Sound System

Tagalog is comprised of 21 phonemes, 16 consonants and 5 vowels. However, before the arrival of the Spaniards, there were only three vowel phonemes, /a/, /i/ and /u/. With the introduction of borrowed Spanish words, these vowels were expanded to include /e/ and /o/. Syllable structure in Tagalog is extremely simple: each syllable contains a consonant and a vowel.

Despite this simplicity, sounds in Tagalog can be more complicated. Here are a few examples:

• /r/ and /d/ are sometimes interchangeable since they were once allophones. In many other languages, including Spanish, /r/ and /l/ are interchangeable due to the lateralization of /r/.
• The dipthong /aɪ/ and the sequence /aʔi/ have a tendency to become [eɪ > ɛ]. This change is similar to the evolution that Spanish underwent in changing from Latin.
• The dipthong /aʊ/ and the sequence /aʔu/ have the tendency to become [oʊ > ɔ]. This change is similar to the evolution that Spanish underwent in changing from Latin.