How do we, Indonesians pronounce vowel O in Indonesian?
Let’s see if I can find equivalent sound of the same vowel in English.
Well, as someone who learned a language in university, I learned that actually to find similarity between two languages will help learners to remember more easily. That’s why in preparing the articles, I always try to find something similar in English, the language that is used for this blog and lesson.
Anyway, which words in English that have similar sound when it’s spelled with the vowel O pronunciation in my language, Indonesian.
It is not quite similar with an “O” in English. Not all O in the words of the mostly used language in the world sound like our O.
Please try to spell these words
- Bottle
- Mother
- Brother
This is not the way to pronounce vowel O in Indonesia. There is sound of “a” slide from our mouth.
However, some English words with an O in them have similarity, such as
- Song
- Long
- Doll
Or, like the below words. They contain no “O” but the sound is so close.
- Talk
- Tall
- Ball
Yes. Even without an O, those words’ sound is definitely the sound of Indonesian O.
Now you should already understand how to pronounce vowel O in Indonesian. At least, I believe you should get the idea how to spell it.
So, why don’t we start to practice? I will accompany you in the form of an audio file. You can find it below this table.
| WORDS | SYLLABLES | MEANING |
|---|---|---|
| TOKO | TO-KO | STORE |
| BOTOL | BO-TOL | BOTTLE |
| SOTO | SO-TO | A NAME OF INDONESINA CUISINE |
| RODA | RO-DA | WHEEL |
| BOLA | BO-LA | BALL |
| SADO | SA-DO | A HORSE CART |
| BOLU | BO-LU | TYPE OF CAKE |
| DOSA | DO-SA | SIN |
| KOTA | KO-TA | CITY;TOWN |
| BODOH | BO-DOH | STUPID |
You can check if your pronunciation is already correct or not by listening to below audio. Don’t focus on my voice, I know I am not a singer.
Have a happy practice, mates!