Kapampangan phonology

Standard Kapampangan has 21 phonemes: 15 consonants and five vowels; some western dialects have six vowels. Syllabic structure is relatively simple; each syllable contains at least one consonant and a vowel.

## Vowels

Kapampangan has five vowel phonemes:

* /ə/, a close back unrounded vowel when unstressed; allophonic with /aː/, an open front unrounded vowel similar to English "f*a*ther" when stressed
* /ɛ/, an open-mid front unrounded vowel similar to English "b*e*d"
* /i/, a close front unrounded vowel similar to English "mach*i*ne"
* /o/, a close-mid back rounded vowel similar to English "f*o*rty"
* /u/, a close back rounded vowel similar to English "fl*u*te"

There are four main diphthongs: /aɪ/, /oɪ/, /aʊ/, and /iʊ/. In most dialects (including standard Kapampangan), /aɪ/ and /aʊ/ are reduced to /ɛ/ and /o/ respectively.

Monophthongs have allophones in unstressed and syllable-final positions:

* /a/ becomes [ə] in all unstressed positions.
* Unstressed /i u/ is usually pronounced [ɪ ʊ], as in English "b*i*t" and "b*oo*k" respectively (except final syllables).
* In final syllables /i/ can be pronounced [ɛ, i], and /u/ can be pronounced [o, u].
	+ *deni/reni* ("these") can be pronounced [ˈdɛnɛ]/[ˈɾɛnɛ] or [ˈdɛni]/[ˈɾɛni]; *seli* ("bought") can be pronounced [ˈsɛlɛ] or [ˈsɛli]; *kekami* ("to us" [except you]) can be pronounced [kɛkəˈmɛ] or [kɛkəˈmi]; *suerti* can be pronounced [ˈswɛɾtɛ] or [ˈswɛɾti], *sisilim* ("dusk") can be pronounced [sɪˈsilɛm] or [sɪˈsilim].
	+ *kanu* ("he said, she said, they said, it was said, allegedly, reportedly, supposedly") can be pronounced [kaˈno] or [kaˈnu]; *libru* ("book") can be pronounced [libˈɾo] or [libˈɾu]; *ninu* ("who") can be pronounced [ˈnino] or [ˈninu]; *kaku* ("to me") can be pronounced [ˈkako] or [ˈkaku], and *kámaru* ("cricket") can be pronounced [ˈkaːməɾu] or [ˈkaːməɾo].
* Unstressed /e, o/ are usually pronounced [ɪ, ʊ], respectively (except final syllables).

## Consonants

In the chart of Kapampangan consonants, all stops are unaspirated. The velar nasal occurs in all positions, including the beginning of a word. Unlike other languages of the Philippines but similar to Ilocano, Kapampangan uses /h/ only in words of foreign origin.

* /k/ tends to lenite to [x] between vowels.
* [d] and [ɾ] are allophones in Kapampangan, and sometimes interchangeable; *Nukarin la ring libru?* can be *Nukarin la ding libru?* ("Where are the books?").
* A glottal stop at the end of a word is often omitted in the middle of a sentence and, unlike in most languages of the Philippines, is conspicuously absent word-internally; hence, Batiáuan's dropping of semivowels from its very name.

## Stress

Stress is phonemic in Kapampangan. Primary stress occurs on the last or the next-to-last syllable of a word. Vowel lengthening accompanies primary or secondary stress, except when stress occurs at the end of a word. Stress shift can occur, shifting to the right or left to differentiate between nominal or verbal use (as in the following examples):

* *dápat* ("should, ought to") → *dapát* ("deed, concern, business")
* *dapúg* ("gather, burn trash") → *dápug* ("trash pile")

Stress shift can also occur when one word is derived from another through affixation; again, stress can shift to the right or the left:

* *ábe* → *abáyan* ("company")
* *láso* → *lasáwan* ("melt, digest")

## Sound changes

In Kapampangan, the proto-Philippine schwa vowel \*ə merged to /a/ in most dialects of Kapampangan; it is preserved in some western dialects. Proto-Philippine \*tanəm is *tanam* (to plant) in Kapampangan, compared with Tagalog *tanim*, Cebuano *tanom* and Ilocano tanem (grave).

Proto-Philippine \*R merged with /j/. The Kapampangan word for "new" is *bayu*; it is *bago* in Tagalog, *baro* in Ilocano, and *baru* in Indonesian.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Forman, Michael, 1971, pp.28-29