| punò | PU-noQ | tree |
| kandilà | kan-DI-laQ | candle |
| pusà | PU-saQ | cat |
| susì | SU-siQ | key |
| batà | BA-taQ | child |
d. End Glottal Catch (no stress)
The circumflex mark (ˆ) is used above the vowel of the last syllable when it is pronounced without a stress but with a glottal catch at the end. The difference with the preceding stress type is that words that fall under this category are pronounced faster and the stress on the last syllable seems lost with the glottal catch.
| punô | pu-noQ | full |
| sampû | sam-puQ | ten |
| bakyâ | bak-yaQ | wooden shoes |
| masamâ | ma-sa-maQ | bad |
| gintô | gin-toQ | gold |
Note that longer words may have more than one stressed syllable such as pinagkákaguluhán (being mobbed) and mapágsamantalâ (opportunistic).
2. On the use of stress and accents
There are some important facts that the language learner should also remember about the use of stress and accents in Tagalog. These are the following:
a. A difference in stress can cause a difference in meaning, as in the following examples:
| kaibígan | ka-i-BI-gan | friend |
| kaibigán | ka-i-bi-GAN | desire |
| káibigán | KA-i-bi-GAN | have mutual understanding with |
| kaíbigan | ka-I-bi-gan | sweetheart |
| makaalís | ma-ka-a-LIS | to be able to leave |
| makáalis | ma-KA-a-lis | to leave unintentionally |
| matúlog | ma-TU-log | to sleep |
| matulóg | ma-tu-LOG | to fall asleep unintentionally |
b. The glottal catch is lost when a suffix is added after the final vowel.
| batà | BA-taQ | child |
| kabatáan | ka-ba-TA-an | youth |
| luhà | LU-haQ | tears |
| luhaán | lu-ha-AN | miserable |
| punô | pu-noQ | full |
| punuín | pu-nu-IN | to fill with |
| susì | SU-siQ | key |
| susián | su-si-AN | keyhole |
c. Monosyllabic words often take on the stress of a preceding word, and the stress in that word is lost. The stress is thus “transferred” to the following single-syllable word.
| kumáin | Kumain ká. | Ku-ma-in KA. | You may eat. |
| hindî | Hindi pá. | Hin-di PA. | Not yet. |
| ganitó | Ganito bá? | Ga-ni-to BA? | Like this? |
| malápit | Malapit ná. | Ma-la-pit NA. | It is near. |
| hindî | Hindi pô. | Hin-di PO. | No, sir / madam. |
d. To avoid mispronunciation, a hyphen separates the prefix that ends in a consonant and with a glottal stop from the root that follows which starts with a vowel.
| pag-ása | pagQ-A-sa | hope |
| mag-alís | magQ-a-LIS | to remove |
| mag-isá | magQ-i-SA | alone |
| pag-íbig | pagQ-I-big | love |
Exercises
Practice pronouncing the following words by paying careful attention to the four types of stress and accent marks used to indicate them.
| anák | a-NA | child |
| amá | a-MA | father |
| iná | i-NA | mother |
| bulaklák | bu-lak-LAK | flower |
| malakás | ma-la-KAS | strong |
| babáe | ba-BA-e | woman |
| laláki |