Hi everyone!
It's me Zarina, your friend from Malaysia.
How are you doing?
I hope you are doing great practising the phrases that I have taught so far.
Today I will be explaining about Malay letters pronunciation. Although, we have been learning some greetings so far, I believe it is more important to learn about Malay letters and its pronunciation first before we start anything at all.
My bad..sorry!
Alright..let's start with Malay letters. The best thing about learning Malay is that it has the same exact letters used by English.
So, English speakers definitely have the advantage here. No new letters to memorize. However, the tricky area here is the pronunciation of the letters.
Well, before we go to the second part, I will pronounce all the letters first.
a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k,l,m,n,o,p,q,r,s,t,u,v,w,x,y and z.
What do you think? same ol same ol right?
The best method to study Malay for beginners is actually to memorize the sound by syllables or just listen to the natives speak. My advice is for you to install an app - RTM Mobile into your hand phone.
Choose TV1 for Malay programs. Listen on how the natives speak Malay and sometimes you would be able to see that we use a mix of English and Malay in our daily conversation and it is acceptable.
Let's get back on how to pronounce Malay letters, shall we?
For A,E,I,O,U - they are the vowels which are used to form syllables in Malay Language.
Pronouncing A
A - there are two method to pronounce 'A'
Take the word - Apa which means What
You can pronounce it as apa or apa where the second method of pronunciation made the second syllable of apa, sounds like it should be written as ape.
I will give you some words example:
Ayah - father
Katak - frog
Lapar - hungry
Bila - when
Mata - eye
Other than being used as a vowel to create syllables in Malay language, there are some words which have first syllables using A
I will give you some words example:
Alam - world
Asam - pickle
Atas - above
Asia - Asia
Akar - root
So, now you know there are two ways to pronounce A
The rests of the vowel will be explained along with the rest of the consonants letter together with example words as well.
Pronouncing B
For B, Ba bi bu be bébo
Badan - body
Bibir - lips
Labu - pumpkin
Benar - true
Bélon - balloon
Boleh - can
Pronouncing C
For C, ca ci cu ce cé co
Cawan - cup
Cina - Chinese, China
Cukai - tax
Celah - side, in between
Céndol - local delicacy
Comel - cute
Pronouncing D
For D, da di du de dé do
Dada - chest
Didik - teach
Dulang - tray
Dekat - near
Débab - fat, plump
Dodol - local delicacy
Pronouncing E
Other than being used as a vowel to create syllables in Malay language, there are some words which have first syllables using E
Emak - mother
Énak - tasty
Ékar - acre
If you notice from the examples, there are two ways of pronouncing E.
The first E in emak is called as E pepet in Malay and the second E with the accent mark is called as E taling.
Don't worry, you don't have to memorise the terms. The more important thing for you is to know which pronunciation method is for which E because in reality, there will be no accent mark to differentiate them when you come across an article in the news paper or etc.
How do we resolve this?
By getting familiar with the Malay words containing both of this E pronunciation as much as possible.
How?
By listening and reading.
In the beginning, even if you mispronounce them, the locals will still understand you because you are not native. Hence, it is understandable. You will find that in general, the local people are friendly and if they care and not busy, they will definitely help you to correct your pronunciation.
Remember..To err is human. Learn from your mistakes.
Pronouncing F
For F, fa fi fu fe fé fo
Faham - understand
Fikir - think
Fulan - a person
Foto - photo
Pronouncing G
For G, ga gi gu ge gé go
Gagak - crow
Gigi - teeth
Gula - sugar
Gemas - regret
Géndong - carry
Golak - upheaval
Pronouncing H
For H, ha hi hu he hé ho
Hakis - erode
Hitam - black
Hujan - rain
Hendap - ambush
Hémat - saving
Hormat - respect
Pronouncing I
Other than being used as a vowel to create syllables in Malay language, there are some words which have first syllables using I
Ikan - fish
Ihsan - goodness, consent
Idaman - desire
Pronouncing J
For J, ja ji ju je jé jo
Jantan - male
Jimat - save
Jumpa - meet, found
Jepun - Japan
Johor - a state in Malaysia
Pronouncing K
For K, ka ki ku ke ké ko
Kanan - right
Kiri - left
Kuman - germs
Kemas - organize, neat
Kétot - short, small
Kotak - box
Pronouncing L
For L, la li lu le lé lo
Lada - pepper
Lihat - see
Lupa - forget
Lekat - stick
Lépak - hang out
Lorong - aisle, path, alley
Pronouncing M
For M, ma mi mu me mé mo
Manis - sweet
Misai - mustache
Muka - face
Menang - win
Mékap - make-up
Motor - Motorcycle
Pronouncing N
For N, na ni nu ne né no
Nanas - pineapple
Nikah - married
Nusa - homeland
Neraka - hell
Nékad - determined
Nota - note
Pronouncing O
Other than being used as a vowel to create syllables in Malay language, there are some words which have first syllables using O
Otak - brain
Orang - people
Olah - act, do
Pronouncing P
For P, pa pi pu pe pé po
Pakai - wear
Pisang - banana
Pukat - nets for fishing
Perang - war
Pérang - brown
Polis - police
Pronouncing Q
For Q, there is no Malay words with Q except for imported words from other languages or special nouns like names, etc.
Al-Qur'an
Pronouncing R
For R, ra ri ru re ré ro
Rakan - friend
Rimas - restless due to heat or crowd
Rumah - house
Resah - uneasy
Réka - invent, create
Rosak - damaged
Pronouncing S
For S, sa si su se sé so
Salam - shake hand
Sihat - healthy
Sukan - sports
Semak - bush, unorganize
Sétan - devil
Sorak - cheer
Pronouncing T
For T, ta ti tu te té to
Taman - garden
Tilam - mattress
Tukar - change
Teka - guess
Témbak - shoot
Tolak - push, minus
Pronouncing U
For U, other than being used as a vowel to create syllables in Malay language, there are some words which have first syllables using U
Usai - ended, not preserved
Ulam - fruits or leaves eaten raw with meal
Ular - snake
Pronouncing V
For V, there is no Malay words with V except for imported words from other languages or special nouns like names, etc.
Vila - villa
Pronouncing W
For W, wa wi wu we wé wo
Wacana - discourse
Wibawa - authority
Wénang - arbitrarily
Pronouncing X
For X, there is no Malay words with X except for imported words from other languages or special nouns like names, etc.
X-ray
Pronouncing Y
For Y, ya yi yu ye yé yo
There are hardly words using yi yu ye yé yo as a single syllabes except when added with suffixes. However here, I will list out words using 'ya' as its syllable and please pay attention on the pronunciation.
Ya - yes
Maya - illusion
Saya - I, me
Bahaya - dangerous
Supaya - so that
Payah - difficult
Pronouncing Z
For Z, za zi zu ze zé zo
There are hardly words using zi zu ze zé zo except for imported words from other languages or special nouns like names, etc.
Zaman - era
and my name is Zarina :)
Let's read an excerpt from the news shall we? I normally check out the news from AstroAwani and here is an excerpt about a couple from Bali. Focus on how I pronounce the syllables.
Tuah si peluncur air, kahwini wanita Inggeris persis bintang Hollywood
Mungkin ada dalam kalangan anda yang terfikir untuk tukar kerjaya selepas membaca kisah ini.
Tetapi jodoh itu bukan sesuatu yang boleh dirancang. Sebaliknya, yakinlah jodoh yang dihantar kepada kita adalah yang terbaik.
How is the lesson today?
It is easy right?
Want to practise speaking Malay Language?
The easiest way is to get someone native to the language to assist you. If you are interested, you may contact me on Preply for an hour lesson to practise speaking Malay and to improve your pronunciation.
Ok then, I hope that this lesson serves you well.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel.
Sampai jumpa lagi!