Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T15:12:31.410Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
Series:   Elements in Phonetics

The Phonetics of Malay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2022

David Deterding ,
Ishamina Athirah Gardiner  and
Najib Noorashid
David Deterding
Affiliation:
Universiti Brunei Darussalam
Ishamina Athirah Gardiner
Affiliation:
Universiti Brunei Darussalam
Najib Noorashid
Affiliation:
Universiti Brunei Darussalam

Summary

Malay is one of the major languages in the world, but there has been relatively little detailed research on its phonetics. This Element provides an overview of existing descriptions of the pronunciation of Standard Malay before briefly considering the pronunciation of some dialects of Malay. It then introduces materials that may be used for studying the phonetics of Malay: a short text, the NWS passage; and a map-task, to generate conversational data. Based on recordings using these materials by two female and two male consultants who are academics at Universiti Brunei Darussalam, the Element next offers an acoustic analysis of the consonants and vowels of Malay, the syllable structure arising from fast speech processes, as well as the rhythm and intonation of the Standard Malay that is spoken in Brunei. Finally, it suggests directions for further research on the phonetics of Malay.
Get access

Keywords

Malayvowelsconsonantsrhythmintonation
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in Phonetics
Online ISBN: 9781108942836
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 19 May 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Hassan, Abdullah. (2005). Linguistik am [General linguistics] (2nd ed.). PTS Professional Sdn. Bhd.Google Scholar
Mahmood, Abdul Hamid & Abdullah, Nurfarah Loo. (2013). Linguistik fonetik dan fonologi Bahasa Melayu [The phonetics and phonology of Malay linguistics]. Syarikat Pencetakan Muncul Sistem Sdn Bhd.Google Scholar
Abercrombie, D. (1967). Elements of general phonetics. Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Abramson, A. S. (2003). Acoustic cues to word-initial stop length in Pattani Malay. Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (pp. 387–90). 3–9 August, 2003, Barcelona.Google Scholar
Adelaar, K. A. (1992). Proto Malayic: The reconstruction of its phonology and parts of its lexicon and morphology. Pacific Linguistics.Google Scholar
Adelaar, K. A. (2005). The Austronesian languages of South East Asia and Madagascar: A historical perspective. In Adelaar, K. A. & Himmelmann, N. (Eds.), The Austronesian languages of Asia and Madagascar (pp. 1–41). Routledge.Google Scholar
Andaya, L. Y. (2001). The search for the ‘origins’ of Melayu. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 32(3), 315–30.Google Scholar
Anderson, A. H., Bader, M., Bard, E. G. et al. (1991). The HCRC map task corpus. Language and Speech, 34(4), 351–66.Google Scholar
Omar, Asmah Haji. (1967). Towards the unification of Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Indonesia: An account of efforts to standardize the spelling system of Malay in Malaysia and Indonesia. Tenggara, 1(1). [Reprinted in Omar, Asmah Haji (Ed.), (1975). Essays on Malay linguistics (pp. 45–49). Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.]Google Scholar
Omar, Asmah Haji. (1971). Standard language and the standardization of Malay. Anthropological Linguistics, February 1971. [Reprinted in Omar, Asmah Haji (Ed.), (1975). Essays on Malay linguistics (pp. 50–70). Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.]Google Scholar
Omar, Asmah Haji. (1985). Susur galur Bahasa Melayu [The genealogy of Malay]. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.Google Scholar
Omar, Asmah Haji. (1991). The phonological diversity of the Malay dialects (2nd ed.). Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.Google Scholar
Omar, Asmah Haji. (2008). Ensiklopedia Bahasa Melayu [Encyclopedia of the Malay language]. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.Google Scholar
Berkovitz, R. (1984). Duration and fundamental frequency in sentence-final intonation. Journal of Phonetics, 12, 255–65.Google Scholar
Boersma, P., & Weenink, D. (2020). Praat: Doing phonetics by computer (Version 6.1.15). Accessed at www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praatGoogle Scholar
Clynes, A. (1997). On the Proto-Austronesian ‘diphthongs’. Oceanic Linguistics, 36, 347–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clynes, A. (2014). Brunei Malay: An overview. In Sercombe, P., Boutin, M. & Clynes, A. (Eds.), Advances in research on linguistic and cultural practices in Borneo (pp. 153–200). Borneo Research Council.Google Scholar
Clynes, A., & Deterding, D. (2011). Standard Malay (Brunei). Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 41(2), 259–68.Google Scholar
Dauer, R. M. (1983). Stress-timing and syllable-timing reanalyzed. Journal of Phonetics, 11, 51–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deterding, D. (2006). The North Wind versus a Wolf: Short texts for the description and measurement of English pronunciation. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 36(2), 187–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deterding, D. (2011). Measurements of the rhythm of Malay. Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Hong Kong, 17–21 August 2011, pp. 576–9.Google Scholar
Deterding, D. (2012). Issues in the acoustic measurement of rhythm. In Romero-Trillo, J. (Ed.), Pragmatics and prosody in English language teaching (pp. 9–24). Springer.Google Scholar
Deterding, D., & Ho, H. M. Y. (2021). An overview of the language, literature and culture of Brunei Darussalam. In Ho, H. M. Y. & Deterding, D. (Eds.), Engaging modern Brunei: Research on language, literature, and culture. Springer.Google Scholar
Deterding, D., & Athirah., Ishamina (2017). Brunei Malay. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 47(1), 99–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deterding, D., & Nolan, F. (2007). Aspiration and voicing of Chinese and English plosives. In Trouvain, J. & Barry, W. J. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 16th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, ICPhS XVI (pp. 385–8), Saarbrücken, 6–10 August 2007.Google Scholar
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP). (2007). Kamus Bahasa Melayu Brunei [Dictionary of Brunei Malay] (2nd ed.). Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.Google Scholar
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP). (2013, 1 October). Taling. Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. Accessed at http://prpm.dbp.gov.my/Cari1?keyword=taling&d=175768&Google Scholar
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei (DBPB). (2006). Kamus Kedayan-Melayu Melayu-Kedayan [Dictionary of Kedayan-Malay and Malay-Kedayan]. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei.Google Scholar
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei (DBPB). (2011). Daftar leksikal 7 dialek Brunei Darussalam [Lexical list of the 7 dialects of Brunei Darussalam]. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei.Google Scholar
Docherty, G. (1992). The timing of voicing in British English obstruents. Foris Publications.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eades, D., & Hajek, J. (2006). Gayo. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 36, 107–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebing, E. F., & van Heuvan, V. J. (1997). Some formal and functional aspects of Indonesian intonation. In Odé, C. & Stokhof, W. (Eds.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Leiden, 22–7 August 1994 (pp. 45–61). Rodopi.Google Scholar
Faahirah, R. (2014). The intonation of questions in Brunei. Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 14, 23–8.Google Scholar
Faahirah, R. (2016). Code-switching in Brunei: Evidence from the map task. South East Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 16, 65–81.Google Scholar
Faahirah, R., & Deterding, D. (2019). The pronunciation of Kedayan. South East Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 19, 78–85.Google Scholar
Onn, Farid (1980). Aspects of Malay phonology and morphology: A generative approach. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Press.Google Scholar
Syamsuar, Fauzi (2018). Phonological aspects in word formations. Universitas Ibn Khaldun Bogor.Google Scholar
Ferguson, C. (1959). Diglossia. Word, 15, 325–40.Google Scholar
Fuchs, R. (2016). Speech rhythm in varieties of English: Evidence from educated Indian English and British English. Springer.Google Scholar
Goedemans, R., & van Zanten, E. (2007). Stress and accent in Indonesian. In van Heuven, V. J. & van Zanten, E. (Eds.), Prosody in Indonesian languages. LOT Occasional Series, 9, 35–62.Google Scholar
Grabe, E., & Low, E. L. (2002). Durational variability in speech and the rhythm class hypothesis. In Gussenhoven, C., & Warner, N. (Eds.), Laboratory Phonology 7 (pp. 515–46). Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Gut, U., & Pillai, S. (2014). The question intonation of Malay speakers of English. In Delais-Roussarie, E., Avanzi, M., & Herment, S. (Eds.), Prosody and languages in contact: L2 acquisition, attrition, languages in multilingual situations (pp. 51–70). Springer.Google Scholar
Hamzah, H., Fletcher, J., & Hajek, J. (2011). Durational correlates of word-initial voiceless geminate stops: The case of Kelantan Malay. In Lee, W.-S. & Zee, E. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (pp. 815–18), 17–21 August 2011, Hong Kong.Google Scholar
Hayward, K. (2000). Experimental phonetics. Longman.Google Scholar
Hoequist, C. E. (1983). The perceptual center and rhythm categories, Language and Speech, 26, 367–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zahid, Indirawati & Omar, Mardian Shah. (2006). Fonetik dan fonologi [Phonetics and phonology]. PTS Professional Sdn. Bhd.Google Scholar
International Phonetic Association (IPA). (1999). Handbook of the International Phonetic Association. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Labov, W. (1972). Sociolinguistic patterns. University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Ladd, D. R. (2008). Intonational phonology (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ladefoged, P., & Johnson, K. (2011). A course in phonetics (6th ed.). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.Google Scholar
Liaw, Y. F. (1999). Malay grammar made easy: A comprehensive guide. Times Books International.Google Scholar
Low, E. L., Grabe, E., & Nolan, F. (2000). Quantitative characterizations of speech rhythm: Syllable-timing in Singapore English. Journal of Phonetics, 29, 217–30.Google Scholar
Martin, P. (1996). Brunei Malay and Bahasa Melayu: A sociolinguistic perspective. In Martin, P., Ożóg, C., & Poedjosoedarmo, G. (Eds.), Language use and language change in Brunei Darussalam (pp. 27–36). Ohio University Center for International Studies.Google Scholar
Maskikit-Essed, R., & Gussenhoven, C. (2008). No stress, no pitch accent, no prosodic focus: The case of Ambonese Malay. Phonology, 33, 353–89.Google Scholar
McCloy, D. R. (2012). Vowel normalization and plotting with the phonR package. Technical Reports of the UW Linguistic Phonetics Laboratory #2012–01.Google Scholar
McLellan, J., Noor Haji-Othman, Azam, & Deterding, D. (2016). The language situation in Brunei Darussalam. In Haji-Othman, Noor Azam., McLellan, J., & Deterding, D. (Eds.), The use and status of language in Brunei Darussalam: A kingdom of unexpected linguistic diversity (pp. 9–16). Springer.Google Scholar
Miller, M. (1984). On the perception of rhythm, Journal of Phonetics, 12, 75–83.Google Scholar
Azidan, Mohd Jabar, Bin Abdul. (2004). Gangguan bunyi Melayu dalam sebutan Arab: Satu analisis ringkas [Interference of the sounds of Malay on the pronunciation of Arabic loanwords: A brief analysis]. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities (JSSH), 12(2), 101–10.Google Scholar
Nolan, F., & Asu, E. L. (2009). The pairwise variability index and coexisting rhythms in language. Phonetica, 66, 64–77.Google Scholar
Nothofer, B. (1991). The languages of Brunei Darussalam. In Steinhauer, H. (Ed.), Papers in Pacific linguistics (pp. 151–76). Australian National University.Google Scholar
Nur Raihan, M. (2017). Rhoticity in Brunei English: A diachronic approach. South East Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 17, 1–7.Google Scholar
O’Connor, J. D., & Arnold, G. F. (1973). Intonation of colloquial English: A practical handbook (2nd ed.). Longman.Google Scholar
Odé, C. (1997). On the perception of prominence in Indonesian: An experiment. In Odé, C. & Stokhof, W. (Eds.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Leiden, 22–27 August 1994 (pp. 150–66). Rodopi.Google Scholar
Pierrehumbert, J. B. (1980). The phonology and phonetics of English intonation. PhD thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Indiana University Linguistics Club.Google Scholar
Poedjosoedarmo, G. (1986). Subject selection and subject shifting in Indonesian. NUSA Linguistic Studies of Indonesian and Other Languages in Indonesia, 25, 1–18.Google Scholar
Poedjosoedarmo, G. (1996). Variation and change in the sound systems of Brunei dialects of Malay. In Martin, P., Ożóg, C. & Poedjosoedarmo, G. (Eds.), Language use and language change in Brunei Darussalam (pp. 37–42). Ohio University Center for International Studies.Google Scholar
Core Team, R (2016). R: A language and environment for statistical computing (Version 3.3.2). R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. Accessed at www.R-project.org.Google Scholar
Nur Raihan, M. (2017). Rhoticity in Brunei English: A diachronic approach. South East Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 17, 1–7.Google Scholar
Roach, P. (1982). On the distinction between ‘stress-timed’ and ‘syllable-timed’ languages. In Crystal, D. (Ed.), Linguistic Controversies (pp. 73–9). Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Ryding, K. C. (2014). Arabic: A linguistic introduction. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rahmat, Sato Hirobumi. (2015). Panduan diftong dan rangkap vokal Bahasa Melayu: Analisis akustik berkomputer [A guide to diphthongs and double vowels in Malay: An acoustic analysis]. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei.Google Scholar
Sneddon, J. (2003). Diglossia in Indonesian. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- ev Volkenkunde 159, 519–49.Google Scholar
Soderberg, C. D. (2014a). Cocos Malay. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 44, 103–7.Google Scholar
Soderberg, C. D. (2014b). Kedayan. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 44, 201–5.Google Scholar
Soderberg, C. D., & Olson, K. S. (2008). Indonesian. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 38, 209–13.Google Scholar
Steinhauer, H. (2005). Colonial history and language policy in insular Southeast Asian and Madagascar. In Alexander Adelaar, K. & Himmelmann, Nikolaus (Eds.), The Austronesian languages of Asia and Madagascar (pp. 65–86). Routledge.Google Scholar
Tan, Y. (2012). To r or not to r: Social correlates of /ɹ/ in Singapore English. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 218, 1–24.Google Scholar
Teoh, B. S. (1994). The sound system of Malay revisited. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.Google Scholar
Traunmüller, H. (1990). Analytical expressions for the tonotopic sensory scale. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 88(1), 97–100.Google Scholar
van Heuven, V. J., & Faust, V. (2009). Are Indonesians sensitive to contrastive accentuation below the word level? Wacana: Jurnal Ilmu Pengetahuan Budaya, 11(2), 226–40.Google Scholar
van Zanten, E. (1986). Allophonic variation in the production of Indonesian vowels. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 142, 427–46.Google Scholar
van Zanten, E., Goedemans, R., & Pacilly, J. (2003). The status of word stress in Indonesian. In van de Weijer, J., van Heuven, V. J., & van der Hulst, H. (Eds.), The phonological spectrum, vol. 2 (pp. 151–75). John Benjamins.Google Scholar
van Zanten, E., & van Heuven, V. J. (2004). Word stress in Indonesian: Fixed or free? NUSA, 53, 1–20.Google Scholar
Wan Aslynn, Salwani Ahmad, Wan. (2012). Instrumental phonetic study of the rhythm of Malay. Unpublished PhD thesis. Newcastle University.Google Scholar
Salwani, Wan Aslynn Ahmad, Wan. (2019). Identifying acoustic correlates of stress in Malay words. In Thai, Y. N. & Setter, J. (Eds.). Speech research in a Malaysian context (pp. 53–77). Universiti Putra Malaysia Press.Google Scholar
Wells, J. C. (2008). Longman pronunciation dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman.Google Scholar
Wells, J. C. (2006). English intonation: An introduction. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Yunus Maris, M. (1980). The Malay sound system. Penerbit Fajar Bakti Sdn Bhd.Google Scholar
Ahmad, Zaharani. (1993). Fonologi generatif: Teori dan penerapan [Generative phonology: Theory and application]. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.Google Scholar
Mohd, Zuraidah. Don, & Knowles, G. (2006). Prosody and turn-taking in Malay broadcast interviews. Journal of Pragmatics, 38, 490–512.Google Scholar
Mohd, Zuraidah. Don, Knowles, G., & Yong, J. (2008). How words can be misleading: A study of syllable timing and ‘stress’ in Malay. The Linguistics Journal, 3(2). Accessed at www.linguistics-journal.com/August_2008_zmd.phpGoogle Scholar

Save element to Kindle

To save this element to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

The Phonetics of Malay
Available formats
×

Save element to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

The Phonetics of Malay
Available formats
×

Save element to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

The Phonetics of Malay
Available formats
×