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Alphabet & Pronunciation

Indonesian alphabet, digraphs, diphthongs, stress patterns and spelling-pronunciation rules
Harmoni vokal minimal
Vowel harmony patterns are minimal
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Unlike some agglutinative languages, Indonesian vowels don't shift to match
Reformasi ejaan (EYD, 1972)
The 1972 spelling reform (EYD)
dj→j, tj→c, oe→u
Standardized spelling shared with Malaysia's system
Perbedaan pelafalan Melayu vs Indonesia
Malay vs Indonesian pronunciation differences
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Related but distinct national standard varieties
Lapisan fonologi kata serapan
Loanword phonology layers
Sanskrit, Arabic, Dutch, Portuguese, English
Each borrowing layer brought its own sound patterns
Tekanan pada kata ulang
Stress patterns in reduplicated words
buku-buku
Each reduplicated part keeps roughly equal stress
Variasi kualitas vokal antar daerah
Regional dialectal variation in vowel quality
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Vowel realization shifts noticeably by region
Ragam baku vs ragam gaul
Formal vs colloquial pronunciation registers
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Casual "gaul" speech relaxes many formal pronunciation rules
Realisasi glotal dari -k akhir
Glottal stop realization of final -k
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Many speakers replace a final -k with a glottal stop
Penyisipan/penghilangan pepet dalam ujaran santai
Schwa insertion/deletion in casual speech
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Fast, informal speech often drops or adds the schwa vowel
Kesalahan pelafalan umum bagi penutur Inggris
Common pronunciation errors for English-speaking learners
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Vowel quality and the trilled r are frequent trouble spots