S U M A T R A, 
Their wiring h in the Arabic charader^ very little eorrnpted, owing A^ibk 
to which, and the adoption of their reltgloti from the fame quarter^ a Malays 
great nunriber of Arabic words are incorporated with the Malay. The 
Portuguefe too have furntlhed them with many terms, chiefly for fuch 
ideas as they have acquired lincc the period of European difcoveriea to 
the c^ftward. They write on paper, ufing ink of iheir owrn compofi* 
tion, with pens made of the twig of the Jnm tree, I could never dif* 
cover that the Malays had any original written characters, peculiar 
to themfelves, before they acquired thofe now in ufe ; but it is poiEble 
that fuch might have been loft ; a fate that may hereafter attend thofe 
of Sumatra, on which the Arabic daily makes encroachments. Yet I have 
had frequent occafion to obferve the Malay language writtca by inland 
people, in the country charad:er ; which would indicate that the fpeech 
is likely to perilh firft. Their books are for the moft parr, either tranf^ 
fcripts from the Alcoran (hraan) or legendary tales (kabar)i of little 
merit as compofitions. 
The pureft, or moftcfteemed Malay is faid, and with great appearance 
of reafon, to be fpok^n at Malacca. It differs from the dialed: ufed on 
Sumatra chiefly in this, that words, in the latter, made to tenninate in 
** O,** are, in the former, founded as ending in " A," Thus they pro* 
nounce ladi? (pepper) in ftead of lado. Thofe words which end wiih 
a " in writing, are, on Sumatra, always fofcened in fpeaking, by 
omitting it; z% tabli bunnia" many compliments,^' for iabhk 
^anmaki" but the Malaccans ; and efpecially the more eaftern people* 
who fpeak very broad ; give them generally the full found. The per* 
fonal pronouns alfo differ materially in the refpedtive countries. 
Attempts have been made to compofe a Grammar of the Malay tongue, 
vipon the principles on which thofe of the European languages are 
formed* But the abfurdity of fuch productions is obvious. Where 
there is no inflexion of either nouns or verbs, there can be no cafes, de* 
cienfions, moods, or conjugations. All this is performed by the addition 
T c * of 
