Consonants
Cebuano contains native and borrowed consonants. The native ones are: b, d, g, h, k, l, m, n, ng, p, r, s, t, w, and y. The other consonants are for use with ‘loaner’ words, typically borrowed from Spanish or English, and they are c, f, j, q, v, x, and z.
All consonants are pronounced as in English with the exception of ‘ng’. I’ll make an attempt here to describe its pronunciation. If you note the difference between the voicing of the English words ‘slang’ and ‘tong’, With ‘slang’, the ‘g’ is noticeable, where with ‘tong’ it is barely voiced, if at all. With the ‘ng’ in Cebuano, it’s almost like in that in ‘tong’ except the ‘ng’ are voiced from in the throat…swallowed, if you will.
Vowels
Cebuano has the same vowels as in English, with some notable differences, one being that each vowel only has one sound, whereas in English, to use ‘a’ as an example, it is pronounced differently in each of the following:
bat
father
taste
a – as in father
e – as the ‘ay’ in say
i – as in pizza
o and u are interchangeable, and are as the ‘oo’ in pooyes Morel
y – not used as a standalone vowel, is used with ‘o’ or ‘u’ to produce the ‘oy’ sound in boy and with ‘a’ to produce the ‘ay’ sound as in Maya
Stress
It is important to know the syllable on which the stress falls.
A Spanish example:
porque – because
porqué – why?
The difference with Cebuano is that the stress is not identified with an accent…it’s not identified at all when writing. However, because it is important to stress the correct syllable in Cebuano, I will use an accent in the appropriate place. Just remember that the accent is not part of the actual spelling of the word.
Staccato Vowels
Another thing to note is that in addition to standard vowel pronunciation Cebuano also has what I will refer to as staccato vowels…vowels that have a very abbreviated sound. The closest I can come to an example in English is the difference between the length of the ‘i’ sound in rich and bit. In the latter, the vowel sound is held for a very short time. The difference to note with Cebuano is that a staccato vowel can also appear at the end of a word, like lami (delicious). In most, if not all, cases, when the final vowel is a staccato vowel it is also the stressed vowel. These do not receive any diacritical mark like an accent or otherwise when written, but I will write the letter with a circumflex if it is staccato. Using the same example, lamîdelicious, tasty More tells you that the ‘i’ is both stressed and staccato.
Adjacent Vowels
Cebuano has pairings of vowels as does English. For example, English has ‘oy’ as in boy, and Cebuano has baboy, with the ‘oy’ prounounced the same in both. Sometimes they are both pronounced, sometimes combined:
maáyogood More (good) is pronounced mah-ah-yo. Both a’s are pronounced individually.
báboypork More (pork) is pronounced bah-boy. The ‘o’ and ‘y’ are combined into the same sound as in English.
amáw (stupid) and íkawYou More (you), the ‘aw’ are pronounced like ‘ow’ in ‘cow’.
búang (crazy) is prononced boo-ahng. The ‘u’ and the ‘a’ are pronounced individually.