Manobo, Agusan Phonology

1 Pronunciation and Spelling
1.1 Vowels

People who speak Cebuano or Filipino as their mother tongue
may have trouble pronouncing and spelling Manobo.

When we write Manobo we use seven basic vowels: a, ae, e, /,
o, w, ue. But there are two additional vowels: ey, which is similar to e
but longer, and iy, which is similar to / but longer.

Cebuano is written with five vowels: a, e, /, o, w. Only three
sounds are actually ever pronounced, however, because e and /' are
pronounced as the same sound, and o and w are pronounced as the
same sound.

Manobo has these three same vowel sounds as Cebuano. We
write them with a, i and m. We cannot write the sound u with o, or the
sound / with e, like Cebuano, because in Manobo the letters o and e
are used to represent DIFFERENT sounds.

The following is a table to help you pronounce and spell
Manobo words. Non-Manobo words such as English words are
included to guide you, but you must be careful. There are many
different ways to pronounce English! The best way to learn to
pronounce Manobo words correctly is to ask a native speaker of
Manobo to say the Manobo words for you. The pronunciation guide
should only be used if you cannot fmd a native speaker of Manobo.
The pronunciation guide should be used with a native speaker of
English.

Table 1 Vowel Chart

Vowels

Manobo

Pronunciation Guide

a

a*baga

'shoulder'

father

ae

'aehu

'pestle'

cat

e

sed

'inside'

bed

ey

meydu'on

'there is'

grex

i

i'nay

'mother!'

kiwi

iy

*abiy

Mip'

key

o

o'nom

'six'

above

u

'ubu

* cough'

do

ue

*kambue

'basket type'

Not found in English
French tu or
German Uber

If the letter o is not used to spell the u sound, what sound does it
represent? It does not represent the sound written with the letter o in
Filipino, such as in the Filipino word ngayon 'now'. Instead, in
Manobo, it represents what we call a schwa ox pepet sound. The
tongue and lips are in the same position as when making the a sound,
but the mouth is not opened as wide, only half as wide.

If the letter e is not used to spell the ( sound, what sound does it
represent? It represents the same sound written with the letter e in
Filipino as in the word ate 'older sister'.

The vowel sound ue is not found in Filipino, Cebuano or
English. To pronounce this sound, first make the sound /. You will
notice that your tongue is high up and in front of the mouth, and your
lips are spread. Without moving the tongue, round your lips as when
making the sound w. Or, first make the sound u. You will notice that
your tongue is high up and at the back of the mouth, and your lips are
rounded. Without moving the lips, move your tongue in front of the
mouth as when making the sound /. This vowel sounds like a cross
between / and u because the lips are in the same position as when
making the sound w but the tongue is in the same position as when
making the sound /.

1.2 Glottal Stop

One 'sound' is not always written. That is the glottal stop. The
glottal stop is the 'catch in the throat' between the uh and the oh of
the English uh-oh or the way some English speakers pronounce the tt
in words like button.

In Manobo, we do not write the glottal stop when it is at the
beginning of a word, as in abaga 'shoulder', or when it is between
vowels, as in baaw (pronounced ba-aw) 'trail food'. We do write
glottal stop with a dash (-) when it is after a consonant, as in agid-id
'body-dirt', or when it is between two vowels and one of the vowel
sounds is written with two letters {ae or ue\ as in a-ae 'for a boar to
pant'. In this dictionary, the glottal stop is also written with a grave
accent (') when it is at the end of a word, as in baka 'jaw'. The word
looks like it ends with a vowel but it really ends in a glottal stop. If
you do not write the glottal stop, then it may be difficult to tell if the
word is baka 'cow' or baka 'jaw'.

1.3 Stress

Stress in Manobo words is usually a longer syllable with a
slightly louder volume. Stress is very important in Manobo in telling
words apart. Therefore, stress is written in this dictionary. We write it
with an apostrophe (*) before the stressed syllable. For example, the
only difference between *hilu 'thread' and hi'lu 'poison', is stress. In
the first word, the first syllable is stressed. In the second word, the
second syllable is stressed.

1.4 Consonants

The sixteen consonants of Manobo are spelled with the
following letters:

Table 2 Consonant Chart

Consonants

Manobo

b

'baktas

*hike'

d

dadu'wa

'two'

g

guyangan

'forest'

h

hVngow

'be drunk'

J

ja'bu

'spiir

k

'kanta

'sing'

I

la'ba

'launder'

m

ma'ma

'betelnutchew'

n

ni'pis

'thin'

ng

'ngadan

'name'

P

'panow

'walk'

r

ri'pulyu

'cabbage'

s

so' da

'viand'

t

Uyahu

'cry'

w

wo'hig

'water'

y

yukos

'male'

Most Manobo consonants are pronounced the same as in
Filipino or Cebuano. One exception is the lettery. Manoboy is the
same as the Filipino sound usually written with the letters dy, as in
aledyik 'allergic'. That is, it is the same as the English y.

DICTIONARY

ofManobo as spoken in the

Agusan river valley and the

Diwata mountain range

Dal-u Manggusawon TeoFilo E. Gelacio

Jason Lee Kuiok Loong

Ronald L. Schumacher

drawings by

Mendez Havana^ Jr.

Urios College

Butuan City

2000

Published by
Urios College
Butuan City
Philippines

Printed in the Philippines by
SIL Press

40.42-300-50 83.20P-00401 1 N