Bikol/Pronunciation
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Bikol pronunciation can be difficult because of lexical stress and the presence of glottal stops which are normally not written in everyday writing.
This first lesson is essential for you to be able to pronounce the words that we have printed in this book.
Here we will learn a few basic words, and how to pronounce them.
Vowels[edit | edit source]
In Bikol, vowels are pronounced like in Spanish. Note that two consecutive vowels are pronounced separately.
| Letter | IPA | Pronunciation of the letter (English approximation) |
|---|---|---|
| A a | a | far |
| E e | e | hen |
| I i | i | see |
| O o | o | order |
| U u | u | soon |
Before the arrival of the Spanish, Bikol had three vowel sounds: /a/, /i/, and /u/; This was expanded to five vowels with the introduction of Spanish words.
Consonants[edit | edit source]
| Letter | IPA | Pronunciation of the letter (English approximation) |
|---|---|---|
| B b | b | bee |
| K k | k | key |
| D d | d | dough |
| G g | g | gold |
| H h | h | heat |
| L l | l | let |
| M m | m | me |
| N n | n | nice |
| NG ng | ŋ | song |
| P p | p | pea |
| R r | r | raw |
| S s | s | sea |
| T t | t | tea |
| W w | w | weak |
| Y y | y | you |
Some consonants are borrowed from Spanish and English and are used in writing names of places and personal names.
| Letter | IPA | Pronunciation of the letter (English approximation) |
|---|---|---|
| C c | k, s | call, corn, cure (before a, o, u)
|
| F f | f | fine |
| J j | h | h in ham |
| LL ll | lj | mllion |
| Ñ ñ | nj | canyon |
| Q q | kw | quest (always with a silent u) |
| V v | b | pronounced the same way as b (see above) like b in bow. |
| X x | ks | like x in flexible
|
| Z z | s | s in supper |
Digraphs[edit | edit source]
Some digraphs appear in Spanish and English loan words.
| Letter | IPA | Pronunciation of the letter (English approximation) |
|---|---|---|
| diy | ʤ | just |
| ts | tʃ | chew |
| siy | ʃ | shoe |
| niy | nj | canyon |
| ly | lj | million |
Diphthongs[edit | edit source]
In the spelling of many places and personal names, ao is used and is pronounced as in how just like the Spanish way of spelling.
| Letter | IPA | Pronunciation of the letter (English approximation) |
|---|---|---|
| aw | aʊ | how |
| iw | ɪʊ | kiwi |
| ay | aɪ | high |
| oy | oɪ | boy |
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