PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
The second edition of 1000 copies of this vocabulary baring sold out within less than two years, it was felt that the steady demand for a cheap vocabulary of this kind would justify the publishers in making an effort to improve and add to the work, with a view to giving it a wider field of usefulness. For this purpose two new columns have heen added, giving the colloquial sounds of the Chinese in the two chief dialects spoken in the Straits Settlements and the Native States, namely the Hok-kien or Amoy dialect, and the Hak-ka dialect. The name "Triglot vocabulary" has been retained, the Chinese being considered as one language. An appendix giving some of the most common terms used by native Christians has been added.
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.
A Fourth Edition of this cheap and useful pocket Vocabulary is demanded by its steady sales. New type has been used for the Chinese character in this edition, and other improvements made to retain its favour with the public. The selection of words cannot be improved upon for a collection of this size and price.
PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION.
A Fifth Edition of the Triglot Vocabulary being required, we have taken the opportunity to change the spelling and tonal marks of the Romanised Hak-ka in order to make it harmonise with MacIver's Hak-ka Dictionary, which has been published since our last edition.
Pronunciation and Orthography.
In this Vocabulary the same system of romanisation is used for the Malay as for the Hok-kien and Hak-ka Chinese. The advantage of having one system of spelling for the three columns is obvious. As far as Malay is concerned, this romanisation has heen used in all the previous editions of this work, and also in the Straits Vocabulary, Straits Dialogues, Malay and English School Primer, Malay First Book, Practical Malay Grammar, Malay-English Vocabulary, Pilgrim's Progress, and all the other Malay publications of the Methodist Publishing House. In the third edition the two columns for romanised Hok-kien and Hak-ka were added. As regards the spelling of the Hok-kien dialect there was no difficulty, our Malay system of romanisation being indentical with that used in the Hok-kien dictionaries of Douglas, MacGowan and Talmage, and in all other romanised books printed in that dialect of Chinese; as regards the Hak-ka dialect we made the experiment of printing it according to the same system as the Hok-kien dialect, though up to that time, as far as we know, the Hak-ka dialect had only been spelt according to the German system; since that time, however, MacIver's dictionary of the Hak-ka dialect has been published, and follows very closely the Hok-kien system of romanisation, which is now in general use for all the principal dialects of South China, and bids fair to become the universal spelling for the whole of China.
