Vitria, on the other hand, pronounced all her /r/'s without failure in all of her choice of words containing /r/ in the word-final position, such as 'kasar', as well as words containing /r/ at word boundary, such as 'bermain'. The following table shows the transcription of the words from the particular category mentioned.

Table 3

Malay Words with /r/ in word final position Noreen's Pronunciations (Malaysian) Vitria's Pronunciations (Indonesian) Telur Hancur Kotor Kasar Ekor Telo_ Hanco_ Koto_ Kasa_ Eko_ Telur Hancur Kotor Kasar Ekor

Even in a sentence, when a word with a vowel or consonant initial proceeds a word with /r/ in word final position, for a Malaysian, the /r/ would automatically go through an elision process. Example:

"Besar siot" becomes "Besa siot"

"Kasar amat" becomes "Kasa amat"

One can therefore conclude that the /r/ deletion rule in word-final position and when another consonant follows, in the case of Malaysian Malay, is unconditional and absolute.

Table 4

Malay Words with /r/ at word boundary Noreen's Pronunciations (Malaysian) Vitria's Pronunciations (Indonesian) Berhati-hati Permainan Kertas Terduduk Be_hati-hati Pe_mainan Ke_tas Te_duduk Berhati-hati Permainan Kertas Terduduk

The /r/ deletion rule does not apply for words with /r/ as the initial consonant such as in the case of 'rakus' and 'rempah', and consonant clusters consisting of /r/, such as 'drama' and 'premium.' The meaning of the words mentioned change all together if /r/ is deleted.

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