Tagalog Spelling System Using Diacritical Marks

Note: For ease and clarity, we use underlines and /’/ instead of diacritical marks (accents) to indicate pronunciation.

An official spelling system that uses diacritical marks for indicating long vowels and final glottal stops was introduced in 1939. Although it is used in some dictionaries and Tagalog learning materials, it has not been generally adopted by native speakers.

The system divides words into four types based on stress and the presence or absence of a final glottal stop.

word type	characteristics	system using diacritical marks	system used in this book
malumay	stress on penultimate syllable	dalaga sarili matahimik	dalaga sarili matahimik
malumi’ (`)	stress on penultimate syllable glottal stop at end of word	batà talumpatì dambuhalà	bata’ talumpati’ dambuhala’
mabilis (´)	stress on final syllable	isá malakí bulaklák	isa malaki bulaklak
maragsa’ (ˆ)	stress on final syllable glottal stop at end of word	sampû butikî salitâ	sampu’ butiki’ salita’

word type	malumay
characteristics	stress on penultimate syllable
system using diacritical marks	dalaga sarili matahimik
system used in this book	dalaga sarili matahimik

word type	malumi’ (`)
characteristics	stress on penultimate syllable glottal stop at end of word
system using diacritical marks	batà talumpatì dambuhalà
system used in this book	bata’ talumpati’ dambuhala’

word type	mabilis (´)
characteristics	stress on final syllable
system using diacritical marks	isá malakí bulaklák
system used in this book	isa malaki bulaklak

word type	maragsa’ (ˆ)
characteristics	stress on final syllable glottal stop at end of word
system using diacritical marks	sampû butikî salitâ
system used in this book	sampu’ butiki’ salita’

In addition to the above:

Any stressed syllables other than the penultimate and final syllables are indicated by an acute accent (´).

system using diacritical marks	system used in this book
sásama páaralán nagsásalitâ	sasama paaralan nagsasalita’

system using diacritical marks

system used in this book

sásama

páaralán

nagsásalitâ

sasama

paaralan

nagsasalita’

This book does not use the spelling system using diacritical marks as the system is quite confusing.

Note:

1. The final glottal stop of malumi and maragsa words only occurs before a pause, such as at the end of a sentence. When not followed by a pause, the final glottal stop is replaced by vowel elongation.

2. The stress on, or vowel elongation in, the final syllable of mabilis and maragsa words is optional when followed by a pause. When not followed by a pause, there is no vowel elongation in the final syllable of mabilis words. In the case of maragsa words, there is final vowel elongation, since it replaces the final glottal stop.

See also: Long vowels (stress) and glottal stops (p. 17).

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