Language/Malay-individual-language/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation
Halo, Malay learners! 😃
Welcome to today's lesson, where we will dive into the fascinating world of the Malay-individual-language pronunciation, focusing on the alphabet and its pronunciation. Modern Indonesian and Malaysian Malay are written in the Latin alphabet, which was unified between Indonesia and Malaysia in 1972. Before this unification, Classical Malay, both in Indonesia and Malaysia, was written in the Arabic alphabet, known as Jawi.
By the end of this lesson, you'll have a solid understanding of the Malay alphabet and its pronunciation, paving the way for you to explore more aspects of this beautiful language. Enjoy your journey into the Malay-individual-language! 😊
Latin Alphabet (Tuliran Rumi)[edit | edit source]
Letters[edit | edit source]
| tter | Name (in IPA) | Sound | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indonesia | Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore | IPA | English equivalent | ||
| Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore | Indonesia | ||||
| Aa | a (/a/) | e (/e/) | /a/ | a as in father | |
| /ə/ ~ /a/ | - | a as in sofa | |||
| Bb | bé (/be/) | bi (/bi/) | /b/ | b as in bed | |
| Cc | cé (/t͡ʃe/) | si (/si/) | /t͡ʃ/ | ch as in check | |
| Dd | dé (/de/) | di (/di/) | /d/ | d as in day | |
| Ee | é (/e/) | i (/i/) | /ə/ | e as in tolerant | |
| /e/ | e as in hey | ||||
| /e/ | /ɪ/ | e as in packet | |||
| /ɛ/ | e as in get | ||||
| Ff | éf (/ef/) | éf (/ef/) | /f/ | f as in effort | |
| Gg | gé (/ge/) | ji (/d͡ʒi/) | /ɡ/ | g as in gain | |
| Hh | ha (/ha/) | héc (/het͡ʃ/) | /h/ | h as in harm | |
| Ii | i (/i/) | ay (/aj/) | /i/ | i as in machine, but shorter | |
| /e/ | /ɪ/ | i as in igloo | |||
| Jj | jé (/d͡ʒe/) | jé (/d͡ʒe/) | /d͡ʒ/ | j as in jam | |
| Kk | ka (/ka/) | ké (/ke/) | /k/ | unaspirated k as in skate | |
| Ll | él (/el/) | él (/el/) | /l/ | l as in let | |
| Mm | ém (/em/) | ém (/em/) | /m/ | m as in mall | |
| Nn | én (/en/) | én (/en/) | /n/ | n as in net | |
| Oo | o (/o/) | o (/o/) | /o/ | o as in owe | |
| /o/ | /ʊ/ | ||||
| /ɔ/ | o as in bought, but shorter | ||||
| Pp | pé (/pe/) | pi (/pi/) | /p/ | unaspirated p as in speak | |
| ki (/ki/) | kiu (/kiu/ or /kju/) | /q/ ~ /k/ | q as in Qatar | ||
| Rr | ér (/er/) | ar (/ar/ or /a:/) | /r/ | Spanish rr as in puerro | |
| Ss | és (/es/) | és (/es/) | /s/ | s as in sun | |
| Tt | té (/te/) | ti (/ti/) | /t/ | unaspirated t as in still | |
| Uu | u (/u/) | yu (/ju/) | /u/ | u as in rule, but shorter | |
| /o/ | /ʊ/ | oo as in foot | |||
| Vv | vé (/ve/ or /fe/) | vi (/vi/) | /v/ ~ /f/ | v as in van | |
| Ww | wé (/we/) | dabel yu (/dabəlˈju/) | /w/ | w as in wet | |
| Xx | éks (/eks/) | éks (/eks/) | /ks/ | x as in box | |
| /z/ | /s/ | x as in xenon | |||
| Yy | yé (/je/) | way (/wai̯/) | /j/ | y as in yarn | |
| Zz | zét (/zet/) | zet (/zed/) | /z/ | z as in zebra | |
Digraphs[edit | edit source]
| Digraph | Sound | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | Notes | ||
| Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore | Indonesia | ||
| ai | /ai̯/ | uy as in buy (ui) | |
| au | /au̯/ | ou as in ouch (ou) | |
| oi | /oi̯/ | /ʊi̯/ | oy as in boy |
| gh | /ɣ/ ~ /x/ | similar to Dutch and German ch, but voiced | |
| kh | /x/ | ch as in loch | |
| ng | /ŋ/ | ng as in sing | |
| ny | /ɲ/ | Spanish ñ; similar to ny as in canyon with a nasal sound | |
| sy | /ʃ/ | sh as in shoe | |
Arabic (Jawi)[edit | edit source]
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ا | ـا | /a/ | ||
| ب | بـ | ـبـ | ـب | /b/ |
| ت | تـ | ـتـ | ـت | /t/ |
| ث | ثـ | ـثـ | ـث | /θ/ or /s/ |
| ج | جـ | ـجـ | ـج | /d͡ʒ/ |
| چ | چـ | ـچـ | ـچ | /t͡ʃ/ |
| ح | حـ | ـحـ | ـح | /ħ/ |
| خ | خـ | ـخـ | ـخ | /x/ |
| د | ـد | /d/ | ||
| ذ | ـذ | /ð/ or /z/ | ||
| ر | ـر | /r/ | ||
| ز | ـز | /z/ | ||
| س | سـ | ـسـ | ـس | /s/ |
| ش | شـ | ـشـ | ـش | /ʃ/ |
| ص | صـ | ـصـ | ـص | /s/ |
| ض | ضـ | ـضـ | ـض | /d/ |
| ط | طـ | ـطـ | ـط | /t/ |
| ظ | ظـ | ـظـ | ـظ | /z/ |
| ع | عـ | ـعـ | ـع | /ʔ/ |
| غ | غـ | ـغـ | ـغ | /ɣ/ |
| ڠ | ڠـ | ـڠـ | ـڠ | /ŋ/ |
| ف | فـ | ـفـ | ـف | /f/ |
| ڤ | ڤـ | ـڤـ | ـڤ | /p/ |
| ق | قـ | ـقـ | ـق | /ʔ/ and /q/ |
| ک | کـ | ـکـ | ـک | /k/ |
| ݢ | ڬـ | ـݢـ | ـݢ | /ɡ/ |
| ل | لـ | ـلـ | ـل | /l/ |
| م | مـ | ـمـ | ـم | /m/ |
| ن | نـ | ـنـ | ـن | /n/ |
| و | ـو | /w/ and /u, o, ɔ/ | ||
| ۏ | ـۏ | /v/ | ||
| ه | هـ | ـهـ | ـه | /h/ |
| ة | ـة | /t/ | ||
| ء | ء | /ʔ/ | ||
| ي | يـ | ـيـ | ـي | /j/ and /i, e, ɛ/ |
| ڽ | ڽـ | ـڽـ | ـڽ | /ɲ/ |
| ى | ـى | /ə, a/ |
Phonology[edit | edit source]
Consonants[edit | edit source]
The consonants of Standard Malay and also Indonesian are shown below. Non-native consonants that only occur in borrowed words, principally from Arabic and English, are shown in parentheses. Some analyses list 19 "primary consonants" for Malay as the 18 symbols that are not in parentheses in the table as well as the glottal stop [ʔ].
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Post-alv./
Palatal |
Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | k | (ʔ) | |
| voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ɡ | |||
| Fricative | voiceless | (f) | (θ) | s | (ʃ) | (x) | h |
| voiced | (v) | (ð) | (z) | (ɣ) | |||
| Approximant | l | j | w | ||||
| Trill | r | ||||||
Vowels[edit | edit source]
It is usually said that there are six vowels in Standard Malay and Indonesian. These six vowels are shown in the table below. However, other analyses set up a system with other vowels, particularly the open-mid vowels /ɛ/ and /ɔ/.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| Open | a |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | [i]
i |
[u]
u | |
| Close-Mid | [e]
é |
[ə]
ê/ē |
[o]
o |
| Open-Mid | [ɛ]
è |
[ɔ]
o | |
| Open | [a]
a |
Videos[edit | edit source]
Sources[edit | edit source]