Learning Tagalog

Other Replaceable Tagalog Sounds

sounds	may be replaced by	example(s)	alternative pronunciation(s)	meaning
ai	ay, ey, e	kailan	“kaylan , keylan , kelan”	when
au	aw, o	kaunti’	“kawnti’ , konti’”	a little
ay	ey, e	may	“mey , me”	there’s (a/some)…
diy, dy	j	diyan , dyaryo	“jan,” ”jaryo”	there, newspaper
niy	ñ (ny)	niyog	“ñog (nyog)”	coconut
siy, sy	sh	siya, masyado	“sha,” “mashado”	he/she, too (much)
tiy, ty	ch	tiyak , tyan	“chak,” “chan”	doubtless, belly
ts	ch	kotse , tsokolate	“koche,” “chokolate”	car, chocolate

sounds	ai
may be replaced by	ay, ey, e
example(s)	kailan
alternative pronunciation(s)	“kaylan , keylan , kelan”
meaning	when

sounds	au
may be replaced by	aw, o
example(s)	kaunti’
alternative pronunciation(s)	“kawnti’ , konti’”
meaning	a little

sounds	ay
may be replaced by	ey, e
example(s)	may
alternative pronunciation(s)	“mey , me”
meaning	there’s (a/some)…

sounds	diy, dy
may be replaced by	j
example(s)	diyan , dyaryo
alternative pronunciation(s)	“jan,” ”jaryo”
meaning	there, newspaper

sounds	niy
may be replaced by	ñ (ny)
example(s)	niyog
alternative pronunciation(s)	“ñog (nyog)”
meaning	coconut

sounds	siy, sy
may be replaced by	sh
example(s)	siya, masyado
alternative pronunciation(s)	“sha,” “mashado”
meaning	he/she, too (much)

sounds	tiy, ty
may be replaced by	ch
example(s)	tiyak , tyan
alternative pronunciation(s)	“chak,” “chan”
meaning	doubtless, belly

sounds	ts
may be replaced by	ch
example(s)	kotse , tsokolate
alternative pronunciation(s)	“koche,” “chokolate”
meaning	car, chocolate

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This grammar guide is part of the Learning Tagalog Course.
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From Essential Tagalog Grammar: A Reference for Learners of Tagalog, Second Edition
By Fiona De Vos

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