Indonesian Alphabet in Indonesian

Overview

Indonesian uses the Latin alphabet with 26 letters, making it one of the most accessible writing systems for English speakers. The spelling is largely phonetic, meaning words are generally pronounced as they are written. This is great news for beginners because once you learn the sound of each letter, you can read almost any Indonesian word aloud with confidence.

There are a few important differences from English. Indonesian has special letter combinations called digraphs: ng (a nasal sound as in "sing"), ny (like the "ny" in "canyon"), and sy (like "sh" in "she"). Indonesian has no tones, and stress typically falls on the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable of a word.

How It Works

The Indonesian Alphabet

Letter	Approximate Sound	Example
A	"ah" as in "father"	apa (what)
B	as in English	buku (book)
C	"ch" as in "church"	cantik (beautiful)
D	as in English	dari (from)
E	"uh" or "eh" (two sounds)	enam (six), belajar (study)
F	as in English	fakta (fact)
G	always hard, as in "go"	guru (teacher)
H	as in English, sometimes silent	hari (day)
I	"ee" as in "see"	ini (this)
J	as in English "jump"	jalan (road)
K	as in English; sometimes a glottal stop	kakak (older sibling)
L	as in English	lama (long/old)
M	as in English	makan (eat)
N	as in English	nama (name)
O	"oh" as in "go"	orang (person)
P	as in English	pagi (morning)
R	rolled or trilled	rumah (house)
S	as in English "sun"	satu (one)
T	as in English	teman (friend)
U	"oo" as in "moon"	untuk (for)
W	as in English	waktu (time)
Y	as in English "yes"	yang (which)

Important Digraphs

Digraph	Sound	Example
ng	nasal "ng" as in "sing"	dengan (with)
ny	"ny" as in "canyon"	nyanyi (sing)
sy	"sh" as in "she"	syarat (requirement)
kh	"kh" as in "khan"	khawatir (worried)

Stress Rules

Stress normally falls on the penultimate syllable. For example: se-LA-mat (greeting), In-do-NE-sia, te-RI-ma (receive).

Examples in Context

Indonesian	English	Note
selamat pagi	good morning	Stress: se-LA-mat PA-gi
terima kasih	thank you	Stress: te-RI-ma KA-sih
Indonesia	Indonesia	Stress: In-do-NE-sia
nyanyi [ɲaɲi]	to sing	ny digraph
apa kabar?	how are you?	Simple phonetic spelling
guru	teacher	Stress: GU-ru
belajar	to study	e pepet: [bəlajar]
saya	I/me	Stress: SA-ya
rumah	house	Stress: RU-mah
dengan	with	ng digraph

Common Mistakes

Pronouncing C as "k" or "s"

• Wrong: Pronouncing cantik as "kantik" or "santik"
• Right: cantik is pronounced "chantik"
• Why: The letter C in Indonesian always sounds like "ch" in English "church."

Confusing the two E sounds

• Wrong: Pronouncing all E letters the same way
• Right: belajar has a schwa "uh" sound (e pepet), while enak has an "eh" sound (e taling)
• Why: Indonesian has two distinct E sounds but writes them both as "e." Context and memorization help you distinguish them.

Mispronouncing ng at the start of a word

• Wrong: Saying "n-g" as two separate sounds in ngomong
• Right: Pronounce it as a single nasal sound [ŋ], like the "ng" in "singing"
• Why: The digraph ng represents one sound, not two, even at the beginning of a word.

Practice Tips

1. Practice reading Indonesian words aloud every day. Because the spelling is so phonetic, reading practice doubles as pronunciation practice. Start with simple two-syllable words and build up.
2. Pay special attention to the digraphs ng, ny, and sy. Practice minimal pairs and listen to native speakers to train your ear for these sounds.

Related Concepts

• Pronunciation Rules — detailed rules for vowel and consonant sounds, including stress patterns