The Evolution of Malay Spelling, 

 By Rev. W. G. Shellabeae. 



Much has been written in the last hundred years on the 

 theory of Malay spelling. Europeans, both Dutch and English, 

 have worked out elaborate systems of orthography, and have 

 laid down what they considered the proper rules to be followed, 

 but the Malays have continued to spell as they please in spite of 

 the efforts of the foreign scholars. 



There is, however, at the present time so much diversity and 

 inconsistency among the Malays themselves in regard to the 

 spelling of even the commonest words, that it is very widely felt 

 that a recognized system of orthography is most desirable ; but 

 Europeans have hitherto made the mistake of trying to bend the 

 Malays to an elaborate, scientific system of foreign manufacture, 

 the beauties of which the Malays are unable to appreciate. 



A more practicable plan would seem to be to make a thorough 

 historical investigation of the evolution of the art of spelling 

 among the Malays, with a view to determining what is the natural 

 trend of the changes which have taken place in the past. It seems 

 not unreasonable to expect that such an investigation may pro- 

 vide a clue to the possibilities of such spelling reform as will not 

 be distasteful to the Malays themselves, and may therefore even- 

 tually commend itself to them for universal adoption. 



The materials available in Singapore are not by any means 

 adequate for a complete and exhaustive investigation of the his- 

 tory of Malay spelling, but it is hoped that the following contri- 

 bution to the study of this subject will at least establish some im- 

 portant principles of spelling reform, and will if necessary stimu- 

 late others to further search. 



It is generally agreed that the Arabs gained their religious 

 ascendancy over the Malays during the 13th century, and that it 

 was from them that the Malays received their present written 

 character. The earliest Malay manuscripts now extant, however, 

 do not date back more than half of that period. In No. 31 of this 



