Samot-sari

       The diacritical marks (tuldík) are a guide for the proper pronunciation of words, and also utilized to separate homographs, words with the same spelling but different meaning and/or pronunciation. In linguistics, they are also used as a symbol for the glottal stop (impít) or for indicating syllable stress.

 

Introduction to the Glottal Stop

       The glottal stop (impít) is a consonant sound which is pronounced with a halt at the glottis. Some examples of its presence are in the final sounds of the words “pusa” (cat),  “hindi” (no),  and “punò” (tree). They are not usually written in everyday communication but are sometimes represented with diacritics especially in textbooks and literature. In the IPA, it is symbolized by the /ʔ/.

 

Kinds of Diacritics

       In the Philippine languages, it is important to indicate the diacritic because there are plenty of words which are the same in spelling but differ in meaning and/or pronunciation. There are four kinds of diacritics in the orthography of Filipino and other Philippine languages.

       First, the pahilís (΄), “acute” in English, which can be pronounced in two ways: the mabilís (fast) at malúmay (slow). When mabilís, the word is pronounced shortly with its stress at the last syllable of the word.

e.g.: buháy - alive,        bukás - open

If malúmay, there is a slowness due to the at the first syllable or any other central syllables within the word.

e.g.: búhay - life,        búkas - tomorrow

       Second, the paiwà (`), “grave” in English. This is pronounced in the malumì way, which is slow or gentle like the malúmay due to syllable stress, but ending in a glottal stop. The glottal stop is the sudden stopping sound like at the à in talà (star). It is always at the last syllable.

e.g.: punò - tree,        pinunò - leader

       Third, the pakupyâ (^), “circumflex” in English. This is pronounced in the maragsâ way, which is done shortly like mabilís with the stress at the last syllable, but ending in a glottal stop. The glottal stop is the sudden stopping sound like at the â in talâ (record). It is always at the last syllable.

e.g.: punô - full,       pinunô - filled with something

       Fourth, the patuldok (¨), “dieresis” in English. This is pronounced with a vowel in the vicinity of a schwa (ə), and is found in other native languages in the country such as Ilokano, Mëranaw, Tëduray, Pangasinan, Kinaray-a, Kankanaëy, etc.

e.g.: wën - yes (Ilokano), panagbëngá - season of blooming (Kankanaëy)

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Style of Diacritic Use

       In accordance with the pratice of the Ortograpiyang Pambansa and the current Komisyon sa Wikang FIlipino (KWF), the original accent of the root word remains even if an affix is attached to the word, which runs contrary to the traditional use of the diacritics in the early literatures. This is so there is a distinction created for words which both have the same pronounciation and spelling.

Hal:

hiyáng - suitable        vs        hiyâng - hiya (shame)+na

matabâng - mataba (fat)+na        vs        matabáng - tasteless

láyong - layon (goal)+na        vs        layòng - layo (distance)+na

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