The Malay language uses two scripts: the Latin alphabet (Rumi) that follows the basic 26-letter Roman alphabet and the Jawi script which is based on the Arabic script but with additional letters to represent sounds not found in Arabic. Malay (including Standard Malay, Brunei Malay and Indonesian Malay) uses both scripts, while Standard Indonesian (Indonesian proper) only uses the Latin script.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Some letters such as F, Q, V, X and Z are used only in loanwords (for example, fasal, qanun, televisyen, xilofon and sinar X) and proper nouns (e.g. Alquran, Fatimah, Razak).
Each letter has two names, one based on English and one based on Dutch. English-based names are used in Standard Malay (in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei), while Dutch-based names are used in Indonesia (in both Indonesian and Indonesian Malay).
| Letter | English-based | Dutch-based |
|---|---|---|
| Aa | e | a |
| Bb | bi | be |
| Cc | si | ce |
| Dd | di | de |
| Ee | i | e |
| Ff | ef | ef |
| Gg | ji | ge |
| Hh | hec | ha |
| Ii | ai | i |
| Jj | je | je |
| Kk | ke | ka |
| Ll | el | el |
| Mm | em | em |
| Nn | en | en |
| Oo | o | o |
| Pp | pi | pe |
| kiu | ki | |
| Rr | ar | er |
| Ss | es | es |
| Tt | ti | te |
| Uu | yu | u |
| Vv | vi | ve |
| Ww | dabel yu | we |
| Xx | eks | eks |
| Yy | way | ye |
| Zz | zed | zet |
Malay and Indonesian has these diphthongs: ai, au, ei and oi. Indonesian has an additional diphthong, eu, to accommodate loanwords and proper nouns from regional languages such as Acehnese and Sundanese. The diphthongs ei and oi mostly occurs in loanwords. Diphthongs are considered in the syllabification of words.
Malay and Indonesian has these diphthongs: kh, ng, ny and sy. These are not treated as separate letters for the purpose of collation, but are considered in the syllabification of words.
Indonesian, before the spelling reform of 1972, had these diphthongs: ch, dj, ng, nj, sj and tj. The diphthongs dj and tj were eliminated in favor of j and c, while the remainder (except ng) were respelled into kh, ny and sy. There was also the diphthong oe which was replaced by u in 1947, but can still be seen in proper names (e.g. Soeharto).
Malay, before the spelling reform of 1972, had these diphthongs: ch, kh, ng, ny, and sh. The digraphs ch and sh was eliminated in favor of the consonant c and the digraph sy, while the remainder were retained. Some of the deprecated digraphs remain in use in place names (e.g. Chukai, Kuching, Puchong, Shah Alam).
| Letter | Name | Transliteration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ا | alif | a | in Arabic loanwords, transliteration depends on their Arabic pronunciation. |
| ب | ba | b | |
| ت | ta | t | |
| ة | ta marbutah | t | in Arabic loanwords |
| ث | sa | s/th | in Arabic loanwords |
| ج | jim | j | |
| چ | ca | c | |
| ح | ha | h | in Arabic loanwords |
| خ | kha | kh | in Arabic loanwords |
| د | dal | d | |
| ذ | zal | z, dh | in Arabic loanwords |
| ر | ra | r | |
| ز | zai | z | |
| س | sin | s | |
| ش | syin | sy | |
| ص | sad | s | in Arabic loanwords |
| ض | dad | d | in Arabic loanwords |
| ط | ta | t | in Arabic loanwords |
| ظ | za | z | in Arabic loanwords |
| ع | ain | a, i, u, -k | in Arabic loanwords |
| غ | ghain | gh | in Arabic loanwords |
| ڠ | nga | ng | |
| ف | fa | f | |
| ڤ | pa | p | |
| ق | qaf | q, k | |
| ک | kaf | k | |
| ݢ | ga | g | |
| ل | lam | l | |
| م | mim | m | |
| ن | nun | n | |
| و | wau | w, o, u | |
| ۏ | va | v | |
| ه | ha | h | |
| ء | hamzah | ||
| ي | ya | y, i, e (as /e/) | |
| ى | ye | e (as schwa) | |
| ڽ | nya | ny |