Basic Ilocano Phonological Differences

The Ilocano language spoken in Northern Luzon, some parts of Mindanao and elsewhere are the same except in accent or phonology. The disparity lies on the different dialects of the language where vocabularies from one place could have a different meaning to another or totally not understood.

Native Ilocano speakers from Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, La Union and parts of Pangasinan can accurately tell where one is from by merely listening how one speaks (accent and pronunciation) the language.

As I proceed, let me remind that just like in any other Filipino language, there are no long vowels in Ilocano. Although “u” or “o”, “f” or “p”, “v” or “b” are spelled, they have similar Ilocano tone and so with “Ilocanized” Spanish words such as f(p)iesta or V(B)iernes.

In Ilocos Norte, first and last letters are pronounced distinctly and properly although in Batac, “wen” (yes) is sometimes pronounced as “wa” or “owa”. In Laoag they say “Wen met ket.” (True indeed.) All of the letters are pronounced including the vowel “e” as in egg.

In Vigan, it is slightly different. They say “Wen me ke.” The “e’s” in the last two words are not pronounced but with a guttural stoppage. Still the “e” is “e” as in egg. In Bangued, the sentence is pronounced similarly like that in Vigan but the “e’s” are pronounced longer. Some towns of Ilocos Sur pronounce “wen” as “win” (pronounced exactly as “win” in English).

In general, there is an unwritten rule in Laoag that all terminal consonants preceded by "e" (as in egg) are pronounced syllabically.  Example: kammet (to eat using a bare hand), pammaneknek (proof or evidence), dalikepkep (to cross arms on the chest).

In contrast, in Vigan, terminal letters "t", "k", and "p" of the above words are not pronounced.  They are said as kamme, pammanene and delikepke. The "e's" in the first two words and the last syllable of the third word are pronounced as maragsa (^) i.e. Filipino grammar.

In La Union, "r" and "e" are thickly pronounced while in Pangasinan, the "e" sound is pronounced as "i" and vice versa.  They also pronounce "r" and "e" as they are pronounced in San Fernando, La Union.  Example: In La Union, newspaper is "newspapUr."  the terminal syllable is pronounced as "ur" as in "burr".  In Pangasinan, "kenka" (to you) is pronounced as "kingka" while "lingga" (sesame seed) is pronounced a "lengga".

Although words are pronounced differently in different accents, Ilocanos understand each other except in cases of dialectical differences.

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*I don't have enough background in linguistics.  This article is merely based from mere observation.  -COR INVICTUS