ˈoː/ |
ú /ˈu/ |
ū́ /ˈuː/ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grave accent (◌̀) | à /ˈX.aʔ/ |
ā̀ /ˈX.aːʔ/ |
è /ˈX.eʔ/ |
ḕ /ˈX.eːʔ/ |
ë̀ /ˈX.əʔ/ |
ë̄̀ /ˈX.əːʔ/ |
ì /ˈX.iʔ/ |
ī̀ /ˈX.iːʔ/ |
ò /ˈX.oʔ/ |
ṑ /ˈX.oːʔ/ |
ù /ˈX.uʔ/ |
ū̀ /ˈX.uːʔ/ |
| Circumflex (◌̂) | â /ˈaʔ/ |
ā̂ /ˈaːʔ/ |
ê /ˈeʔ/ |
ē̂ /ˈeːʔ/ |
ë̂ /ˈəʔ/ |
ë̄̂ /ˈəːʔ/ |
î /ˈiʔ/ |
ī̂ /ˈiːʔ/ |
ô /ˈoʔ/ |
ō̂ /ˈoːʔ/ |
û /ˈuʔ/ |
ū̂ /ˈuːʔ/ |
| Inverted double-breve (◌͡◌) |
a͡a a͡e a͡ë a͡i a͡o a͡u |
a͡â a͡ê a͡ë̂ a͡î a͡ô a͡û |
e͡a e͡e e͡ë e͡i e͡o e͡u |
e͡â e͡ê e͡ë̂ e͡î e͡ô e͡û |
ë͡a ë͡e ë͡ë ë͡i ë͡o ë͡u |
ë͡â ë͡ê ë͡ë̂ ë͡î ë͡ô ë͡û |
i͡a i͡e i͡ë i͡i i͡o i͡u |
i͡â i͡ê i͡ë̂ i͡î i͡ô i͡û |
o͡a o͡e o͡ë o͡i o͡o o͡u |
o͡â o͡ê o͡ë̂ o͡î o͡ô o͡û |
u͡a u͡e u͡ë u͡i u͡o u͡u |
u͡â u͡ê u͡ë̂ u͡î u͡ô u͡û |
The standardized combinations of consonants and consonantal diacritics can be found in the Character encoding section.
Punctuation marks
History
The Abecedario, used from the late 16th century to the early 20th century.
The Abakada, introduced in 1940 and was officially used until 1977.
The 31-letter "enriched" Filipino alphabet used between 1977 and 1987.
The extended Filipino alphabet as of 2024.
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Character encoding
The Filipino alphabet is supported by several character encoding systems for computers. All the letters, whether it is a precomposed character or a decomposed character sequence, reside within the Basic Multilingual Plane of Unicode, and thus are fully compatible with Unicode-based systems such as UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32. ISO/IEC 8859-1 (Latin-1), Windows-1252, and 3GPP 23.038 are also popular systems in the Philippines that largely support the Filipino alphabet.
The letters in the Filipino alphabet that are not found in the ISO basic Latin alphabet can be composed using the following HTML character entities[12] and Unicode codepoints:
| Majuscule form | Ä | B̓ | Ë | Ḟ | G̓ | K̇ | Ñ | S̃ | T̃ | W̓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keyboard shortcut (for Word and Writer) |
C4 ↓ Alt + X[e] |
BU+313 ↓ Alt + X[f] |
CB ↓ Alt + X[g] |
1E1E ↓ Alt + X[h] |
G313 ↓ Alt + X[i] |
K307 ↓ Alt + X[j] |
D1 ↓ Alt + X[k] |
S303 ↓ Alt + X[l] |
T303 ↓ Alt + X[m] |
W313 ↓ Alt + X[n] |
| HTML character code | Ä Ä |
B̓ | Ë Ë |
Ḟ | G̓ | K̇ | Ñ Ñ |
S̃ | T̃ | W̓ |
| Unicode (hexadecimal) | U+00C4 | U+0042 \U+0313 |
U+00CB | U+1E1E | U+0047 \U+0313 |
U+004B \U+0307 |
U+00D1 | U+0053 \U+0303 |
U+0054 \U+0303 |
U+0057 \U+0313 |
| Unicode (decimal) | 196 | 66 + 787 | 203 | 7710 | 71 + 787 | 75 + 775 | 209 | 83 + 771 | 84 + 771 | 87 + 787 |
| Minuscule form | ä | b̓ | ë | ḟ | g̓ | k̇ | ñ | s̃ | t̃ | w̓ |
| Keyboard shortcut (for Word and Writer) |
e4 ↓ Alt + x[o] |
bu+313 ↓ Alt + x[p] |
eb ↓ Alt + x[q] |
1e1f ↓ Alt + x[r] |
g313 ↓ Alt + x[s] |
k307 ↓ Alt + x[t] |
f1 ↓ Alt + x[u] |
s303 ↓ Alt + x[v] |
t303 ↓ Alt + x[w] |
w313 ↓ Alt + x[x] |
| HTML character code | ä ä |
b̓ | ë ë |
ḟ | g̓ | k̇ | ñ ñ |
s̃ | t̃ | w̓ |
| Unicode (hexadecimal) | U+00E4 | U+0062 \U+0313 |
U+00EB | U+1E1F | U+0067 \U+0313 |
U+006B \U+0307 |
U+00F1 | U+0073 \U+0303 |
U+0074 \U+0303 |
U+0077 \U+0313 |
| Unicode (decimal) | 228 | 98 + 787 | 235 | 7711 | 103 + 787 | 107 + 775 | 241 | 115 + 771 | 116 + 771 | 119 + 787 |
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See also
Notes
- This was the standard spelling in Filipino between the issuances of Department of Education (DepEd) Memorandum No. 45, s. 2001 (dated August 17, 2001) and DepEd Memorandum No. 42, s. 2006 (dated October 9, 2006).
- The spellings "ji", "jey", and "enji" have been used by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino since at least its publication of Giya sa Ortograpiyang Bikol (2012), predating KWF Manwal sa Masinop na Pagsulat (2014) and later orthographies of many Philippine languages.
- Although the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino in its Ortograpiyang Boînën (2023)[5] recommends using the letter G̓ (ji kuwit-taas) to represent /ɰ/ (a voiced velar approximant), hence the standard spelling "ag̓ag", many Boînën speakers are adamant on using the letter X, hence the preferred spelling "axag", as they have since at least the publication of Yukihiro Yamada's A Buhi Bikol Vocabulary (1972).
- The standard spelling in Filipino is "ilang-ilang".
- The following may also be used:
Ctrl + Shift + : then A
Alt + 142 (Numeric keypad is required.)
Alt + 0196 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
B then Alt + 787 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
Ctrl + Shift + : then E
Alt + 0203 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
F then Alt + 775 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
G then Alt + 787 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
K then Alt + 775 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
Ctrl + Shift + ~ then N
Alt + 165 (Numeric keypad is required.)
Alt + 0209 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
S then Alt + 771 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
T then Alt + 771 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
W then Alt + 787 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
Ctrl + Shift + : then a
Alt + 132 (Numeric keypad is required.)
Alt + 0228 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
b then Alt + 787 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
Ctrl + Shift + : then e
Alt + 137 (Numeric keypad is required.)
Alt + 0235 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
f then Alt + 775 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
g then Alt + 787 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
k then Alt + 775 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
Ctrl + Shift + ~ then n
Alt + 164 (Numeric keypad is required.)
Alt + 0241 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
s then Alt + 771 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
t then Alt + 771 (Numeric keypad is required.) - The following may also be used:
w then Alt + 787 (Numeric keypad is required.)
