
Lesson: The Indonesian Alphabet
Twenty six Latin characters are used to represent the modern Indonesian alphabet. Obviously, these are the same letters used in the English alphabet; however, a noticable difference between the two languages is how each letter is pronounced when reciting the alphabet. The table below gives the equivalent American-English sound for each Indonesian letter as each is spoken.
A | ah | G | gé | M | em | S | es | Y | yé | ||||||||
B | bé | H | ha | N | en | T | té | Z | set | ||||||||
C | ché | I | ee | O | oh | U | oo | ||||||||||
D | dé | J | jé | P | pé | V | fé | ||||||||||
E | é | K | ka | Q | ki | W | wé | ||||||||||
F | ef | L | el | R | air | X | iks |
Here's your chance to listen to a native Indonesian speaker recite the letters of the alphabet. This application lets you hear how each letter is spoken as a standalone symbol, not how is should be pronounced when used in a word. We have other lessons and tools dedicated to Indonesian pronunciations.
There aren’t many Q words. Most of them are pure Arabic words referring to the Islamic faith. V words are mostly borrowed from Western languages. X words are extremely rare. My largest dictionary had a single entry only. Y words are somewhat sparse although there are few that are critical to the language. Z words are rare and mostly borrowed as well.