Learning Indonesian , How To Pronounce alphabet in Indonesian?

Starting Learning Bahasa Indonesia 

Now, we can start study about Bahasa Indonesia . This language is a part of Malay Root in south east Asian Nations. More than 200 Millions people speaking  with this language. I have been studying Indonesia since 20 years ago.  You also hear that Indonesian and Malay Language has Similiar Language , if you have known Malay Before it is not difficul to know Indonesian Structure and Grammar Language.

Ok..We can start from Greeting .

Firstly,  i will share to you about Pronunciation in Indonesian Alphabet .

The Vowels

It is an important point to remember that every syllable of a Bahasa Indonesia word requires a vowel, without which it would be soundless. In Bahasa Indonesia, there are five main vowel phonemes, namely a, e, i, o and u.

a is pronounced a or ar in madam, bar, and therefore:

saya (I) is pronounced sa-ya

mata (eyes) is pronounced ma-ta

kaya (rich) is pronounced ka-ya

e is pronounced ere or are as in mare or hare or pare, and therefore:

meja (table) is pronounced may-ja

sewa (rent) is pronounced say-wa

there is also another e   pronounced err, and the sound is very short indeed,

therefore for example :

kera (monkey) is pronounced kra

peta (map) is pronounced pta

“i”  is pronounced “ee” as in feed, deed, etc.,but the sound is not long

and therefore:

pipi (cheek)is pronounced pee-pee

biji (seed) is pronounced bee-jee

kiri (left) is pronounced kee-ree

“o” is pronounced “or” or “aw” as in law, raw, etc., and therefore:

bola (ball) is pronounced baw-laa

roti (bread)is pronounced raw-tee

topi (hat) is pronounced taw-pee

“u” is pronounced “oo” as in boot, soot, etc.,and therefore:

susu (milk) is pronounced soo-soo

buku (book) is pronounced boo-koo

guru (teacher) is pronounced goo-roo

In closed syllables, that is to say,whenthesevowelsare followed by a consonant, the above rules still stand. Examples:

sayap (wing) is pronounced sa-yaap

padang (field) is pronounced pa-daang

merah (red) is pronounced mare-raah

dewi (goddess) is pronounced dare-wee

perang(war) is pronounced praang

ketam (crab) is pronounced ktaam

pipit (sparrow) is pronounced pee-peet

kikis (to scrape) is pronounced kee-kees

lompat (tojump) is pronounced lorm-paat

tongkat (walking stick) is pronounced tong-kaat

rumput (grass) is pronounced room-poot

Dipthongs

The dipthongs are ai, au and oi.

1. ai is pronounced igh or ie as insigh or tie respectively,and therefore:

pantai (beach) is pronounced paan-tie

tupai (squirrel) is pronounced too-pie

2. au is pronounced ow as in now, how, cow, etc., and therefore:

kerbau (buffalo) is pronounced ker-bow

hijau (green) is pronounced hee-jow

pisau (knife) is pronounced pee-sow

3.oi is pronounced almost like the English oy in boy, toy, joy, etc.,

and therefore:

amboi (oh!) is pronounced um-boy

The Consonants

In general, the pronunciation of consonants in Bahasa Melayu is the same as in English, but the following should be given special attention.

“c” is pronounced eh as in chair, chin, much, etc.

“g” is always hard such as in garden, gun, globe, etc. not as inginger.

“h” when used as an initial is very soft and hardly audible,

e.g.

hidung (nose)". The medial h should be distinctly  pronounced when it stands between two similar or different

vowels. Examples:

Words	Meaning
pa/h/at	chisel
po/h/on	tree
sa/h/bat	companion
se/h/at	healthy
ma/h/ir	skilled
b a/h/u	shoulder

The final  is soft but unlikethe Englishh, this must be distinctly

pronounced. Examples:

Words	Meaning
leba/h	bee
ruma/h	house
mera/h	red
sawa/h	rice-field
tana/h	land

The final “k” is soft and hardly audible. It is not exploded as in English. Examples:

Words	Meaning
anak	child
perak	silver
tarik	to pull

“r” as a final letter in a penultimate syllable, should be distinctly pronounced. Examples:

Words	Meaning
kertas	paper
harta	property
Bayar	Donasi

But if it falls in the final syllable, it is hardly audible. Examples:

Words	Meaning
Lapar	Hungry
Pasir	Sand
Telur	Egg

“y” and “x” are used only in the spelling of borrowedwords. There are Bahasa Indonesia sounds which are represented by two letters, in other words, they can be considered as two-lettered consonants. They are: ng, .sy, dh, gh, kh and nya; nk has the same

value as it is in English.

sy is the equivalent of sh in English.

“dh”, “gh” and “kh” are used in the spelling of words originating from Arabic, and there are no such sounds in the English language.

“gh” almost resembles the “r" in the French word Paris. Examples:

Ghaib

Word	Meaning
Ghaib	To Disappear

“kh” is more or less equivalent to the Scottish eh in loch. Examples:

Word	Meaning
ikhlas	sincere

“ny” sound is also absent in English. It should be pronounced like the ñ in the Spanish word Senor. Therefore, the words:

Minyak (oil) should be pronounced mi-nyak  not min-yak or miniak

Banyak (many, much) should be pronounced bar-nyak not barn-yak or baniak

nyanyi (to sing) should be pronounced nya-nyi not nia-ni


it's little article ..and i hope to be useful with you.

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