The first Dutch–Malay vocabulary
This note by A. W. Hamilton examines the Malay vocabulary appended to the 1598 printed edition of Cornelis de Houtman’s journal of the 1595 Dutch voyages, identifying it as the first Dutch attempt to transcribe colloquial Malay into Romanized form (p. 20).
Hamilton provides an English translation and modern Romanized rendering of the original Dutch–Malay columns, noting that the vocabulary reflects the speech of Bantam with a Sundanese flavour and Javanese admixture (p. 20). He observes that the vocabulary reveals the priorities of early merchant adventurers—well representing body parts, foodstuffs, spices, weapons, and currency, while omitting natural features of value to mariners (p. 21). He also discusses errors in a contemporary Latin translation, the absence of Portuguese influence, and several notable omissions such as words for meat, cooked rice, cloth, chickens, and goats (pp. 20–21).