The Ayta Abellen Alphabet
There are 17 letters in the Ayta Abellen alphabet:
a b d e g h i k l m n o p t u w y
The Ayta Abellen-to-English part of the dictionary is arranged alphabetically according to the above order.
Introduction to Writing the Ayta Abellen Language
There are eighteen (18) sounds in the Alphabet of Ayta Abellen. Five (5) are vowels and thirteen (13) are consonants.
These are examples of words that start with a vowel:
| A a – aho (dog) | E e – etak (bolo) |
| I i – ibat (from) | O o – oybon (calves) |
| U u – utang (debt) |
Four of the five vowels (a, i, o, u) have the same sounds as the Filipino Alphabet. But the sound of the letter (e) is not the same as the Filipino language.
The sounds of the consonants of Ayta Abellen are the same as the sounds of the Filipino language. These are the examples:
| B b – bitih (leg) | N n – nakew (went) |
| D d – dodon (grasshopper) | Ng ng – ngipen (teeth) |
| G g – gigang (spider) | P p – paday (rice) |
| H h – habi (said) | T t – tao (person) |
| K k – katongno (sibling) | W w – wangko (I said) |
| L l – lano (later) | Y y – yegyeg (shake) |
| M m – mayew (run) |
Spelling Rules
Rule 1. Glottal Stop
- The glottal stop is not being written if it is between two vowels as in the Filipino language.
Examples:
| haa (banana) | |
| homain (none/ nothing) | |
| yain (that) | |
| paibat (from) |
- Words that have a glottal stop between a consonant and a vowel have a hyphen (-) in the middle.
Examples:
| mag-udong (return) | |
| maaem-em (tepid) | |
| in-ibyay (gave) | |
| paibat (from) |
- Words that have a glottal stop at the end have an apostrophe ( ' ) if there is a pair that has no glottal stop.
Examples:
| lumbo (cup) | lumbo' (different) | |
| goma (rubber) | goma' (sheath) | |
| hila (they) | hila' (light ray) | |
| bawo (perfume) | bawo' (widow) |
Rule 2.
If there are two consecutive vowels (o) and (a), (o) and (e), or (i) and (e), a (y) or (w) is written in the middle.
Examples:
| iningalowan (pity) | |
| anlokowen (fool) | |
| kapalyadiyan (power) |
Rule 3.
There are vowels that are longer than other vowels. If there is a pair of the same word, the enye
symbol (ˉ) will be used above the long vowel.
Examples:
| ō (head) | o (or) | |
| māmteg (believer) | mamteg (believe) | |
| māgtalon (farmer) | magtalon (to farm) |
Rule 4.
There are pairs of words where different syllables are stressed. The stress accent (‘) is used as a sign where the stress is placed.
Examples:
| madáwa (fruitful) | madawá (unpleasant) |
| hágad (stickbroom) | hagád (plough) |
