also found atur, tutop, kulop; so that a system of phonetic spelling would have to take account of exceptions rather than of rules.
Vowels are generally long in accented syllables ending in a vowel, e.g. kí-rim, sí-ku, mé-rah, gó-poh, bě-lí
Vowels are short in syllables closed by a consonant, e.g. ban-tu, gan-ti, pan-tun, těm-pat, bim-bang, bin-tat, lom-bong, i-kat, ma-nis, ki-rim, sě-ring.
Vowels in final syllables not closed by a consonant are half long.
Ganti, pipi, biri, kupu, tiga, chinta, sěmambu, bulu.
Consonants.
B as in English.
CH a palatal, nearly as chat, church.
D as in plunder, finding.
G as geese, get, never as in germ, gin.
H a slight breathing rather than an aspirate except when great emphasis is desired, e.g. huru-hara; in which case even a word like ingin which is never spelt with an H is pronounced hingin. It is sounded distinctly between two similar vowels, e.g. bohong, leher, jahat, Pahang: in words like jahit, pahit, it is merely a semi-vowel. It is also distinct as a final.
J nearly as in jump, jingle; strictly a superdental, e.g. anjong, jěnis, except when followed by A when it is palatal, e.g. jadi, jantan.
K as in kiss, kick. At the end of a word, it always represents a ‘glottal check’ or abrupt closing of a final vowel represented by stopping the breath; this ‘glottal check’ is sometimes romanized, e.g. pokok or poko’.
L practically as in English; but the English L is formed with the tongue flattened, the Malay with the tongue pointed.
M as in English.
N as in mended, handed, rounded.
