Appendix:Ilocano spellings

This appendix details the standard spellings of Ilocano words, as specified in the Tarabay iti Ortograpia ti Pagsasao nga Ilokano (Guide to the Orthography of the Ilocano Language) published by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) in December 2021 (uploaded here), along with its supplement published in September 2019. Its rules are based on practices used by the Bannawag magazine, the most well-known publication in Ilocano. The current orthography is a revised version of the original orthography released in 2012.

Common nonstandard spellings are to be entered as alternative forms of the word with the standard spelling. As much as possible, the spelling rules below should be followed when writing Ilocano example sentences.

Ilocano spelling rules are similar to Tagalog spelling rules with some significant differences. In cases where the orthography is still unclear as to which spelling should be used, the Ilocano-English dictionary of Rubino (2000, 2009) or popular periodicals can be consulted.

History

Pre-Hispanic period

Historically, the Ilocano language used the kur-itan script, which was a modified version of the baybayin script, an abugida or alphasyllabary used by the ancient Tagalogs. Originally, the baybayin script did not write ending consonants, until Fr. Francisco Lopez reformed the script in 1620 as he published the Ilocano translation of the Doctrina Christiana. The kur-itan script was the first to mark ending consonants, doing so with a small cross below the baybayin consonant to cancel its inherent /a/ sound. However, this form was not widely accepted by other baybayin writers at the time.

Introduction of the Latin alphabet

With the advent of the Spaniards, the Ilocanos, along with most Philippine languages, adopted the Latin alphabet initially following Spanish orthography rules.

The following lists conventions used in historical Ilocano spelling:

Spanish loanwords were kept in their original spellings, except words that were corrupted as they were borrowed.
/i/ was sometimes represented by ⟨y⟩ at the beginning of words (yloco).
/k/ was represented by ⟨c⟩ before ⟨a⟩, ⟨o⟩, and ⟨u⟩ (dacayó, comá, licud).
/k/ was represented by ⟨qu⟩ before ⟨e⟩ and ⟨i⟩ (quen, quimat).
/ɡ/ before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ was spelled ⟨gu⟩ (daguití, patguen).
/w/ was represented mostly by ⟨o⟩ but sometimes by ⟨u⟩ (aoan, agcaoili, oenno, cucua, uidauid), while the diphthongs /aw/ and /iw/ were represented by ⟨ao⟩ and ⟨io⟩, respectively (silao, agbalio).
Word-initial or word-medial /ŋ/ was represented by either ⟨ñg⟩, ⟨ng̃⟩, or ⟨n͠g⟩ (ngay was spelled either as ñgay, ng̃ay, or n͠gay), while ⟨ng⟩ (without the tilde) represented /ŋɡ/ word-medially and /ŋ/ word-finally.
Geminated /l/ was represented as ⟨l-l⟩ (bal-ligui), to distinguish it from the Spanish ⟨ll⟩.
Geminated /k/ was represented as ⟨cc⟩ or ⟨cqu⟩ following conventions 2 and 3 above (iccan, dacquel).
Since Ilocano originally did not differentiate /o/ from /u/, ⟨o⟩ and ⟨u⟩ were virtually interchangeable in environments other than diphthongs, or the use of either one was solely at the writer or publisher's discretion (Some writers wrote iso, while others wrote isu).
Glottal stops succeeding a consonant and preceding a vowel were either written with a hyphen ⟨-⟩ or unwritten at all. (ay-ayaten was sometimes written as ayayaten).
The ligature a was almost always written as ⟨á⟩.

Persistence of Spanish spelling rules

Throughout the 20th century, Ilocano writers and publishers were split between the Spanish spelling system and the Abakada spelling system, while others did a mix of both. For example, the popular 1973 translation of the Bible to Ilocano (Ti Biblia), still retains some Spanish spelling conventions, specifically conventions 1, 3, 8, 9, 10, and 11 mentioned above, but the ⟨qu⟩ rule was already superseded in favor of using ⟨k⟩ instead, and ⟨w⟩ is already used instead of always either ⟨o⟩ or ⟨u⟩. Even until now, some Ilocano writers still partly follow Spanish spelling conventions, especially the older population, even if the current orthography is already in place.

Formation of the current Ilocano orthography

Before orthographies were formed for the Ilocano language, writers usually followed the practices of well-known publications such as the famous Bannawag magazine for their spellings, or were still split between using Spanish and Tagalog/Filipino spelling rules.

The 2012 Tarabay iti Ortograpia ti Pagsasao nga Ilokano, based on conventions already used by Bannawag and the current Filipino alphabet, was the first orthography that was sanctioned by the national government to set standard spelling rules for Ilocano. The orthography was necessary for the implementation of the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) program by the Department of Education. This was promoted by the Gunglo Dagiti Mannurat nga Ilokano (GUMIL, Association of Ilocano Writers), the largest association of Ilocano writers, along with other groups of Ilocano writers and speakers.

However, in October 2018, the KWF released the Ortograpiya ti Pagsasao nga Ilokano in an attempt to harmonize all the orthographies of Philippine languages according to the Ortograpiyang Pambansa. This move was heavily protested by GUMIL, along with many writers' associations and organizations, because of many radical changes such as biag being spelled as biyag. Despite KWF's promotion of the 2018 orthography and its use in the UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino, most Ilocano writers stuck with the 2012 orthography, now with a supplement by Ilocano language experts to clarify some rules and fill in gaps which have not yet been tackled by the original orthography.

The current orthography of Ilocano with the same title as the 2012 orthography was released in December 2021, rolling back many changes made in the 2018 orthography; in effect, the 2021 orthography is an update to the 2012 orthography.

Vowels

Because the five vowels (paaweng) present in the Latin script does not fully correspond to the original four-vowel system of Ilocano (/a i o~u ɯ/), the orthography had to prescribe standard spellings to prevent the interchangeability of vowels.

Usage of ⟨e⟩

When the Latin alphabet was first introduced to Ilocano, the letter ⟨e⟩ was used to represent the /ɯ/ sound present in native words (met, pinakbet), while it represented the /e/ sound in borrowed Spanish words (elemento, elepante).

In the southern dialects, the distinction between the two sounds was kept. In the northern dialects, meanwhile, both sounds merged into /ɛ/ over time, so both the ⟨e⟩ in met and the ⟨e⟩ in elemento were pronounced /ɛ/. In dialects of the Cagayan Valley, both sounds merged into /i/ or /ɪ/, so met is written as mit in informal writing.

The orthography recommends the use of ⟨e⟩ in native words regardless of the differences in pronunciation of the letter in different dialects, in accordance to tradition and etymology. However, some native words with ⟨e⟩ have variants with ⟨i⟩ in both the northern and southern dialects, such as denna and dinna. In these cases, both are accepted.

⟨e⟩ in Spanish words

The letter ⟨e⟩ in most Spanish words should be retained when borrowed into Ilocano (mantener ɴᴏᴛ *mantenir ᴏʀ *mantiner, desnudo ɴᴏᴛ *disnudo, estilo ɴᴏᴛ *istilo, konsentidor ɴᴏᴛ *kunsintidor ᴏʀ *konsintidor).

This rule, however, does not apply to all words, especially in colloquially and frequently used words (diskarte, mintis, nipis, sibuyas). The letter ⟨e⟩ should also no longer be retained when the Spanish loanword resulted in doublets with two different pronunciations and meanings, such as seguro which evolved into siguro (“probably”) and seguro (“insurance”).

Usage of ⟨o⟩ and ⟨u⟩

Ilocano originally did not distinguish the /o/ and /u/ sounds, like in most Philippine languages. The ancient kur-itan (baybayin) script also uses the same letter for both /o/ annd /u/. Because of this, ⟨o⟩ and ⟨u⟩ tend to be interchangeable in informal writing (ammo/ammu, aso/asu, no/nu). Some dictionaries also reflect this interchangeability by treating both ⟨o⟩ and ⟨u⟩ as the same letter in lexicographic order.

However, with the influx of Spanish loanwords into the language, there are already words that minimally distinguish between /o/ and /u/, such as uso (“in style, vogue”) and oso (“bear”). To avoid the interchangeability of both letters, the following rules are used:

Retain as is the spelling of words with ⟨o⟩ and ⟨u⟩ already present in formal writing. This may require the use of dictionaries to check the most popular or accepted spelling.
⟨o⟩: bato, kayo, hopia, okra

⟨u⟩: ules, umay, isu, danum
When two or more of either /o/ or /u/ is present in a word, only the last /o/ or /u/ can be spelled as ⟨o⟩, while the rest are spelled as ⟨u⟩.
purok ɴᴏᴛ *poruk, buok ɴᴏᴛ *bouk, saludsod, puyupoy
Roots containing ⟨o⟩ and/or ⟨u⟩ retain their spelling even when reduplicated.
budobudo ɴᴏᴛ *budubudo, killokillo ɴᴏᴛ *killukillo

⟨o⟩ and ⟨u⟩ in Spanish words

Often, ⟨o⟩ and ⟨u⟩ in Spanish loanwords become interchangeable because of similar words appearing in both Spanish and English, such as in sorpresa and surprise. This results in the informal spelling of *surpresa in Ilocano.

The orthography recommends retaining the ⟨o⟩ and/or ⟨u⟩ in Spanish loanwords, regardless of the ⟨o⟩/⟨u⟩ rules stated above. For example, kosina, sorpresa, koriente, komperensia, telepono, diksionario, and bokabulario.

Vowel Clusters and Diphthongs

The spelling of vowel clusters (ragup ti paaweng) and diphthongs (diptonggo) is one of the aspects where Tagalog and Ilocano spellings diverge. This is because of the differences between how Tagalog (wherein CV reduplication is used) and Ilocano (wherein both CV and CVC reduplications are used) syllables and reduplications work, which takes into account the spelling of vowel clusters and diphthongs.

For example, roots that start with a (C)VC structure undergo CVC reduplication, such as agtaray (“to run”) → agtartaray (“is running”), while roots that start with a (C)VV structure undergo CV reduplication, such as aglua (“to cry”) → aglulua (“is crying”). Spelling lua as *luwa may confuse one into thinking that the word has two syllables and wrongfully applying CVC reduplication, thus writing *luwluwa, when one should apply CV reduplication instead and write lulua. (See more at the Affixation and Reduplication and the Plural Nouns and Articles sections.)

In Ilocano, weak vowels (nakapsut a paaweng) are vowels pronounced like the semivowels ⟨w⟩ and ⟨y⟩, while strong vowels (napigsa a paaweng) are pronounced as their corresponding vowel sounds. Open diphthongs (aglukat a diptonggo) are vowel digraphs with an initial weak vowel, while closed diphthongs (agrikep a diptonggo) are vowel digraphs with a final weak vowel.

Open diphthongs

For open diphthongs ⟨ia⟩, ⟨ie⟩, ⟨io⟩, ⟨iu⟩, ⟨ua⟩, ⟨ue⟩, ⟨ui⟩, the two vowels are written as is when succeeding a consonant (not counting the semivowels ⟨y⟩ and ⟨w⟩).

paria ɴᴏᴛ *parya

ariek ɴᴏᴛ *aryek

pie ɴᴏᴛ *piye ᴏʀ *pye

kabalio ɴᴏᴛ *kabalyo

siuman ɴᴏᴛ *siyuman ᴏʀ *syuman

dua ɴᴏᴛ *duwa ᴏʀ *dwa

aluad ɴᴏᴛ *alwad

kuerdas ɴᴏᴛ *kuwerdas ᴏʀ *kwerdas

suitik ɴᴏᴛ *suwitik ᴏʀ *switik

biskuit ɴᴏᴛ *biskuwit ᴏʀ *biskwit

For open diphthongs at the beginning of a root, ⟨i⟩ is replaced by ⟨y⟩ while ⟨u⟩ is replaced by ⟨w⟩. This rule applies even when a prefix ending with a consonant is attached to the root.

yata ɴᴏᴛ *iata

yero ɴᴏᴛ *iero

yodo ɴᴏᴛ *iodo

yupana ɴᴏᴛ *iupana

waig ɴᴏᴛ *oaig ᴏʀ *uaig

wen ɴᴏᴛ *oen ᴏʀ *uen

wido ɴᴏᴛ *oido ᴏʀ *uido

agyaman ɴᴏᴛ *agiaman

pagwadan ɴᴏᴛ *pagoadan ᴏʀ *paguadan

For open diphthongs succeeding a vowel or semivowel, ⟨i⟩ is replaced by ⟨y⟩ while ⟨u⟩ is replaced by ⟨w⟩.

tayab ɴᴏᴛ *taiab

ngayed ɴᴏᴛ *ngaied

kuyog ɴᴏᴛ *kuiog

awan ɴᴏᴛ *aoan ᴏʀ *auan

tawen ɴᴏᴛ *taoen ᴏʀ *tauen

awid ɴᴏᴛ *aoid ᴏʀ *auid

wagayway ɴᴏᴛ *oagayoay ᴏʀ *uagayuay

kadawyan ɴᴏᴛ *kadawian ᴏʀ *kadaoian ᴏʀ *kadauian

For open diphthongs found in repeated syllables, ⟨i⟩ is replaced by ⟨y⟩ while ⟨u⟩ is replaced by ⟨w⟩. This rule applies even when a prefix ending with a consonant is attached to the root.

yawyaw ɴᴏᴛ *iawiaw ᴏʀ *iaoiao

yegyeg ɴᴏᴛ *iegieg

yoyo ɴᴏᴛ *ioio

wagwag ɴᴏᴛ *oagoag ᴏʀ *uaguag

tarawidwid ɴᴏᴛ *taraoidoid ᴏʀ *tarauiduid

agyagyag ɴᴏᴛ *agiagiag

mangwatwat ɴᴏᴛ *mangoatoat ᴏʀ *manguatuat

Open diphthongs ⟨ii⟩ and ⟨ie⟩, when formed from prefixing i- to words starting with ⟨i⟩ or ⟨e⟩, are spelled as ⟨yi⟩ and ⟨ye⟩, respectively.

yikkis ɴᴏᴛ *iikkis

yiit ɴᴏᴛ *iiit

yebkas ɴᴏᴛ *iebkas

Open diphthongs ⟨uo⟩ and ⟨uu⟩ are spelled ⟨wo⟩ and ⟨wu⟩ respectively.

wok ɴᴏᴛ *uok

wombok ɴᴏᴛ *uombok

wushu

Exceptions

When open diphthongs ⟨ie⟩ and ⟨iu⟩ are the last syllable of a polysyllabic root, they are replaced by ⟨ye⟩ and ⟨yu⟩, respectively.

serye ɴᴏᴛ *serie

detalye ɴᴏᴛ *detalie

isyu ɴᴏᴛ *isiu

When open diphthong ⟨ui⟩ is directly preceded by a syllable ending with a consonant, it is replaced by ⟨wi⟩.

bakwit ɴᴏᴛ *bakoit ᴏʀ *bakuit

paswit ɴᴏᴛ *pasoit ᴏʀ *pasuit

Open diphthong ⟨io⟩ is written as ⟨yo⟩ when it succeeds the letter ⟨g⟩ or ⟨ng⟩ (from being spelled as ⟨uio⟩ in Spanish spelling).

bagyo ɴᴏᴛ *bagio

sangyo ɴᴏᴛ *sangio

The Spanish diphthong ⟨uo⟩ is replaced by ⟨o⟩.

antigo ɴᴏᴛ *antiguo

Closed diphthongs

When writing closed diphthongs ⟨ai⟩, ⟨ao⟩, ⟨au⟩, ⟨io⟩, ⟨iu⟩, ⟨oi⟩, and ⟨ui⟩, especially those at the end of a syllable, ⟨i⟩ is replaced by ⟨y⟩ while ⟨u⟩ is replaced by ⟨w⟩.

balay ɴᴏᴛ *balai

daytoy ɴᴏᴛ *daitoy ᴏʀ *daytoi

ladaw ɴᴏᴛ *ladao ᴏʀ *ladau

saw-ing ɴᴏᴛ *sau-ing ᴏʀ *sao-ing

iliw ɴᴏᴛ *ilio ᴏʀ *iliu

boykot ɴᴏᴛ *boikot

kapuy ɴᴏᴛ *kapui ᴏʀ *kapoi

Exception: Closed diphthongs ⟨ai⟩ and ⟨au⟩ from Spanish loanwords should be retained as is.

autor ɴᴏᴛ *awtor

autonomia ɴᴏᴛ *awtonomia

bailarina ɴᴏᴛ *baylarina

aire ɴᴏᴛ *ayre

Dialectal ⟨ey⟩ is considered nonstandard. In formal texts, use ⟨ay⟩ instead.

maysa ɴᴏᴛ *meysa

idiay ɴᴏᴛ *idiey

Other diphthongs

The diphthongs ⟨ea⟩, ⟨eo⟩, and ⟨eu⟩ can be considered either as open diphthongs or non-diphthongs, depending on the pronunciation. They are retained as is, regardless of environment.

teatro ɴᴏᴛ *teyatro ᴏʀ *tiatro ᴏʀ *tiyatro ᴏʀ *tyatro (can be pronounced [tɛˈ(j)at.ɾo] or [ˈt͡ʃat.ɾo])

pagkapean ɴᴏᴛ *pagkapeyan ᴏʀ *pagkapian ᴏʀ *pagkapiyan ᴏʀ *pagkapyan (can be pronounced [pɐɡ.kɐ.pɛˈ(j)an] or [pɐɡ.kɐpˈjan])

leon ɴᴏᴛ *leyon ᴏʀ *lion ᴏʀ *liyon ᴏʀ *lyon (can be pronounced [lɛˈ(j)on] or [lʲon])

anteohos ɴᴏᴛ *anteyohos ᴏʀ *antiohos ᴏʀ *antiyohos ᴏʀ *antyohos (can be pronounced [ɐn.tɛˈ(j)oː.hos] or [ɐnˈt͡ʃoː.hos])

teoria ɴᴏᴛ *teyoria ᴏʀ *tioria ᴏʀ *tiyorya ᴏʀ *tyorya (can be pronounced [tɛˈ(j)oɾ.ja] or [ˈt͡ʃoɾ.ja])

Europa ɴᴏᴛ *Eyuropa ᴏʀ *Yuropa

neutral ɴᴏᴛ *neyutral ᴏʀ *niutral ᴏʀ *niyutral ᴏʀ *nyutral (can be pronounced [nɛ.(j)ʊtˈɾal] or [ɲʊtˈɾal])

Non-diphthongs

Vowel clusters are not diphthongs when two vowels next to each other are in separate syllables. Vowels in non-diphthongs do not undergo any changes.

Vowels that are next to each other in spelling but separated with a glottal stop /ʔ/ in pronunciation are not diphthongs. There is no need to write a hyphen in between.

daan, kees, reeleksion, siit, kooperasion, agin-uumay, baen, dait, baon, baut, buok

Vowel clusters ⟨ea⟩, ⟨ei⟩, ⟨eo⟩, ⟨eu⟩ are not considered diphthongs when the ⟨e⟩ is stressed, or when formed by prefixes that end with ⟨e⟩, such as re- or pre-, or by vowel-initial suffixes, such as -ismo or -(o)logo, that attach to an ending ⟨e⟩.

halea ɴᴏᴛ *haleya ᴏʀ *halia ᴏʀ *halya

asotea ɴᴏᴛ *asoteya ᴏʀ *asotia ᴏʀ *asotiya

realidad ɴᴏᴛ *reyalidad ᴏʀ *rialidad ᴏʀ *riyalidad

preokupasion ɴᴏᴛ *preyokupasion

teologo ɴᴏᴛ *teyologo

ateismo ɴᴏᴛ *ateyismo

reunion ɴᴏᴛ *reyunion ᴏʀ *riunion ᴏʀ *riyunion

Vowel clusters ⟨oa⟩ and ⟨oe⟩ are not considered diphthongs. Vowel cluster ⟨oi⟩ is not considered a diphthong when the ⟨i⟩ pronounced as /i/.

loa ɴᴏᴛ *lowa ᴏʀ *lua (distinct from lua)

koeksistensia ɴᴏᴛ *koweksistensia ᴏʀ *kueksistensia ᴏʀ *kuweksistensia

egoismo ɴᴏᴛ *egowismo ᴏʀ *eguwismo ᴏʀ *eguismo

Consonant Clusters

There are some cases where consonant clusters (ragup ti pauni) have to be respelled in Ilocano orthography.

Initial consonant clusters

Initial consonant clusters consisting of ⟨p⟩, ⟨f⟩, ⟨b⟩, ⟨v⟩, ⟨t⟩, ⟨d⟩, ⟨k⟩, and ⟨g⟩, followed by ⟨l⟩ or ⟨r⟩, all retain their spellings.

prito, plato, flap, braso, bloke, vlog, trak, dragon, klase, krisis, globo, gripo

English loanwords with initial consonant digraphs or trigraphs starting with ⟨s⟩ should be prefixed with an ⟨i⟩ to facilitate pronunciation.

schedule → iskediul, sport → isport, score → iskor, stroller → istroler

Ending consonant clusters

Ending consonant clusters permitted in Ilocano include ⟨y⟩ or ⟨w⟩ followed by any consonant, and ⟨r⟩ and ⟨l⟩ followed by any one or two consonants.

hayskul, brawn-awt, tsart, solb, shorts

If a word contains any of the ending consonant clusters ⟨st⟩, ⟨kt⟩, ⟨pt⟩, the ending ⟨t⟩ is removed.

broadcast → brodkas, abstract → abstrak, script → iskrip

Digraph ⟨ch⟩

Words containing the digraph ⟨ch⟩ can either:

Retain their original spelling.
chess, chips, charger
Be respelled with ⟨ts⟩ or ⟨ti⟩ followed by vowel when pronounced as /t͡ʃ/.
chocolate → tsokolate, chancing → tiansing
Be respelled with ⟨k⟩ when pronounced as /k/.
scholar → iskolar, chemical → kemikal

Digraph ⟨sh⟩

Words containing the digraph ⟨sh⟩ can either:

Be respelled with ⟨si⟩ followed by a vowel or ⟨s⟩
shampoo → siampo, flashlight → plaslayt
Retain their original spelling.
posh, scholarship, shuttle

For newer loanwords, the latter is preferred.

Geminate consonants

Geminate or double consonants (sinningin) are unique to Ilocano and other Northern Luzon languages compared to other Philippine languages. A geminate consonant is a consonant written twice in a row consecutively. All abakada consonants, except ⟨h⟩, can be geminated in Ilocano (kebba, dakkel, adda, beggang, balligi, ammo, innapuy, tengnga, uppat, serrek, bassit, getta, lawwalawwa, and bayyek).

The other consonants in the Ilocano alphabet may also be geminated, although words that contain them are either using Spanish spelling conventions (Baccay, Buccat), or are loanwords (Itawis alifuffug, Ibanag davvun, Ibanag kazzing, English hajji).

Geminate consonants are contrastive in Ilocano, which means that words can change meaning if a consonant is geminated or not, such as ikan (“fish”) and ikkan (“to give”). Thus, geminate consonants in a word should be written and pronounced as is, not shortened into single consonants, especially when contrastive. On the other hand, there are variants with geminated or nongeminated consonants, such as addayo (variant of adayo) or puruak (variant of purruak). These are permitted as long as there is no contrast in the meaning and that they are recorded in dictionaries.

Note on Spanish ⟨rr⟩

Old Spanish loanwords containing ⟨rr⟩ are either spelled with ⟨r⟩ (in most southern dialects) and pronounced as a tap /ɾ/, or ⟨rr⟩ (mostly in northern dialects) and pronounced as a trill /r/, such as barreta → bareta ᴏʀ barreta. Both forms are accepted in the orthography. Meanwhile, Spanish personal names and new Spanish loanwords containing ⟨rr⟩ should retain the geminated consonant, but the ⟨rr⟩ may be pronounced either as /ɾ/ or /r/ (Serrano ɴᴏᴛ *Serano).

Loanwords

General rules

The orthography recommends, as much as possible, finding equivalent words in Ilocano before deciding to use a loanword (bulod a balikas). If this cannot be done easily, here are some general rules when spelling loanwords in Ilocano:

Loanwords from other Philippine languages which do not have any equivalent words in Ilocano are to retain their original spelling. Also use the letter ⟨ë⟩ (see Use of Diacritics below) where appropriate.
Ivatan vakul → vakul (“head covering made of palm”), Ifugao payyo → payyo (“rice terraces”) ʙᴜᴛ cañao → kaniaw (“ceremonial native dance”)
Borrow from Spanish first then English. Spanish loanwords are preferred because of better letter correspondences and more compatible phonologies with Ilocano.
estandardización → estandardisasion ɴᴏᴛ standardization → *istandardiseysion

Old loanwords

The following shows the replacement of consonants (pauni) of old loanwords in Ilocano, according to how they would be pronounced in the old Abakada system.

Spanish/English	Ilocano	Example
⟨ca⟩, ⟨co⟩, ⟨cu⟩	⟨ka⟩, ⟨ko⟩, ⟨ku⟩	corona → korona
⟨ce⟩, ⟨ci⟩	⟨se⟩, ⟨si⟩	centro → sentro
⟨c⟩ + consonant	⟨k⟩	crema → krema
⟨f⟩	⟨p⟩	familia → pamilia
⟨ge⟩, ⟨gi⟩ (Spanish)	⟨he⟩, ⟨hi⟩	gelatina → helatina
⟨gue⟩, ⟨gui⟩	⟨ge⟩, ⟨gi⟩	aguila → agila
⟨h⟩ (Spanish)	omitted	horas → oras
⟨j⟩ (Spanish)	⟨h⟩	jamón → hamon
⟨j⟩ (English)	⟨di⟩ + vowel, ⟨dy⟩	janitor → dianitor, jeep → dyip
⟨ll⟩ (Spanish)	⟨li⟩	caballo → kabalio
⟨nc⟩	⟨ngk⟩	encanto → engkanto
⟨nf⟩	⟨mp⟩	conferencia → komperensia
⟨ng⟩ + vowel	⟨ngg⟩, ⟨ngh⟩	ángulo → anggulo, ángel → anghel
⟨ng⟩ + consonant	⟨ng⟩	inglés → Ingles, congreso → kongreso
⟨nv⟩	⟨mb⟩	convento → kombento
⟨ñ⟩	⟨ni⟩	paño → panio
⟨v⟩	⟨b⟩	vaca → baka
⟨z⟩	⟨s⟩	razón → rason

Exceptions to the rule include doublets from the same Spanish or English words, as shown in the following examples:

banco → banko (“bank”) and bangko (“bench”)

domingo → Domingo (“Sunday”) and dominggo (“week”)

New loanwords

Newer loanwords are now subject to the new Ilocano alphabet adopted from the current 28-letter Filipino alphabet, which adds the letters ⟨c⟩, ⟨f⟩, ⟨j⟩, ⟨ñ⟩, ⟨q⟩, ⟨v⟩, ⟨x⟩, and ⟨z⟩ to the old Abakada. The rules for spelling new loanwords are as follows:

The letter ⟨f⟩ is retained.
fútbol ᴏʀ football → futbol, folder → folder
The letter ⟨v⟩ in English loanwords is retained.
visa → visa, video → video

(Note that ⟨v⟩ in Spanish loanwords is still not retained, and thus changed to ⟨b⟩.)
The letter ⟨h⟩ in Spanish loanwords is retained and pronounced as /h/.
prohibición → prohibision, humanismo → humanismo

There are only a limited number of Spanish loanwords that do not retain the letter ⟨h⟩:
habilidad → abilidad, alhajas → alahas, harina → arina, hábito → abito, hectárea → ektaria, hegemonía → ehemonia, hélice → elise, hielo → yelo, hierba → yerba, hierro → yero, hígado → igado, hija → iha, hijo → iho, holandés → olandes, horas → oras, horno → orno, hospital → ospital, hostia → ostia, and huelga → welga
The letter ⟨j⟩ in English loanwords is retained.
jet → jet, junior → junior
The letter ⟨z⟩ in English loanwords is retained.
zebra → zebra, zipper → ziper

(Note that ⟨z⟩ in Spanish loanwords is still not retained, and thus changed to ⟨s⟩.)

Names and technical terms

The original spellings of personal names and technical terms are retained in Ilocano.

José, Bach, Jean Paul, etc.

x-ray, enzyme, carbon dioxide, etc.

English and other foreign loanwords

Like in Tagalog, respellings of borrowings from English and other foreign languages are permitted, provided they are easy to read, and take in consideration their cultural, religious, and political roots, and is not confused with another native word. The respelling of English and other foreign loanwords is still being experimented, so no rigid rules are set on this matter.

scout → iskawt, traffic → trapik ɴᴏᴛ bouquet → *bukey, jaywalking → *dieywoking, shock → *siak (may be confused with siak)

Affixation and Reduplication

There are many types of affixes (panilpo) in Ilocano: prefixes (pasakbay), infixes (pasengseng or patengnga), suffixes (paipus), and circumfixes (palikmut or palawlaw). Multiple types of affixes can also be combined in a single root. Meanwhile, reduplication (reduplikasion or panangulit) has many functions, including to indicate the imperfective aspect, plurality, or repetition of an action, and also comes in many forms.

Affixation (panagsilpo) and reduplication can result in the following spelling changes.

Prefix i-

When the prefix i- is added to words beginning with a vowel, the prefix becomes y-, following the open diphthong rules stated earlier.

‎i- + ‎awid → ‎yawid

‎i- + ‎ebkas → ‎yebkas

‎i- + ‎ikkis → ‎yikkis

‎i- + ‎ospital → ‎yospital

‎i- + ‎uper → ‎yuper

This rule also applies to derivations of the i- prefix, such as mangi-, agi-, makai-, agpai-, i- -an, etc.

‎agpai- + ‎awid → ‎agpayawid

‎makai- + ‎ebkas → ‎makayebkas

‎mangi- + ‎ikkis → ‎mangyikkis

‎mai- + ‎ospital → ‎mayospital

‎i- + ‎urat + ‎-an → ‎yuratan

This rule also applies to respelled proper nouns beginning with a vowel, but the proper noun is lowercased when prefixed.

‎i- + ‎Ilokano → ‎yilokano ɴᴏᴛ *y-Ilokano

‎i- + ‎Ingles → ‎yingles ɴᴏᴛ *y-Ingles

This rule also applies to respelled loanwords that begin with a vowel, without any changes to the loanword.

‎i- + ‎iskediul → ‎yiskediul

‎i- + ‎iskan → ‎yiskan

‎i- + ‎ekstra → ‎yekstra

‎i- + ‎oryent → ‎yoryent

When applied to direct loanwords that begin with a vowel sound, a hyphen (-) is added.

‎i- + ‎arrange → ‎y-arrange ɴᴏᴛ *yarrange

‎i- + ‎scan → ‎y-scan ɴᴏᴛ *yscan

‎i- + ‎email → ‎y-email ɴᴏᴛ *yemail

‎i- + ‎organize → ‎y-organize ɴᴏᴛ *yorganize

‎i- + ‎unionize → ‎i-unionize ɴᴏᴛ *y-unionize ᴏʀ *yunionize

‎i- + ‎English → ‎y-English ɴᴏᴛ *yenglish

Note that iy- is a recognized variant of y-, so for example, ‎i- + ‎uper → ‎iyuper is also valid.

Assimilation of ⟨n⟩ to ⟨m⟩

When CVC or CVCVN reduplication is done to roots starting with ⟨p⟩/⟨b⟩ + vowel + ⟨n⟩, the ⟨n⟩ of the reduplicated syllable changes to ⟨m⟩.

bantay → bambantay

benneg → bembenneg

bonete → bombonete

napintas → napimpintas

agpunas → agpumpunas

bibig → bibimbibig

This also applies to roots that start with ⟨pl⟩, ⟨pr⟩, ⟨bl⟩, and ⟨br⟩.

agplano → agplamplano

iprenta → ipremprenta

bronse → brombronse

When prefixes ending with ⟨n⟩ are attached to roots starting with ⟨p⟩ or ⟨b⟩, the ⟨n⟩ also changes to ⟨m⟩.

‎in- + ‎baga → ‎imbaga

‎akin- + ‎balay → ‎akimbalay

‎sinan- + ‎pana → ‎sinampana

‎agin- + ‎pilay → ‎agimpipilay

‎mamin- + ‎pito → ‎mamimpito

Assimilation of ⟨n⟩ to ⟨ng⟩

When CVC or CVCVN reduplication is done to roots starting with ⟨g⟩ + vowel + ⟨n⟩, the ⟨n⟩ of the reduplicated syllable changes to ⟨ng⟩.

gannaet → ganggannaet

genned → genggenned

makagin-awa → makaginggin-awa

igunamgunam → igunggunamgunam

gura → guranggura

When prefixes ending with ⟨n⟩ are attached to words starting with ⟨g⟩, the ⟨n⟩ also changes to ⟨ng⟩.

‎in- + ‎garaw → ‎inggaraw

‎akin- + ‎gameng → ‎akinggameng

‎agin- + ‎guapo → ‎agingguguapo

‎mamin- + ‎gasut → ‎maminggasut

Note that ⟨n⟩ does not assimilate to ⟨ng⟩ with ⟨k⟩.

agkanta → agkankanta ɴᴏᴛ *agkangkanta

‎in- + ‎kali → ‎inkali ɴᴏᴛ *ingkali

This is because this does not cause confusion in syllabifying the word. Notice that the syllabification of inkali is clearly in·ka·li, unlike in the word inggaraw, which, without assimilation, would be spelt *ingaraw and might be wrongly syllabified or pronounced as i·nga·raw.

Ending ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ attached to suffixes

When a word ending with ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ is suffixed by -an, -en, or by circumfixes containing either, such as ka- -an, pag- -an, or pang- -en, the ending ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ does not change. In these cases, the pronunciation of ⟨e⟩ and ⟨i⟩ becomes /j/ or palatalizes the preceding consonant.

‎idi + ‎-an → ‎idian

‎lente + ‎-an → ‎lentean

‎ani + ‎-en → ‎anien

‎pag- + ‎ari + ‎-an → ‎pagarian

‎ka- + ‎asi + ‎-an → ‎kaasian

‎pag- + ‎sine + ‎-an → ‎pagsinean

‎pag- + ‎kape + ‎-an → ‎pagkapean

Exception 1: When there is a preceding vowel, the ending ⟨i⟩ is changed to ⟨y⟩ when suffixed, following open diphthong rules stated above.

‎ma- + ‎rabii + ‎-an → ‎marabiyan

‎babai + ‎-en → ‎babayen

Exception 2: When there is a preceding semivowel ⟨w⟩ or ⟨y⟩, the ending ⟨i⟩ is changed to ⟨y⟩ when suffixed, following open diphthong rules stated above.

‎ka- + ‎dawi + ‎-an → ‎kadawyan

‎babawi + ‎-en → ‎babawyen

Exception 3: When a word ending with ⟨e⟩ is suffixed by -en, the ending ⟨e⟩ is changed to ⟨i⟩.

‎masahe + ‎-en → ‎masahien

‎doble + ‎-en → ‎doblien

Note that when a word ends with a syllable structure (C)eC, the ⟨e⟩ is retained, even in the presence of prefixes and/or infixes.

‎isem + ‎-an → ‎iseman ɴᴏᴛ *isiman

‎petpet + ‎-an → ‎petpetan ɴᴏᴛ *petpitan

‎kammet + ‎-en → ‎kammeten ɴᴏᴛ *kammiten

‎dakkel + ‎-imm- + ‎-an → ‎dimmakkelan ɴᴏᴛ *dimmakkilan

‎pang- + ‎ited + ‎-an → ‎pangitedan ɴᴏᴛ *pangitidan

Ending ⟨o⟩ or ⟨u⟩ attached to suffixes

When a word ending with ⟨o⟩ or ⟨u⟩ is suffixed by -an, -en, or by circumfixes containing either, such as ka- -an, pag- -an, or pang- -en, the ending ⟨o⟩ changes to ⟨u⟩, while the ending ⟨u⟩ does not change, following open diphthong rules stated above. In these cases, the pronunciation of ⟨o⟩ and ⟨u⟩ becomes /w/.

‎bado + ‎-an → ‎baduan

‎luto + ‎-en → ‎lutuen

‎pag- + ‎ammo + ‎-an → ‎pagammuan

‎pag- + ‎riro + ‎-an → ‎pagriruan

‎na- + ‎espiritu + ‎-an → ‎naespirituan

‎pa- + ‎adu + ‎-en → ‎paaduen

‎pagka- + ‎mano + ‎-en → ‎pagkamanuen

Exception 1: When there is a preceding vowel, the ending ⟨o⟩ is changed to ⟨w⟩ when suffixed, following open diphthong rules stated above.

‎sao + ‎-en → ‎sawen

‎gao + ‎-en → ‎gawen

‎sangka- + ‎tao + ‎-an → ‎sangkatawan

Exception 2: When there is a preceding semivowel ⟨w⟩ or ⟨y⟩, the ending ⟨o⟩ is changed to ⟨w⟩ when suffixed, following open diphthong rules stated above.

‎adayo + ‎-an → ‎adaywan

‎ay-ayo + ‎-en → ‎ay-aywen

‎ka- + ‎kayo + ‎-an → ‎kakaywan

These exceptions do not apply when the ending ⟨o⟩ or ⟨u⟩ is part of an open diphthong itself, following the rule of vowel clusters ⟨oa⟩ and ⟨oe⟩. In these cases, the pronunciation of the ending ⟨o⟩ or ⟨u⟩ does not change.

‎kabalio + ‎-en → ‎kabalioen

‎pag- + ‎panio + ‎-en → ‎pagpanioen

‎na + ‎selio + ‎-an → ‎naselioan

Note that when a word ends with a syllable structure (C)oC, the ⟨o⟩ is retained, even in the presence of prefixes and/or infixes.

‎surot + ‎-en → ‎suroten ɴᴏᴛ *suruten

‎pag- + ‎tulong + ‎-inn- + ‎-en → ‎pagtinnulongen ɴᴏᴛ *pagtinnulungen

‎pag- + ‎annurot + ‎-an → ‎pagannurotan ɴᴏᴛ *pagannurutan

‎ka- + ‎ruot + ‎-an → ‎karuotan ɴᴏᴛ *karuutan

Reduplicating loanwords

For respelled loanwords, reduplication is applied as is done with native words. For those with initial consonant clusters, the whole consonant cluster is reduplicated along with the rest of the syllable.

agtsokolate → agtsoktsokolate

agtrabaho → agtrabtrabaho

agdrowing → agdrowdrowing

agtraysikel → agtraytraysikel

agfutbol → agfutfutbol

ivideo → ividvideo

For those with final consonant clusters, the whole consonant cluster is also reduplicated along with the rest of the syllable.

agekskursion → ageks-ekskursion

ageksamen → agek-eksamen

For direct loanwords, the reduplicated syllable is written to approximate the pronunciation of the original loanword in Ilocano. /ʃ/ is transformed to ⟨si⟩, /t͡ʃ/ is transformed to ⟨ts⟩, and /d͡ʒ/ is transformed to ⟨di⟩ or ⟨dy⟩.

ag-tricycle → agtray-tricycle

ag-express → ageks-express

ag-shampoo → agsiam-shampoo

ag-jacket → agdiak-jacket

ag-duty → agdiut-duty

ag-diaper → agday-diaper

i-delete → idil-delete

i-download → idaw-download

i-recycle → ires-recycle

For monosyllabic loanwords, the reduplicated syllable does not need to include the consonant sound/s after the vowel sounds, in essence using CV reduplication.

ag-clone → agklo-clone

ag-jeep → agdyi-jeep

ag-juice → agdiu-juice

naka-dry → nakadra-dry

ag-drive → agdra-drive

i-charge → itsa-charge

i-click → ikli-click

i-tweet → itu-itweet

i-like → ila-like

For direct loanwords with initial consonant clusters starting with ⟨s⟩, the reduplicated syllable is written as ⟨is⟩.

ag-scan → agis-scan

ag-snow → agis-snow

ag-spray → agis-spray

ag-split → agis-split

Note that a hyphen should separate the direct loanword from the rest of the word (See also Use of Hyphens below).

Plural Nouns and Articles

Plural noun morphology

Ilocano nouns can be pluralized by the following forms of reduplication:

(C)VC- (or (C)V- when the word starts with the structure (C)VV):
balay → balbalay (“houses”)

libro → liblibro (“books”)

aso → as-aso (“dogs”)

itlog → it-itlog (“eggs”)

nuang → nunuang (“water buffalos”)

pias → pipias (“bilimbi fruits”)
(C)V- (for many common animate nouns and some kinship terms, especially derived nouns with affixes ka-, ma-, or pa-):
gayyem → gagayyem (“friends”)

baknang → babaknang (“rich people”)

dakkel → dadakkel (“parents”)

kabsat → kakabsat (“siblings, brethren”)

kailian → kakailian (“townmates, compatriots”)

masirib → mamasirib (“wise people”)

pasurot → papasurot (“followers, disciples”)

ikit → iikit (“aunts”)

uliteg → uuliteg (“uncles”)

ipag → iipag (“sisters-in-law”)
-C- (for most kinship terms):
adi → addi (“younger siblings”)

ama → amma (“fathers”)

anak → annak (“children”)

apo → appo (“grandparents, grandchildren, gentlemen”)

asawa → assawa (“spouses”)

babai → babbai (“women, girls”)

ina → inna (“mothers”)

inga → ingnga (“female friends”)

lalaki → lallaki (“men, boys”)

ubing → ubbing (“children, kids”)
Irregular formations:
baket → babbaket (“old ladies”)

balasang → babbalasang (“young ladies”)

balo → babbalo (“widows, widowers”)

baro → babbaro (“young men”)

lakay → lallakay (“old men”)

tao → tattao (“people”)

Plural forms of Ilocano nouns are placed after the headword. Separate entries may be created for all Ilocano plural noun forms.

Use of plural articles and demonstratives

Ilocano also has plural articles and demonstratives, as shown in the table below.

Case/Number	For common nouns	Demonstratives
Core Singular	ti	daytoy	dayta	daydiay	daytay	daydi
Core Plural	dagiti	dagitoy	dagita	dagidiay	dagitay	dagidi
Oblique Singular	iti	kadaytoy	kadayta	kadaydiay	kadaytay	kadaydi
Oblique Plural	kadagiti	kadagitoy	kadagita	kadagidiay	kadagitay	kadagidi

It is recommended to either use plural articles and demonstratives with singular nouns, or use singular articles with plural nouns, and to avoid using plural articles and demonstratives together with plural nouns (unless one wants to emphasize the different kinds or the individuality of the units of the plural noun).

ti sabong (a/the flower)

ti sabsabong (the flowers)

dagiti sabong (the flowers)

*dagiti sabsabong (Avoid except when meaning "the various kinds of flowers" or "the flowers, each one of them")

Use of plural loanwords

Ilocano has also borrowed plural forms from Spanish and English.

Spanish loanwords

The orthography does not recommend using Spanish plural animate loanwords with plural articles nor applying plural morphology to them.

ti opisial (a/the official)

ti op-opisial (the officials)

ti opisiales (the officials)

*ti op-opisiales (Avoid)

dagiti opisial (the officials)

*dagiti opisiales (Avoid)

*dagiti op-opisial (Avoid)

*dagiti op-opisiales (Avoid)

Spanish plural inanimate loanwords are already considered singular forms in Ilocano, thus their original singular forms should not be used, and the same recommendations apply as is with native words.

ti ubas (a/the grape)

ti ub-ubas (the grapes)

dagiti ubas (the grape)

*dagiti ub-ubas (Avoid except when meaning "the various kinds of grapes" or "the grapes, each one of them")

English loanwords

The orthography does not recommend using English plural loanwords with plural articles nor applying plural morphology to them.

ti charger (the charger)

ti chargers (the chargers)

ti tsar-charger (the chargers)

*ti tsar-chargers (Avoid)

dagiti charger (the chargers)

*dagiti chargers (Avoid)

*dagiti tsar-charger (Avoid)

*dagiti tsar-chargers (Avoid)

However, for some English plural loanwords that have long been considered singular, their singular forms should not be used.

*ti fan (Avoid)

ti fans (the fan)

*dagiti fan (Avoid)

dagiti fans (the fans)

For respelled English loanwords, the same recommendations apply as is with native words.

ti selpon (a/the cellphone)

ti selselpon (the cellphones)

dagiti selpon (the cellphones)

*dagiti selselpon (Avoid except when meaning "the various kinds of cellphones" or "the cellphones, each one of them")

Bound Enclitics

Writing bound enclitics

All absolutive, ergative, and fused pronoun enclitics (-ak, -k(o), -kami, -natayo, etc.) have to be bound to the word it should be connected to, with no space in between. This is explained by the fact that even if these enclitics can be partly considered as words, no particle must go in between a word and its bound enclitic. Consider these Tagalog and Ilocano sentences:

Tagalog: Naliligo pa kami.

Ilocano: Agdigdigoskami pay.

Ilocano: *Agdigdigos kami pay. (Nonstandard)

English: We are still taking a bath.

In the Tagalog example, the pronoun kami is not a bound enclitic, thus pa can come before kami. This is not the case in the Ilocano example, where pay should come after -kami. The movable pronoun enclitic ida does not bind to any word.

Likewise, the bound adverbial enclitics -(e)n, -(n)to, and -(n)sa are under the same rule, as shown in the following example.

Makasangpetkaminto met iti agsapa.

*Makasangpet kamin to met iti agsapa. (Nonstandard)

English: We will be able to arrive in the morning. (You might have thought we won't.)

The enclitics -kami and -nto should be bound to the verb, but movable adverbial particles such as met in the example above do not bind to any word (except in combined adverb particles such as ‎-en → ‎metten).

Separating bound enclitics can give the impression that other particles may come between the main word and the enclitics, which may produce ungrammatical on non-native sounding sentences. Using the example sentence above, these sentences:

*Makasangpet to kami met iti agsapa.

*Makasangpet to met kami iti agsapa.

*Makasangpet kami met to iti agsapa.

*Makasangpet met kamin to iti agsapa.

*Makasangpet met to kami iti agsapa.

are all ungrammatical or may be contrived by a non-native speaker or an inexperienced learner of the language. When bound enclitics are not separated as individual words, it will be easier for a non-native speaker or learner to avoid contriving the ungrammatical sentences shown above, especially when speaking. Despite this, many native speakers tend to write the bound enclitics separately. It is discouraged to write bound enclitics separately (unless quoting text intentionally so written) here in Wiktionary, especially with the possibility that Wiktionary may be used as a learning resource.

Entries of and with bound enclitics

Bound enclitics should include the connector hyphen in their entry name (datayo should be separate from -datayo).

Separate entries using bound enclitics are not required to be created (For anak, no need to create separate entries for anakko, anakta, anakmi, etc.), except for oblique pronouns, independent possessive pronouns, phrasebook entries (ay-ayatenka, etc.), interjections, and conjunctions, adverbials, or particles with the -na enclitic (kalpasanna, inggana, etc.).

Syllables and Hyphenation

Ilocano words can have these syllable (silaba or ebkas) structures: V, VC, VCC, VV, VVC, CV, CVV, CCV, CCVV, CVC, CVCC, CVCCC, CVVC, CVVCC, CVVCCC, CCVC, CCVCC, CCVCCC, CCVVC.

Rules on syllabification (silabikasion) or hyphenation are as follows:

When two of the same vowel are written next to each other, including ⟨uo⟩, they are in separate syllables.
sa·an, re·e·lek·sion, si·it, ko·o·pe·ra·sion, pa·na·gu·u·kom, bu·ok
When ⟨a⟩, ⟨e⟩, or ⟨o⟩ precedes a different vowel, resulting in non-diphthongs, both vowels are in separate syllables.
ba·eng, da·it, a·or·ta, sa·ur, re·a·li·dad, a·te·is·mo, te·o·lo·go, re·u·nion, o·a·sis, ko·ek·sis·ten·sia, e·go·is·mo

Exception A: Diphthongs ⟨ai⟩ and ⟨au⟩ in Spanish loanwords are within one syllable.
ai·re, bai·le, au·tor, mau·so·le·o

Exception B: When ⟨e⟩ is part of a diphthong, the diphthong should be within one syllable.
em·plea·do, a·sam·blea, pag·ka·pean, kam·peon, an·teo·hos, Eu·ro·pe·o, neut·ral
When ⟨i⟩ or ⟨u⟩ precedes a different vowel, resulting in open diphthongs, both vowels are within one syllable.
biag, a·riek, ka·ba·lio, siu·dad, kua, suer·te, sui·tik

Exception A: When the ⟨i⟩ is stressed in Spanish loanwords, but this exception may be ignored when the ⟨i⟩ is not stressed.
e·ner·hi·a ᴏʀ e·ner·hia, or·tog·ra·pi·a ᴏʀ or·tog·ra·pia

Exception B: When a word ending with ⟨i⟩ or ⟨u⟩ is affixed with the enclitic -ak.
la·la·ki·ak, na·lu·gi·ak, ag·pa·a·du·ak

Exception C: When a prefix ending with ⟨i⟩ (such as maki-, si-, or tagi-) are attached to a word that starts with a vowel, or in compound or blended words where the first part ends with an ⟨i⟩.
ma·ki·a·sa·wa, si·a·a·yat, ta·gi·u·ray, sa·ri·ug·ma
When a consonant is in between two vowels, the consonant is placed within the same syllable as the succeeding vowel.
a·so, pu·sa, la·la·ki, ma·ka·pa·ka·ta·wa
When a consonant precedes a diphthong, the consonant is placed within the same syllable as the diphthong.
pa·ria, ta·liaw, pla·nuen, pag·si·nean, mi·sion, san·tua·rio
When there are two consecutive consonants within a word, the first one is in the same syllable as the preceding vowel or diphthong, and the second one is in the same syllable as the succeeding vowel or diphthong.
dak·kel, rang·tay, ap·la·ya, kuer·das, par·siak,
When the last two of three consecutive consonants within a word is ⟨p⟩, ⟨f⟩, ⟨b⟩, ⟨v⟩, ⟨t⟩, ⟨d⟩, ⟨k⟩, and ⟨g⟩ followed by ⟨l⟩ or ⟨r⟩, the first consonant is in the same syllable as the preceding vowel or diphthong, while the last two consonants are in the same syllable as the succeeding vowel or diphthong.
im·pluen·sia, kom·pro·mi·so, in·fra·red, a·sam·blea, a·lam·bre, eng·kuen·tro, e·lek·tro·ni·ko, ba·lan·dra, ing·klu·si·bo, dis·kri·mi·na·sion, gan·glia, kon·gre·so
When the last two of three consecutive consonants within a word do not follow the form in the previous rule, the first two consonants are in the same syllable as the preceding vowel or diphthong, while the last consonant is in the same syllable as the succeeding vowel or diphthong.
eks·per·to, trans·por·ta·sion, eks·kur·sion, klats·bag
When there are four consecutive consonants within a word, the first two consonants are in the same syllable as the preceding vowel or diphthong, while the last two consonants are in the same syllable as the succeeding vowel or diphthong.
eks·plo·si·bo, ins·tru·men·to, trans·krip·sion

Use of Diacritics

Unlike in Tagalog, the diacritics (diakritiko or kurtalikas) normally used in Ilocano are only the acute (agudo) ⟨´⟩ and the double dot (patuldek) ⟨¨⟩. The grave ⟨`⟩ and the circumflex ⟨ˆ⟩ are not used since the glottal stops that these indicate are not allowed word-finally in Ilocano.

Use of ⟨´⟩

Indicating primary stress by ⟨´⟩ in a headword is encouraged, especially when distinguishing between homonyms, as already done in Tagalog entries. For example, dáya (“east”) and dayá (“party, feast”). In headwords, penultimate stress does not need to be marked, but ultimate stress should always be marked.

Secondary stress is only required to be marked in the headword when contrastive, such as in the following cases where a root starting with the structure (C)VV is reduplicated:

naCV(C)- (forms comparative adjectives) and naCV- (pluralizes adjectives)
nalálaíng (“better, smarter”) and nalalaíng (“good, smart (of many people or things)”).
agCV(C)- (imperfective form of ag-) and agCV- (pluralizes verbs)
aglúluá (“to be crying”) and agluluá (“to cry (of many people)”).
CV(C)- -en (imperfective form of -en) and CV- -en (indicates suitability or an instrument for an action)
dádaíten (“to sew (something)”) and dadaíten (“cloth for sewing”)

Secondary stress can be seen in other cases such as in vowels before geminated consonants, or when enclitics and/or affixes with inherent stress are added to a word. In such cases, the secondary stress does not need to be marked, though phonetic transcriptions (enclosed in square brackets) should show the secondary stress.

Use of ⟨¨⟩

As explained earlier in the Vowels section, ⟨e⟩ can be pronounced in different ways depending on the dialect. The double dot is marked above ⟨e⟩ to form ⟨ë⟩, or ⟨ë́⟩ when the vowel is stressed, to specify that the letter should be pronounced /ɯ/. Since Wiktionary describes both pronunciations of the letter ⟨e⟩ in Ilocano, it is not required to mark every ⟨e⟩ in native words as ⟨ë⟩.

It is recommended that ⟨ë⟩ only be used in loanwords from other Philippine languages that do not natively pronounce ⟨e⟩ as /e/ or /ɛ/ in any of their dialects, such as ëtag or Panagbënga from Kankanaey, or in cases where the /ɯ/ sound of a native word is intentionally specified or exemplified.

Use of Hyphens

The hyphen (parangtay) in Ilocano is used in the following cases:

Ending consonant followed by initial vowel: Hyphens are used where a syllable ends with a consonant and is followed by another beginning with a vowel (ling-et, sam-it, gin-awa).

Note that the inherent glottal stop of words that start with a vowel is dropped when adding prefixes that end with ⟨g⟩ or ⟨ng⟩ (‎ag- + ‎awid → ‎agawid), but a hyphen is added when the root is reduplicated (agaw-awid).

Affixed proper nouns: Hyphens separate proper nouns from any attached prefixes but not from suffixes or enclitics (agpa-Laoag, ipa-Manilami, kina-Igorotna), unless the proper noun has been lowercased (Kailokuan, yingles).
Affixed direct loanwords or proper nouns that are not respelled: Hyphens separate loanwords or proper nouns with retained original spellings from any attached prefixes, suffixes, or enclitics (duty-k, pina-photocopy-da, nag-Jolibee-n). However, the orthography recommends rewriting words wherein an enclitic is attached with a hyphen (whenever possible, especially in non-dialogue or non-colloquial situations). For example, nag-Jolibee-n can be better rewritten as napanen nag-Jolibee.
Reduplication: Hyphens separate roots with full reduplication that begin with a vowel (abong-abong, asi-asi, ima-ima, unay-unay). Hyphens also separate reduplicated syllables from direct loanwords (agday-diet, ikli-click).

Between fully reduplicated roots that begin with a consonant, no hyphen is used (sakasaka, tapoktapok, agrikosrikos).

New compound words: Hyphens separate the two words in new compound words (siled-pagadalan, balay-ili, ballasiw-taaw).

Old compound words, blends, or compound Spanish loanwords do not use a hyphen (batonlagip, sariugma, sandinagan, gobierno nasional, sentido komun).

Multi-word adjectives: Hyphens are used to connect words in multi-word adjectives.
ti agpito-ti-tawenna nga anakna, daydi Dios-ti-aluadna nga asawana, iti di-makita a masakbayan, daytoy tungpal-tanem nga ayatko
Onomatopoeia: Hyphens are used to indicate onomatopoeic writing of each syllable (tik-tak, ha-ha-ha, brat-tat-tat).
Time notation: Hyphens are used to separate maika- and alas- from numerals when writing times and dates (maika-25 ti Disiembre, alas-8 iti agsapa). The only exception is ala-una, which is always spelled in full and should not be written as *ala-1.
Words prefixed with de- and konde-: Hyphens are used with the Spanish-derived prefixes de- and konde- when attached to a word that begins with a vowel (de-adal, de-uniporme, konde-asi).

When attached to words beginning with a consonant, no hyphen is used (delata, dekalidad, kondelualo).

Capitalization

Similar to rules used in English and Tagalog, the following are capitalized in Ilocano:

Personal names, nicknames, and their derivations, except de, de la, de los, delos in surnames (unless at the beginning of a sentence)
Titles or occupations used before names
Kinship terms used before personal names or used in place of personal names
Names of organizations and institutions
Names of government branches and agencies
Names of God, deities, religious figures, religions, and religious texts
Nationalities, ethnicities, races, and languages (except names of food, clothes, and the like derived from those)
Names of eras, historical events, holidays, and festivities
Names of academic concepts, scientific ideas, ideologies, art styles, and movements, especially when derived from a proper noun
Names of academic courses and subjects
Names of awards
Names of documents and titles of works
Place names, names of streets or roads, landmarks, buildings, and vehicles
Names of days and months
Names of meteorological phenomena and celestial objects and bodies
Names of companies, brands, and trademarks