Pronunciation Pointers for indonesian language

You will need to LISTEN (to your teacher, and to the tapes when available) to really pronounce Indonesian correctly, but the following guide will give you a rough idea how to sound words out. Unlike English, Indonesian is relatively consistent in matching sounds to spellings, but there are some exceptions to this, and there are several sounds that are tricky for English- speakers.

In the bellow is example how to speaking indonesian language for vowels:
- The u in the second syllable of duduk sounds more like the oo in book)

- The i in the second syllable of titik sounds more like sit.
- The a like a in father, for example datang, nama
- The i like ee in feet, for example pagi, siang
-The o between the aw in saw and the oe in toe, for example kopi, orang
- The e like u in but OR*, for example selamat, senang
- The e between the e in let and the a in late, for example es, sore

- The ai in sampai is often pronounced ay as in day, especially in Java

- The au in saudara is often pronounced oe as in toe)

In other cases where two vowels are not separated by a consonant, just put the two vowel sounds together: siapa = si apa, etc. When a vowel is repeated, put a glottal stop (= the catch in your throat when you say "uh-oh!") between the vowels: maaf = ma-af.

Vowels

“a” always an “ah” as in “father” (NEVER long “a” as in “pay”)

“e” generally a shorter sound than the short “e” in English; often the most effective pronunciation is saying the word as though the e did not exist!

Example: “Selamat” is often pronounced as “slamat”

There are a few exceptions to this rule, where the “e” has an “a” sound as in “say”

At times, you will have to play it by ear and listen for the correct pronunciation.

“i” “ee” as in “meet”

“o” long “o” sound as in “hold”

“u” “oo” as in “toot”

“aa” both letters “a” are pronounced individually so that there is a hesitation between them

“ai” long “i” sound as in “eye” (“ah+ee” in one sound)

“au” “ow” as in “cow” (“ah+oo” in one sound)

Consonants – generally pronounced as in English, with these exceptions:

“c” “ch” as in “chip”

“g” hard “g” sound as in “goat” (NEVER a soft “j” sound as in “gem”)

“ng” “ung” as in “lung”. The sound comes from the back of your throat WITHOUT the hard “g” sound. This can be a little tricky, but easily mastered with a little practice.

“ngg” “ung”+ hard “g” sound as in “hunger”

“ny” “nya” as in “canyon” made at the roof of your mouth. This may take a little practice as well, but will feel natural in a short time.

“h” a sigh-like sound that is pronounced, at times quite prominently. Unlike English, it is NOT silent no matter where it is found in a word.

“k” the normal “k” sound as in “kite” EXCEPT when found at the end of a word, where it is cut off or very soft. This is also called a glottal stop, which is similar to the sound at the back of your throat when saying “oh-oh”

“r” rolled as in most other non-English languages. For English speakers, the sound is similar to the “tt” in “butter” or the heavier “dd” in “muddy”, or can be trilled as in the Spanish word “arriba”. Just think of Speedy Gonzales!!

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