Sundanese Language - Phonology

Phonology

Sundanese orthography is highly phonetic (see also Sundanese script). There are five pure vowel sounds: a /ɑ/, é /ɛ/, i /i/, o /ɔ/, u /ʊ/, and two neutral vowels; e /ə/, and eu /ɤ/. The consonantal phonemes (18—but see below) are transcribed with the letters p, b, t, d, k, g, c (pronounced /tʃ/), j, h, ng (/ŋ/, occurs initially), ny /ɳ/, m, n, s /s/, w, l, r (trilled or flapped), and y /j/. Other consonants that originally appear in Indonesian loanwords are mostly transferred into native consonants: f → p, v → p, sy → s, sh → s, z -> j, and kh /x/ → h.

Definition of Sundanese Phonology, according to Yayat Sudaryat (1985:26): "Fonologi nyaeta bagean tina elmu basa anu maluruh jeung medar sora-sora basa, prosesna, selang surupna, jeung parobahanana".

There are 16 consonants in Sundanese phonology, according to Yayat Sudaryat (1991,35): "fonem konsonan (contoid) nya eta sora omongan (fonem) anu kawangun ku hawa anu kaluar tina bayah sarta waktu liwat tikoro aya nu ngahalangan. konsonan nu aya dina basa sunda, nyaeta: /b/, /ts/, /d/, /g/, /h/, /dʒ/, /k/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /p/, /r/, /s/, /n/, /t/, /n'/, kuayana pangaruh basa kosta sok kapanggih konsonan /f/, /v/, /z/ mangrupa fomem nu asalna pangaruh basa kosta, saperti dina kecap: fonem, qur'an, xerox, zakat".

Based on the statement above, it is clear that the Sundanese language has only 16 consonants, there are three consonants /f, v, z/ which exist in Sundanese as a result of borrowing words, but naturally they are not Sundanese consonants.

Furthermore, Sudaryat does not mention the phonemes /w, j/ as semi vowels, although as vowels, /w, j/ function as a glide sound between two different vowels, as in the words:

• Kueh - /kuweh/
• Muih - /muwih/
• Bear - /beAar/
• Miang - /mijan/

Phonemes /w/ and /j/ function as glide sounds between two different vowels as in the words:

• wa - rung
• wa - yang
• ba - wang
• ha - yang
• ku - ya