Indonesian · Pronunciation

Indonesian Listening and Pronunciation Guide

Key Indonesian sounds, letter pronunciation, and stress patterns. Front: the Indonesian letter, word, or sound pattern. Back: meaning plus a plain-English pronunciation note.

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c

Always pronounced like the 'ch' in 'chair', never like an English 'k' or 's', e.g. in 'cinta' (love).

ng

A single nasal sound like the 'ng' in 'singer', which can also appear at the start of a word, e.g. 'ngobrol' (to chat).

ny

A single palatal nasal sound like the 'ny' in 'canyon', e.g. in 'nyanyi' (to sing).

r

A rolled or tapped 'r', similar to Spanish, never silent the way it can be in some English accents.

e (schwa)

Most commonly a neutral schwa sound like the 'a' in 'sofa', e.g. the first 'e' in 'kecil' (small).

e (clear)

Some words use a clearer 'e' like in 'bed' instead of the schwa, e.g. in 'sate' (satay). Context and memorization tell you which.

h

Usually pronounced softly and sometimes barely audible between vowels, e.g. in 'tahu' (to know).

kh

A raspy sound from the back of the throat, found mainly in Arabic loanwords, e.g. 'khusus' (special).

sy

Pronounced like the English 'sh', found in Arabic loanwords, e.g. 'syarat' (condition, requirement).

Word stress

Indonesian stress is light and generally falls on the second-to-last syllable, but it rarely changes a word's meaning the way English stress can.

Double vowels (aa, ii)

Each vowel in a sequence like 'aa' is pronounced separately and briefly, not lengthened into one long vowel.

Final consonants

Final consonants like 'k', 't', and 'p' at the end of a word are often unreleased, pronounced very softly and cut short.

k (final position)

At the end of a word, 'k' is usually a glottal stop, like the catch in the middle of 'uh-oh', not a hard 'k' sound, e.g. in 'tidak' (no).

Question intonation

Yes/no questions often keep statement word order, with a gentle rising intonation at the end.

sy vs s

Do not merge these: 's' is a plain hiss like in 'sun', while 'sy' is a full 'sh' sound like in 'shoe'.

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