KEI(Al ABADISerita Perpustakaan Universiti Malaya

Jil. 13 bil. 2 Jun 1994 Percuma ISSN 0127-2578

The Growth and Characteristics ofPublished MalayDictionaries and Glossaries

Zainab Awang Ngah'

Abstract: This paper describes quantitatively the pattern of growth and characteristics ofMalay dictionaries and glossaries published between 1631 and 1993. Dictionaries in the formof manuscripts and Indonesian dictionaries have been excluded. The total number of Malaydictionaries published is shown to be on the rise. A large proportion of those published arebilingual, trilingual, polyglotal and subject dictionaries. A detailed breakdown of each typeof dictionary is shown. The total number and names of compilers and publishers who areactively involved in the publication of Malay dictionaries are also given. This paper alsodescribes quantitatively the growth pattern of Malay lexicographical studies. The pattern isidentified by examining the number of writings by the various authors and the core journalswhich actively cover this subject.

Abstrak: Kertas ini menghuraikan secara kuantitatif corak dan cirl-ciri perkembanganperkamusan dan peristilahan Melayu yang diterbitkan dari 1631 hingga 1993. Kamus-kamusdalam bentuk manuskrip dan kamus Indonesia tidak diambil kira. Jumlah kamus Melayuyang diterbitkan semakin bertambah dan sebahagian besar darinya merupakan kamus-kamus berbentuk dwibahasa, tribahasa dan poliglot serta kamus mengenai bidang-bidangtertentu. Pecahan terperinci secara kuantitatif diberikan untuk setiap jenis kamus. Jumlahdan nama-nama penyusun dan penerbit kamus juga diberikan. Perkembangan penulisan-penulisan mengenai leksikografi Melayu juga dihuraikan secara kuantitatif. Huraian inimenunjukkan jumlah penulisan yang dihasilkan dan nama-nama mereka yang aktif menulisdalam bidang ini serta jurnal-jurnal utama yang meliputi bidang kajian ini.

Introduction

Documentation on the history of Malay/Indonesian dictionaries and glossaries is quiteconsiderable. The classic survey by Teeuw(1961) listed works, ranging from the wordlistsof the t sth century to the dictionaries of the1950s.The survey is thorough and it is an im-portant source of reference forthose interestedin Malay/Indonesian lexicographical develop-ment. Linehan (1949) also provides a chrono-logical list of Malay dictionaries and word listscompiled between 1511 and 1708. There arelocal attempts such as those by Yusof Hitam(1961) and Asmah Haji Omar (1987). Bothprovide chronological listings covering theperiod between 1511 and the 1960s. The above

• Lecturer, Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Malaya.

( continued on page 2)

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The Growth and Characteristics ofPublished Malay Dictionaries andGlossaries

Update on Computerlsatlon 8

Berlta Rlngkas 8

Kertas KerJaPersldangan Yang Dlperolehl 9

Laporan Persldangan 32

Ulasan Buku 35

Hal Ehwal Kakltangan 38

mentioned sources are useful to both lexico-graphers and librarians alike since they providethe initial sources from which older titles ofknown dictionaries and wordlists can be identi-fied. A more recent attempt by Idroes and RajaMasittah (1984) provides an annotated list ofMalay dictionaries and glossaries published byDewan Bahasa dan Pustaka together with a listwhich covers lexicographical studies publishedin the journal Dewan Bahasa between 1957and 1983. Another extremely useful source is apaper by Yang and Goh (1985) which lists allknown Malay-Chinese, Chinese-Malay diction-aries published between 1926 and 1985. Thewriter has used these sources to compile abibliography of Malay/Indonesian dictionaries.The bibliography was published in 1990. Em-phasis was given to known Malay dictionariesfound in local collections together with thoseheld in major libraries abroad. Indonesianlexicographical works which have been includedin the- bibliography consist of those found inMalaysian libraries only. About 1,148 titles ofdictionaries and glossaries and 700 titles ofarticles obtained from journals, conferenceproceedings and local newspapers coveringMalay lexicographical works are listed in thisbibliography. The bibliography covers dictiona-ries and studies up to April 1990. The presentstudy is based upon this bibliography. Afurther 200 titles of Malay dictionaries andglossaries published between 1990 and 1993are also analysed in this study. All these addi-tional titles are available at the Za'ba MemorialLibrary, University of Malaya Library.

This paper is not an attempt to study thegrowth and characteristics of Malay dic-tionaries and glossaries in their lexicographicalcontext. Rather, it is a study of lexicographicalpublications from their bibliographical pers-pective, focusing on their publication patternand distribution. The purpose of this paper istherefore threefold. The first part attempts todescribe the publication pattern of Malaydictionaries and glossaries between 1631 and1993. The second part will describe the authorsand publishers involved. This is followed by adescription of the coverage of Malay lexico-graphical studies in journals and conferenceproceedings and the authors involved in criticalwritings on Malay lexicography up to April1990.

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Publication Pattern of Malay Dictionariesand Glossaries

Only published Malay dictionaries and glos-saries are considered in this context. Like otherdictionaries, Malay lexicographical works fallinto three categories. The first category isthose dictionaries which are monolingual innature. This type of dictionary has words inBahasa Malaysia with their meanings in thesame language. The bilingual, trilingual andpolyglotal dictionaries fall into the secondcategory. These dictionaries have words inBahasa Malaysia with meanings in anotherlanguage. In some cases meanings of wordsin more than one language are provided, suchas Malay-Arabic-English or Malay-Chinese-English. The third category comprises diction-aries which cover a particular discipline orsubject area. This type of dictionary mayormay not provide meanings in another language.

Table 1 shows the number of Malay diction-aries and glossaries published between 1631and 1993. It indicates that a total of 747 knowntitles have been published up to December1993. The number published over the yearsshows an iricrease of over 200% since 1631.The total for 1990-1993 alone is 103 which isconsiderably high for a three-year period.

Tabl.e 1

Number of Malay Dictionaries/GlossariesBy Years of Publication

Years Total %N=747 100

1631-1899 57 71900-1939 50 7

1940-50s 60 8

1960s 74 10

1970s 125 17

1980s 278 37

1990s (up to 1993) 103 14

Table 2 shows a breakdown of publisheddictionaries by the three categories, that is, 78titles (10%) are monolingual dictionaries, 367titles (49%) are bilingual, trilingual and polyglotaldictionaries and 302 titles (41%) are catego-rized as subject dictionaries. Dictionaries in thelast category are expected to be on the risesince more recent titles are subject-oriented tocater for current needs in Malaysia. Anotherimportant feature of current lexicographicalworks is the trend towards dictionaries whichprovide more detailed explanations of termsrather than glossaries.

Table 2

Types of Published MalayDictionaries/Glossaries

(1631-1993)

Type of Dictionaries/ Total %Glossaries N=747 100

Monolingual 78 10Bi/Tri/Polyglotal 367 49Subject 302 41

Table 3 provides a breakdown of bilingual,trilingual and polyglotal dictionaries publishedbetween 1631 and 1993. The total number oftitles in this table is higher than that indicatedin Table 2 since some titles have been re-peated in one or more categories because oftheir trilingual or polyglotal nature. The com-pilers of Malay polyglotal dictionaries haveendeavoured to cover more than ten languagesreflecting world-wide interest in the Malay lan-guage. It must be noted here that dictionariesin this category cover Malay dictionariespublished abroad but exclude Indonesianbilingual titles. Malaysia's historical ties withEngland may be the reason for the largenumber of English-Malay or Malay-English dic-tionaries which form about 47% (179) of theoutput in this category. This is followed byChinese-Malay dictionaries which total68 (18%), Arabic-Malay titles which accountfor 31 (8%) and the Dutch-Malay dictionarieswhich number 23 (6%).

Table 3

A Breakdown of Published BilTri/PolyglotalDictionaries/Glossaries (1631-1993)

Languages TotalN=376

Arabic/Malay 31Regional Languages/Malay 19Dutch/Malay 23Chinese/Malay 68Latin/Portuguese/Spanish/Malay 6English/Malay 179German/Malay 4Japanese/Malay 11French/Malay 11Russian/Malay 3Tamil/Urdu/Malay 13Thai/Malay 8

The number of bilingual dictionaries whichcover regional languages, such as Burmeseand local dialects is also on the rise.

Table 4 provides a breakdown of publishedMalay dictionaries by broad disciplines. About50% (152) of the subject dictionaries arethose in the science and technology category.Dictionaries in the social sciences cover about36% (108) of the total and those in the lan-guage and literature category contribute about14% (42). A great proportion of dictionaries inthe language and literature category coversubjects such as idioms, synonyms, proverbs,acronyms and abbreviations, quotations, litera-ture and linguistics. Dictionaries and glossa-ries in the humanities and social sciences covera range of subjects such as geography, politics,economics, law, commerce, music, account-ancy, psychology, Islam, sociology, manage-ment, anthropology, public administration,education, mass communication, publishingand printing, history, etc. A high percentage ofsubject lexicographical works are glossariesrather than dictionaries. This trend is expectedto change in the future as after the initial stageof identifying terms and their equivalents, thenext stage would be to provide in-depth expla-nations for the terms.

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Table 4

Published Malay Dictionaries/GlossariesBy Broad Disciplines (1631-1993)

Disciplines Total %N=302 100

Language & LiteratureSocial SciencesScience & Technology

42108152

143650

The Major "Players" in MalayLexicographical Works

The term" "players" in this context simplyrefers to the compilers and publishers involvedin the production of Malay lexicographical works.Indonesian dictionaries and glossaries are notconsidered here. A great proportion of the 747Malay dictionaries do not have information ontheir compilers. Only 381 names of compilershave been identified. Table 5 shows the namesof the compilers responsible for three or moredictionaries. The listing is arranged in order ofthe number of dictionaries compiled to high-light the prolific compilers. Lee Yu Kai emergesas the most prolific compiler. He was involvedin the compilation of Chinese-Malay bilingualdictionaries between 1959 and 1970. He wasparticularly active in the 1960's when he com-piled six bilingual dictionaries. Sulaiman Masriwas also active in the compilation and editionof Malay monolingual dictionaries. R.O. Winstedtneeds no introduction because he had contrib-uted a great deal to the compilation of Malay-English bilingual dictionaries since 1913 andsome of these titles have been reprinted overthe years, which goes to show his authority inthis field. Compilers such as Parnwell, Marsden,Hornby, Shellabear, Swettenham, Wilkinsonhave been active in the compilation of bilingualdictionaries. About 101 compilers have beenactive in the compilation of Malay lexicographi-cal works. These compilers have been respon-sible for compiling between 1 to 11 titles each.It must be stressed at this juncture that thestandard of the dictionaries compiled is beyondthe scope of this study and it is best left to thelexicographical experts.

Table 5Authors Involved in the Compilation/Edition

of More than Two Malay Dictionaries/Glossaries By Number of Compilations

AuthorsN=381

Number ofCompilations

Lee Yu Kai 11

Sulaiman Masri 10Winstedt, Richard Olof 10

Parnwell, E.C. 9Mohd. Salleh Daud 8Muhammad Said Hj. Sulaiman 8

Daud Baharum 7Mohamed Abdul Kadir 6

Abdul Aziz Rahman 5Asraf Haji Wahab 5Chan, Meow Wah 5Hornby, Albert Sydney 5Lutfi Abas 5Marsden, William 5Saad Shukri bin Haji Muda 5Shellabear, W.G. 5Swettenham, Frank Athelstane 5Wilkinson, Richard James 5Yang, KuiYee 5

Mohd Shah bin Yusof 4Munir Ali 4Roorda van Eysinga, P.P. 4Santoso, S. 4Yip, Siew Cheng 4Yohannes, Herman C. 4

A. Karim 3Abdullah Hussain 3AI-Marbawy, Muhammad Idris A.R. 3Asmah Haji Omar 3Awang Sariyan 3Beg, Muhammad Abdul Jabbar 3Bowrey, Thomas 3Cheng, Song Huat 3Coope, A.E. 3Elout, C.P.J. 3Kahlo, Gerhard 3Labrousse, Pierre 3Lim, Chin Kiat 3Maimon binti Abdullah 3Nik Safiah Karim 3Nor Shafinaz Malek 3Pogadev, V.A. 3Rott, N.V. 3

58 other authors 2280 other authors 1

Tal;>le6

Publishers Involved in the Publication ofLocal Malay Dictionaries/Glossaries

PublishersN= 180

Number ofPublications

Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka

Penerbit Fajar Bakti (P.J.)

Federal Publications (K.L.)

Univ. Sains Mal. Unit Perkhid. IstilahUniv. Malaya. Language Centre

Kelly & Walsh (Sing)

Pustaka Zaman (P.J.)Pustaka Umum (P.J. & K.L.)

AI-Ahmadiah (Sing)Golden Books Centre (K.L.)McGraw-Hili Far Eastern Pub.Shanghai Book Co. (Sing)

Cathay Press (Sing)Methodist Pub. House (Sing)Mission Press (Sing)Pelanduk Pub. (P .J.)

Longman Malaysia (K.L.)Marican & Sons (K.L.)Syarikat S. Abdul Majeed (K.L.)

Arena Buku (K.L.)Kompas (P.J.)Pustaka Delta (P.J.)Sinaran Bros (P.Pinang)

Abdullah bin Muhd. Nordin Arrawi(P.Pinang)

AMK Interaksi (K.L.)FEP International (P.J.)Penerbit Titiwangsa (K.L.)Penerbit Adabi (K.L.)Pustaka Delta Pelajaran (P.J.)Pustaka San Ming (Tang. Malim)

Darulfikir (K.L.)Kader Bros (Sing)Kumpulan Rusa (P.J.)Mahir Publications (K.L.)Malay-Chinese-English Pub. Hse (Sing)Malaya Publishing Hse (Sing)Marican & Sons (Sing)Penerbitan Fargoes (K.L.)Penerbitan Jeya BakU (K.L.)Penerbitan Tat (K.L.)Pustaka Aman Press (K.B.)Pustaka Sistem Pel. (K.L.)Thinker's Library (Batu Caves)United Press (P. Pinang)World Book Co. (Sing)

24 other publishers110 other publishers

185

31

23

1412

10

99

8888

7777

666

5555

4

444444

333333333333333

2

Publishers have played an important role inthe production of Malay dictionaries. Table 6provides a listing of publishers involved in thepublication of local Malay dictionaries andglossaries. Malay lexicographical works pub-lished abroad have not been included in thislist. A total of 180 publishers have been identi-fied. Of these, 79 publishers have been respon-sible for publishing between 2 and 185 titles ofMalay dictionaries. As expected Dewan Bahasadan Pustaka emerges as the most prolific pub-lisher with 185 titles. The other significant pub-lishers include Penerbit Fajar Bakti, FederalPublications, Unit Perkhidmatan Istilah, UniversitiSains Malaysia, the Language Centre, Univer-sity of Malaya and Kelly & Walsh (Singapore).

Kelly & Walsh was responsible for publish-ing 10 Malay dictionaries between 1901 and1953 and concentrated on Malay-English bilin-gual dictionaries. The list also indicates thatmost local publishers have been involved atsome point or other in the production of Malaydictionaries.

Malay Lexicographical Studies in LocalJournals and Conference Proceedings

Journal articles and conference paperscovering Malay lexicographical studies canalso be used to ascertain the trend andgrowth of the literature covering this subject.For this study, articles and papers publishedup to April 1990 have been used.

Table 7a shows the growth of studies onMalay lexicography by broad year bands. Atotal of 422 articles have been identified.Over the years under study a growth of about200% has been noted since the 1950s. A con-siderable proportion of writings were publishedbetween 1800 and 1950s. This year bandaccounts for about 21% of the total studiespublished on this subject. The Journal of theStraits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society(JSBRAS) and the Journal of the MalayanBranch of the Royal Asiatic Society (JMBRAS)emerge as the major journals covering studieson Malay dictionaries, wordlists and exposi-tions on single or multiple Malay terms. Most ofthe articles were written by English authors. Inthe 1970s local authors became more involvedand their contributions increased in the 1980s.At this juncture, the local journal Dewan Bahasa

now entitled Jurnal Bahasa emerged as themajor journal in this field. As indicated in Table7a, the period between 1980 and 1989 saw acontribution of about 209 articles and papers,that is 50% of the total contributions on thissubject over the year bands under study. Table7b provides a list of journals and the number ofarticles they have published on Malay lexicog-raphy. As indicated earlier, Dewan Bahasa,JSBRAS, JMBRAS, Dewan Masyarakat, Archi-pel, Bijdragen tot de Taal, -Land en Volkenkundeare major contributors on this subject.

Table 7a

Growth of Studies on Malay LexicographyFound In Periodicals and ConferenceProceedings By Broad Year Bands

Year Bands Total %N=422 100

Up to 1950s 90 211960s 23 51970s 100 241980-89 209 50

Table 7b

Titles of Journals and their Coverageof Malay Lexicographical Studies

Journal Titles Number of Studies

Dewan Bahasa 201JMBRAS 39JSBRAS 22Dewan Masyarakat 9Archipel 8Bahasa & Sastera 7Bahana 6Bijdragen TLV 6J. Roy. Asia. Soc. Grt. Brit. 4Bahasa 3J. Persatuan Linguistik 3Bull. of Raff. Museum 2Dewan Sastera 2Majalah Dian 2Nusantara 2Pendidik & Pendidikan 2New Straits Times Ann 2Tijdschrift v. Ind. Taal-Land en

Volkenkunde 2Bull. Sch. Orient. & Afr. Stud 1Brunei Museums J 1J. Ind. Archipel 1J. Budaya 1Mastika 1Malaysian Conference Papers 95

Table 8

Authors Active In Writings AboutMalay Lexicography Up to 1990

Authors Number 01Writings

Asmah Haji OmarSulaiman MasriHassan Bin AhmadZubaidi AbasAinon MuhammadNasir Sulaiman

221917161514

101010

9987

66

555555

444444

33333333333

21

Hamilton, A.W.Khalid M. HussainRusli Abdul Ghani

Abdullah HassanJunus, UmarWinstedt, Richard 0101Wan Abu Bakar Wan Abas

Ismail bin OahamanLutfi Abas

Blagden, C.O.Chuah, Chong ChengMetzger, LaurentMohammad Ali Haji HassanRudiahHaji ArshadShaharir bin Mohamad Zain

Asral Haji WahabAwang SariyanMuhammad YahayaNik Saliah KarimRabiey BesahRonkel, Phil. Sam. van

Amat Juhari MoainCollins, James T.Khalid bin Mohamed NorMasood bin Abdul RahmanNoresah BaharomOthman IsmailPuziah Mohd. OomRaja Masittah Raja AriffinShahimi bin Haj. ShalieeZahrah Abd. GhalurZainal Abidin Abu Bakar

32 other authors222 other authors

The authors involved in the writing of thesearticles have also been surveyed. Articles pub-lished in local newspapers up to April 1990 arealso considered for this purpose. Table 8 indi-cates that 70 writers were actively involved inMalay lexicographical writings. The 70 writershave contributed between 2 to 22 articles each.The majority of writers numbering 222 havecontributed only 1 article each. The most pro-lific writer is Asmah Haji Omar who alone haswritten 22 articles on the subject of Malay

lexicography in journals and conferenceproceedings. The other main contributors areSulaiman Masri (19), Hassan bin Ahmad (17),Zubaidi Abas (16), Ainon Muhammad (15), NasirSulaimar (14), A.W. Hamilton (10), Khalid M.Hussain (10) and Rusli Abdul Ghani (10). Againit must be emphasized here that the purpose ofthis study is merely to quantify and hence noattempt is made at a qualitative analysis of thewritings. It must be emphasized that the figuresare based on published sources. Unpublishedarticles have not been taken into account.

Conclusion

This study reveals that the publication ofMalay dictionaries and glossaries has increasedby 200 percent since 1631. The number pub-lished rose sharply in the 1970s and 1980s.It is expected to increase steadily in the1990s. The majority of those published re-cently are glossaries but there is an increasingtrend towards the publication of dictionaries.Dictionaries published currently tend to besubject and bilingual in orientation.

Most publishers in Malaysia have involvedthemselves inthe publication of dictionaries. Someare more active than others.The number of localcompilers involved has also increased. However,most of them (73%) are one-time compilers.

Malay lexicographical studies in journals,conference proceedings and newspapers haverisen sharply since the 1970s. Studies writtenbetween 1980 and 1989 constitute about 50 per-cent of total studies written since the 1950s. Themajority of these studies (76%) are one-timeefforts.

This quantitative study attempts to revealthe state-of-the-art of Malay lexicographicalpublishing. Knowledge on the publicationtrends of Malay dictionaries and glossaries and

an insight into the extent of lexicographicalstudies may provide the information personneland librarians with an understanding of thequantity needed to be acquired currently orretrospectively to support lexicographical re-search. From such a study, the lexicographersmay also identify lacunae in areas which needfuture research.

References

1. Asmah Haji Omar. Perkamusan Melayu.Bahasa, Oktober 1969: 78-87.

2. Idros Samsudin dan Raja Masittah RajaAriffin. Bahasa Malaysia: istilah danfrasa - satu bibliografi beranotasi. DewanBahasa, 28(8) Ogos 1984: 529-597; 28(9)Sep 1984: 602-628; 28(10) Okt 1984:693-704; 28(11) Nov 1984: 767-768.

3. Linehan, W. The earliest word lists anddictionaries of the Malay language: (re-vised, February 1949). Journal of theMalayan Branch of the Royal AsiaticSociety, 22(1) March 1949: 183-187.

4. '.Teeuw, Andries. A Critical Survey ofStudies on Malay and Bahasa Indone-sia. 's-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1961.

5. Yang, Quee Yee & Goh Hin San. Sum-bangan keturunan Tionghua terhadapbahasa dan sastera Melayu. In Hari Sas-tera, 28 Nov - 1 Dec 1985, Pulau Pinang.Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa danPustaka, 1985. pp.391-397.

6. Yusof Hitam. Kamus Melayu sejak 1511.Dewan Bahasa, 5(4) April 1961: 151-161.

7. Zainab Awang Ngah. Perkamusan Melayu/Indonesia : Satu Bibliografi = Malay/Indonesian Dictionaries : A Bibliogra-phy. Kuala Lumpur: Perpustakaan Univer-siti Malaya, 1990. •

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