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Reference.org
Malay orthography
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<p>The modern Malay and Indonesian alphabet consists of the 26 letters of the <a href="/facts/ISO_basic_Latin_alphabet/DxrvCBK8">ISO basic Latin alphabet</a>. It is the more common of the two alphabets used today to write the <a href="/facts/Malay_language/2T6pPtgv">Malay language</a>, the other being <a href="/facts/Jawi_alphabet/DdF2xzyM">Jawi</a> (a modified <a href="/facts/Arabic_script/GB5gsj1F">Arabic script</a>). The Latin Malay alphabet is the official Malay script in <a href="/facts/Indonesia/vQnWU3IW">Indonesia</a> (as <a href="/facts/Indonesian_language/J8Q78Ywb">Indonesian</a>), <a href="/facts/Malaysia/8zbUMzCP">Malaysia</a> (also called <a href="/facts/Malaysian_language/nmd2YzNR">Malaysian</a>) and <a href="/facts/Singapore/CQDkhUvD">Singapore</a>, while it is co-official with <a href="/facts/Jawi_script/DdF2xzyM">Jawi</a> in <a href="/facts/Brunei/dyz9JUn8">Brunei</a>. </p><p>Historically, various scripts such as <a href="/facts/Pallava_script/Lvu7cmIX">Pallava</a>, <a href="/facts/Kawi_script/NXdMWyYz">Kawi</a> and <a href="/facts/Rencong_script/SCVXJ2J7">Rencong</a> or Surat Ulu were used to write <a href="/facts/Old_Malay/8UfL22MY">Old Malay</a>, until they were replaced by <a href="/facts/Jawi_script/DdF2xzyM">Jawi</a> during <a href="/facts/Islam/zDLbL45C">Islamic</a> <a href="/facts/Missionary/AtfQeYq3">missionary</a> missions in the <a href="/facts/Malay_Archipelago/RkeF5zR1">Malay Archipelago</a>. </p><p>The arrival of <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">European</a> <a href="/facts/Colonial_powers/kvqx2DaV">colonial powers</a> brought the Latin alphabet to the Malay Archipelago. As the <a href="/facts/Malay_world/t3FQbmtN">Malay-speaking countries</a> were divided between two colonial administrations (the <a href="/facts/Netherlands/y8xn5stT">Dutch</a> and the <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom/kuPAILt2">British</a>), two major different spelling <a href="/facts/Orthographies/sJPhCpsU">orthographies</a> were developed in the <a href="/facts/Dutch_East_Indies/1vl6kw8p">Dutch East Indies</a> and <a href="/facts/British_Malaya/SwMnjlFx">British Malaya</a> respectively, influenced by the orthographies of their respective colonial tongues. The <a href="/facts/Van_Ophuijsen_Spelling_System/XV1xr7ww">Van Ophuijsen Spelling System</a> used in the Dutch East Indies and later Indonesia was based on the <a href="/facts/Dutch_alphabet/BHW9KxMr">Dutch alphabet</a>. It was replaced by the simpler <a href="/facts/Republican_Spelling_System/wyoAaywe">Republican Spelling System</a> in 1947. </p><p>In 1972, as part of the effort of harmonizing spelling differences between the two countries, Indonesia and Malaysia each adopted a <a href="/facts/Spelling_reform/S4FG66uY">spelling reform</a> plan, called the <a href="/facts/Perfected_Spelling_System/IvjPoPqS">Perfected Spelling System</a> (<i>Ejaan Yang Disempurnakan</i>) in Indonesia and the <a href="/facts/New_Rumi_Spelling/wzySWFms">New Rumi Spelling</a> (<i>Ejaan Rumi Baharu</i>) in Malaysia. </p><p>Although the representations of speech sounds are now largely identical in Indonesian and other neighbouring Malay varieties, a number of minor spelling differences remain. </p>