Print Send Add Share. Printed by e. During the many times the first and second volumes of this Vo- cabulary have passed through the press, an attempt has been made, not only to correct the blunders of compositors but to secure uni- formity in both volumes and to supply obvious omissions.
This latest edition is practically free from printing errors, and it would be difficult to add to the number of words in the Voca- bulary without seeming to trench upon the legitimate field of an English-Malay and Malay-English Dictionary. As regards the Dialogues, 1 wish to remind the student who may feel inclined to criticise some of the conversations, that they are supposed to be held between Europeans and natives who in many cases would not be Malays.
They would be Chinese, Tamils, Indians and others, to whom the language spoken by Malays to each other is practically unknown. The Chinese carpenter, the Tamil dhobi and the Indian watchman do not speak that language or understand it.
If anything, the dialogues to which I refer, err rather in the direction of accuracy and the object is to raise the standard of the lingua franca of the Straits to approach a little nearer to the language of educated Malays in their own country. Frank Swetteniiam. Page Prefaces V Instructions for the Pronunciation of Malay Words XI Transliteration XV Malay alphabet XVI Grammatical Notes XXV Months of the Year XXVI Numbers English-Malay Dialogues, Continued.
Opinions of the Press. These objects appear to us to have been successfully attained. The work is a most scholarly production, which does Mr. Swet- tenham the highest credit, and must have cost him much time and labour, and it cannot fail to prove a most useful vade-mecum to the student and the business man who wishes to obtain an accurate knowledge of the Malay language, its idiom, pronunciation, and written character.
