Last updated on December 8, 2021
In the speech of most native-speakers of English, the /t/ sound is heavily aspirated. What this means is, in most sentence environments it is pronounced with an audible hiss or spit of air. Say “tattered and torn” to yourself and you will hear the hissing quality of the English /t/ sound. Also, the English /t/ is articulated by pressing the point of the tongue against the ridge of gum behind the upper front teeth (the alveolar ridge). In both these respects, the Indonesian /t/ is different from the English. The Indonesian /t/ is not aspirated. It is a bit like the relatively unaspirated English /t/ in words like “stop” and “stand”. Also, in the speech of most Indonesians, the /t/ sound is articulated by pressing the blade of the tongue against the back of the upper front teeth, almost in the same position as for the English /th/ sound.
So for English learners, the Indonesian /t/ is difficult to pronounce accurately. To help you suppress aspiration when you are saying the Indonesian /t/ you should practise saying words with /t/ in them while holding up a sheet of paper, or a candle, close to your lips. If the sheet of paper vibrates, or the flame flickers, as you are saying the Indonesian /t/ that means your pronunciation of it is too aspirated.
Remember, for the Indonesian /t/: tongue against teeth, no aspiration.. Try the following words:
/t/ in an initial position
teh – tea
telur – egg
taksi – taxi
tetapi(tapi) – but
/t/ in a medial position
satu – one
kotor – dirty
roti – bread
seratus – one hundred
/t/ in a final position
takut – afraid
menurut – according
ikat – to tie
/t/ in a consonant cluster
berantakan – messy
perpustakaan – library
penelitian – research
/t/ in combination with a following /r/
In English, when /t/ and /r/ occur one after the other they are pronounced close to the /chr/ sound. Your mouth is moving into position for the R as you are saying the /t/ and /r/. You will hear this sound if you say the English words “try”,“tree”, “track”, “transistor” etc. When the Indonesian /t/ occurs together with /r/ the /tr/ combination must not be pronounced like /chr/. You must keep the two sounds distinct, and the /r/ component should, of course, be trilled. Try these:
truk – truck
antri – queu
sastra – literature
istri – wife
