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1987: Present Filipino Alphabet

The current 28 letter Filipino alphabet was established following the signing of
the 1987 Constitution.The new Constitution redefined the Philippine’s national language
and ordered for a commission to be established to conduct researches for its
development, propagation, and preservation of Filipino and other native local language.
This led to creation of the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (Commission of the Filipino
Language).
Following the constitutional mandate of developing Filipino with the other non-
Tagalog native languages in mind, the comission undertook a study on reforming yet
again the Filipino alphabet and spelling rules of Filipino to reflect the alphabets and
spelling methods of other Philippine languages. In addition, the study factored in the
Filipino-English Bilingual Education Policy in the Philippines. The revisions were
published in DECS Order No. 81 s, 1987, also known as “Alphabet and Spelling Guide
of the Philippine Language.”
In the DECS Order, the new alphabet retained the 20 letters of the abakada;
retained the letters C, F, J, Ñ , Q, V, X, Z on account that these letters are commonly
used in many regional languages; and removed the letters CH, LL, and RR.
Furthermore, the letters are to be read in English as opposed to abakada pronunciation,
in accordance with the Bilingual Education policy. 

The Filipino Alphabet

The modern Filipino alphabet, otherwise known as the Filipino
alphabet (Filipino: alpabetong Filipino), is the alphabet of the Filipino language, the
official national language and one of the two official languages of the Philippines In
1987, the official language called Pilipino was renamed to Filipino. Article XIV Section 6
of the 1987 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".
The Pilipino alphabet was reduced to 28 letters, with the Spanish Ch, Ll and Rr
digraphs being dropped from being considered as distinct letters (The Association of
Spanish Language Academies itself abandoned the use of Ch and Ll as separate
listings in alphabetical collations in 1994. Since 2010, ch and ll are no longer considered
distinct letters. Each digraph is now treated as a sequence of two distinct characters,
finding occasional use as conjoined pairs.).
The Modern Filipino alphabet is primarily English alphabet plus the Spanish Ñ
and Tagalog Ng digraph; these are alphabetised separately in theory. Today, the
Modern Filipino alphabet is used, and may also serve as the alphabet for all
autochthonous Philippine languages.

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In 2013, the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) released the Ortograpiyang

Pambansa ("National Orthography"), a new set of guidelines that resolved phonemic
representation problems previously encountered when writing some Philippine
languages and dialects.
The 28 letters of the Alpabeto are called títik or létra, and each represents a
spoken sound. These are classed either as patínig or bokáblo (vowels)
and katínig or konsonánte (consonants). The letters' names are pronounced and
collated in the same way as English, except for Ñ /enje/.
Lette Pronunciatio IPA Notes
r n
A ey /a/ Becomes [ɐ] in unstressed positions
B bi /b/
C si /k/ or /s/ Substituted by the letters k or s or
digraph ts in Abakada, depending on
the sound the letter generates. It is
only used for words of foreign origin
that have not been assimilated into
Filipino or Filipino words which were
written using Spanish orthography.
D di /d/ /ɾ/ and /d/ are sometimes
interchangeable
E i /ɛ/ Sometimes pronounced [i ~ ɪ ~ ɛ]
F ef /f/ Substituted by the letter p in
Abakada. It is only used for words of
foreign origin that have not been
assimilated into Filipino or Filipino
words which were written using
Spanish orthography.
G dyi /ɡ/;
before [e] or [i] /dʒ/ or /
h/
H eyts /h/ Many speakers (particularly in Luzon)
pronounce the letter H as ets /ɛtʃ/.
I ay /i/ /i/ is usually pronounced [ɪ] in
unstressed positions
J dyey /dʒ/ or /h/ Written as the digraph dy or
trigraph diy in Abakada when using
the /dʒ/ phoneme or as h when using
the /h/ phoneme. The sound varies
depending on the language. It is only

Address: Hilltop Road, Brgy. Kumintang Ibaba, Batangas City 4200, Philippines
Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
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used for words of foreign origin that

have not been assimilated into
Filipino or Filipino words which were
written using Spanish orthography.
K key /k/ /k/ has a tendency to
become [x] between vowels
L el /l/
M em /m/
N en /n/
Ñ énye /nʲ/ or /nj/ Written as the digraph ny or
trigraph niy in Abakada. It is only
used for words of Spanish origin that
have not been assimilated into
Filipino or Filipino words which were
written using Spanish orthography.
Ng endyi /ŋ/ pronounced 'ng' as in sing, running,
etc. Note its similarity with the word
'ng' (originally 'ng̃' with a tilde over
the g), which is a prepositional word
that is pronounced 'nang'.
O o /o/ or /o/ may be pronounced [u ~ ʊ], and
/ɔː/ tends to become [ɔ] in stressed
positions
P pi /p/
Q kyu /kʷ/ Written as the digraph kw or
trigraph kuw in Abakada. It is only
used for words of foreign origin that
have not been assimilated into
Filipino or Filipino words which were
written using Spanish orthography.
R ar /ɾ/ or /r/ /ɾ/ and /d/ are sometimes
interchangeable. It is /r/ when used
as initial consonant in clusters -rd,
-rk, -rt,-rn, etc. mostly from English
loanwords.
S es /s/
T ti /t/
U yu /u/ When unstressed, /u/ is usually
pronounced [ʊ]
V vi /v/ or /b/ Substituted by the letter b in
Abakada. It is only used for words of

Address: Hilltop Road, Brgy. Kumintang Ibaba, Batangas City 4200, Philippines
Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
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foreign origin that have not been

assimilated into Filipino or Filipino
words which were written using
Spanish orthography.
W dobolyu /w/
X eks /ks/ Written as the digraph ks in Abakada.
It is only used for words of foreign
origin that have not been assimilated
into Filipino or Filipino words which
were written using Spanish
orthography.
Y wai /j/
Z zi /z/ or /s/ Informally pronounced as zey.
Substituted by the letter s in
Abakada. It is only used for words of
foreign origin that have not been
assimilated into Filipino or Filipino
words which were written using
Spanish orthography.
Consonants
The Abakada developed in the early 20th century had fewer consonants. By the
middle of the century, letters (baybayin) were added and later on reduced due to its
ideology which is English that is approximately radical to English alphabet with the
release of the Ortograpiyang Pambansa in 2014. This is a radical change to add these
letters to modernise the writing system and to preserve the sounds that were found in
native Philippine languages. The digraphs and manuscripts were chosen to be placed in
other wordings for privileges and adaptations.
The 23 consonants in the modern Filipino alphabet are Bb, Cc, Dd, Ff, Gg, Hh,
Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Ññ, Ng, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy at Zz
Examples of the added letters:
Words Language Meaning
chila Ibaloy tongue
chingchin Hokkien wall
g
alifuffug Arabic whirlwind
safot Arabic spiderweb
falendag Arabic a flute that is covered with a leaf when played
through the mouth
feyu Kalinga a pipe made from reeds

Address: Hilltop Road, Brgy. Kumintang Ibaba, Batangas City 4200, Philippines
Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
Website: www.ub.edu.ph
 GRADUATE SCHOOL

jambangán Tausug plants

masjid Tausug, Mëranaw; mosque
ultimately from Arabic
‫مسجد‬
julúp Tausug bad behaviour
avid Ivatan beauty
vakul Ivatan a traditional, protective woman’s headdress
from Batanes woven from Phoenix hanceana  [1]
kuvat Ibaloy war
vuyu Ibanag meteor
vulan Ibanag moon
kazzing Itawes goat
zigattu Ibanag east
Vowels
Most languages in the Philippines share vowels /a/, /i/, and /u/. After centuries of
Spanish colonisation and the standardisation of Filipino as the national lingua franca,
the vowels /e/ and /o/ became more common.
The new letters embody the goal of the Filipino language to be more inclusive of
other native Philippine languages, whose sounds were not represented in the Tagalog
abakada. These additions also make the modernization of the Filipino language faster
and easier, particularly when borrowing words from the English, Spanish, and other
international languages.

Filipino Orthography
Filipino orthography (Filipino: Ortograpiyang Filipino) specifies the correct use
of the writing system of the Filipino language, the national and co-official language of
the Philippines.
In 2013, the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino released the Ortograpiyang
Pambansa (“National Orthography”), a new set of guidelines for writing the Filipino
language.
Eight Things to Know in Filipino Orthography

1. C, F, J, Ñ, Q, V, X, and Z are used mostly for loanwords, regional words and

proper nouns.

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Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
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2. The vowels are A, E, I, O, and U.

3. Usual diacritic marks are acute ( ´ ), grave ( ` ), circumflex ( ˆ ), diaeresis ( ¨ )
which are optional, and only used with the vowels. Grave ( ` ) and circumflex ( ˆ )
may only appear at the end of a word ending in a vowel. Diacritics have no
impact on collation or alphabetical order. Possible combinations include: á, à, â,
é, è, ê, ë, í, ì, î, ó, ò, ô, ú, ù, û. Historically, the tilde was used with <g> (g̃) in
many Philippine languages. It was notably used to shorten the
words nang (ergative case marker) and man͠gá (pluralization particle)
into ng̃ and mg̃á respectively. Today, these two words are usually just simply
written as ng and mga.
4. Ñ is considered as a separate letter, instead of a letter-diacritical mark
combination.
5. The alphabet also uses the Ng digraph, even originally with a large tilde that
spanned both n and g (as in n͠g) when a vowel follows the digraph.
This tilde indicates that the "n͠g" and the vowel should be pronounced as one
syllable, such as "n͠ga" in the three-syllable word "pan͠galan" ("name") –
syllabicated as [pa-n͠ga-lan], not [pan-ga-lan]. The use of the tilde over the two
letters is now rare. Due to technical constraints, machine-printed variants of
"n͠ga" emerged, which included "ñga", "ng̃a", and even "gña" (as in the case
of Sagñay, Camarines Sur).
6. The Ng digraph letter is similar to, but not the same as, the prepositional
word ng ("of"/"of the"), originally spelled ng̃ (with a tilde over the g only). The
words ng and ng̃ are shortened forms of the word nang.
7. Ë is a new variant of e introduced in 2013 to represent /ə/ in Austronesian words
of non-Tagalog origin.[1]
8. D and R are commonly interchangeable depending on the letter's location: "D"
becomes "R" if there is a preceding vowel, e.g. dagat ("sea")
to mandaragat ("seafarer"), dunong ("intelligence")
to marunong ("knowledgeable"). This does not, however, apply to some words
such as dumadagundong ("booming") as well as loanwords and proper nouns.

References:
Anonymous. June 23, 2005.The Project Gutenberg EBook of Doctrina Christiana.
Blair and Robertson: The Philippine Islands, Project Gutenberg EBook of The Philippine
Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XXXIII, 1519-1522, by Antonio Pigafetta
Bright, William: A Matter of Typology, Alphasyllabaries and Abugidas. Studies in
Linguistic Sciences Journal, Vo. 30 No.1
Barrios. Austronesian Elements in Philippine Creole Spanish
Calderon, S. (2006). Dating Pilipinas. University of Michigan Digital Libraries.

Address: Hilltop Road, Brgy. Kumintang Ibaba, Batangas City 4200, Philippines
Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
Website: www.ub.edu.ph
 GRADUATE SCHOOL

Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino: Kasaysayan, DECS Order No. 81 s, 1987

Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino: Manwal sa Masinop ng Pagsulat
Miller (2011). Filipino Cultural Heritage in the UST Archives: Baybayin Script in 17th
Century Land Deeds.
National Commission for Culture and Arts: Balanghay: The Filipino Language
Sawyer, F.H. (2011).: Inhabitants of the Philippines. Cornell University Digital
Collections
de Viana, A. (n.d.). Indigenous Philippine writing and their similarity with their
counterparts in island
Southeast Asia

Prepared by:

Karen Clarissa L. Perez

Ph.D. Filipino

Address: Hilltop Road, Brgy. Kumintang Ibaba, Batangas City 4200, Philippines
Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
Website: www.ub.edu.ph