Letter Names and Pronunciations
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The names of the letters differ between Indonesia and rest of the Malay-speaking countries. Indonesia follows the letter names of the Dutch alphabet, while Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore follow the English alphabet. Regardless of the letter names, however, the letters represent the same sounds in all Malay-speaking countries. The Malay alphabet has a phonemic orthography; words are spelled the way they are pronounced, with few exceptions. The letters Q, V and X are rarely encountered, being chiefly used for writing loanwords.
| Letter | Name | Sound | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indonesia | Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore | IPA | Notes | ||
| Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore | Indonesia | ||||
| Aa | a | e | /a/ | a as in father | |
| /ə/ | u as in fur | ||||
| Bb | be | bi | /b/ | b as in bed | |
| Cc | ce | si | /t͡ʃ/ | ch as in check | |
| Dd | de | di | /d/ | d as in day | |
| Ee | e | i | /ə/ | u as in fur | |
| /e/ | e as in red | ||||
| /e/ | /ɪ/ | e as in hey | |||
| /ɛ/ | e as in get | ||||
| Ff | ef | ef | /f/ | f as in fish | |
| Gg | ge | ji | /ɡ/ | g as in gain | |
| Hh | ha | hec | /h/ | h as in harm | |
| Ii | i | ai | /i/ | ea as in read | |
| /e/ | /ɪ/ | i as in igloo | |||
| Jj | je | je | /d͡ʒ/ | j as in jam | |
| Kk | ka | ke | /k/ | unaspirated k as in skate | |
| Ll | el | el | /l/ | l as in let | |
| Mm | em | em | /m/ | m as in mall | |
| Nn | en | en | /n/ | n as in net | |
| Oo | o | o | /o/ | o as in owe | |
| /o/ | /ʊ/ | ||||
| /ɔ/ | o as in bot | ||||
| Pp | pe | pi | /p/ | unaspirated p as in speak | |
| ki | kiu | /q/ ~ /k/ | q as in the Quran | ||
| Rr | er | ar | /r/ | Spanish rr as in puerro | |
| Ss | es | es | /s/ | s as in sun | |
| Tt | te | ti | /t/ | unaspirated t as in still | |
| Uu | u | yu | /u/ | oo as in soon | |
| /o/ | /ʊ/ | oo as in foot | |||
| Vv | ve | vi | /v/ ~ /f/ | v as in van | |
| Ww | we | dabel yu | /w/ | w as in wet | |
| Xx | eks | eks | /ks/ or /z/ | x as in xylophone | |
| Yy | ye | wai | /j/ | y as in yarn | |
| Zz | zet | zed | /z/ ~ /s/ | z as in zebra | |
*Many vowels are pronounced (and were formerly spelt) differently in Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra (where Malay is native): tujuh is pronounced (and was spelt) tujoh, rambut as rambot, kain as kaen, pilih as pileh, etc., and are also allophones of /i/ and /u/ in closed final syllables in peninsular Malaysian and Sumatran. Many vowels were pronounced and formerly spelt differently that way also in East Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia.
In addition, there are digraphs that are not considered separate letters of the alphabet:
| Digraph | Sound | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | Notes | ||
| Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore | Indonesia | ||
| ai | /ai̯/ | uy as in buy | |
| au | /au̯/ | ou as in ouch | |
| oi | /oi̯ | /ʊi̯/ | oy as in boy |
| gh | /ɣ/ ~ /x/ | French r | |
| kh | /x/ | ch as in loch | |
| ng | /ŋ/ | ng as in singing | |
| ny | /ɲ/ | Spanish ñ; similar to ni as in onion with a nasal sound | |
| sy | /ʃ/ | sh as in shoe | |
Read more about this topic: Malay Alphabet
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