{"id":112,"date":"2014-08-01T17:36:27","date_gmt":"2014-08-01T21:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/indonesian\/?p=112"},"modified":"2014-08-15T11:29:11","modified_gmt":"2014-08-15T15:29:11","slug":"indonesian-alphabet-and-its-pronunciation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/indonesian\/indonesian-alphabet-and-its-pronunciation\/","title":{"rendered":"Indonesian Alphabet and Its Pronunciation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Indonesian language, officially called Bahasa Indonesia, is written in the Latin alphabet; the spelling is phonetically precise,\u00a0as the words are spelled as they sound. It is the consistency in the one-on-one relationship between sound and symbol that make reading and writing the language relatively easy and simple.<\/p>\n

Indonesian language standardization<\/strong><\/p>\n

The standard Indonesian spelling that is\u00a0currently used has gone through significant spelling changes since its conception in 1928 and since its official recognition in the\u00a01945 constitution.\u00a0In 1947, the government’s\u00a0Ministry of Education changed the Dutch-spelled “oe” into “u.”\u00a0However, there was a major change made in 1972, when the\u00a0Indonesian language went through a spelling reform, which is\u00a0known as Ejaan Yang Disempurnakan\/EYD (The Enhanced Indonesian spelling system or Perfected Spelling System).\u00a0The primary spelling changes in the language included changing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Phoneme<\/strong><\/td>\nOld spelling<\/strong><\/td>\nCurrent spelling<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\/u<\/a>\/<\/td>\noe<\/td>\nu<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\/t\u0283<\/a>\/<\/td>\ntj<\/td>\nc<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\/d\u0292<\/a>\/<\/td>\ndj<\/td>\nj<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\/j<\/a>\/<\/td>\nj<\/td>\ny<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\/\u0272<\/a>\/<\/td>\nnj<\/td>\nny<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\/\u0283<\/a>\/<\/td>\nsj<\/td>\nsy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\/x<\/a>\/<\/td>\nch<\/td>\nkh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Despite these spelling changes, you still can find some Indonesian names with the old spelling, for example: Soeharto, Djoko Soemarno; Tjandra, and Chaerudin.<\/p>\n

Spelling and pronunciation<\/strong> \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The influence of Dutch in Indonesian language is very noticeable in spelling and pronunciation of the letters due to the country’s\u00a0history as a Dutch colony.\u00a0 However, the Arabic also has similarities to the Indonesian language, as it was used for delivering the message during the time of the establishment of Islam, which is the majority religion in the country. Therefore, it is understandable why the Indonesian language uses the term ‘abjad’ for the alphabet and ‘huruf’ for the letter.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Alphabet letter<\/td>\nPronunciation<\/td>\nHow to pronounce (English like)<\/td>\nSound<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A a<\/td>\na<\/td>\nah<\/td>\nLike<\/span><\/em>\u00a0a<\/em> in father<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
B b<\/td>\nbe<\/td>\nbay<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
C c<\/td>\nce<\/td>\nchay<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
D d<\/td>\nde<\/td>\nday<\/td>\nLike de<\/em> in deli<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
E e<\/td>\ne<\/td>\nay<\/td>\nLike\u00a0 e<\/em> in bel<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
F f<\/td>\nef<\/td>\nef<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
G g<\/td>\nge<\/td>\ngay<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
H h<\/td>\nha<\/td>\nha<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I i<\/td>\ni<\/td>\nee<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
J j<\/td>\nje<\/td>\njay<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
K k<\/td>\nka<\/td>\nkah<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
L l<\/td>\nel<\/td>\nel<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
M m<\/td>\nem<\/td>\nem<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
N n<\/td>\nen<\/td>\nen<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
O o<\/td>\no<\/td>\noh<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
P p<\/td>\npe<\/td>\npay<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Q q<\/td>\nki<\/td>\nkey<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
R r<\/td>\ner<\/td>\nair<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
S s<\/td>\nes<\/td>\nes<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
T t<\/td>\nte<\/td>\ntay<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U u<\/td>\nu<\/td>\noo<\/td>\n\u00a0Like oo in boot<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
V v<\/td>\nfe<\/td>\nfay<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
W w<\/td>\nwe<\/td>\nway<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
X x<\/td>\neks<\/td>\neks<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Y y<\/td>\nye<\/td>\nyay<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Z z<\/td>\nzet<\/td>\nzet<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Compound consonants<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Compound<\/td>\npronunciation<\/td>\nsound<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ng<\/td>\neng<\/td>\nLike the soft ng<\/em> in English<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ny<\/td>\nnye<\/td>\nLike ch<\/em> in Lochness<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
sy<\/td>\nsya<\/td>\nLike sh <\/em>in shoe or ship. Only appears in words of Arabic origin.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
kh<\/td>\nkha<\/td>\nLike ny<\/em> in canyon. Only appears in words of Arabic origin.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The following YouTube video \u201cHow to pronounce initial Ng in Asian languages – Stuart Jay Raj\u201d will help you learn to pronounce the “ng” sound correctly.<\/p>\n