Correct way to pronounce RM

The issue of correct pronunciation among language users in Malaysia has always been a concern of linguists, like me. One such pronunciation is the word ringgit and the symbol RM used to denote our currency. There are still many, including radio deejays and television commentators and even teachers who pronounce it wrongly. How do you actually pronounce RM - RM, ringgit, or ringgit Malaysia?

Etymologically, the official use of the word ringgit began in August 1975 to replace the British Malaya and Borneo dollar which was introduced in June 12, 1967. Although the name ringgit was officially accepted, but the currency was still called or referred as dollar ($). The symbol RM was then introduced in the 1993 by the government to replace the $ or M$ symbol to denote our currency. Although the symbol RM was used officially since 1993, but still there has been some confusion in the use of this symbol, in particular the way it is pronounced.

Firstly, we need to understand that there is a symbol and code for each currency used by a country. Currencies are expressed with currency code like AUD, USD, GBP, CNY and BND. For example, the American dollar is USD10 (ten American dollar), IDR 1000 (one thousand rupiah in Indonesia), and JPY100 (one hundred yen in Japan), EUR10 (10 euros in Europe), and GBY10 (ten pounds in Great Britain) and so on.

To denote the currency, we also use symbols like RM10, ¥100, € 10, £10 and $10. As such, when writing nine ringgit or ten ringgit, it should written as RM9.00 or RM10.00. As for Malaysia, the symbol for the Malaysian Ringgit is RM and its code is MYR. This is used exclusively to denote the Malaysian currency only. No other country use RM or MYR as its name or code for their currency, except in Malaysia.

There are several reasons for the use of RM for our currency. As there are several countries that use currencies that begin with the letter R, like Riyal, Rupee, Rupiah, and the Renminbi, our currency is named as RM. If the letter R only is used, perhaps there will be confusion of the name of currency’s country. To prevent this, in Malaysia we use RM, i.e. the letter R is that is followed by letter M to indicate the name of the country.

As explained RM is a symbol of our currency. Therefore, we need to put it at the beginning of our currency to demonstrate the value of our money, like RM10. It is not appropriate to be placed after the currency, like 10RM or any other way.

Now, how to you pronounce the symbol RM? Currently, we notice that some users are pronouncing RM inappropriately. For example, to say the ten ringgit (RM10.00), some say it as 'r-em' ten ringgit, some as 'r-em' ten, and some as ten ringgit. Which one is correct?

As explained earlier, the right way to pronounce it is ten ringgit. So when we say or read a sentence, “It costs RM10 to have a good meal”, we should say, “It costs ten ringgit to have a good meal”. It should be not said as “It costs r-em ten ringgit to have a good meal” or “It costs r-em ten Malaysian ringgit to have a good meal”.

We hope this brief explanation will help users to use the word ringgit appropriately, either as a term or its pronunciation.  We also hope radio deejays, television commentators, and teachers pronounce RM correctly so that the standard and correct way of pronouncing the ringgit is promulgated among the language users. In this way, we can help to standardize the use of term and pronunciation of the word ringgit among fellow Malaysians.