Spelling Adaptations & Transformations from Foreign Words

Words from Spanish and English origins are often integrated into the Filipino language. When they are, the words are spelled with slightly different letters to use the spelling system of the Filipino language, while remembering the simple rule that in the Filipino language a word is spelled as it is pronounced.

These letter changes occur because certain letters ( like C, Q, V, F, X ) did not exist in the original Filipino alphabet, and in other cases because the sounds made by a foreign word are better represented with different letters when using the normal rules of Filipino pronunciation.

Review the spelling transformations that frequently take place in the example box below:





Did you also notice that the Filipino language rarely uses double consonant letters? You don’t spell gimik with double m's. Or adik with double d's.