2009 June

Archive for June, 2009

Consonant

June 25th, 2009

c	g	j	r
It is pronounced like the English /ch/ in ‘cheese’ and never as the /c/ in ‘car	It is pronounced like the English /g/ in ‘god’; ‘golf’, and never the /g/ in ‘giraffe’	It is pronounced like the English /j/ in ‘Jill’; not the /j/ in ‘John’	This is the rolled or trilled /r/ like the Italian or Spanish in ’signora’; ’senora’
cuci – wash	gigi – tooth/teeth	juga – also	rasa – taste
cari – look for	guru – teacher	jari – finger	drama – drama
cucu – grandchild	gajah – elephant	jujur – honest	kabar – news

/h/ is pronounced like the English /h/ in ‘hen’, ‘home’. This can occur in the initial, medial and final positions

H in initial position	H in medial position flanked by the same vowels	H in medial position flanked by 2 different vowels	‘H’ in final position
/h/ is pronounced clearly. In daily conversation is optionally audible	/h/ is pronounced clearly.	/h/ is optionally audible.	/h/ must be pronounced clearly otherwise the meaning changes.
hujan – rain	mohon – request	lihat – see/look	darah – blood
hari – day	leher – neck	lahir – born	basah – wet
handuk – towel	sihir – witchcraft	pahit – bitter	susah – difficult

Combination of Consonants

ng	ng + g = ngg	ny	sy	kh
It is pronounced like the English /ng/ in ’sing’; ‘king’.	It is pronounced like the English /ng/ in ‘tango’; ‘finger’.	It is pronounced like the English ‘ny’ in ‘canyon’.	It is pronounced like the English ’sh’ in ’shark’; ’she’.	It is pronounced like the Scottish ‘ch’ in ‘loch’. The words are mostly of Arabic origin.
ngantuk – sleepy	panggil – call	banyak – many	syarat – requirement	akhir – end
tangan – hand	tunggu – wait	nyamuk – mosquito	syair – verse	khayal – imagination
datang – arrive	enggak – no (informal)	nyanyi – sing	syukur – thank God	khusus – special

How Letter ‘C’, ‘G’, ‘J’ and ‘R’ are Pronounced

Sumber. Bahasa kita

Vowel

June 25th, 2009

a	i	u
/a/ is always pronounced like the English /a/ in ‘far’; ‘car’; ‘jar’	/i/ is always pronounced like the English /ee/ in ‘bee’; ‘teeth’	/u/ is always pronounced like the English /oo/ in ‘tooth’; ‘book’
Example:	Example:	Example:
saya – I	ini – this	buku – book
apa – what	sini – here	guru – teacher
kaya – rich	gila – crazy	suhu – temperature
makan – eat	kami – we	malu – shy
tanam – plant	indah – beautiful	pintu – door

Vowel /e/ has two different sounds.

e	é
A weak one like the English /e/ in ‘children’; ‘her’; ‘per’	It is pronounced like the English /e/ in ‘pen’; ‘bet’
Example:	Example:
emas – gold	énak – delicious
beras – rice	kakék – grandfather
dekat – near	soré – afternoon
pergi – go	béla – defend
sekarang – now	sétan – ghost

Vowel /o/ has two different sounds also.

o	o
The first one is like the English /o/ in ‘cold’; ‘bold’	The second one is pronounced like the English /o/ in ‘hot’; ’shot’
Example:	Example:
toko – shop	tonton – watch
orang – person	sombong – arogan
obat – medicine	roti – bread
kado – gift	tolong – help
perangko – stamp	bohong – lie

A combination of /a/ and /i/ becomes a two-vowel sound and the diphthongs

Unfortunately there is no way of knowing whether the combination of this two vowels becomes a diphthong or just a two-vowel sound. You will know it by practice and memorizing.

Two- Vowel Sound	Diphthongs
/a/ and /i/ is pronounced individually	Diphtong /ai/ is pronounced like the English ‘my’; ‘tie’
Example	Example
air – water	pantai – beach
main – play	bagaimana – how
lain – other	selesai – finish
baik – well	damai – peace
kain – cloth	capai – reach

A combination of /a/ and /u/ becomes a two-vowel sound and the diphthongs

Two- Vowel Sound	Diphthongs
/a/ and /u/ is pronounced individually	Diphtong /au/ is pronounced like the English ‘cow’; ‘how’
Example	Example
haus – thirsty	harimau – tiger
daun – leaf	engkau – you
mau – want	kerbau – buffalo
laut – ocean	pulau – island
bau – smell	danau – lake

A combination of /i/ and /a/; /i/ and /u/; /i/ and /o/; /u/ and /a/; /u/ and /i/ becomes a two-vowel sound.

/i/ and /a/	/i/ and /u/	/i/ and /o/	/u/ and /a/	/u/ and /i/
dia – he/she	tiup – blow	biola – violin	suami – husband	bui – jail
biar – let	cium – kiss	kios – kiosk	kuat – strong	kuil – temple
liar – wild	siul – whistle	pionir – pioneer	buah – fruit	puing – debris
tiang – pole	liur – saliva		tua – old	buih – foam
siang – noon	hiu – shark		dua – two