Published in 1812, this study of Malay in its written form was begun during William Marsden's service with the East India Company in Sumatra (1771-9). He continued his textual work in England upon his return, thus putting his practical knowledge into a solid scholarly frame. An expert in Asian languages and an outstanding Malay scholar in the English-speaking world, Marsden (1754-1836) was a fellow of the Royal Society from 1783 and later its vice-president and treasurer. This work is distinctive for its substantial Malay-English section, and for the use of examples from original Malay texts collected by the author. Despite being superseded by subsequent dictionaries, it is still a highly regarded and valuable source of information, especially about older, specialised and regional terms. The introduction provides the reader with a history of the Malayan language, including its spread, usage and regional variations.

Excerpt from A Dictionary of the Malayan Language, in Two Parts: Malayan and English and English and Malayan Referring for a general account of the Malayan language and of the people by whom it is spoken, to what is contained in the Introduction to' the Grammar, it will be sufficient in this place to explain the principles' on which this Dictionary is constructed, and to give such instructions as may facilitate its use. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.