MPW 1113

National Language
Spelling and
Pronunciation System
RAW Malay Language

The pronunciation
WhatItThe pronunciation?
The
pronunciationMeanHow
toExpressedOrCallThe word.
The pronunciationof RAW Malay
Language is based on spelling.

Spelling System Malay

Language
Malay Language new spelling
system has beenofficially
declared on 16 August 1972.
It has been approved by
Indonesia-Malaysia
Language
Council.

The sound and

Letters
What's that sound?

The sound is waves of the air

that comes out of both sides of
the lungs, and then through
voice tape bay, next to throat
and finally out through oral
cavity or nasal cavities.

What He Sound
Language and it is not
the sound language?

Language sounds is any sounds that

is found in whatever language in this
world that function in speech.
There are sound that not classified
as language sound, but produced by
human speech tool.
For example: the cough sound, burp
sound, the sound of the trembling

The sound and

letters

There are 26 letters in alphabet

writing Rumi Malay language,
which are

Lett
The pronunciation
er
1 A a e (pronounce as in word
elak)
2 B b bi
3

Cc

si

D d di

Ee

Ff

ef

7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Gg
Hh
Ii
Jj
Kk
Ll
Mm
Nn
Oo
Pp

ji
ec
ai
je
ke
el
em
en
o
pi

17
18

Qq
Rr

kiu
ar

19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26

Ss
Tt
Uu
Vv
Ww
Xx
Yy
Zz

es
ti
yu
vi
dabliu
eks
wai
zet

Sounds Classification in
Malay Language
Sounds in Malay language can
be classified to 3 classes, which
are:
a) Vowel
b) Diftong and
c) The consonants.

Vowel Letter
In Malay language there are six
fonem or vowel sound standard,
i.e.
Huruf
Fonem
Contoh
a
e
e
i
o
u

/a/
//
/e/
/i/
/o/
/u/

sapi
mak
enak
itu
orang
umpan

 Letter e is used to denote two

sound, i.e. e pepet ( , , )
and e taling.
Letter e pepet known as e
marked above. This sign is
used only in old spelling. It is
no longer used for Rumi new
spelling.

Old Spelling

New Spelling

mak

emak

ddah

dedah

lpas

lepas

cpat

cepat

tmpat

tempat

Diftong Letter
The sound diftong is a sound that
flowed through a combination of
two fonem vocal.
The sound of the sound this diftong
can present either at the beginning
of syllable, among the syllable or at
the end the syllable.
In Malay language there are three
fonem diftong which is symbolised

Fone Lette
m
r
/ai/

ai

At
In the
At
the middl the
front
e
end
aising zaitun pantai

/au/

au

audit

maujud harima

/oi/

oi

oidiu
m

boikot

amboi

Consonants
In Malay language there are 26
consonants
sound
which
is
symbolised by 21 consonants.

Fonem
/b/
/c/
/d/

Letter
b
c
d

Example
balai
Cara
damai

/f/

falsafah

/g/

ganda

//

gh

ghaib

/h/
/j/

h
j

hasil
jambu

/k/

kampung

/x/

kh

khas

/l/

lampu

/m/
/n/
//
//
/p/
/q/
/r/
/s/
//

m
n
ng
ny
p
q
r
s
sy

makan
nama
nganga
nyanyi
pisang
qari
rumah
sampah
syarat

/t/

tutup

/v/

vokal

/w/

wakil

/y/

yakin

/z/

zaman

/x/

xenon

 From 26 consonants there are

five letters combined, i.e. gh,
kh, ng, NY, and Sy.
Letter q, v, and x have been
assigned its usage, i.e.

1. Letter q used as equivalent to

letters or an ArabicQaf( ) To
spell the term religion or the
words of a religion which is
derived from Arabic. Example:
Qadak, the Qur'an, Qadar.
2. Letter v is used to spell loan
words from English and other
languages.
Example:
unversiti.

variasi,

vitamin,

3. Letter x is used only at the

beginning of the specific terms
that are not converted to
z.Example:
xilosa, xenon, xenofobia.

Old Spelling change to

New Spelling
There
areFiveChangesof
the
consonantsfrom old spelling to new
spelling:

ch
dh
dz
sh

c
d
z
sy

th

cara
kadi
beza
mesyuara
t
misal

 Other than that, the comma sign ()was

dropped
and
replace
with
other
consonant such as:
1. Comma sign at beginning syllable has
been deleted.Example: aib, maaf
2. If the position is at the end of syllable,
it was replaced with K.Example:

Ma'na Makna
tama Tamak

SYLLABLE

 Every Malay syllable has been

marked with a vocal letter.
Vocal letter can be at the
beginning
of
syllable
or
followed by consonant.
Malay Language have eleven
syllable pattern:

Num Pattern Example

1.V a- yam

ka-e dah

gu-a

2.VC

un-ta

om-bak

ma-in

3.CV

me-ja

ben-de-ra

ga-jah

pe-ker-ja

be-lum

4.CVC pin-tu
5.CCV kri-tik
6.CCVC

prak-tis

elek-trik

7.VCC eks-port
8.CVCC

bank-rap

am-bu-lans

9.CCVCC kom-pleks
10. CCCV

skru

stra-te-gi

11. CCCVC skrip

struk-tur

Harmony vocal
Pattern

 In Malay Language, there are

patterns of vocal harmony to
guide vocal compatibility when
spelling a word
Patterns of vowel harmony
means harmony or suitability of
two vowels that for two syllables
per word basis which is pair of
vowels in pre-end syllable with
closed vowel in end of syllable.

The Principles of vocal harmony:

1. Involvingcoordinationbetweentw
ovowel in a word
2. Basic word must end with closed
syllable
3. For syllables that consist of two
syllables, only the last two
syllables
involved
in
vocal
harmony

There are 18 Vocal

Harmony Pattern:
Nu
m

The
Pre-end
Syllable

The Closed
end Syllable

- a

2
3

a
a

- i
- u

e pepet

- a

Spelling
Example

alas, balak,
halaman
alih, balik
asuh, datuk,
lembayung
emas,
kelam,
tembelang

Nu
m

The
Pre-end
Syllable

The Closed
end Syllable

e pepet - i

e pepet - u

7
8
9

e taling - a
e taling - e taling
e taling - o

10
11
12

i
i
i

- a
- i
- u

Spelling
Example

lebih, betik,
sembelih
telur,
tempuh
elak, dewan
leceh, gelek
esok,
selekoh
ingat, kilang
intip, sisih
riuh, tidur

Nu
m

The
Pre-end
Syllable

The Closed
end
Syllable

14 o

- e taling

15 o

- o

16 u

- a

17 u
18 u

- i
- u

Spelling
Example

oleh,
boleh
obor,
borong
ubat,
tumpang
usik, kuih
untuk,
tunduk

Exception
Harmony Vocal
System

Other than18 patterns, there is a

harmony vocal exception
patterns that involve loan words
which is made up of Javanese
language and English, namely:

Nu
m

1
2
3

Vowel
Pattern

a-e
taling
a-o

Javanese
Language

English
Language

aneh, awet panel, kabel

calon,
lakon
e pepet gembleng
e
taling
e pepet jempol
-o

atom, faktor

gabenor

5
6
7
8
9

i- e
taling
i-o
u- e
taling
u- o
a- e
pepet

imlek parlimen
ijon

diftong,
transistor
tulen, subjek,
ulet
dokumen
buron kupon,
konduktor
pake teater
m

10 e taling - i

11 e taling - u

12 e pepet e
pepet
13 i e pepet
14 o i
15 o u
16 u e pepet

pepet

hipotesi
s
spektru
m
-

iseng
lumer

filem
polis
bonus
skuter

Loan Word Spelling

 Loan words from English or

language
of
Europe
was
adjusted according to the rules
it is spelled adjustment letter
as follows:

English
Langua
ge
a
ae
ae
ai
au
b, bb
c

Malay
Example
Langua
ge
a
Abstract abstrak
ae
aerial aerial
e
Aesthetics
estetika
ai
trailer trailer
au
Automatic
automatik
b
Lobby lobi
s
Cent sen

ch, cch
d,dd
e
ea
ea
ee
ei
eo
eu

k
d
e
ea
i
i
ei
eo
eu

f,ff

technique
Dividend dividen
Effective efektif
Idea idea
Grease gris
Beer bir
Protein protein
Stereo stereo
Petroleum
petroleum
Factor faktor
Traffic trafik

g,gg

Geology geologi
Aggressive agresif

h
i
ia
ie
ie
ie
io
iu
j,jj

h
i
ia
i
ai
ie
io
iu
j

Hotel hotel
Identity identiti
Dialect dialek
Calorie kalori
Pie pai
Diesel diesel
Iodine iodin
Stadium stadium
Jury juri

k,kk
kh
l,ll

k
kh
l

Kilo kilo
Khaki khaki
Liberal liberal
Pill pil

m,mm
n,nn

m
n

Mammal mamalia
Neon neon
Tennis tenis

ng
o
oa
oe
oi

ng
o
o
e
oi

Linguistics linguistik
Operator operator
Coat kot
Foetus fetus
Alkaloid alkaloid

oo

oo

Zoo zoo

oo

Cartoon kartun

ou

au

Pound paun

ou

Coupon kupon

p,pp

Appleepal

ph

Graph graf

Quality kualiti

r,rr

Lorry lori

rh

Rhetoric retorik

s, ss

Express ekspres

sc
sc

s
k

Science: sains
Scooter: skuter

sch

Scheme: skim

t,tt

Battery: bateri

th

Anthropology: antropologi

Republic: republik

ua

ua

Aquarium: akuarium

ue

Tissue: tisu

ue

ue

Duet: duet

ue

gugur Cheque: cek

ui

ui

Annuity anuiti

uo

uo

Quotakuota

uu

Vaccum vakum

Novel novel

Kiwi kiwi

wh

Whisky wiski

Malay Language Standing Committee has

established several policies to spell the loan
word:

1) The importance of spelling or visual form

of loan word. The changes in foreign
phonemes (fonem) in Malay Language
only done when necessary. Eg:
English
Carbon
Cartoon
Conductor
Dialog
Institute
Structure

Malay
karbon
Kartun
Konduktor
Dialog
Institut
Struktur

Wrong
Spelling
karban
Katun
Kondakter
Dailog
Institiut
strakcer

2) No need to coordinate with vocal

harmony for loan English and European
languages:
English

Atom
Bonus
Fossil
Pistol

Malay

Atom
Bonus
Fosil
Pistol

Wrong
Spelling

Atum
Bonos
Fosel
pistul

 There are certain exception to a few

words that have been accepted by
old spelling style using e pepet. The
words
are:
English

Malay

Wrong
Spelling

Block

Blok

belok

Clinic

Klinik

Kelinik

Drama

Drama

Derama

Script

Skrip

sekerip

English

Class
Club
Glass
Plan
Stamp

Malay

Kelas
Kelab
Gelas
Pelan
Setem

Wrong
Spelling

klas
Klab
Glass
Plan
Stem

Spelling the consonants clusters

found in the English retained with
some adjustment. Example:

 Foreign elements (other than the

consonants clusters) that has been
absorbed into the Malay language is
retained it is spelled.
English
Malay
Wrong
Spelling
Bureau
Biro
Bureau
Custom
Kastam
Kustom
Driver
Drebar
Driver,
driber
Modern
Moden
Modern
Pension
Pencen
Pension

 All the lettersGthat pronounce /

j /in english term still retained with
the letterGIn Bahasa Malaysia.
English

Malay

Wrong
Spelling

Agenda

Agenda

Ajenda

Gymnasium

Gimnasium

Jimnasium

Technology

Teknologi

Teknoloji

Tragedy

Tragedi

trajedi

 However, there are exception of

G that pronounce / j / in english
language. The spelling in Malay
is retained as J. Eg:

English
Agent
College
Contingent
Engine
Garage
General
Image
Logic
Regime
Sabotage

Malay
Ejen
Kolej
Kontinjen
Enjin
Garaj
Jeneral
Imej
Logik
Rejim
Sabotaj