THE WESTERN AND ARABIC LINGUISTIC TRADITIONS IN MALAYONESIA IN THE 19^TH CENTURY

There are obvious differences between the Western and Arabic linguistic traditions. This is consistent with the notion of non-neutrality of knowledge that is often influenced by culture, religion, ideology or other isms. Thus, knowledge that originates in a particular culture produces different understanding of knowledge when compared with that produced in other cultures. The same rationale seems to appear in the field of linguistics. For instance, the Western and the Arabic linguistic traditions show different understanding of linguistic and language functions and practices. The former, particularly after the 1700’s, emphasized on the actual language description, while the latter focused on the prescriptive aspect of language. This article examines the respective approaches adopted by two distinguished writers, Raja Ali Haji and William Marsden, in analysing Malay grammar before the 1900’s. The analysis is based on Raja Ali Haji’s Bustan al- Katibin (1850) and Kitab Pengetahuan Bahasa (1858) and William Marsden’s based on A Dictionary and Grammar of Malayan Languages (1812). Based on the analysis of linguistic typology analysis, it is evident that Raja Ali Haji had used Arabic linguistic paradigm while William Marsden employed Western linguistic paradigm in presenting their respective and arguments.