This article explains thephonology ofMalay andIndonesian based on the pronunciation of Standard Malay, which is the official language ofBrunei andSingapore, "Malaysian" ofMalaysia, and Indonesian the official language ofIndonesia and aworking language inTimor Leste. There are two main varieties of standard Malay pronunciation,/a/-varieties (kelainan-/a/) where word-final⟨a⟩ as in the wordbuka (to open) is pronounced as/a/ and word-final⟨r⟩ as in the wordsabar (patient) is pronounced, and schwa-varieties (kelainan-pepet; also called "Johor-Riau pronunciation" owing to its origins) where word-final⟨a⟩ is pronounced as schwa/ə/ and word-final⟨r⟩ is silent except when a vowel-initial suffix is attached.[1][2] This meansbuka andsabar would be pronounced as/buka/ⓘ and/sabar/ⓘ in/a/-varieties but as/bukə/ⓘ and/saba(r)/ⓘ in schwa-varieties.
/a/-varieties are found in Brunei,East Malaysia (Sabah andSarawak), Indonesia and northwesternPeninsular Malaysia (Kedah,Penang,Perlis), while schwa-varieties are found in all the other parts of Peninsular Malaysia, including the Malaysian capital,Kuala Lumpur, and is also used by the Malaysian media and is partly used in Singapore. Alongside the schwa-variety, there exists a separate artificialBaku (lit. 'standard' in Malay/Indonesian; also called 'Literary Standard Malay'[3]) pronunciation standard that is officially used in Singapore which follows a prescriptive "pronounce as spelt" approach to pronunciation which is different from/a/-varieties but nonetheless aligns with them in how word-final⟨a⟩ and⟨r⟩ are treated.[4]
The consonants of standard Bruneian Malay,[5] Malaysian Malay,[6] and also Indonesian[7] are shown below. Non-native consonants that only occur in borrowed words, principally from Arabic, Dutch, English and Sanskrit, 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].[8][9]
Consonant phonemes of Standard Malay and Indonesian
/ð/ is written as⟨z⟩. Before 1972, this sound was written as⟨dh⟩ or⟨dz⟩ in Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore.
/θ/ is written⟨s⟩. Before 1972, this sound was written as⟨th⟩ in Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Notes
/p/,/t/,/k/ areunaspirated, as in theRomance languages, or as in Englishspy, sty, sky. In syllable codas, they are usuallyunreleased, with final/k/ generally being realised as aglottal stop in native words in Malaysian Malay but as velar or uvular stops[k̚~q̚] in Bruneian Malay.[5] There is generally noliaison, that is, no audible release even when followed by a vowel in another word, as inkulit ubi (tapioca skins)[ˈkulit̚ˈʔubi], though they are pronounced as a normal medial consonant when followed by a suffix.
/t/ is dental or supradental [t̪] in most varieties of Malay and in Indonesian, but not in Brunei Malay where it is alveolar.[5][7][10]
At prefix-stem boundaries, when the prefix ends in a vowel (e.g.ke- anddi-) and the stem word starts with a vowel, a glottal stop[ʔ] isepenthesized as a way of avoidingvowel hiatus, so a word likediangkat (to be lifted) which is formed by combining thedi- prefix with the stemangkat (to lift) would be pronounced as[di.ʔaŋ.kat].[11]
At stem-suffix boundaries:
When the stem ends in/u,i/ and a vowel-initial suffix is added, a homorganic glide, respectively[w,j] is epenthesized between the stem and the suffix. If the stem instead ends in/a/, a glottal stop[ʔ] is inserted. This meansrayuan (complaint) andhentian (a stop), which are formed by the affixing the stemsrayu (to send a complaint) andhenti (to stop) with the-an suffix, would be pronounced as[ra.ju.wan] and[hən.ti.jan] with the epenthesized[w] and[j], whilecubaan (attempt), which is a combination ofcuba (to try) and-an, would be pronounced as[t͡ʃu.ba.ʔan] with the epenthesized[ʔ]. This applies to when the stem ends in the dipthongs/au̯,ai̯,oi̯/ as well so a word likepakaian (clothes), which is a combination ofpakai (to wear) +-an, is pronounced as[pa.kai̯.jan].[11][12]
When the stem ends in any consonant except/r/ and a vowel-initial suffix is added, according to Tajul (2000), the consonant isgeminated. This results inpilihan (ability) andsesali (to regret) which are affixations ofpilih (to choose) with the suffix-an andsesal (regret) with the suffix-i being pronounced as/pilihhan/[pi.leh.han~pi.lɪh.han] and/səsalli/[sə.sal.li]. When the stem ends in/k/ as intindakan (action) fromtindak (act) +-an, the/k/ is phonologically geminated resulting in /tindakkan/, but as/k/ in the syllable coda is pronounced as a glottal stop[ʔ], phonetically, there is no geminate in the derived term, with the word being pronounced as[tin.daʔ.kan].[13]
The glottal stop/ʔ/ may be represented by an apostrophe in Arabic-derived words such asAl Qur'an. In some words likediangkat (to be lifted)[di.ʔaŋ.kat] that are derived from vowel-initial words with a vowel-ending prefix, the glottal stop is not reflected in writing.
/h/ is pronounced clearly between like vowels, as indahan (tree branch). Elsewhere it is a very light sound, and is frequently silent, as inhutan ~utan (forest),sahut ~saut (answer),indah ~inda (beautiful). The exception to this tendency is initial/h/ from Arabic loans such ashakim (judge).
/r/ varies significantly across dialects. In addition, its position relative to schwa is ambiguous:kertas (paper) may be pronounced[krəˈtas] or[kərəˈtas]. The trill/r/ is sometimes reduced to a single vibration when single, making it phonetically aflap[ɾ], so that the pronunciation of a single/r/ varies between trill[r], flap[ɾ] and, in some instances, approximant [ɹ], possibly influenced by English in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei. In word-final position,⟨r⟩ is silent in schwa-varieties, but audible in/a/-varieties and in theBaku pronunciation standard.[14][15]
In schwa-varieties, word-final⟨r⟩ is pronounced when a vowel-initial suffix is attached so whilecabar (to challenge) may be pronounced as[t͡ʃa.ba] with the⟨r⟩ silent, when the-an suffix is added to getcabaran (challenge), the word is pronounced[t͡ʃa.ba.ran] with the⟨r⟩ not silent. This has led some analyses to refer to the silent word-final⟨r⟩ as a 'floating/r/' which requires that the pronunciation ofcabar in schwa-varieties be phonemically transcribed as/t͡ʃa.ba(r)/ rather than as/t͡ʃa.ba/ to indicate the presence of the floating/r/. This floating/r/ is also found in the prefixesper-/pə(r)/ andber-/bə(r)/.[16]
Voiced stops do not occur in final position in native words. In loanwords,/b/ and/d/ are generallydevoiced in final position (sebab (cause)[səˈbap̚],masjid (mosque)[ˈmasdʒit̚]) to conform with the native phonological structure. Some pronunciation guides consider this devoicing nonstandard and prescribe to pronounce finalb andd as written, i.e. voiced.[17]
/f/,/v/,/z/,/ʃ/,/ð/,/θ/ and/q/ only appear in loanwords. Some speakers pronounce/v/ in loanwords as[v], otherwise it is[f].[z] can also be an allophone of/s/ before voiced consonants, although this is rare. Since/ð/ and/z/ are written identically in Malay, as with/θ/ and/s/ and/q/ and/k/,/ð/,/θ/ and/q/ tend to only occur in speakers who speak the source languages the words are loaned from (e.g. Arabic and English) and are aware of the original pronunciations of the words.
The affricates are variously described as[tʃ]/[dʒ],[c͡ç]/[ɟ͡ʝ],[18] or[c]/[ɟ][19] in the literature.
Hoogervorst (2017) argues that initial/j/ and/w/ did not exist in Old Malay and were respectively substituted with/dʒ/ and/b/ until the instilling of learning Arabic through eventual spread Islamic education amongst local populations.[20]
Loans from Arabic:
Phonemes which occur only in Arabic loans may be pronounced distinctly by speakers who know Arabic, otherwise they tend to be substituted with native sounds.
Important in the derivation of Malay verbs and nouns is theassimilation of the nasal consonant at the end of the derivational prefixesmeng-/məŋ/, a verbal prefix, andpeng-/pəŋ/, a nominal prefix.
The nasal segment is dropped beforesonorant consonants (nasals/m,n,ɲ,ŋ/, liquids/l,r/, and approximants/w,j/). It is retained before and assimilates toobstruent consonants: labial/m/ before labial/p,b/, alveolar/n/ before alveolar/t,d/, post-alveolar/ɲ/ before/tʃ,dʒ/ and/s/, velar/ŋ/ before other sounds (velar/k,ɡ/, glottal/h/, all vowels).[21]
In addition, following voiceless obstruents, apart from/tʃ/ (that is/p,t,s,k/), are dropped, except when before causative prefixper- where the first consonant is kept. This phoneme loss rule was mnemonically namedkaidah KPST "KPST rule" in Indonesian.[22]
It is usually said that there are six vowels in Standard Malay (Malaysian and Brunei)[5][23][6] and Indonesian.[7] 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/.[24]
As mentioned at the top of the page, one main source of variation in standard Malay pronunciation is in whether final⟨a⟩ in open final syllables of root morphemes (for examplebuka 'to open') is pronounced as/a/ or as schwa/ə/. The former quality is employed by '/a/-varieties', found inIndonesian and those ofBrunei,Sabah,Sarawak and northwestern Peninsular Malaysia (Kedah,Penang,Perlis), and the latter is employed by 'schwa-varieties' which is found in all the other parts of Peninsular Malaysia including the Malaysian capital,Kuala Lumpur and partly inSingapore.[5][25] In schwa-varieties,⟨a⟩ of the penultimate syllable is also modified if it is followed by⟨a⟩, as inusaha[usəhə]. This final⟨a⟩ difference is neutralized to/a/ when a suffix that starts with a vowel is added on, so the wordbacaan (act of reading) which is formed by affixingbaca (to read) with the suffix-an is pronounced as[ba.t͡ʃa.ʔan] in both/a/ and schwa-varieties even though the wordbaca by itself would be pronounced as[ba.t͡ʃə] in schwa-varieties.[26]
In poem declamations and in singing, speakers of schwa-varieties often switch to an/a/-variety-type accent.[14]
One other difference between/a/ and schwa-varieties (although a minor one) is in the qualities of the/e/ and/o/. In/a/-varieties,/e/ and/o/ are opener, approaching the qualities of[ɛ] and[ɔ] so that words likebelek (to inspect) andbotol (bottle) would be pronounced as[bɛlɛʔ] and[bɔtɔl] in/a/-varieties while they are pronounced as[beleʔ] and[botol] in schwa-varieties.[14][27]
According to Adelaar (1992), Standard Malay/i,u/ and/e,o/ do not contrast in closed-final syllables and can experience non-phonemic lowering of various degrees, as long as they are not higher than the vowel in the penultimate syllable if that vowel is/i,e,u,o/:[10]
In Bruneian Standard Malay, in agreement with Adelaar (1992), they can have mid or even open realisations as long as they are not higher than the vowel in the preceding syllable. This meansgiling andburung can be pronounced as[gilɪŋ~gileŋ~gilɛŋ] and[burʊŋ~buroŋ~burɒŋ], whilegeleng 'shake' andborong 'buy in bulk' can only be pronounced as[geleŋ~gelɛŋ] and[boroŋ~borɔŋ] and not as*[ɡelɪŋ] and*[borʊŋ].[5]
In Indonesian, closed final syllable/i/ and/u/ often only get realised as[ɪ] and[ʊ] while closed final/e/ and/o/ often get realized as[ɛ] and[ɔ].[7]
In schwa-varieties, according to Mukhlis & Wee (2021), closed final syllable⟨i,u⟩ are pronounced the same as⟨e,o⟩ as/e,o/ except in a few words such asaiskrim (ice cream)/aiskrim/,kasus (case)/kasus/ andputus (to snap)/putus/,[4] while according to Asmah (2015), closed final syllable⟨i,u⟩ are pronounced as/e,o/ only before silent word-final⟨r⟩ whereas before other consonants, they are lowered[i̞,u̞] but do not merge with/e,o/, with a merger in these environments according to her being indicative of Johor dialectal speech rather than standard schwa-variety speech.[28][29]
InBaku pronunciation, no allophonic lowering of closed-final/i,u/ occurs.[30]
Assuming Adelaar's (1992) view above that/i,u/ and/e,o/ do not contrast in closed-final syllables, the vowels[e] and[o] must still be accorded phonemic status, as they would still contrast with[i] and[u] in penultimate positions with minimal pairs such asbilik (room) andbelek (to inspect) andburung (bird) andborong (to wholesale).[10]
When/i,e/ or/u,o/ appear next to a vowel of a different colouring, an approximant[j] or[w] can be epenthesized in between those two vowels, so that words likecium (kiss),duit (money) andbau (odour) would be pronounced as[t͡ʃijom~t͡ʃijʊm],[duwet~duwɪt] and[bawu]. This epenthesization is sometimes represented in writing too with an inserted ⟨y⟩ or ⟨w⟩ so that the three aforementioned words would be spelt asciyum,duwit andbawu instead.[10]
The vowels of [e], [ɛ], and [ə] are commonly written without diacritics as ⟨e⟩. The vowel [ɛ] is allophone of [e], while [ə] is not. The diacritics are only used to indicate the correct pronunciation, for example, in dictionaries. In Indonesian, the vowels are marked with diacritics as [e] ⟨é⟩, [ɛ] ⟨è⟩ and [ə] ⟨ê⟩ from 2015 to 2022 and as [e], [ɛ] ⟨e⟩ and [ə] ⟨ê⟩ since 2022.[31][32] A different system represents [e], [ɛ], and [ə] as ⟨e⟩, ⟨é⟩, and ⟨ě⟩ respectively. In Malay, [e] and [ə] are represented by ⟨é⟩ and ⟨e⟩, otherwise respectively known ase taling ande pepet.[6] Indonesian also uses the vowel [ɘ] (spelledeu) in some loanwords fromSundanese andAcehnese, e. g.eurih, seudati, sadeu.[32]
Word-final [e] and [o] are rare in Malay, except for loanwords, liketeko (teapot, fromHokkien茶鈷tê-kó͘),toko (small shop, from Hokkien土庫thó͘-khò͘),semberono/sembrono (careless, from Javanesesembrana),gede (Javanese of big),konde (from Javanesekondhe, bulbous hairdo or hair extension on the back of the head),kare (Indonesian term for curry, variation ofkari, from Tamilkaṟi),mestizo (from Spanish),kredo (creed, from Latincredo),risiko (risk, from Dutchrisico), and non-Malay Indonesian names, like Manado and Suharto.
In schwa-varieties, word-final [e] and [o] frequently occur as realizations of word-final⟨ir,er⟩ and⟨ur,or⟩ where the⟨r⟩ is silent so words such asalir (to flow) andleher (neck) andbubur (porridge) andkotor (dirty) are pronounced as[ale] and[lehe] and[bubo] and[koto] with word-final[e] and[o].[28]
[ɑ] is an occasional allophone of/a/ after emphatic consonants, and including/r/,/ɣ/, and/q/ fromArabic words. Example:qari[qɑri].
Some words borrowed from European languages have several note:
Some words borrowed from European languages have the vowels[ɛ] and[ɔ], such aspek[pɛk] (pack) andkos[kɔs] (cost). Words borrowed earlier have a more nativized pronunciation, such aspesta (fest), which is pronounced[pestə]. Some systems represent[ɔ] as ⟨ó⟩.
Some words borrowed from European languages reflect the language origin, generally Dutch (for Indonesian) and English (for Standard Malay), specifically as vowels of [e], [ɛ], and [ə] are commonly written without diacritics as ⟨e⟩. For example, the wordpresiden (president) is pronounced as /prɛˈsidɛn/ in Indonesian and /prɛˈsidən/ in Standard Malay which reflect on /prezi'dɛnt/ in Dutch and /ˈpɹɛzɪdənt/ in English.
Comparison of Malay pronunciation standards according to Mukhlis & Wee (2021)[4]
Example
Johor-Riau (Piawai)
Pronunciation
Northern Peninsular
Pronunciation
Baku & Indonesian
Pronunciation
⟨a⟩ in final open syllable
⟨kereta⟩
/ə/
/a/
/a/
⟨i⟩ in final closed syllable with final ⟨n⟩ and ⟨ng⟩
⟨salin⟩
/e/
/i/
/i/
⟨i⟩ in final closed syllable with other final consonants
⟨itik⟩
/e/
/e/
/i/
⟨u⟩ in final closed syllable with final ⟨n⟩ and ⟨ng⟩
⟨agung⟩
/o/
/u/
/u/
⟨u⟩ in final closed syllable with other final consonants
Some analyses claim that Malay has three nativediphthong phonemes only in open syllables; they are:
/ai̯/:kedai ('shop'),pandai ('clever')
/au̯/:kerbau ('buffalo')
/oi̯/:dodoi,amboi
Others assume that these "diphthongs" are actually a monophthong followed by an approximant, so⟨ai⟩ represents/aj/,⟨au⟩ represents/aw/, and⟨oi⟩ represents/oj/. On this basis, there are no phonological diphthongs in Malay.[33][34][10]
Words borrowed from Dutch or English with/eɪ/, such asMei ('May') from Dutch andsurvei ('survey') from English, are pronounced with/e/ as this feature also happens to English/oʊ/ which becomes/o/. However, Indonesian introduced forth diphthong of/ei̯/ since 2015, such as in ⟨Méi⟩ ('May') /mei̯/.
Diphthongs are differentiated from two vowels in two syllables, such as:
Two vowels that could form a diphthong are actually pronounced separately:
when the two vowels belong to aclosed syllable, i.e. a syllable that ends with a consonant. E.g. a + i inkain (cloth) are pronounced separately[ka.en] ~[ka.ɪn], because the syllable ends with an "n" consonant — and thus is a closed syllable.
when the word would be only one-syllable long if pronounced with a diphthong. E.g. a + u inbau (smell) are pronounced separately [ba.u], because a diphthong would result into a single-syllable word.
when the two syllables belong to two differentmorphemes. E.g. a + i ingulai (to sweeten) are pronounced separately as[gu.la.ʔi], because the word is made out of two morphemes:gula (sugar) +-i (transitive/causative verb-forming suffix), distinct fromgulai (kind of curry)[ɡu.lai̯].
Even if it is not differentiated in modernLatin spelling, diphthongs and two vowels are differentiated in the spelling inJawi, where a vowel hiatus is indicated by the symbolhamzah⟨ء⟩, for example:لاءوتlaut ('sea').
Malay has lightstress that falls on either the final or penultimate syllable, depending on regional variations as well as the presence of the schwa (/ə/) in a word. It is generally the penultimate syllable that is stressed, unless its vowel is a schwa/ə/. If the penult has a schwa, then stress moves to the ante-penultimate syllable if there is one, even if that syllable has a schwa as well; if the word is disyllabic, the stress is final. In disyllabic words with a closed penultimate syllable, such astinggal ('stay') andrantai ('chain'), stress falls on the penult.
However, there is some disagreement among linguists over whether stress isphonemic (unpredictable), with some analyses suggesting that there is no underlying stress in Malay.[5][35][36]
The classification of languages based on rhythm can be problematic.[37] Nevertheless, acoustic measurements suggest that Malay has more syllable-based rhythm than British English,[38] even though doubts remain about whether the syllable is the appropriate unit for the study of Malay prosody.[35]
Most of the native lexicon is based on disyllabic root morphemes, with a small percentage of monosyllabic and trisyllabic roots.[10] However, with the widespread occurrence of prefixes and suffixes, many words of five or more syllables are found.[5]
Syllables are basically consonant–vowel–consonant (CVC), where the V is a monophthong and the final C may be an approximant, either/w/ or/j/. (See the discussion of diphthongs above.)
In an effort to further standardize Malay across political boundaries after having done so in other aspects such as with spelling with the1972 spelling reform, the artificialBaku standard of pronunciation which follows a "pronounce as spelt" guide to pronunciation was introduced and started being implemented in Malaysia in the year 1988. Starting in 1993, schools were ordered to use it in lessons and examinations, and students were only allowed to answer oral tests withBaku pronunciation.[39] This effort ceased in 2000 with a government circular ordering its replacement in schools in favour of "common pronunciation" (sebutan biasa).[40] The MalaysianMinister of Education later said that this move was done becauseBaku pronunciation was "different from the pronunciation commonly used by the people of this country", although some believe it had more political motivations as one of the biggest proponents ofBaku pronunciation at the time,Anwar Ibrahim, had just been sacked from his position as Deputy Prime Minister just two years earlier in 1998.[4]
Singapore started using theBaku standard for official purposes in 1993. Ever since then, there have been various protests fromMalay Singaporeans, calling for the return of the Johor-Riau standard as the official standard for standard Malay pronunciation. One prominent critic of the use of theBaku standard isBerita Harian editor, Guntor Sadali, who noted that "members of the Malay community generally find thatSebutan Baku (Baku Pronunciation) is very awkward". Studies analysing the standard Malay speech of Singaporean students, teachers and political leaders found that speakers generally speak with a "hybrid accent" when speaking standard Malay, mixing Johor-Riau andBaku pronunciation features. This pronunciation-mixing is particularly common in spontaneous speech where speakers are unable to monitor their speech as compared to when they are reading off a text.[4]
^Hoogervorst, Tom (2017). "Lexical Influence From North India To Maritime Southeast Asia: Some New Directions".Man in India.95 (4): 295.
^This is the argument for the nasal being underlyingly/ŋ/: when there is no place for it to assimilate to, it surfaces as/ŋ/. Some treatments write it/N/ to indicate that it has no place of articulation of its own, but this fails to explain its pronunciation before vowels.
^Clynes, Adrian (1997). "On the Proto-Austronesian "Diphthongs"".Oceanic Linguistics.36 (2):347–362.doi:10.2307/3622989.JSTOR3622989.
^abZuraidah Mohd Don, Knowles, G., & Yong, J. (2008). How words can be misleading: A study of syllable timing and "stress" in Malay.The Linguistics Journal 3(2).See hereArchived 16 February 2022 at theWayback Machine
^Roach, P. (1982). On the distinction between 'stress-timed' and 'syllable-timed' languages. In D. Crystal (Ed.),Linguistic Controversies (pp.73–79). London: Edward Arnold.
^Deterding, D. (2011). Measurements of the rhythm of Malay. InProceedings of the 17th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Hong Kong, 17–21 August 2011, pp. 576–579.On-line Version
Asmah Haji Omar (2015).Susur Galur Bahasa Melayu [Genealogy of Malay] (in Malay) (2nd ed.). Kuala Lumpur:Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (published 23 October 2015).ISBN9789836298263.
