Ramadan or Ramadhan? Why Phonology Dictates Professional Localization Standards.

Ramadhan holds profound meaning for Muslims and is often seen as the ideal time to seek forgiveness and repentance from all mistakes. However, there is one mistake many Indonesians still make when referring to Ramadhan. 

In fact, this mistake has been deliberately made since the very beginning of this article. The common mistake Indonesians make is the spelling of “Ramadhan”.

From the standard Indonesian language’s perspective, “Ramadhan” is considered incorrect. According to the Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI), the standard Indonesian spelling is “Ramadan”, without the letter “h”. 

So, why does the spelling “Ramadhan” feel more familiar or even more natural to many Indonesian readers? Is it merely the influence of Arabic spelling conventions? Or is there a more complex linguistic process at work behind this variation? 

To answer these questions, we need to examine the issue from several aspects: (1) the etymology of “Ramadan”, (2) its phonological features, (3) the presence of the letter “h” in “Ramadhan”, (4) non-standard status of “Ramadhan”, and (5) parallel cases involving the letter “h” in both standard and non-standard forms.

1. The Etymology of “Ramadan”

The word ‘Ramadan’ is adapted from the Arabic word رَمَضَانُ, derived from the root R-M-D (ر–م–ض). This root conveys meanings such as “scorching heat” or “sun-burn sand”, imagery that metaphorically aligns with the idea of Ramadan as a month that burns away human sins.

Yet, the primary focus here is not on its meaning, but on the sound Ḍ (Ḍād), represented by the Arabic letter ض.

In phonology, the branch of linguistics that studies speech sounds, this sound is represented as /dˤ/. It is classified as an alveolar plosive pharyngealized. The technical complexity of this label indicates that its articulation requires a sophisticated configuration of the speech organs.

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2. The Unique Sound of Ḍād

Based on phonological typology data, such as that documented by Phioble.org, the sound Ḍād (/dˤ/) is extremely rare worldwide. Even, of 7,170 natural languages spoken today, /dˤ/ has historically been regarded as a distinctive feature of Arabic.

Its uniqueness has been recognized since classical Arabic scholarship in the 8th century, notably in the work of Sibawayh so that Arabic has long been referred to as the “language of Ḍād”.

Today, it is recognized that a small number of other languages also exhibit this sound, though nearly all show significant influence from Arabic. These include:

1. 1. several varieties within the Central Semitic branch—such as Aramaic, Yemeni Arabic, and Maghrebi Arabic (Darija) spoken in Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, and Morocco.
   2. some languages within the Berber family (e.g., Tamazight spoken in various North African countries, Kabyle in Algeria, and Tashelhit in Morocco),
   3. and a small number of Indo-European languages, such as Zazaki and Kurdish, as well as some Caucasian languages, including Adyghe and Kabardian spoken in Russia.

Of all these languages, the presence of the /dˤ/ sound in the Berber and Caucasian language families is not considered to be the result of Arabic influence. Berber originates from the same language family as Arabic, namely the Proto-Afro-Asiatic family, meaning that both languages share an origin language. 

In contrast, the Caucasian language family is genealogically separate from the Afro-Asiatic family and has no direct relationship with Arabic. Therefore, the occurrence of a similar sound is purely coincidental.

The rare occurrence of the sound or phoneme Ḍād in language typology is apparently closely related to the characteristic of pharyngealized, which requires active movement of the tongue root drawn far back toward the throat.

In addition, this sound involves the vocal cord to produce air vibration and a plosive between the tip of the tongue and the gum behind the upper teeth.

3. The Presence of the Letter “H” in “Ramadhan”

Why is the Ḍād sound represented in a writing along with the letter “h”? Why not another letter? Given how unique Ḍād or /dˤ/ sound and its inexistence in 33 Indonesian phonemes, it seems that Indonesian speakers naturally look for similar reference sounds. This search leads to the sound /ɖ/, which is perceived as the closest equivalent.

The sound /ɖ/ has a thick sound character that is similar to /dˤ/. Its articulation is also largely  similar. The only difference is that the sound /ɖ/ is produced by curling the tongue backward so that it touches the hard palate, rather than by a tongue obstructing the pharyngeal cavity and touched the gum behind the upper teeth.

For this reason, /ɖ/ is classified as a voiced retroflex plosive consonant.

From a language typology perspective, the phoneme /ɖ/ is relatively rare, appearing in only about 11% of the world’s natural languages. Despite this small percentage, at least 4 local languages in Indonesia, which are Madurese, Bali, Dhao, and Javanese are known to include this retroflex sound.

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In these four local languages, the /ɖ/ sound is commonly represented by the letter combination “dh”. An exception is found in Balinese: although the standard Latin orthography of Balinese does not employ the letter “dh,” the Balinese script contains a distinct grapheme that is transliterated as “dh” in Latin script.

This orthographic practice is believed to be one of the reasons why many Indonesians write “Ramadhan” rather than “Ramadan”. In doing so, Indonesians try to represent the word as faithfully as possible to its original Arabic sound by referring to familiar spelling conventions for similar thick sounds found in local languages.

4. The Missing “H” in the word “Ramadan”

If the use of the letter “h” to mark what is considered a thick sound is common in several local languages of Indonesia, why is the spelling “Ramadhan” with an “h” considered non-standard? To answer this question, we need to understand that Indonesian has a phonological system that is quite different from that of many local languages in Indonesia.

Indonesian itself does not recognize the thick /dˤ/ sound resulting from pharyngealization or the retroflex /ɖ/. The closest phoneme to both is /d/, which is a voiced dental stop consonant. In Indonesian, this sound is represented by the letter “d”, as in the words dapur, dandang, and dadali, etc.

In the process of adapting “Ramadhan” as a loanword, Indonesian language tends to adjust the source-language sounds to its existing phoneme inventory. As a result, “Ramadan” is considered consistent with the existing phoneme inventory and does not require the addition of the letter “h”.

5. The Letter “H” in the Middle of Other Words

The thick sound represented by the letter “h” is often not reflected in the standardized spelling of Indonesian words. Here are several standard and non-standard Indonesian words that include the letter “h”.

From the examples above, it is clear that the use of the letter “h” can affect standardization. This issue stems from a single letter, yet standardization involves many other considerations. Consistently checking standardization in the KBBI or understanding the various factors involved in standardization is a necessary step to ensure the professionalism of your writing.

The table also shows that standard words derived from Arabic (e.g., salat, gibah, and istigfar) and English (e.g., Katolik and ateis) omit the letter “h.” However, this “h” is still frequently written by many Indonesians because it reflects the similarity to the source language.

But, there are also cases where the letter “h” appears in the middle of a word and is still officially recognized as a standardized Indonesian word, for example is the word “nakhoda”. 

This situation raises new questions about why some standardized words remove the letter “h”, while others preserve it. The insertion of the letter “h” in these standard forms is related to phonological considerations of other languages besides Arabic.

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6. Closing Section

For all these reasons, “Ramadhan” is a non-standard form, while “Ramadan” is the standard form. Language users simply need to apply the standard form in appropriate contexts, both in writing or translation. Understanding the concept of standardization and applying it in the right situations can indeed be confusing. If this is important for your business, do not be afraid to contact PT PeMad International Transearch. Still, if this standardization feels confusing, using “Ramadhan” with an “h” will by no means undermine your spiritual repentance.

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