A dictionary of the Malay tongue, as spoken in the ... - Sabrizain.org

iv
AD\'ERTISE:MrNT,
Its great fcarcity, independent of the errors and drllds confeqiicnt U>
itii being the firft attempt to form an Enghlh and Allatic Grammar *, wt^
Tjelicve, ever made, retiders the pR.'lcnt work jiot i^^is jieceflary.
In giving the Mah'.y words in the Arabic cliaradler wc have followed the
excellent example of Richardson and Gilchrist in their Perfian and Hin-
dooftanee Diclionaries ; and it is, in fad, the character nfed by the Mxilays
themfelves. In languages where all the letters arc founded as in tlie Ara-
bic, Perfian, Hindoortanee, and INIalay, a knowledge of the character, «hich
of either may be learned in twenty-four hours, is alone iieceflary to enable
the fcholar to pronounce, with the utmofl: precifion, any word that may
oome before him, whereas if the words M'cre given in tlie Roman only, as
is the cafe in Hadley and Bowrey, A\e fliould fcldom fmd a word pro-
nounced exadtty in the fame way by two dilFcrent perfons.
In our grammatical department it may be objeded that wc have forced
the inflexions of our nouns and verbs into jo. refemblance to thofe of Eu-
ropean languages, beyond what the fimplicity of the IMalay will admit of:
we mull, however, iniill:, that although we have made ufc of words as
auxdiaries, which grammarians might not confidcr as liriiRly fuch, ftill a
ten years' acquaintance with the ]Malays and their language authorize us in
adopting the words and arrangements, \\hich, -wc arc certain, will be un-
dcrliood and are ufed by them.
J. IIowisoN.
* Siiicf! wliich Arabic, Pcrfic, Hiudooftanpr, Aroorilli, Bftigalec, Sliaiifcrit, and feveral others
have made great progrcfs. By tlie late conqueft in the Myfore, of which coimtry the Tamoul is
the current language, it likewife appears probable, that a Cirammaraud Dictionary of this tongue
would be very fcrvlceable to the Company's fervants employed within its exteiilivc regions : .and
even this dialetfl is not entirely unknown at Madras and Bombuy.