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Malay Language Pronunciation: The simple guide for beginners
Ancient Malay script
Introduction to pronunciation
The following instructions for pronunciation are considerably simplified. They should however be sufficient to guide the reader to read simple Malay words and construct simple sentences.
There are vowels, diphthongs and consonants in Malay.
Remember: to achieve a good accent in Malay, you must listen to a Malay speaking and imitate him
Vowels and how they should be pronounced
Vowel
| English comparison
| Malay words
|
|---|---|---|
a
| a in "ask"
| atas
|
e
| a in "sofa"
| kera
|
e
| e in "bed"
| meja
|
i
| i in "fit"
| kita
|
o
| o in "go"
| kota
|
u
| u in "put"
| buku
|
Diphthongs: How combined vowels should be pronounced
Diphthongs
| English comparison
| Malay words
|
|---|---|---|
ai
| i in "I"
| pandai
|
au
| o in "now"
| pulau
|
oi
| oi in "boy"
| sepoi
|
Consonants: Some variations from English
Consonants
| English comparison
| Malay words
|
|---|---|---|
g
| g as in "go"
| gula
|
gg
| g as in ng of "singer"
| minggu
|
k
| at end of words will not be pronounced
| rokok
|
ny
| nasal sound as in "new"
| nyamuk
|
r
| always sounded, whatever its position in the word
| besar
|
s
| s as in "silly", not in "his"
| silakan
|
A note on the Malay alphabets verus Indonesia alphabets
Alphabet
| How they are pronounced in Indonesia
|
|---|---|
A
| al
|
B
| be
|
C
| ce
|
D
| de
|
E
| e
|
F
| ef
|
G
| ge
|
I
| i
|
J
| je
|
K
| ka
|
L
| el
|
M
| em
|
N
| en
|
O
| o
|
P
| pe
|
Q
| ki
|
R
| er
|
S
| es
|
T
| te
|
U
| u
|
V
| fe
|
W
| we
|
X
| eks
|
Y
| ye
|
Z
| zet
|
Vocabulary to construct simple statement
Vocabulary:
ini this, these
itu that, those
saya I,my, me
meja table
kerusi chair
pinggan plate
biru blue
cawan cup
sekolah school
rumah house
kecil small
besar big
putih white
Examples of simple statements using "ini" and "itu"
Malay sentence
| English translation
|
|---|---|
Ini meja
| This is a table
|
Ini pinggan
| This is a plate
|
Ini sekolah
| This is a school
|
Ini sekolah kecil
| This is a small school
|
Itu pinggan putih
| That is a white plate
|
Ini rumah kecil
| This is a small house
|
Ini meja besar
| This is a big table
|
Meja itu besar
| That table is big
|
Ini cawan biru
| That is a blue cup
|
Cawan saya biru
| My cup is blue
|
Itu kerusi
| That is a chair
|
Itu cawan
| That is a cup
|
Itu rumah
| That is a house
|
Itu rumah besar
| That is a big house
|
Summary
Most of the pronunciations of Malay language are similar to English.
Following the sentences above and comparing your "word-for-word" version with the English given, and you will see how each sentence is constructed.
Comments
alvintay,
This is a very interesting and useful hub about Malay pronunciation. Could you please attach a video showing how to pronounce these words and sentences? Voted up and sharing.
Thank you for an interesting Hub AlvinTay, you've clearly worked hard. I even managed to learn a little about Malay today!
- Author
Thanks Paul , will try to get some video out :) and thanks Jared for your encouragement. Will work even harder ..