Below is the sound system of Maranao including underlying phonetic features.
Vowels[]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | u | ||
| Near-close | i /ɪ/ | ʊ | |
| Mid | ə | o | |
| Open-mid | e /ɜ/ | ʌ | |
| Open | æ | a | ɔ /ɒ/ |
Consonants[]
According to Lobel (2013), Maranao has the following consonants:
| Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||||
| Stop | Voiceless | p | t | c /k/ | ' /ʔ/ | ||
| Ejective | p' /p’/ | t' /t’/ | c' /k’/ | ||||
| Voiced | b | d | ɡ | ||||
| Fricative | Voiceless | f /ɸ/ | þ /θ/ | s | x /ʃ/ | h /x/ | ħ /h/ |
| Ejective | f' /ɸ’/ | þ' /θ’/ | s' /s’/ | x' /ʃ’/ | h' /x’/ | ||
| Voiced | v /β/ | ð | z | ʒ | j /ɣ/ | ||
| Flap | k /ⱱ̟/ | r /ɾ/ | |||||
| Lateral | l | ɣ /ʟ/ | |||||
| Approximant | w | y /j/ | q /ɰ/ | ||||
Velar fricative [h][]
According to Lobel (2013), [h] only occurs in a select number of Malay loanwords:
- tohan 'God'
- tahon 'astrological sign'
- hadapan 'in front (of God)'
Consonant elongation[]
Consonants are also pronounced longer if preceded with a schwa /ə/. However, this process is not a form of gemination since consonant elongation in Maranao is not distinctive as seen in other Philippine languages such as Ilokano and Ibanag. Some of these are:
- tëpad [təpːad] 'get off a vehicle'
- tëkaw [təkːaw] 'startled; surprised'
- Mëranaw is spoken by the Maranao tribe.
- Solutan [solutːan] (Sultan of Gandamatu) Sultan sa Gandamatu.
Since 2009, it has been proposed that previous studies on the phonology of Maranao had overlooked the presence of "heavy" consonants. These four "heavy" consonants being /p’ t’ k’ s’/.