The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Malay (Malaysian and Indonesian) pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Malay phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Malay.

Consonants
IPA Examples English approximation
b bola[1] beau
d dari[1] do
dʒ jari job
f fikir, visa[2] festival
ɡ galah[3] gain
h habis, tokoh hat
j yakin, kaya yes
k kalah[1][3] sky
l lama lean
m makan moon
n nakal note
ŋ ngarai feeling
ɲ nyaman canyon
p pola[1] spy
r raja, dari, pasar Spanish río[4]
s saya six
ʃ syak[2] shoe
t tari[1] sty
tʃ cari itchy
v visa[2] vision
w waktu, Jawa we
x khas[2] Scottish loch
z zaman[2] zero
ʔ bapak, rakyat[1][3] uh-oh
Vowels
IPA Examples English approximation
a ajar, buka[5][6] father
e serong, kare, pilih, yakin, kirim[7] clay[8]
ɛ pek, teh, bebek[9] festival
i bila, ini see
ɪ kirim[9] bin
o roda, toko, tujuh, rumput[7] sole[10]
ɔ pohon[9] off
u upah, baru moon
ʊ rumput[9] foot
ə gelak, buka[5] taken, about


Diphthongs
IPA Examples English approximation
au, aʊ[11] kalau[7] how
ai, aɪ[11] capai[7] bye
ei, eɪ[11] murbei survey (uncommon)
oi, oɪ[11] sepoi boy (uncommon)
ui, uɪ[11] fengsui British ruin (uncommon)


Other symbols
IPA Explanation
ˈ Primary stress
Placed before the stressed syllable[12]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f /p/, /t/, /k/ are unaspirated, as in the Romance languages, or as in English spy, sty, sky. In final position, they are unreleased [p̚, t̪̚, ʔ̚], with final k being a glottal stop. /b, d/ are also unreleased, and therefore devoiced, [p̚, t̚]. There is no liaison: they remain unreleased even when followed by a vowel, as in kulit ubi "potato skins", though they are pronounced as a normal medial consonant when followed by a suffix.
  2. ^ a b c d e The fricatives [f, z, ʃ, x] are found in loanwords only. Some speakers pronounce orthographic ‹v› in loanwords as [v]; otherwise it is [f]. The fricative [z] can also be an allophone of /s/ before voiced consonants.
  3. ^ a b c The glottal stop [ʔ] is an allophone of /k/ and /ɡ/ in the coda: baik, bapak. It is also used between identical vowels in hiatus. Only a few words have this sound in the middle, e.g. bakso (meatballs) and rakyat (alternative word of 'people' or 'society'). It may be represented by an apostrophe in Arabic derived words such as Al Qur'an.
  4. ^ In traditional Malay areas, the rhotic consonant /r/ is realized as a velar or uvular fricative, [ɣ] or [ʁ], and elided word-finally. Elsewhere, including in Standard Indonesian, it is an alveolar tap [ɾ] or trill [r]. Its position relative to schwa is ambiguous: kertas "paper" may be pronounced [krəˈtas] or [kərəˈtas].
  5. ^ a b In Malaysian, word-final /a/ is often reduced to [ə].
  6. ^ [ɑ] is an occasional allophone of /a/ after or before more carefully pronounced consonant from Arabic loanwords, example: qari [qɑri].
  7. ^ a b c d [e, o] are allophones of /i, u/ in native words in closed final syllables, but have become established as distinct phonemes in English and Javanese loanwords. The diphthongs /ai, au/, which only occur in open syllables, are often merged into [e, o], respectively, especially in Java.
  8. ^ The Malay/Indonesian /e/ doesn't quite line up with any English vowel, though the nearest equivalents are the vowel of clay (for most English dialects) and the vowel of get. The Malay/Indonesian vowel is usually articulated at a point between the two.
  9. ^ a b c d /e, i, o, u/ in Indonesian language have lax allophones [ɛ, ɪ, ɔ, ʊ] in closed final syllables, except that tense [i, u] occur in stressed syllables with a coda nasal, and lax [ɛ, ɔ] also occur in open syllables if the following syllable contains the same lax vowel.
  10. ^ The Malay /o/ doesn't quite line up with any English vowel, though the nearest equivalents are the vowel of sole (for most English dialects) and the vowel of raw. The Malay/Indonesian vowel is usually articulated at a point between the two.
  11. ^ a b c d e The pronunciation with the lax allophone [ɪ] or [ʊ] only occurs in Indonesian.
  12. ^ Stress generally falls on the penultimate syllable. If that syllable contains a schwa [ə], stress shifts to the antepenult if there is one, and to the final syllable if there is not. Some suffixes are ignored for stress placement.

See also

Comparisons
Introductory guides
Category