Vowel sounds
Vowel sounds are produced when the air from the lungs flows through the throat and oral area without any obstruction.
The air flows continuously vibrate the vocal fold to produce sounds. If the vocal folds stop vibrating, no sounds are produced.
Vowels category
Generally, there are eight vowel sounds in modern Malay language. The sounds are divided into three groups. These groups are depending on the sound production of each vowel.
- Front vowels : [i], [e], [?], [a]
- Central vowels : [?]
- Back vowels : [o], [u], [?]
Production of vowel sounds
Sound production of each vowel is different and depends mainly by the shape of the mouth. The shapes of the lip can be rounded, or flat and the location of the tongue can be either in the front, central or the back of the mouth.
The closure of nasal cavity avoids the air from exiting the nostrils that may produce hypernasality.
Details giving below describe the differences of how different vowel sounds are produced.
|
Vowel |
Type |
How to produce vowel |
Example |
|
[i] |
Front close vowel |
|
Ikan |
|
[e] |
Front partially close vowel |
|
Enak |
|
[?] |
Front partially open vowel |
|
Esa |
|
[a] |
Front open vowel |
|
Awan |
|
[?] |
Central vowel |
|
Emak |
|
[u] |
Back close vowel |
|
Ubat |
|
[o] |
Back partially close vowels |
|
Orang |
|
[?] |
Back partially open vowel |
|
Ombak |
Video:
- Front close vowel [i]
- Front partially close vowel [e]
- Front partially open vowel [?]
- Front open vowel [a]
- Central vowel [?]
- Back close vowel [u]
- Back partially close vowels [o]
- Back partially open vowel [?]
Reference
- Roslan Daud, (2012). Penghasilan Bunyi Vokal. Diambil dari pbahasa.dbp.my/wordpress/?p=207assignment.oum.edu.my./uploadasg/HBML1203SMP/18544/691121115118_151346_final.pdf, pada 1 September 2015
| Last Reviewed | : | 28 August 2020 |
| Writer | : | Rasyikah bt. Mansur |
| Translator | Nadwah bt. Onwi | |
| Accreditor | : | Fairus bt. Mukhtar |
| Reviewer | : | Nadwah bt. Onwi |
