The vowels are A, E, I, O, U, and Y at the end of a word. The vowels are never silent, except U in the syllables que, qui, the sound of which corresponds to that heard in the English words Kedge, Keep, Key.
| A | sounds always like A in alam. |
| B | sounds like B in back |
| C | before a, o, u, sounds like K in English,
as—caadlaoon—The dawn of the
day—Coco—Nail of the fingers. |
| D | at the beginning of a word or in the middle, if
preceded by a consonant, is pronounced like in English. At the end of a
word or between two vowels has a sound between D and R, which may be
obtained by placing the tip of the tongue against the higher teeth
turning the thick part towards the roof of the mouth. |
| G | has always a very smooth sound like in English
before a, o, u, as—ginicanan,
forefathers—gintoon-an, scholar. |
| H | has a slight aspirated sound like a very faintly
aspirated h in English in the words horse,
hog—as—hocom,
judge—habagat, a strong
wind—hilanat, fever. |
| E, I | these vowels although sound like in English,
nevertheless, natives confound them very often: the same shall be said
of the vowels O and U; and this is the reason why the P. John
Felix's Dictionary employs but I and O, instead E, I—O, U. |
| L | sounds like in English, as—lamdag, brightness—libac,
backbiting. |
| M | sounds like in English: as—mata, eye—motó-top. |
| N | sounds like in English; as—nipis, fine, thin. |
| Ng | this letter has no equivalent in English, and it must
be heard from the natives. |
| Ñ | this letter has a strong nasal sound resembling that
of n in the English word “poniard” out of Bohol
province, where it is pronounced as in the English word—manger
and written ny: as, caninyo, bonyag,
instead of caniño, boñag. |
| O | sounds like in English; as—olan, rain—úhao,
thirst. |
| P | sounds as in English:—pito, seven—ponó,
fill. |
| Q | is always followed by u, and pronounced like
K; as, quinabuhi, life, quilay, eyebrow, quilquil,
scratching. |
| S | has always a harsh, hissing sound like ss
in English. There is not a word in Bisaya beginning with s
followed by a consonant. |
| T | sounds as in English, as—tabang, help, tiao, joke. |
| U | sounds like in English in the words “proof,
goose” but it is frequently confounded with O. (See I and E on
the preceding page). |
| Y | sounds like ee in English at
the end of a word; but before a vowel, or between two vowels, sounds
like in the English words “joke, jolt” as—yabó, pour.—This letter when after a noun or
pronoun, if the same noun or pronoun, is employed instead of the
particle ang, being as it does, an article of
appellative nouns. Examples: I did that—acó ang nagbuhat niana, or, acoy
nagbuhat niana—What is the reason of
that.—¿Onsa ba ang hingtungdan
niana? or ¿Onsay hingtungdan
niana? |