Za'aba Spelling
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The Za'aba Spelling () was the second major
spelling reform A spelling reform is a deliberate, often authoritatively sanctioned or mandated change to spelling rules. Proposals for such reform are fairly common, and over the years, many languages have undergone such reforms. Recent high-profile examples a ...
of Malay Rumi Script introduced in 1924. The reform was devised by Zainal Abidin Ahmad or better known by the moniker Za'aba, a notable writer and linguist at Sultan Idris Teachers College. Za'aba's orthographic system principally dealt with the assignment of vowels in closed
syllable A syllable is a basic unit of organization within a sequence of speech sounds, such as within a word, typically defined by linguists as a ''nucleus'' (most often a vowel) with optional sounds before or after that nucleus (''margins'', which are ...
s, distinguished the schwa from the half-open vowel /e/ by a new
grapheme In linguistics, a grapheme is the smallest functional unit of a writing system. The word ''grapheme'' is derived from Ancient Greek ('write'), and the suffix ''-eme'' by analogy with ''phoneme'' and other emic units. The study of graphemes ...
, and insisted on the use of
hyphen The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes (en dash , em dash and others), which are wider, or with t ...
s to differentiate
affix In linguistics, an affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word or word form. The main two categories are Morphological derivation, derivational and inflectional affixes. Derivational affixes, such as ''un-'', ''-ation' ...
es or post-positional emphases from the
infinitive Infinitive ( abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs that do not show a tense. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all ...
s. The system as devised by Za'aba emphasised the importance to represent the original pronunciation of Johor-Riau Malay, where various modern standards of Malay were derived, that he viewed as the most elegant form of Malay. From 1930s onward, the Za'aba system gained wide sanction and was used officially in education and civil administration of Malaya,
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
and
Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...
, to replace the older
Wilkinson spelling Wilkinson or Wilkinsons may refer to: Businesses and brands * Wilko, formerly Wilkinson Hardware, a British retail chain * Wilkinson Sword, a British manufacturer of razor blades, formerly swords, motorbikes and other products ** Wilkinson TMC ...
(very similar to the modern orthography). After the orthography was implemented in schools, it earned the moniker Ejaan Sekolah ('school spelling system'). Despite its official status, the system was continuously challenged throughout the years as other linguists came up with their own suggestions for a reform. The most notable one was by the Third Malay Congress held in 1956 that introduced the
Congress Spelling System The Congress Spelling System () is a spelling reform of Malay Rumi Script introduced during the third Malay Congress held in Johor Bahru and Singapore in 1956. The main characteristics of the system are the use of symbols in the Americanist phone ...
. The Za'aba orthography was formally replaced by the
New Rumi Spelling The Indonesian-Malaysian orthography reform of 1972 was a joint effort between Indonesia and Malaysia to harmonize the spelling system used in their national languages, which are both forms of the Malay language. For the most part, the changes made ...
in 1972.


Background

The first major orthographic reform of the Malay Rumi Script was initiated by British scholar and administrator
Richard James Wilkinson Richard James Wilkinson (29 May 1867 – 5 December 1941) was a British colonial administrator, scholar of Malay, and historian. The son of a British consul, Richard James Wilkinson was born in 1867 in Salonika (Thessaloniki) in the Ottoman E ...
in 1904, introducing the Wilkinson spelling or 'Romanised Malay Spelling', which became the official system widely used in all British colonies and protectorates in
Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
,
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
and
Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
. Following the growth in the use of Malay in the education system funded by the colonial administration, efforts to improve the Rumi spelling system were undertaken by various organizations, including the notable Sultan Idris Teachers College. In 1924, after 20 years in use, the Wilkinson orthography was improved further in a reform initiated by the linguist Zainal Abidin Ahmad at the Sultan Idris Teachers College. Over the years, the system was progressively improved and was applied in a series of ''pedoman bahasa'' ('guide to language') published by the college. Among several publications that applied this orthography are ''Ilmu Bahasa Melayu Penggal 1'' (1926), ''Pelita Bahasa Melayu Penggal 1'' (1941), ''Daftar Ejaan Jawi-Rumi'' (1949), all of which were written by Za’aba. By the 1930s, the Za'aba spelling became the official orthography used in Malaya and even adopted in the education system and civil administration. The Za'aba spelling also gained widespread currency in
Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...
and
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
. Following the adoption of the orthography in schools, it was called the ''Ejaan Sekolah'' ('school spelling system'). Despite its official status, the system was continuously challenged throughout the years as other linguists came up with their own suggestions for a reform. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, a system known as ''Ejaan Fajar Asia'', after the Fajar Asia ('Dawn of Asia') publishing house, was widely used in Malaya and Indonesia. Both countries reverted to their respective old systems as soon as the Japanese occupation ended. In Malaya, however, there were continuous efforts to reform the spelling system. In 1956, the Third Malay Congress introduced another spelling system known as the
Congress Spelling System The Congress Spelling System () is a spelling reform of Malay Rumi Script introduced during the third Malay Congress held in Johor Bahru and Singapore in 1956. The main characteristics of the system are the use of symbols in the Americanist phone ...
, but it was never widely used. In 1959, another reform, this time jointly initiated by Malaya and Indonesia under a Cultural Agreement, was carried out with the introduction of the Malindo system, but the system was scrapped shortly after, following the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. The Za'aba spelling continued to be used up until 1972, when another major reform took place with the introduction of the
New Rumi Spelling The Indonesian-Malaysian orthography reform of 1972 was a joint effort between Indonesia and Malaysia to harmonize the spelling system used in their national languages, which are both forms of the Malay language. For the most part, the changes made ...
.


The system

Za'aba's orthographic system principally dealt with the assignment of vowels in final closed
syllables A syllable is a basic unit of organization within a sequence of speech sounds, such as within a word, typically defined by linguists as a ''nucleus'' (most often a vowel) with optional sounds before or after that nucleus (''margins'', which are ...
, distinguished the schwa from the half-open vowel /e/ by a new
grapheme In linguistics, a grapheme is the smallest functional unit of a writing system. The word ''grapheme'' is derived from Ancient Greek ('write'), and the suffix ''-eme'' by analogy with ''phoneme'' and other emic units. The study of graphemes ...
, and insisted on the use of
hyphen The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes (en dash , em dash and others), which are wider, or with t ...
s to differentiate
affix In linguistics, an affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word or word form. The main two categories are Morphological derivation, derivational and inflectional affixes. Derivational affixes, such as ''un-'', ''-ation' ...
es or post-positional emphases from the
infinitive Infinitive ( abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs that do not show a tense. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all ...
s. The system emphasised the importance to represent the original pronunciation of
Johor Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore ...
-Riau Malay, where various modern standards of Malay were derived, that Za'aba viewed as the most elegant form of Malay.


Final closed syllables

There were no particular explanations by Za'aba for such amendments, but based on the reformed words, Za'aba seemed to have emphasized on the phonetic realisation in spelling to reflect their original pronunciation in Malay. This was in contrast to the Wilkinson orthography, and even Republican system in Indonesia, that emphasized more on the vowel coherency represented in the orthography.


Schwa

Za'aba standardized the marking for the Malay indeterminate vowel or the schwa represented by phonetic sound , by introducing a new
grapheme In linguistics, a grapheme is the smallest functional unit of a writing system. The word ''grapheme'' is derived from Ancient Greek ('write'), and the suffix ''-eme'' by analogy with ''phoneme'' and other emic units. The study of graphemes ...
. By having the diacritic mark, the Za'aba system able to differentiate schwa from the half-open vowel /e/, which remains to be represented by letter . The objective of this move, was again for the phonetic realisation in spelling to simplify the reading process.


Hyphens

Za'aba also introduced the use of hyphens to differentiate affixes or post-positional emphases from the infinitives.


References


Bibliography

* * * * {{Cite journal , last1=Mohd Zaidi Abd Rozan , last2=Mikami , first2=Yoshiki , date=2007 , title=Orthographic Reforms of Standard Malay Online: Towards Better Pronunciation and Construction of a Cross-language Environment , journal=Journal of Universal Language , volume=8 , issue=1 , pages=129–159 , doi=10.22425/jul.2007.8.1.129 , doi-access=free Malay language Spelling reform