INFORMAL MALAY PRONUNCIATION

GUIDEA GUIDE FOR A LESS AWKWARD FUTURE

THE ALPHABET

•MALAY USES A-Z, JUST LIKE ENGLISH

•PRONUNCIATION ARE STRAIGHTFORWARD

VOWELS•A – “AH, FATHER, SPA”•IPA: /ɑː/

•I – “TEETH, BEAT, SLEEP”•IPA: /Iː/

•U – “BOOST, FLU, ZOO”•IPA: /Uː/

VOWELS•O – TWO TYPES OF SOUNDS•“GOAT, HOME, TOE”; IPA: /oʊ/•“ALL, BOUGHT, FLAUNT”; IPA: /ɔː/

•DON’T WORRY ABOUT THIS. EVEN IF THE SOUND INTERCHANGED, THE MEANING STAYS THE SAME

VOWELS•E – TWO WAYS: DEPENDS ON WORDS•TYPE 1:•“HERD, LEARN, MURDER”; IPA: /Ə/

•TYPE 2:•“LAKE, PAID, RAIN”; IPA: /eɪ/•“DRESS, MET, BREAD”; IPA: /Ɛ/

VOWELS•NOTES FOR “E”:•FOR TYPE 2, CAN BE INTERCHANGED WITHOUT CHANGING THE MEANING.•DO NOT INTERCHANGE BETWEEN TYPE 1 AND 2

CONSONANTS•ALL CONSONANTS SOUND THE SAME AS ENGLISH, EXCEPT:

•NOTES:•“C” WILL ALWAYS SOUND “CHIN, CHOKE”•“C” WILL NOT MAKE THE “K” SOUND

“SH” AND “SY”•SOME WORDS MAY BE SPELLED WITH “SY” IN IT•THIS WILL ALWAYS MAKE THE SAME SOUND AS “SH” IN “SHOE, SHAMPOO”

“NG” AND “NY”•NG – “SINGING, HANGING”; IPA: /ŋ/•THIS SOUND MAY BE AT THE BEGINNING OF WORDS, UNLIKE ENGLISH

•NY – “PIÑATA, HINGE, INCH”; IPA: “/ɲ/”

THE ENDING A•MOST OF (NOT ALL BUT ALMOST ALL) MALAY WORDS ENDING WITH “A” WILL MAKE THE SOUND“HERD, LEARN, MURDER”; IPA: /Ə/•YOU’LL GET USED TO IT LATER ON, DON’T WORRY

THE ENDING K•WORDS ENDING WITH “K” WILL ALWAYS HAVE THE GLOTTAL STOP (IPA: /ʔ/)•SOUNDS LIKE “UH-OH” (STOP AT UH, WITHOUT PRONOUNCING OH)•ENDING “K” WILL NOT SOUND LIKE “BLOCK, STICK”

THE ENDING R

•ENDING “R” NORMALLY WILL NOT BE PRONOUNCED AT ALL.

U AND I BEFORE ENDING CONSONANT

•U BECOMES O IN “GOAT”

•I BECOMES E IN “RAIN”