Malay: spelling → sound
Malay spelling (Rumi) is young and clean — the current system dates from 1972 — and nearly one-to-one. The traps are few and famous: c is always /t͡ʃ/ (cinta = 'chinta'), sy is /ʃ/, ng is one sound /ŋ/ and ngg is two (dengan vs tinggal), final -k is usually a glottal stop /ʔ/ (tidak, nak), and the letter e hides two sounds — schwa /ə/ (the common one: besar, kereta) and /e/ (untranslated in spelling: merah, bela). Arabic loans bring kh /x/ and gh /ɣ/. Stress is light, roughly on the second-to-last syllable; there is no tone, no vowel length, no gender, and syllables are simple — which is why Malay is regularly called the easiest major language to pronounce.
Trace a word
Every box is one rule firing. Hover a box (or open the table) to see why. Rules are applied in order, first match wins — that order is the spelling system. Type the word as written. Final -k is a glottal stop; e is usually /ə/.
Consonants & glides
| IPA | Spelled | Example |
|---|---|---|
| p | p | pagi paɡi morning — Unaspirated — no puff. |
| b | b | besar bəsar big |
| t | t | tahu tahu to know |
| d | d | dua dua two |
| k | k | kita kita we (incl.) |
| ʔ | k (final), ' (loans) | tidak tidaʔ no / not — Final k = glottal stop, the catch in 'uh-oh'. tidak → 'tida'.' |
| ɡ | g | gigi ɡiɡi tooth — Always hard, even before e/i. |
| m | m | makan makan to eat |
| n | n | nasi nasi rice |
| ɲ | ny | banyak baɲaʔ many |
| ŋ | ng | dengan dəŋan with — ng = ONE sound; ngg = ng + g: tinggal /tiŋɡal/. |
| t͡ʃ | c | cinta t͡ʃinta love — c is ALWAYS ch — cawan, cuci, kucing. |
| d͡ʒ | j | jalan d͡ʒalan road / to walk |
| s | s | satu satu one |
| ʃ | sy | syukur ʃukur gratitude — Arabic loans. |
| x | kh | khabar xabar news — Arabic loans; many speakers just say /k/: kabar. |
| ɣ | gh | ghaib ɣaib unseen / supernatural — Arabic loans; often just /ɡ/. |
| h | h | hujan hud͡ʒan rain — Light between vowels, sometimes dropped: tahu → 'tau'. |
| l | l | lima lima five |
| r | r | rumah rumah house — Tapped or lightly trilled; often dropped at the end in Malaysia (besar → besa). |
| w | w | wang waŋ money |
| j | y | saya saja I — The letter y = IPA /j/. |
| f | f | faham faham to understand — Arabic loans; colloquially /p/: paham. |
| z | z | zaman zaman era — Arabic loans. |
Vowels
| IPA | Spelled | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a | a | apa apa what — In Malaysia final -a often sounds like /ə/: apa → 'apə'. Indonesia keeps /a/. |
| ə | e (usually) | kereta kəreta car — THE default e. besar, benar, sepuluh. |
| e | e (sometimes) | merah merah red — Spelling doesn't distinguish it from schwa — learn per word. The tracer guesses schwa. |
| i | i | ini ini this |
| o | o | orang oraŋ person |
| u | u | untuk untuʔ for |
| ai | ai | pantai pantai beach |
| au | au | pulau pulau island |
The rules, in order
18 rules. The left column is a pattern (regular expression) matched at the current position of the word; (?=…) looks ahead, (?<=…) looks behind, $ is the end of the word.
| # | Pattern | Sound | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ngg | ngg = ng + g (tinggal) | |
| 2 | ng | ng = one sound (dengan) | |
| 3 | ny | ||
| 4 | sy | sy = sh (Arabic loans) | |
| 5 | kh | kh (Arabic loans) | |
| 6 | gh | gh (Arabic loans) | |
| 7 | c | c is ALWAYS ch | |
| 8 | j | ||
| 9 | y | ||
| 10 | k(?:$| ) | final k = glottal stop (tidak, banyak) | |
| 11 | ai | ||
| 12 | au | ||
| 13 | e(?=[^aeiou ]?(?:$| )) | e in the last syllable is usually /e/ (merah — but not always) | |
| 14 | e | e is usually schwa (besar, kereta) | |
| 15 | [aiou] | ||
| 16 | g | ||
| 17 | [pbtdkmnszlrwfh] | ||
| 18 | v |