| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
| Stop | p b | t d | c j [ɟ] |
k ɡ | q | |
| Fricative | f v | s z | ç ʝ | x ɣ | h | |
| Trill | r | |||||
| Approximant | l | y [j] | w |
The proto-phonemes *j and *R are not preserved as such in any Philippine language: *j became either *g or *d (e.g. *púsəj became Ilocano púsəg, Tagalog púsod), whereas *R shifted to *r (e.g. in Ilocano), *l (e.g. in Pangasinan), *g (e.g. in Tagalog) or *y (e.g. in Kapampangan).
| Height | Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |||||
| Mid | ə | ||||||
| Open | a |
The diphthongs are *ay, *aw, *uy, and *iw.
The proto-phoneme *ə was retained in many Philippine languages, especially in the northern and southern descendants of Proto-Philippine (e.g. in Ilokano, Pangasinan, Gaddang, Maranao, Maguindanao), and also in some peripheral lects in the central area (e.g. Rinconada Bikol, Kinaray-a Visayan, Palawano). In most Visayan and Bikol varieties, *ə merged with *u, whereas in Tagalog, *ə merged with *i (*u in certain environments).