the words listed in the Exercises on page 19 slowly, syllable by syllable, then repeat them pronouncing each word a bit faster.
II. STRESS
In Tagalog, the use of stress on a particular syllable in a word can make a difference in meaning. Stress is the vocal emphasis of a particular syllable. In this book, an accent mark is placed over the vowel of a syllable to indicate which syllable is to be stressed and how the stress is to be sounded.
1. Principal types of stresses
There are four principal types of stresses and in this book, they are marked in the following ways:
a. End Stress
An acute accent mark (´) is placed over the vowel of the last syllable of the word if this syllable receives a stronger emphasis than the others.
| anák | a-NAK | child |
| amá | a-MA | father |
| iná | i-NA | mother |
| bulaklák | bu-lak-LAK | flower |
| malakás | ma-la-KAS | strong |
b. Penultimate Stress
An acute accent mark (´) is also used to indicate a stress on the next to last syllable of a word, by placing the accent above the vowel of that syllable.
| babáe | ba-BA-e | woman |
| laláki | la-LA-ki | man |
| maínit | ma-I-nit | hot |
| malínis | ma-LI-nis | clean |
| táo | TA-o | person |
c. Penultimate Stress with a Glottal Catch
A grave accent mark (`) is used above the vowel of the last syllable to indicate a strong emphasis on the next to last syllable. The vowel at the end is pronounced with a glottal catch, which is produced by an abrupt closing of the throat to block the air stream in both the mouth and voice box. The glottal catch is hard to hear and beginners often mistake the sound as that of k.
For this particular lesson, however, we shall indicate the pronunciation of the glottal catch with the letter Q. Note that this is only a representation of the glottal catch and should not be interpreted as the literal pronunciation of the words (Please refer to the audio CD to hear how the words are pronounced).
| punò | PU-noQ | tree |
| kandilà | kan-DI-laQ | candle |
| pusà | PU-saQ | cat |
| susì | SU-siQ | key |
| batà | BA-taQ | child |
d. End Glottal Catch (no stress)
The circumflex mark (ˆ) is used above the vowel of the last syllable when it is pronounced without a stress but with a glottal catch at the end. The difference with the preceding stress type is that words that fall under this category are pronounced faster and the stress on the last syllable seems lost with the glottal catch.
| punô | pu-noQ | full |
| sampû | sam-puQ | ten |
| bakyâ | bak-yaQ | wooden shoes |
| masamâ | ma-sa-maQ | bad |
| gintô | gin-toQ | gold |
Note that longer words may have more than one stressed syllable such as pinagkákaguluhán (being mobbed) and mapágsamantalâ (opportunistic).
2. On the use of stress and accents
There are some important facts that the language learner should also remember about the use of stress and accents in Tagalog. These are the following:
a. A difference in stress can cause a difference in meaning, as in the following examples:
| kaibígan | ka-i-BI-gan | friend |
| kaibigán | ka-i-bi-GAN | desire |
| káibigán | KA-i-bi-GAN | have mutual understanding with |
| kaíbigan | ka-I-bi-gan | sweetheart |
| makaalís | ma-ka-a-LIS | to be able to leave |
| makáalis | ma-KA-a-lis | to leave unintentionally |
| matúlog | ma-TU-log | to sleep |
| matulóg | ma-tu-LOG | to fall asleep unintentionally |
b. The glottal catch is lost when a suffix is added after the final vowel.
| batà | BA-taQ | child |
| kabatáan | ka-ba-TA-an | youth |
| luhà | LU-haQ | tears |
| luhaán | lu-ha-AN | miserable |
| punô | pu-noQ | full |
| punuín | pu-nu-IN |
