The Language
Bahasa Indonesia, or the Indonesian language, is the national language of the people of the Republic of Indonesia. It is also spoken in Malaysia because both Bahasa Indonesia and Malaysian have sprung from Malay, which is the source of these two languages. Over 220 million people in Indonesia alone speak Bahasa Indonesia, and it is spoken by approximately 30 million people in Malaysia. The people of Indonesia are spread over 16,000 islands, from Sabang in the west to Merauke in the east. They represent hundreds of different ethnic groups, each with their own culture and their own language, and yet all are united under one Indonesian nation and are bound together by their national language, Bahasa Indonesia.
Every language has its own system of sounds that are different from any other language. When learning a foreign language, you begin by learning to make these distinctions. The correct pronunciation plus the ability to distinguish new sounds do not come automatically. They must be achieved through the process of comparison and imitation. The ability to articulate like an Indonesian will come through constant imitation of the sentences and sounds spoken in the tapes. The following are explanations of how to pronounce the various letters and combinations of letters in Indonesian. As you read them, follow along on your tape and practice repeating the pronunciations.
The SYLLABLES
A syllable in Bahasa Indonesia usually consists of a vowel + a consonant. It also includes any following consonant that does not immediately precede the next vowel.
à a-yam (chicken)
a-kan (will)
ba-rang (thing)
i-ni
(this is)
i-a (he/she)
Note: In writing, the affixes usually form separate syllables; however, in speech, you do not enunciate the syllables separately.
à minum (to drink) + (suffix) an = mi-num-an (beverage); pronounced minuman
ber (prefix) + uang (money) = ber-u-ang (to have money); pronounced beruang
The STRESS
In Bahasa Indonesia, the syllables receive almost equal stress, particularly in words that have two syllables.
à makan (to eat)
If the word has more than two syllables, then there is only a slightly stronger stress on the second to last syllable.
à makanlah (please eat)
perkembangan (development)
The VOWELS
It is important to note two qualities of Indonesian vowels:
1. Indonesian vowels are pure, and not diphthongs like most vowels in English.
2. English vowels are pronounced less strongly when they occur in unstressed syllables; however, in Indonesian, all vowels are pronounced equally strong. Therefore, there is no difference between the first and second vowels in saya or iklim.
Indonesian has six vowels:
a like “a” in father apa (what?)
e like
“e” in pen pena (pen)
e like “e” in student kelas
(class)
i like “i” in pin Indonesia (Indonesia)
o like “o” in wrong mayor (major)
u like “oo” in soup duduk (to sit)
Indonesian has five diphthongs:
ey like “ay” in day sampai/sampe (to arrive)
ai like “i” in ice baik (good)
ow like “ow” in know saudara/sudara (you/your)
au like “ou” in out mau (to want)
oi like “oy” in boy amboy (gosh!)
The CONSONANTS
All the letters in the Latin alphabet are used in Bahasa Indonesia. The letters q and x, however, are used very rarely.
The consonants p and b
The Indonesian p is pronounced like the English p, but without aspiration, that is, there is no puff of air that follows its production. The letter p can occur both in the initial or the final position of any syllable.
à popok (diaper)
pipi (cheek)
The Indonesian b is pronounced very much like the b sound in the English word baby.
bayi (baby)
à bagi (to divide, to share)
The consonants p and b in the initial position of the syllable
Note: Pay attention to the contrast between the two sounds when they occur initially.
à pagi (morning) - bagi (to divide)
peras (to squeeze) - beras (uncooked rice)
perang (war) - berang (to get angry)
The consonant b in the final position of the syllable
The letter b is pronounced like the letter p when it occurs at the end of a syllable.
à Sabtu (Saturday) - sounds like Saptu
absent (absent) - sounds like apsen
The consonants c and j
The Indonesian c is pronounced like the English ch in the word chalk.
The Indonesian j is pronounced like the English j in the word jury.
Note: Pay attention to the contrast between the two sounds that occurs initially in the syllable.
à curi (to steal)
juri (jury)
calon (candidate)
jalan (street)
The consonants d and t
The Indonesian d is pronounced like the English d in duck.
The Indonesian t is pronounced like the English t in tip. The letter t is not aspirated; that is, no puff of air follows its production.
à
tetap (to remain)
tutup (to close)
titip (to entrust)
The consonants d and t in the initial position of the syllable
Note: Pay attention to the contrast between the two sounds.
àdua (two) - tua (old)
dari (from) - tari (dance)
The consonant f
The consonant f is pronounced like the English f in father. It can occur both initially and finally in the syllable.
famili (family)
Note: In some cases, words that start with the letter f sometimes are pronounced as p.
à filem - pilem (film)
fikir - pikir (to think)
fabrik - pabrik (clothing material/ factory)
The consonants g and k
The consonant g is pronounced like the English g in God.
The consonant k is pronounced like the English k when it occurs initially and finally in the syllable, and it is spoken with no aspiration (no puff of air follows its production). It is pronounced as a glottal stop when it occurs in the final position in the syllable.
àgagah - handsome
kakak - older sibling
agak - rather, somewhat
The consonants g and k in the initial position of the syllable
Note: Pay attention to the contrast between the two sounds when they occur initially.
à gelas (glass) - kelas (class)
gosong (burnt) - kosong (empty)
The consonant k in the final position of the syllable
The people from the islands of Java pronounce the second syllable with the glottal stop. The sound of the k in this position is not released and is a glottal stop.
àbapak (father/sir)
makmur (prosperous)
nenek (grandmother)
The people from other islands do not pronounce the final k sound.
The consonant kh
This is a single phonetic unit and is pronounced like ch in the Scotts “loch.” It can occur initially and finally in the syllable.
à khayal (to fantasize)
akhir (final/ the end)
makhluk (creature)
Note: In some cases, the kh is written and pronounced like the letter k.
à khabar-kabar (news)
akhir -akir (final/ the end)
The consonant h
The h is pronounced very similarly to the English h in hat.
The h can occur initially and finally in the syllable.
Note: Beginners should make sure to enunciate the sound carefully because its presence or absence in most cases distinguishes the meaning.
à Tuhan (God) - tuan (sir/master)
mudah (easy) - muda (young)
bawah (under) - bawa (to carry)
The h between vowels
When h occurs between two vowels, it is often silent.
à tahu - tau (to know)
lihat - liat (to see)
The h between the same vowel
When it occurs between two vowels that are the same, the h must be pronounced clearly.
à leher (neck)
mohon (to beg/to request).
The consonant l
The consonant l can occur initially and finally in the syllable.
It is pronounced like the English l in lord.
Note: The Indonesian l is always clear, like the English l.
à lapar (hungry)
kepala (head)
The consonants m and n
The consonants m and n can occur initially and finally in the syllable. They are pronounced like the English m in mama and n in nun.
à macam (type of/ kind of/sort of)
nama (name)
akan (will/is going to)
The consonant ng
The consonant ng is a single phonetic unit that is pronounced like ng in sing.
The consonant ng can occur both initially and finally in the syllable.
Note: Since in English it occurs only in the final position in the syllable, its initial occurrence presents a problem for English speakers.
à sungai (river)
ngantuk (sleepy)
dengan (with)
The combination of consonants ng and g
The combination of consonants ng and g is pronounced like the English single.
à sanggup (capable of)
pinggang (waist)
anggap (to assume)
The consonant ny
The consonant ny is a single unit that is formed with these two letters. It occurs only initially in the syllable. It is pronounced like the English ny in canyon.
à nyaman (comfortable)
nyonya (mistress/ madame)
The consonant r
The consonant r is usually trilled. The tip of the tongue is vibrated against the front part of the palate.
à ringan (lightweight)
rasa (to taste)
marah (angry)
lapar (hungry)
opor (chicken curry)
The consonant s
The consonant s can occur initially and finally in the syllable.
It is pronounced like the English s in hats and not like the s in the English rocks.
à susah (difficult)
rahasia (secret)
salah (wrong)
Indonesia (Indonesia)
bekas (ex/ used item/ used stuff)
The consonant sy
The consonant sy is pronounced like the English sh as in sharp. It is a single phonetic unit and can occur initially or finally in the syllable.
à syair (poem)
Alphabet
A as in after
B as in baby
C as in chance
D as in day
E as in enter
F as in flower
G as in gum
H as in harbor
I as in Indonesia
J as in Jakarta
K as in Kabul
L as in long
M as in merry
N as in never
O as in obey
P as in paper
Q as in queen
R as in rest
S as in sad
T as in tell
U as in shoe
V as in violet
W as in wagon
X as in X-ray
Y as in young
Z as in zipper