Abstract
As soon as one has to decide on a system of transliteration for the languages spoken in Minangkabau and Negri Sembilan, one is faced by peculiar difficulties. In the first place, one has the choice between adopting the Dutch system, the Indonesian (which is derived from it), the British or scientifically satisfactory one. Then, should one spell the Minangkabau words according to their pronunciation, or in their Malaicised form, as the Minangkabau themselves do, at least when writing in Arabic characters ? Further there is the difficulty that we do not really know what the language of Negri Sembilan is like; from the scattered data one gets the impression that it should ratther be considered a form of Minangkabau than a form of Malay, but European writers on this State have diligently ‘corrected’ the native words and expressions, giving them, as much as possible, a Malay appearance.
The erratum of this chapter is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8198-0_15
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© 1980 Martinus Nijhoff Uitgeverij, Lange Voorhout 9–11, Den Haag
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de Josselin de Jong, P.E. (1980). Preface. In: Minangkabau and Negri Sembilan. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8198-0_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8198-0_1
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