Tboli is a member of the South Mindanao branch of the Philippine
language family. It is spoken on the island of Mindanao in the
southern Philippines, mainly in South Cotabato province, and also
in Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces. In the year 2000 there
were about 95,000 speakers of Tboli, which is also known as Tagabili
or T'boli, and is pronounced [təˈbɔːli].
Tboli is used in school, and there is some written material
in the language, including poetry, a dictionary, a grammar,
and a translation of the Bible.
Tboli alphabet and pronunciation
There is no standard way to write Tboli. This is one possible way,
based on Tagalog.
Notes
Stress normally falls on the final syllable, unless the final
syllable is a schwa - then the stress moves to the penultimate syllable.
The glottal stop is not usually indicated in writing. When it
is, a grave accent is used, e.g. ngà [ŋaʔ].
When a letter already has an accent, a circumflex is used, e.g.
sdô [sdoʔ].
