Malay Aksara

MLCL Project

Time period What is the period when Malays started to

use Kawi? Old Malay (682-1500 C.E) When the Indians set their feet on the

Malay Archipelago, Vatteluttu or Pallava which is an ancient Tamil script is brought along. Pallava was accepted as the Malay writing system and gradually evolved into an ancient royal Javanese script called Kawi.

What is the period when Malays started to use Jawi? Old Malay (682-1500 C.E) Old Malay was very much under Indian influence

with its extensive use of Sanskrit vocabulary. The Malays tried to use Pallava and Kawi to express their new Islamic faith but found both to be unsuitable to pronounce the verses of the Quran and Hadis, thus they experimented and created Jawi script based on Arabic. The Jawi script has been in used for more than 600 years by now and is synonymous with the Malay language itself.

What is the period when the Malays started to use roman alphabets ?

Early Modern Malay (1500-c1850) Malacca Sultanate as a patron of the Malay

language played an important role in using the language to spread Islam and result in changing Malay’s pro-India nature to pro-Arabic. Portuguese conquest of Malacca in 1511 and subsequent persecution of Moslems caused them to disperse throughout Malay Archipelago, establishing new regional centers.

Examples of written MalayMalay Kawi Ancient Khmer Script

Sanskrit

Numerals (Jawi)

Malay pronunciation

Sample Text In Malay (Latin Alphabet)

Semua manusia dilahirkan bebas dan samarata dari segi kemuliaan dan hak-hak. Mereka mempunyai pemikiran dan perasaan hati dan hendaklah bertindak di antara satu sama lain dengan semangat persaudaraan.

In Malay (Jawi Alphabet)

. سڬي دري سامرات دان بيبس دالهيرکن مأنسيا سموا دان ڤميکيرن ممڤوڽاءي مريك. ٢حق دان کمولياءن

سام ساتو دانتارا برتيندق هندقله دان هاتي ڤراساءنڤرساوداراءن سماڠت دڠن الءين

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Modern Malay alphabet

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Latin Alphabet for Malay Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll a be ce de e ef ge ha i je ke el Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww

em en o pe ki er es te u fe we

Xx Yy Zz

iks ye zet

Arabic Alphabet for Malay (Jawi)

History of Malay aksara

Four periods: Old Malay, Early Modern Malay, Late Modern Malay and Contemporary Malay

Old Malay ( 682 -1500 C.E.) begins with records of poems and thoughts on writing materials made from plants described as the sharp cursive Rencong, an ancient script believed to be native to South-east Asia. Unfortunately no evidence from that early period survived. When the Indians set their feet on the Malay Archipelago, they brought along Vatteluttu or Pallava which is an ancient Tamil script from South India. Pallava was accepted as the Malay writing system and gradually evolved into an ancient royal Javanese script called Kawi.

Continued..

Islam most probably introduced Arabic script to the Malay world as early as the seventh century. Old Malay was very much under Indian influence with its extensive use of Sanskrit vocabulary. The Malays tried to use Pallava and Kawi to express their new Islamic faith but found both unsuitable to pronounce the verses of the Quran and Hadis. They created Jawi script based on Arabic. The Jawi script has been used for more than 600 years by now and is synonymous with the Malay language itself.

To Be Continued …

Late Modern Malay (c1850 - 1957) by this time Malay has absorbed numerous loan words from the colonists namely: Portuguese, Dutch and English. Standardized dictionaries and grammars appeared together with a study of regional Malay dialects and codification of literature. A prominent figure in this field was Zainal Abidin bin Ahmad, better known as Za'ba, exerted great influence on pre- independent Malay by codifying Malay grammar and modifying the Jawi spelling system.

Contemporary Malay (after 1957) Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei set up their respective national language planning agencies, in an effort to unify their different versions of Malay. There were trials and errors and for a while, obstacle due to Indonesia's confrontation against the formation of Malaysia. As relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia normalized by 1966, their linguistic collaboration continued, resulting in a common spelling system in 1972. Thanks to this project, instead of several spelling systems, today there is only one spelling system for Malay.

Country that influence the Malay

Malay Language was greatly influence by the India with its extensive use of Sanskrit vocabulary. Kawi is also evolved from Pallava, which is an ancient Tamil script.

Done by:

Jean Chua (11) Chng Hwee Ting (5) Tan Kah Ching (30) Ong Jia Ling(25)

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