Malay phonology

This article explains about the phonology system of the Malay language, containing consonants, vowels and the pronouncation in the Malay language as the official language in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia.

Consonants

Table of consonant phonemes of Standard Malay

	Labial		Alveolar		Post- Alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
Nasal	m		n				ɲ		ŋ
Stop	p	b	t	d	t͡ʃ	d͡ʒ			k	ɡ	(q)		ʔ
Fricative	(f)	(v)	s	(z)	(ʃ)				(x)	(ɣ)			h
Approximant			l				j		w
Trill			r								(ʀ)

The phonemes between parentheses are borrowed consonants from other languages: [v] from English, the rest from Arabic.

Other than the above, there are a few consonants from Arabic that are only pronounced by only a few speakers.

(IPA Consonant)	Arabic alphabet	Example of borrowed word
Voiceless pharyngeal fricative [ħ]	ﺡ	halal
Pharyngealized voiceless alveolar fricative [sˁ]	ﺹ	solat
Pharyngealized voiced alveolar plosive [dˁ]	ﺽ	darurat
Pharyngealized voiceless alveolar plosive [tˁ]	ط	tayyiba
Pharyngealized voiced alveolar fricative [zˁ]	ﻅ	zohor
Pharyngealized glottal stop [ʔˤ]	ﻉ	alam, ilmu

Vowels

Standard Malay Language has nine vowels including six native vowels and three borrowed vowels.

Table of vowel phonemes of Standard Malay

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-Mid	e	ə	o
Open-Mid	(ɛ)		(ɔ)
Open		a	(ɑ)

Phonological notes:

1. High vowels are close-mid in closed final syllables of root morphemes.
2. In opened final syllables of root morphemes /a/ is pronounced as [ə]. This also happens to the penultimate syllable if it is followed by /h/.
3. Some words borrowed from English have the vowels [ɛ] and [ɔ], such as pek [pɛk] ('pack') and kos [kɔs] ('cost'). Words borrowed earlier have a more nativized pronunciation, such as pesta ('fest'), which is pronounced [pestə].
4. Some district dialects differentiate close-mid and open-mid (front and back) vowels. Examples are in the Kedahan dialect:
   1. [modɛ] ("modal") (modal)
   2. [bɔrak] ("bohong") (lie)
5. [ɑ] is an allophone for /a/ pronounce after or before asserted consonants in Arabic borrowed words. Example: qari [qɑri].
6. Some district dialect differentiate open front and back vowels. Example: [ɡulɑ] ("gulai", the Perak River dialect).
7. The pronouncation a is more open in singing. The pronouncation u regularly changed into [ɯ] in singings excluding official singings such as aku (I) is sung as [akɯ]. Phoneme changes in singing also happens in the Japanese language.

Diphthongs

The Malay language has three native diphthong phonemes only in open syllables, they are:

• /ai̯/: kedai (shop), pandai (clever)
• /au̯/: kerbau (buffalo), aura (aura)
• /oi̯/: dodoi, amboi

The diphthong /ei/ from borrowed words, such as Mei (May) and esei (essay) are only pronounced /e/. This feature also happens to /ou/ which becomes /o/.

Diphthongs are differentiated from two vowels in two syllables, such as:

• /a-i/: kain (cloth)
• /a-u/: laut (sea)

Even if it's not differentiated in modern spelling of rumi, diphthongs and two vowels are differentiated the spelling in Jawi, where the two vowels are separated by the alphabet hamzah (ء); example: لاءوت laut (sea), diphthongs are otherwise being let to be connected.

Two vowels below are two different vowels but pronounced as if it was diphthongs.

• /ia/: meriah (lively)
• /iu/: liur (saliva)
• /ua/: luar (outside)
• /ui/: kelui (paging)

Bibliography

• Indirawati Haji Zahid, Mardian Shah Omar. Fonetik dan fonologi. PTS Professional. ISBN 9833585639. http://books.google.com.my/books?id=_YPQp-Hg3UYC. Retrieved 24 Disember 2009. 
• Abdullah bin Hassan. "6". Linguistik am. PTS Professional. ISBN 9833376185. http://books.google.com.my/books?id=zhCfFUQgJMIC&pg=PA62&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=6#v=onepage&q=&f=false. Retrieved 24 Disember 2009.