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
|
vowels in Malay. Each vowel, "e", represents one sound
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
|
Malay consonants can be pronounced just like English consonants except that initiated consonants are not aspirated and p, t, k are not explosive
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
|
Note that although vowels in Indonesian language are pronounced almost like Malay, its alphabets are pronounced differently
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
|
1. In Malay, one can skip " to be"
2. The articles "a" and "the" are not used
3. In Malay, the adjective follows the noun: the white plate = pinggan putih
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.
Try translating these sentences
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