PRONOUNS IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY MALAY: A HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS STUDY OF EDUCATIONAL TEXTS PUBLISHED BY THE VOC FOR CHILDREN IN THE EAST INDIES

Abstract

This paper analyzes the development of the use of pronouns in Malay in the seventeenth century. Employing a diachronic linguistics methodology, this paper studies some shifts in the way in which pronouns were employed in some educational primers published by the Dutch to teach children in the East Indies how to read and write. Particularly, the paper focuses its attention in the two editions of such primer, entitled Sourat ABC (or ABC Letter), first published in 1611 and then republished in 1682. The reading texts included in the primer are taken from standard Christian teaching material and prayers. A study of different editions of such standard texts is beneficial for a diachronic linguistics research because they give the researcher contained, identifiable source to investigate. A closer look at these two editions reveals that there are significant changes and shifts in the use of Pronouns in Malay within the span of 7 decades. These changes reflect the influence of the Dutch language in Malay, as the two languages coexisted at the time when the Dutch colonized the archipelago.