Malay phonology explained

pronounced as /notice/

This article explains the phonology of Malay and Indonesian based on the pronunciation of Standard Malay, which is the official language of Brunei and Singapore, "Malaysian" of Malaysia, and Indonesian the official language of Indonesia and a working language in Timor Leste. There are two main standards for Malay pronunciation, the Johor-Riau standard, used in Brunei and Malaysia, and the Malay: Baku (lit. 'standard' in Malay/Indonesian), used in Indonesia and Singapore.^[1]

Consonants

The consonants of standard Bruneian,^[2] Malaysian^[3] and also Indonesian^[4] are shown below. Non-native consonants that only occur in borrowed words, principally from Arabic, Dutch, English and Sanskrit, are shown in parentheses. Some analyses list 19 "primary consonants" for Malay as the 18 symbols that are not in parentheses in the table as well as the glottal stop pronounced as /[ʔ]/.^{[5] [6]}

Consonant phonemes of Standard Malay and Indonesian

		Labial	Dental	Denti-alv./ Alveolar	Post-alv./ Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Plosive/ Affricate		pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	(pronounced as /link/)	(pronounced as /link/)
		pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Fricative		(pronounced as /link/)	(pronounced as /link/)	pronounced as /link/	(pronounced as /link/)	(pronounced as /link/)		pronounced as /link/
		(pronounced as /link/)	(pronounced as /link/)	(pronounced as /link/)		(pronounced as /link/)
Approximant				pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Trill				pronounced as /link/

Orthographic note:The sounds are represented orthographically by their symbols as above, except:

• pronounced as /link/ is written (ny) before a vowel, (n) before (c) and (j)
• pronounced as /link/ is written (ng)
• the glottal stop pronounced as /[ʔ]/ is written as a final (k) or an apostrophe (')
• pronounced as /link/ is written (c). Before 1972, this sound was written as (ch) in Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore and as (tj) in Indonesia.
• pronounced as /link/ is written (j). Before 1972, this sound was written as (dj) in Indonesia (but not in Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore).
• pronounced as /link/ is written (y). Before 1972, this sound was written as (j) in Indonesia (but not in Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore).
• pronounced as /link/ is written (sy). Before 1972, this sound was written as (sh) in Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore and as (sj) in Indonesia.
• pronounced as /link/ is written (kh). Before 1972, this sound was written as ⟨ch⟩ in Indonesia.
• pronounced as /link/ is written (gh) (used in Standard Bruneian and Malaysian Malay, replaced by (g) in Indonesian)
• pronounced as /link/ is written (k) or (q)
• pronounced as /link/ is written (z) and transcribed into pronounced as /link/. Before 1972, this sound was written as (dh) or (dz) in Standard Bruneian and Malaysian (but not Indonesian)
• pronounced as /link/ is written (s) and transcribed into pronounced as /link/. Before 1972, this sound was written as (th) in Bruneian and Malaysian (but not Indonesian).

Notes

• pronounced as //p//, pronounced as //t//, pronounced as //k// are unaspirated, as in the Romance languages, or as in English spy, sty, sky. In syllable codas, they are usually unreleased, with final pronounced as //k// generally being realised as a glottal stop in native words. There is generally no liaison, that is, no audible release even when followed by a vowel in another word, as in kulit ubi ('tapioca skins') pronounced as /[ˈkulit̚ ˈʔubi]/, though they are pronounced as a normal medial consonant when followed by a suffix.
• /pronounced as /t// is dental [{{IPA|t̪}}] in many varieties of Malay and in Indonesian.
• The glottal stop pronounced as //ʔ// may be represented by an apostrophe in Arabic derived words such as Al Qur'an. In some words like terulang "being repeated" /ˈtərʔulaŋ/ that are derived from vowel-initial words with a prefix, the glottal stop is not reflected in writing.
• pronounced as //h// is pronounced clearly between like vowels, as in Pahang. Elsewhere it is a very light sound, and is frequently silent, as in ~ ('forest'), ~ ('answer'), ~ ('beautiful'). The exception to this tendency is initial pronounced as //h// from Arabic loans such as hakim ('judge').
• pronounced as //r// varies significantly across dialects. In addition, its position relative to schwa is ambiguous: kertas ('paper') may be pronounced pronounced as /[krəˈtas]/ or pronounced as /[kərəˈtas]/. The trill pronounced as //r// is sometimes reduced to a single vibration when single, making it phonetically a flap pronounced as /[ɾ]/, so that the pronunciation of a single pronounced as //r// varies between trill pronounced as /[r]/, flap pronounced as /[ɾ]/ and, in some instances, postalveolar approximant [ɹ̠]. The final pronounced as //r// is silent in Johor-Riau (Piawai) Pronunciation, while audible as /r/ in Northern Peninsular Pronunciation and Baku Pronunciation.^[1]
• Voiced stops do not occur in final position in native words. In loanwords, pronounced as //b// and pronounced as //d// are generally devoiced in final position (sebab ('cause') pronounced as /[səˈbap̚]/, masjid ('mosque') pronounced as /[ˈmäsdʒit̚]/) to conform with the native phonological structure. Some pronunciation guides consider this devoicing nonstandard and prescribe to pronounce final b and d as written, i.e. voiced.^[7]
• pronounced as //f//, pronounced as //v//, pronounced as //z//, pronounced as //ʃ//, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ only appear in loanwords. Some speakers pronounce pronounced as //v// in loanwords as pronounced as /[v]/, otherwise it is pronounced as /[f]/. pronounced as /[z]/ can also be an allophone of pronounced as //s// before voiced consonants. Since pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ are written identically in Malay, as with pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ tend to only occur in speakers who speak the source languages the words are loaned from (e.g. Arabic and English) and are aware of the original pronunciations of the words.
• The affricates are variously described as pronounced as /link//pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link//pronounced as /link/,^[8] or pronounced as /link//pronounced as /link/^[9] in the literature.
• Hoogervorst (2017) argues that initial pronounced as //j// and pronounced as //w// did not exist in Old Malay and were respectively substituted with pronounced as //dʒ// and pronounced as //b// until the instilling of learning Arabic through eventual spread Islamic education amongst local populations.^[10]

Loans from Arabic:

• Phonemes which occur only in Arabic loans may be pronounced distinctly by speakers who know Arabic, otherwise they tend to be substituted with native sounds.

Table of borrowed Arabic consonants

Distinct	Assimilated	Example
pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/	Malay: khabar Malay: خَبَرْ pronounced as /[ˈhabar]/, Malay: kabar pronounced as /[ˈkabar]/ ('news')
pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/	Malay: reda, rela ('good will')
pronounced as //ðˤ//	pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/	Malay: lohor, zohor ('noon prayer')
pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	Malay: Selasa ('Tuesday')
pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/	Malay: ghaib, raib ('hidden')
pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	Malay: makam ('grave')

Nasal assimilation

Important in the derivation of Malay verbs and nouns is the assimilation of the nasal consonant at the end of the derivational prefixes meng- pronounced as //məŋ//, a verbal prefix, and peng- pronounced as //pəŋ//, a nominal prefix.

The nasal segment is dropped before sonorant consonants (nasals pronounced as //m, n, ɲ, ŋ//, liquids pronounced as //l, r//, and approximants pronounced as //w, j//). It is retained before and assimilates to obstruent consonants: labial pronounced as //m// before labial pronounced as //p, b//, alveolar pronounced as //n// before alveolar pronounced as //t, d//, post-alveolar pronounced as //ɲ// before pronounced as //tʃ, dʒ// and pronounced as //s//, velar pronounced as //ŋ// before other sounds (velar pronounced as //k, ɡ//, glottal pronounced as //h//, all vowels).^[11]

In addition, following voiceless obstruents, apart from pronounced as //tʃ// (that is pronounced as //p, t, s, k//), are dropped, except when before causative prefix where the first consonant is kept. This phoneme loss rule was mnemonically named Indonesian: kaidah KPST "KPST rule" in Indonesian.^[12]

root meaning meng- derivation meaning peng- derivation meaning masak cook memasak cooking pemasak cook (n) nanti late menanti waiting layang kite melayang hovering, drifting rampas confiscated merampas snatch perampas confiscator beli buy membeli buying pembeli buyer dukung support mendukung supporting pendukung supporter jawab answer menjawab replying penjawab answerer gulung roll menggulung rolling penggulung roller hantar send menghantar sending penghantar sender ajar teach mengajar teaching pengajar teacher isi volume mengisi filling pengisi filler pilih choose memilih choosing pemilih chooser tulis write menulis writing penulis writer cabut pull out mencabut pulling out pencabut puller kenal notable mengenal knowing (a person) pengenal identifier surat letter menyurat correspond penyurat correspondent

Vowels

It is usually said that there are six vowels in Standard Malay^[13] (Malaysian and Brunei) and Indonesian. These six vowels are shown in the table below. However, other analyses set up a system with other vowels, particularly the open-mid vowels pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/.^[14]

Vowel phonemes in Standard Malay and Indonesian

	Front	Central	Back
Close	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Mid	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Open		pronounced as /link/

Notes

• One source of variation in Malay is whether final pronounced as //a// in open final syllables of root morphemes (for example saya 'I') is pronounced as pronounced as /[a]/ or as pronounced as /[ə]/. So called 'a varieties', such as Indonesian or the varieties of Sarawak, Sabah, Brunei and Kedah pronounce it as pronounced as /[a]/, while 'schwa varieties' such as some Peninsular Malaysian varieties (e.g.Terengganu Malay and the prevalent Kuala Lumpur/Selangor accent) and the varieties of Singapore and Sumatra pronounce it as pronounced as /[ə]/.^[15] In schwa varieties, pronounced as //a// of the penultimate syllable is also modified if it is followed by pronounced as //h//, as in usaha pronounced as /[usəhə]/. pronounced as //a// does not change to pronounced as /[ə]/ in singing. There are also some Malay varieties where the open final /a/ is pronounced as neither such as Kelantan-Pattani Malay where it is pronounced as an open back unrounded [{{IPA|ɑ}}] instead.
• pronounced as /[ɑ]/ is an occasional allophone of pronounced as //a// after emphatic consonants, and including pronounced as //r//, pronounced as //ɣ//, and pronounced as //q// from Arabic words. Example: qari pronounced as /[qɑri]/.
• In closed final syllables of root morphemes, the front vowel pronounced as //i// and back vowel pronounced as //u// can have mid or even open realisations in Malay so and can be pronounced pronounced as /[gilɪŋ ~ gileŋ ~ gilɛŋ]/ and pronounced as /[burʊŋ ~ buroŋ ~ burɒŋ]/, respectively. pronounced as //e// and pronounced as //o// on the other hand never have close realisations so 'shake' can be pronounced as pronounced as /[geleŋ ~ gelɛŋ]/ but never pronounced as /
  • [gelɪŋ]
  / and similarly, 'buy in bulk' is never pronounced as /
  • [borʊŋ]
  /. In Indonesian, closed final syllable pronounced as //i// and pronounced as //u// often only get realised as pronounced as /[ɪ]/ and pronounced as /[ʊ]/. There is also a [ɪ] in Indonesian, but is an allophone of [i] as the second vowel in a hiatus such as air ('water') [a.ɪr], but see below.
• The vowels of [{{IPA link|e}}], [{{IPA link|ɛ}}], and [{{IPA link|ə}}] are commonly written without diacritics as ⟨e⟩. The vowel [{{IPA link|ɛ}}] is allophone of [{{IPA link|e}}], while [{{IPA link|ə}}] is not. The diacritics are only used to indicate the correct pronunciation, for example, in dictionaries. In Indonesian, the vowels are marked with diacritics as [{{IPA link|e}}] ⟨é⟩, [{{IPA link|ɛ}}] ⟨è⟩ and [{{IPA link|ə}}] ⟨ê⟩ from 2015 to 2022 and as [{{IPA link|e}}], [{{IPA link|ɛ}}] ⟨e⟩ and [{{IPA link|ə}}] ⟨ê⟩ since 2022.^{[16] [17]} A different system represents [{{IPA link|e}}], [{{IPA link|ɛ}}], and [{{IPA link|ə}}] as ⟨e⟩, ⟨é⟩, and ⟨ě⟩ respectively. In Malay, [{{IPA link|e̞|e}}] and [{{IPA link|ə}}] are represented by ⟨é⟩ and ⟨e⟩, otherwise respectively known as and . Indonesian also uses the vowel [{{IPA link|ɘ}}] (spelled eu) in some loanwords from Sundanese and Acehnese, e. g. eurih, seudati, sadeu.
• The above allophony notwithstanding, the vowels pronounced as /[e]/ and pronounced as /[o]/ must be accorded phonemic status, as they occur in native words in all Malay dialects and in Arabic, Persian, Portuguese, English, Dutch, and Javanese loan words, and in foreign names. pronounced as //e// and pronounced as //o// may vary between different speakers as they are popularly pronounced as mid in Malaysian and close-mid in Indonesian. pronounced as //i// and pronounced as //u// are pronounced the same in Brunei and East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak).
• Word-final [e] and [o] are rare in Malay, except for loanwords, like teko (teapot, from Hokkien Chinese: 茶鈷 tê-kó͘), toko (small shop, from Hokkien Chinese: 土庫 thó͘-khò͘), semberono/sembrono (careless, from Javanese sembrana), gede (Javanese of big), konde (from Javanese kondhe, bulbous hairdo or hair extension on the back of the head), kare (Indonesian term for curry, variation of kari, from Tamil kapronounced as /ṟ/i), mestizo (from Spanish), kredo (creed, from Latin credo), risiko (risk, from Dutch risico), and non-Malay Indonesian names, like Manado and Suharto.
• Some words borrowed from European languages have several note.
  • Some words borrowed from European languages have the vowels pronounced as /[ɛ]/ and pronounced as /[ɔ]/, such as pek pronounced as /[pɛk]/ ('pack') and kos pronounced as /[kɔs]/ ('cost'). Words borrowed earlier have a more nativized pronunciation, such as pesta ('fest'), which is pronounced pronounced as /[pestə]/. Some systems represent pronounced as /[ɔ]/ as ⟨ó⟩.
  • Some words borrowed from European languages reflect the language origin, generally Dutch (for Indonesian) and English (for Standard Malay), specifically as vowels of [{{IPA link|e}}], [{{IPA link|ɛ}}], and [{{IPA link|ə}}] are commonly written without diacritics as ⟨e⟩. For example, the word presiden ('president') is pronounced as /prɛˈsidɛn/ in Indonesian and /prɛˈsidən/ in Standard Malay which reflect on /prezi'dɛnt/ in Dutch and /ˈpɹɛzɪdənt/ in English.

Example! style=text-align:center

Johor-Riau (Piawai)Pronunciation	style=text-align:center	Northern PeninsularPronunciation	style=text-align:center	Baku & IndonesianPronunciation
⟨a⟩ in final open syllable	style=text-align:center	⟨kereta⟩	style=text-align:center	/ə/	style=text-align:center	/a/	style=text-align:center	/a/
⟨i⟩ in final closed syllable with final ⟨n⟩ and ⟨ng⟩	style=text-align:center	⟨salin⟩	style=text-align:center	/e/	style=text-align:center	/i/	style=text-align:center	/i/
⟨i⟩ in final closed syllable with other final consonants	style=text-align:center	⟨itik⟩	style=text-align:center	/e/	style=text-align:center	/e/	style=text-align:center	/i/
⟨u⟩ in final closed syllable with final ⟨n⟩ and ⟨ng⟩	style=text-align:center	⟨agung⟩	style=text-align:center	/o/	style=text-align:center	/u/	style=text-align:center	/u/
⟨u⟩ in final closed syllable with other final consonants	style=text-align:center	⟨lumpur⟩	style=text-align:center	/o/	style=text-align:center	/o/	style=text-align:center	/u/

Diphthongs

Some analyses claim that Malay has three native diphthong phonemes only in open syllables; they are:

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

Others assume that these "diphthongs" are actually a monophthong followed by an approximant, so (ai) represents pronounced as //aj//, (au) represents pronounced as //aw//, and (oi) represents pronounced as //oj//. On this basis, there are no phonological diphthongs in Malay.^[18]

Words borrowed from Dutch or English with pronounced as //eɪ//, such as Mei ('May') from Dutch and survei ('survey') from English, are pronounced with pronounced as //e// as this feature also happens to English pronounced as //oʊ// which becomes pronounced as //o//. However, Indonesian introduced forth diphthong of pronounced as //ei̯// since 2015, such as in ⟨Méi⟩ ('May') /mei̯/.

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

• pronounced as //a.i//: e.g. rai ('celebrate') pronounced as /[ra.i]/, air ('water') pronounced as /[a.er]/ ~ pronounced as /[a.ɪr]/
• pronounced as //a.u//: bau ('smell') pronounced as /[ba.u]/, laut ('sea') pronounced as /[la.ot]/ ~ pronounced as /[la.ʊt]/

Two vowels that could form a diphthong are actually pronounced separately:

• when the two vowels belong to a closed syllable, i.e. a syllable that ends with a consonant. E.g. a + i in air (water) are pronounced separately [a.ɪr], because the syllable ends with an "r" consonant — and thus is a closed syllable.
• when the word would be only one-syllable long if pronounced with a diphthong. E.g. a + u in mau (to want) are pronounced separately [ma.u], because a diphthong would result into a single-syllable word.
• when the two syllables belong to two different morphemes. E.g. a + i in gulai (to sweeten) are pronounced separately [gu.la.i], because the word is made out of two morphemes: gula (sugar) + -i (verb-forming suffix).

Even if it is not differentiated in modern Latin spelling, diphthongs and two vowels are differentiated in the spelling in Jawi, where a vowel hiatus is indicated by the symbol hamzah (ء), for example: لاوت laut ('sea').

Stress

Malay has light stress that falls on either the final or penultimate syllable, depending on regional variations as well as the presence of the schwa (pronounced as //ə//) in a word. It is generally the penultimate syllable that is stressed, unless its vowel is a schwa pronounced as //ə//. If the penult has a schwa, then stress moves to the ante-penultimate syllable if there is one, even if that syllable has a schwa as well; if the word is disyllabic, the stress is final. In disyllabic words with a closed penultimate syllable, such as tinggal ('stay') and rantai ('chain'), stress falls on the penult.

However, there is some disagreement among linguists over whether stress is phonemic (unpredictable), with some analyses suggesting that there is no underlying stress in Malay.^{[19] [20]}

Rhythm

The classification of languages based on rhythm can be problematic.^[21] Nevertheless, acoustic measurements suggest that Malay has more syllable-based rhythm than British English,^[22] even though doubts remain about whether the syllable is the appropriate unit for the study of Malay prosody.

Syllable structure

Most of the native lexicon is based on disyllabic root morphemes, with a small percentage of monosyllabic and trisyllabic roots.^[23] However, with the widespread occurrence of prefixes and suffixes, many words of five or more syllables are found.

Syllables are basically consonant–vowel–consonant (CVC), where the V is a monophthong and the final C may be an approximant, either pronounced as //w// or pronounced as //j//. (See the discussion of diphthongs above.)

Baku pronunciation in Malaysia and Singapore

The standard started being implemented in Malaysia in the year 1988, but this ceased in 2000. The Malaysian Minister of Education had been quoted saying that the standard "is different from the pronunciation commonly used by the people of this country". Singapore started using the standard for official purposes in 1990. Ever since then, there have been various protests from Malay Singaporeans, calling for the return of the Johor-Riau standard as the official standard for Malay pronunciation. One prominent critic of the use of the standard is Berita Harian editor, Guntor Sadali, who noted that "members of the Malay community generally find that ( Pronunciation) is very awkward".^[1]

Bibliography

• Book: Indirawati Haji Zahid, Mardian Shah Omar . Fonetik dan fonologi . 2006 . PTS Professional . 983-3585-63-9 . 24 December 2009.
• Book: Abdullah bin Hassan . Linguistik am . 2007 . PTS Professional . 978-983-3376-18-6 . 6 . https://books.google.com/books?id=zhCfFUQgJMIC&pg=PA62 . 24 December 2009.

Notes and References

1. Abu Bakar . Mukhlis . 2019-12-18 . Sebutan Johor-Riau dan Sebutan Baku dalam Konteks Identiti Masyarakat Melayu Singapura . Issues in Language Studies . 8 . 2 . 10.33736/ils.1521.2019 . 2180-2726. free .
2. Clynes . Adrian . Deterding . David . Standard Malay (Brunei) . Journal of the International Phonetic Association . August 2011 . 41 . 2 . 259–268 . 10.1017/S002510031100017X . free . https://web.archive.org/web/20210816024703/https://fass.ubd.edu.bn/research/malay/syll1.html . 2021-08-16 .
3. Book: Karim . Nik Safiah . Tatabahasa Dewan . M. Onn . Farid . Haji Musa . Hashim . Mahmood . Abdul Hamid . . 2008 . 978-983-62-9484-5 . 3 . Kuala Lumpur . 297–303 . ms.
4. Soderberg . Craig D. . Olson . Kenneth S. . 2008 . Indonesian . Journal of the International Phonetic Association . 38 . 2 . 209–213 . 10.1017/S0025100308003320. free .
5. Asmah Haji Omar (2008). Ensiklopedia Bahasa Melayu. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, page 108.
6. Yunus Maris, M. (1980). The Malay Sound System. Kuala Lumpur: Penerbit Fajar Bakti Sdn. Bhd, page 52.
7. Book: S., Effendi. Panduan Berbahasa Indonesia dengan Baik dan Benar (Guidebook for Speaking Indonesian Well and Correct). Dunia Pustaka Jaya. 2012. 978-6232212350. 228.
8. Book: Jiang Wu . Malayic varieties of Kelantan and Terengganu . LOT Publications . 2023 . 978-94-6093-436-0 . Amsterdam . 42 .
9. https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send%3Faccession%3Dosu1651140749118127%26disposition%3Dinline&ved=2ahUKEwjO9d_2zc39AhUzyTgGHT_-A10QFnoECBwQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2mTMeMAFiIPE-x_vYRceXg To Tap or Not To Tap: A Preliminary Acoustic Description of American English Alveolar Tap Productions by Indonesian Bilingual Adults
10. Hoogervorst . Tom . Lexical Influence From North India To Maritime Southeast Asia: Some New Directions . Man in India . 2017 . 95 . 4 . 295.
11. This is the argument for the nasal being underlyingly pronounced as //ŋ//: when there is no place for it to assimilate to, it surfaces as pronounced as //ŋ//. Some treatments write it pronounced as //N// to indicate that it has no place of articulation of its own, but this fails to explain its pronunciation before vowels.
12. Web site: KPST dan Kaidah Peluluhan Fonem (KPST and Phoneme Loss Rule). Kompas.id. 28 December 2019. 8 October 2021.
13. Asmah Haji Omar (2008). Ensiklopedia Bahasa Melayu. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, page 97.
14. Yunus Maris, M. (1980). The Malay Sound System. Kuala Lumpur: Penerbit Fajar Bakti Sdn. Bhd, page 2.
15. Asmah Haji Omar. (1977). The phonological diversity of the Malay dialects. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
16. Book: Pedoman Umum Ejaan Bahasa Indonesia . 2015 . Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia . Jakarta.
17. Web site: EYD V . 2022-08-22 . ejaan.kemdikbud.go.id.
18. Clynes . Adrian . 1997 . On the Proto-Austronesian "Diphthongs" . Oceanic Linguistics . 36 . 2 . 347–362 . 10.2307/3622989 . 3622989.
19. Zuraidah Mohd 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). See here
20. Web site: A Typology of Stress, And Where Malay/Indonesian Fits In (abstract only) . Gil . David . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120225063313/http://email.eva.mpg.de/~gil/ismil/11/abstracts/Gil.pdf . 2012-02-25 . 2012-03-25.
21. Roach, P. (1982). On the distinction between 'stress-timed' and 'syllable-timed' languages. In D. Crystal (Ed.), Linguistic Controversies (pp.73–79). London: Edward Arnold.
22. Deterding, D. (2011). Measurements of the rhythm of Malay. In Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Hong Kong, 17–21 August 2011, pp. 576–579. On-line Version
23. Book: Adelaar, K.A. . Proto-Malayic: The reconstruction of its phonology and parts of its lexicon and morphology . Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University . 1992 . Canberra . 10.15144/pl-c119.