An English-Malay Dictionary - By Rev. W.G. Shellabear - Preface and Key Features

Sep 15, 2026

An English-Malay dictionary by Rev. W.G. Shellabear, explaining the expansion from a limited English-Malay vocabulary into a comprehensive dictionary. The preface highlights the problem of vague English equivalents in oriental dictionaries and describes a method that assigns several precise English meanings to each English entry, with Malay equivalents arranged under those headings. It also discusses a typographic system using roman and italic forms and parentheses, and provides guidance on consulting Webster for ambiguity.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages614

Reading Time15 h 46 min

AccessFree to download

Preface

Subsidiary English Meanings

Pronunciations of English Words

Dialectic Differences in Malay

Help Received with the Dialects

2 8 —1 # ANENGLISH-MALAY DICTIONARY By Rev.W.G.SHELLABEAR,D.D, Author of"A Practical Malay Grammar,""Malay English Vocabulary"etc. — --— All Rights Reserved SIXGAPOEE:Printed and Published by the Methodist Publishing House, 1916. P二125 “ # PREFACE The accomplishment of the author's original intention,which was toproduce an English-alay Vocabulary containing some three or fourthousand words,has been so long deferred through pressure of other literarywork,that it has been thought better to abandon it altogether,especiallyin view of the fact that other vocabularies have appeared meanwhile whichsupply the need for a limited word list.The scope of the original workhas therefore been greatly extended,with the object of producing not amere Vocabulary but a Dictionary which would be as complete as possible. An intimate acquaintance with Favre's French-Malay and with Klin-kert's Dutch-Malay dictionaries.and the constant nse of these valuableworks during a period of nany years,has enabled the author to profit bythe experience gained by these writers,and it is hoped that all the essentialinformation contained in these more voluminous works will be found inthis volume in a more convenient and accessible form. # SUBSIDIARY ExGLISH MEANINGS. The great defect of many dictionaries of Oriental languages is thatin looking up an English word one finds a long list of unfamiliar equi-valents,without any indication as to the precise shade of meaning whichis to be given to each.The English student is therefore quite at a lossas to which word he should select;and similarly the Oriental student whois seeking the precise meaning of an English word finds so many almostsynonymous equivalents in his own language that he is very little thewiser for his search.In order to obviate this difficulty as far as possible,we have followed the plan of the best English-French and English-Germandictionaries,giving a number of English meanings wherever necessary foreach English word.and arranging the Malay equivalents under thesevarious headings.These English meanings have been taken in the mainfrom Webster's International Unabridged Dictionary,and in the same orderas they are found there.so whenever the student finds any anbiguity inthese meanings he should refer to Webster’s dictionary.The typographicarrangement of Roman and Italic letters,and the placing of the subsidiaryEnglish meanings in parentheses,has been designed so that the particularmeaning of the word of which the student is in search will readily meetthe eve,and thus the necessity for reading through a whole column ofmeanings(such as will be found.for instance.in Klinkert’s dictionary)will be avoided,thereby saving much time. PROxUNCIATIOxs oF ExGLISHI WoRDs. Another feature which we believe is rather unusual in dictionariesof Oriental languages is that for the sake of Asiatic students we havegiven the pronunciation of erery English。word.These pronunciations208 are based for the most part on Webster,but we have been careful to followthe English usage rather than the American,and for this purpose haveconsulted three or four other English dictionaries.This feature has addedenormously to the labour of the final preparation of the work,and is.responsible for some delay,but we believe that it will be greatly appre-ciated by Malay students and Malay-speaking Chinese. # DIALECTIC DIFFEREXCES Ix MALAY. The Malay language is so widespread,and is spoken by such a varietyof differelit races(Malays proper,Javanese,Sundanese,Achinese,Siamese,and Chinese)that tlhe differences of dialect are very considerable.The Malay spoken on the three great islands of Borneo.Java and Sumatrais not by any means the same.There are variations in different parts ofthese islands,and along the coast of the Peninsula,the Fast Coast especial-ly differing from the West.But for the purpose of the English studentof Malay or of the Malay student of English it is not at all necessary toconsider all the

FAQs

Why was the original plan for an English-Malay vocabulary expanded into a full dictionary?

The author’s original vocabulary scope was deferred by other literary work, and later vocabularies made the limited list less necessary. The work was therefore broadened to produce a more complete dictionary.

How does the dictionary clarify shades of meaning for English words?

For each English word, multiple English meanings are provided when needed, and the Malay equivalents are arranged under those headings to show more precise semantic choices.

What role does Webster’s dictionary play in using this work?

The subsidiary English meanings are taken mainly from Webster’s International Unabridged Dictionary; when there is ambiguity, the student is advised to refer to Webster for clarification.

Sep 15, 2026

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