The Za'aba Spelling (Malay: Ejaan Za'aba) was the second major spelling reform 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.[1] Za'aba's orthographic system principally dealt with the assignment of vowels in closed syllables, distinguished the schwa from the half-open vowel /e/ by a new grapheme ⟨ě⟩, and insisted on the use of hyphens to differentiate affixes or post-positional emphases from the infinitives.[2][3] 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.[4]
From 1930's onward, the Za'aba system gained wide sanction and was used officially in education and civil administration of Malaya, Singapore and Brunei,[5] to replace the older Wilkinson spelling (very similar to the modern orthography, still used in Iban). 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.[6][7] The Za'aba orthography was formally replaced by the New Rumi Spelling in 1972.
- ^ Leow 2018, p. 89
- ^ Asmah Omar 1989
- ^ Leow 2018, p. 89
- ^ Leow 2018, p. 208
- ^ Muhammed Salehudin Aman 2019
- ^ Asmah Omar 1989
- ^ Leow 2018, p. 89