The vowels e and i are not distinguished from each other, nor are o and u. An initial e or i, whether long or short, is expressed arbitrarily by the combination of the two long vowels, a and i, which ought strictly to make a diphthong ; and an initial, o or u, is expressed in-like manner, by the letters a and u. Indeed, the initial vowels e, i, o, and u, are frequently represented by the single vowel a.
The Arabic alphabet, then, for the purpose of expressing the sounds of the Malay language, 'nay be described as little better than an 'imperfect short-hand. The following examples will suffice to show its defects. The word gâluk, a coconut shell, is written glk. Suka, glad, although often written suk, is also written sk only, both the long and the short vowel being here left to be understood. The word mânuntut, to claim a debt, is written mntt ; all the three vowels being omitted. Antang, a stamper, anting, to hang or drop, and untung, fortune, are all written in the same way, or as antng. Antuk, to nod, and antak, to beat time with the foot, are both written antk, a combination of letters which might be pronounced in ten different ways; and, indeed, as k and g are not distinguished in ordinary writing, in as many as twenty.
The native sounds of the Malay can be expressed with ease and precision by Roman letters, and with a few trifling modifications, so as to furnish one unvarying character for every sound. In framing a system on this principle, I have taken as a guide the Javanese alphabet, which, letter for letter, corresponds with the sounds of the Malay, and' in which every letter is pronounced, and has, whatever its position, the same unvarying sound. It was only necessary to furnish a corresponding Roman character for each of these, and this has been done.
Native Consonants.—The following twenty letters represent the native consonants of the Malay language, in the order of the Roman alphabet,—b, ch, d, d·, g, b, j, k, l, m, n, ng, ñ, p, r, s, t, t·, w, y. The letters b, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, w, and y, correspond with the sounds of the same consonants in English; ch is the Italian c before e and i, the ch of the English, Spanish, and Portuguese systems, and the sound which the Dutch, with a much nearer approach to accuracy, represent by tj. There is a
