Pronounciation Guide

Pronunciation guide

Malay is very easy to pronounce: it has one of the most phonetic writing systems in the world, with only a small number of simple consonants and relatively few vowel sounds. One peculiarity of the spelling is the lack for a separate sign to denote the schwa. It is written as an 'e', which can sometimes be confusing.

Vowels

a
like 'a' in "father"
ê
like 'e' in "vowel" (schwa)
e, é
like 'e' in "bed", usually the difference between a schwa and an e is not indicated in writing
i
like 'i' in "thin"
o
like 'ow' in "low", in open positions or like 'o' in "top" in close positions
u
like 'oo' in "hoop", in open positions or like 'o' in “hope” in close positions

Consonants

b
like 'b' in "bed"
c
like 'ch' in "China"
ch
old spelling of c
d
like 'd' in "dog"
f
like 'ph' in "phone"
g
like 'g' in "go"
h
like 'h' in "help"
j
like 'j' in "jug"; in older romanizations also the vowel i
k
like 'c' in "cat", often silent at the end of a word
kh
like 'ch' in "loch"
l
like 'l' in "love"
m
like 'm' in "mother"
n
like 'n' in "nice"
p
like 'p' in "pig"
q
like 'q' in "quest" (with "u", almost always, only in Arabic borrowings)
r
like 'rh' in "rheumatism"
s
like 'ss' in "hiss"
sy
like 'sh' in "sheep"

t
like 't' in "top"
v
like 'ph' in "phone"
w
like 'w' in "weight"
x
like 'cks' in "kicks"
y
like 'y' in "yes"
z
like 's' in "hiss", like 'z' in "haze", like 'dg' in "edge"

Common diphthongs

ai
like 'in' in "mind"
au
like 'ow' in "cow"
oi
like 'oy' in "boy"