Key to pronunciation: Singapore and Malaysian English
View the pronunciation model for Singapore and Malaysian English here.
The pronunciations given are those in use among educated urban speakers of standard English in Singapore and Malaysia. While avoiding strongly regionally or socially marked forms, the pronunciations are intended to reflect some of the features common to the forms of English spoken in both Singapore and Malaysia, although compromises have necessarily been made. The keywords given in this key are to be understood as pronounced in such speech.
All words indicated as being associated with Singapore and/or Malaysia are also given British and American pronunciations alongside the Singapore & Malaysian pronunciation(s). Where a word is associated with an additional part of the English-speaking world, further pronunciations in the appropriate global variety of English are also given.
To hear the pronunciation spoken aloud, click the blue play icon to the left of each transcription.
Vowels
| Singapore & Malaysian English |
As in… |
| i | fleece, kit |
| ɛ | dress, trap |
| ɑ | father, start, cup |
| ɔ | lot, hawk, cloth, force, cure 1 |
| u | foot, goose |
| uə | poor 1 |
| ə | nurse, alpha, letter |
| iə | here |
| ɛ | square |
| e | face |
| ai | price |
| aʊ | mouth |
| o | goat |
| ɔi | choice |
1 In Singapore & Malaysian English, there is a difference between words such as cure with /ɔ/ and words such as poor, sure, and tour, all of which have /uə/.
Consonants
| As in… | |
| b | big /biɡ/ |
| d | dig /diɡ/ |
| dʒ | jet /dʒɛt/ |
| f | fig /fiɡ/ |
| ɡ | get /ɡɛt/ |
| h | head /hɛd/ |
| j | yes /jɛs/ |
| k | kit /kit/ |
| l | leg /lɛɡ/ |
| m | men /mɛn/ |
| n | net /nɛt/ |
| ŋ | wing /wiŋ/ |
| p | pit /pit/ |
| r | red /rɛd/ |
| s | sit /sit/ |
| ʃ | ship /ʃip/ |
| t | tip /tip/ |
| tʃ | chip /tʃip/ |
| w | win /win/ |
| v | vet /vɛt/ |
| z | zip /zip/ |
| ʒ | leisure /ˈlɛʒə/ (or similar) |
The British and American English sounds /θ/ and /ð/ are treated differently Singapore & Malaysian English. Singapore & Malaysian English pronounces them as /t/ and /d/ respectively (thing /tiŋ/, though /do/), except word-final /ð/ becoming /t/ (breathe /brit/).
Unlike in many other varieties of English, consonants cannot take on the function of vowels in Singapore & Malaysian English (there are no ‘syllabic consonants’).
Stress
The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress. The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress. The symbol ˈˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable may be pronounced with either primary or secondary stress.