A dictionary of the Malay tongue

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A dictionary of the Malay tongue (1801)
dikarang oleh James Howison

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3922A dictionary of the Malay tongue1801James Howison

A DICTIONARY OF THE MALAY TONGUE, AS SPOKEN IN THE PENINSULA OF MALACCA, THE ISLANDS OF SUMATRA, JAVA, BORNEO, PULO PINANG, &c. &c. IN TWO PARTS, ENGLISH AND MALAY, AND MALAY AND ENGLISH. PART THE FIRST. TO WHICH IS PREFIXED A GRAMMAR OF THAT LANGUAGE. EMBELLISHED WITH A MAP. BY JOHN HOWISON, M. D. LONDON: Printed at the ARABIC and PERSIAN PRESS, by S. ROUSSEAU, Wood Street, Spa Fields: FOR JOHN SEWELL, CORNHILL; J. DEBRETT, PICCADILLY; MURRAY AND HIGHLEY, FLEET STREFI} VERNOR AND HOOD, POULTRY; A. AND J. BLACK AND H. PARRY, LEADENHALL STREET; AND S. ROUS31 AC, WOOD STREET, SPA HIELDS.

1801.

ADVERTISEMENT.

As to the utility of the preſent publication no objection can be juſtly offered. Before our late extenſive conqueſts of the Dutch ſettlements on the Malay iſlands our trade to the eaſt of Hindooſtan was very confined, but ſince our eſtabliſhment at (PULO PINANG) PRINCE OF WALES'S ISLAND, it has become of ſuch conſequence as to render every means of facilitating a communication between us and the Malays, an object of national importance. Since our conqueſt of theſe, how much more that has become a deſideratum muſt be ſelf evident.
In this view of its utility we confine ourſelves to Britain alone: but when it is conſidered, that we are offering to the public a Grammar and dictionary of a language which has become the LINGUA FRANCA of a portion of the globe more extenſive than that of any other tongue in the world, we hope, we are in ſome meaſure clearing the way for the future labours of the philoſopher, the navigator, and the merchant of every nation.
Untill now the only aſſiſtance to be obtained by the Malay ſcholar was through the medium of BOWREY'S Grammar, printed a century ago*, a work of great induſtry and merit, that diſtant period conſidered, and to which in the preſent volume we acknowledge our many obligations.

In the year 1701, with a dedication to the then directors of both companies, before they were united, in which the names of each are printed at full length. No account can be traced of Mr. BOWREY or his book in the preſent Remeinbrancer's Office, fo as to do him the credit due to his memory, or foreſight, which the publiſher is deſirous of doing, who, though engaged in an extenſive buſineſs ever fince May 1752, never could fee more than three copies, notwithſtanding his frequent enquiries.

. Its great fcarcity, independent of the errors and defects confeqwent to its being the firſt attempt to form an English and Afiatic Grammar *, we believe, ever made, renders the prefent work not lefs neceffary. . In giving the Malay words in the Arabic character we have followed the excellent example of RICHARDSON and GILCHRIST in their Perfian and Hin- dooftanee Dictionaries; and it is, in fact, the character uſed by the Malays themfelves. In languages where all the letters are founded as in the Ara- bic, Perfian, Hindooftanee, and Malay, a knowledge of the character, which of either may be learned in twenty-four hours, is alone neceffary to enable the fcholar to pronounce, with the utmoſt preciſion, any word that may come before him, whereas if the words were given in the Roman only, as is the cafe in HADLEY and BOWREY, we ſhould feldom find a word pro- nounced exactly in the fame way by two different perfons. In our grammatical department it may be objected that we have forced the inflexions of our nouns and verbs into a reſemblance to thofe of Eu- ropean languages, beyond what the ſimplicity of the Malay will admit of: we muft, however, infift, that although we have made ufe of words as auxiliaries, which grammarians might not confider as ſtrictly fuch, ftill a ten years' acquaintance with the Malays and their language authorize us in adopting the words and arrangements, which, we are certain, will be un- derftood and are uſed by them. J. Howison. Since which Arabic, Perfic, Hindooftanee, Moorish, Bengalee, Shanfcrit, and feveral others have made great progrefs. By the late conqueft in the Myfore, of which country the Tamoul is the current language, it likewife appears probable, that a Grammar and Dictionary of this tongue would be very ferviceable to the Company's fervants employed within its extenfive regions: and even this dialect is not entirely unknown at Madras and Bombay. Laman:A dictionary of the Malay tongue; James Howison, 1801.pdf/14 Laman:A dictionary of the Malay tongue; James Howison, 1801.pdf/15 Laman:A dictionary of the Malay tongue; James Howison, 1801.pdf/16 Laman:A dictionary of the Malay tongue; James Howison, 1801.pdf/17 Laman:A dictionary of the Malay tongue; James Howison, 1801.pdf/18 Laman:A dictionary of the Malay tongue; James Howison, 1801.pdf/19 Laman:A dictionary of the Malay tongue; James Howison, 1801.pdf/20 Laman:A dictionary of the Malay tongue; James Howison, 1801.pdf/21 Laman:A dictionary of the Malay tongue; James Howison, 1801.pdf/22 Page Missing

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