Ilocano phrasebook vowels · Vowels in Ilocano phrasebook
All Destinations | Europe | Asia | North America | Africa | South America | Oceania | Hotels
Vowels in Ilocano phrasebook
Vowels in Ilocano phrasebook
The Ilocano language has either five or six vowels, depending on what dialect you choose to speak. The language is generally divided into the Amianan (Northern) and Abagatan (Southern) Dialects. The only difference however between these two dialects is the way they pronounce the letter 'E'. In the Abagatan Dialect, only five vowels are present and they are pronounced as follows:
a�
open front unrounded vowel IPA [a]; like the a in father
e�
open-mid front unrounded vowel IPA [ɛ]; like the e in bed
i�
close front unrounded vowel IPA [i]; like the ea in beat
o�
close-mid back rounded vowel IPA [o]; like the au in author
u�
close back rounded vowel IPA [u]; like the oo in boot
On the other hand, the Amianan Dialect has another vowel for the symbol 'e'. For the speakers of the Abagatan Dialect, the 'e' that was given above is used for words of foreign origin (e.g. elepante from Spanish). For native words, the sound of a close back unrounded vowel is used. There is no equivalent for this sound in English so some dictionaries use the IPA symbol for the schwa sign. But the proper symbol must be:
e�
close back unrounded vowel IPA [ɯ]; like the ao in the Scots Gaelic caol.
Historically, Ilocano has only 3 vowels and this reality is still evident until today as the sounds of e and i and o and u' often merges.
When the letter i precedes another letter, its sound will glide resulting to the sound of [j]. This happens also to the letter u where it glides into the sound of [w].
Spanish cities such as Vigan were in contact with Spanish, hence, the additional open-mid front unrounded vowel "e".
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Ilocano phrasebook
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Ilocano phrasebook - updated May 2024
SAVE up to 75% on Last Minute deals! Search for discount Ilocano phrasebook hotels, motels, apartments, hostels, guest accommodations and vacation resorts. Book now and pay at the hotel. Instant email confirmation!
>>> SEARCH FOR DEALS <<<
WHERE TO TRAVEL NEXT IN 2020
Ilocano phrasebook Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.