As I have stated on p. 32, it is really due to the prevalence even now of the old Indonesian system of accentuation (whereby the accent falls on the penultimate of simple and derivative words alike). Of course that accentuation may have been more pronounced at the time when the Arabic system of spelling Malay was introduced than it is now.]
(g) Reduplication of words was cominonly signified by the Arabic cipher ٢ 2 angka dua after a word, a symbol not so used in its native tongue: راج٢ raja-raja, بركات٢ běrkata-kata.
§ 18. The modern spelling of Malay in Arabic characters differs from the script of three centuries ago in several ways.
(a) It never uses vowel points except over words quoted from the Arabic or over foreign and ambiguous words.
(b) It has dropped the tashdid.
(c) It employs و ,ا and ي as finals, even when these final vowels are neither long vowels nor diphthongs. کايو kayu, اکو aku, ترلالو těrlalu, ڤنتو pintu, مريبو měribu, اڤي api, جادي jadi, ماتي mati, لاکي laki, دوا dua, توا tua.
Exceptions:
(1) A few stereotyped common words preserve the old style: ايت itu, اين ini, سوات suatu, سڤرت sěpĕrti, اد ada, اڤ apa, اي ia, دي dia, کيت kita, جوك juga, ڤول pula, ڤد pada, سرت sěrta, مان mana, منسي manusia most finals in a.
(2) The change in the use of a is not established, the old practice of omission being followed or neglected arbitrarily according to the will of the writer in the spelling of most words.
