a: pronounced [a] as in “father” b: pronounced [b] as in “bay” c: pronounced [ʨ ],“ch” as in “chay” d: pronounced [d] as in “day” e: pronounced [ɛ] as in “elephant” f: pronounced [f] as in “fine” g: pronounced [g] as in “gold” h: pronounced [h] as in “house” i: pronounced [i],“ee” as in “meat” j: pronounced [ʥ] as in “job” k: pronounced [k] as in “kitchen” l: pronounced [l] as in “life” m: pronounced [m] as in “man” n: pronounced [n] as in “nice” o: pronounced [o] as in “olive” p: pronounced [p] as in “pool” q: pronounced [k] as in “kiss” r: pronounced [r] as in “rice” s: pronounced [s] as in “smile” t: pronounced [t] as in “time” u: pronounced [u], “oo” as in “mood” v: pronounced [f], “f” as in “free” w: pronounced [w] as in “wind” x: pronounced [ks] as in “wax” y: pronounced [j] as in “year” z: pronounced [z] as in “Zulu” ng: pronounced [eng] as in “hanging” ny: prounced [nye] as in mañana kh: pronounced [kha] as in “bach” sy: pronounced [sya] as in “shield” nng: pronounced [nng] as in “bingo”
If you don’t know a native Malay speaker, try searching for videos of Malay language on YouTube. Hearing the language will help you grasp it better. Searching “Counting in Malay” is a good place to begin. Attempt to find a video that features a person who seems very comfortable with the language and possibly introduces him or herself as a native speaker. Note that emphasis regularly falls on the penultimate syllable in a word in Malay. [3] X Research source Understanding the verbal consistencies of the language can help you become a more natural speaker.
Malay cardinal numbers convey “how many. ” These numbers are also known as the “counting numbers” because they describe a quantity. Malay ordinal numbers tell the order of things in a set (for example, first, second, third, etc. ). These numbers do not show quantity, but instead show rank, order, or position.
1 - satu (pronounced “sat-too”) 2 - dua (pronounced “doo-uhh” 3 - tiga (pronounced “tee-guh”) 4 - empat (pronounced “um-paht”) 5 - lima (pronounced “lee-muh”) 6 - enam (pronounced “uhh-nom”) 7 - tujuh (pronounced “too-jew”) 8 - lapan (pronounced “lah-pahn”) 9 - sembilan (pronounced “sem-bee-lan”) 10 – sepuluh (pronounced “seh-poo-loo”)
Use Malay for counting everyday objects. Instead of counting in English (or your native language), attempt to use Malay for your everyday counting. Count out loud. Practicing the Malay numbers out loud will help you master them sooner than practicing only in your head. Quiz yourself. Give yourself a short quiz once every few days to check your progress on learning Malay numbers. Once you confidently know numbers one through ten, you can move on to larger numbers.
For example, “dua buah rumah” would mean “two houses” in Malay.
Practice counting with classifiers. Malay classifiers can be tricky to learn at first, but are an important part of counting objects correctly. “Orang” is used to count people. “Ekor” is used to count animals “Batang” is used to count rod-like objects. These include cigarettes, pens, and pencils. “Buah” is used to count large or cubical objects. These can include countries, buildings, ships, vehicles, furniture, rooms, and books. “Biji” is used to count spherical objects. These include items such as cups, fruits, and eyes. “Helai” is used to count flat and thin objects, including paper and leaves. “Pucuk” is used to count firearms, letters, and needles. “Bilah” is used to count bladed objects, including knives, axes, and other weapons. “Keping” is used to count flat thick objects. This includes objects like wooden planks. “Ketul” is used to count hard and objects with irregular shape such as pebbles. “Bentuk” is used to count finger-rings and fishing-hooks. “Buku” is used to count loaves of bread. “Kuntum” is used to count flowers individually. “Pintu” is used to count shop-houses or terrace houses. “Rawan” is used to count fishing-nets.
Replication can also be used to express plurality: for example, “buku-buku” means “many books. ”[5] X Research source
First, learn to say the numbers 1-10 as a child would learn to count (“one, two, three, four…”). Next, start pairing your numbers with vocabulary words. Finally, make sure you memorize and include the correct classifier! Here are some simple phrases that can be used for practice. Lima ekor anjing = “five dogs” Dua buah pulau = “two islands” Lapan biji pisang = “eight bananas” Lima bilah pisau = “five knives” Tujuh kuntum tulip = “seven tulips” Lima buku roti = “five loaves of bread”
