Sunday, November 28, 2010

:: Majid Transliteration - Jawi Cham





"And of His signs are the creation of the Heavens and the Earth and the diversity of your languages and your colors. Indeed in that are signs for those of knowledge" - arRum 22.

First of all, Majid Transliteration isn’t about the modernization of Cham language. “Majid Transliteration” is a name given to the Huruf Cham in Arabic form. This kind of script is also known as Jawi Cham.

Jawi Cham is being observing by us since more than 20 years ago, which, the range of observation covers all the Muslim villages in An Giang province and Cambodia. We use mostly the Huruf Cham from Cambodia based on some qualities that the Huruf Cham from Vietnam doesn’t has. The Huruf Cham in Vietnam isn’t coincides from one village to another, even if for the same village. We agree that this situation also happens in Cambodia but the significance of the Huruf Cham in Cambodia is that there is a Mufti who will standardize the writing for the whole Cham in Cambodia. If there’s disagreement, well, it’s very slight. Another criteria we go trough is the figure of the hurufs. Example, the Arabians have "د" then "ذ" ..."ر" then “ز” ..”س” “ش” ..and so on. We realize something synchronous in their writing, “the dot”. Logically, most of the dots are at the above. So, for the Akhar Ndak, we choose to use “dal with 3 dots above ” (Cambodia) instead of “dal with a dot below ڑ” (Vietnam). Ooops I forgot to mention, again, Mr Majid is from An Giang. So later on, don’t accuse that Majid Transliteration is developed by the Cambodian Cham just because we use most of their hurufs. Our team is Cham for overall.

We use “huruf ر” instead of "غ" for the Inâ Rak and Takai Krak. Some of the Jahed said Panduranga uses Rrrr (the sound of ر) but Kampong Chanang uses Ghhhh (the sound of غ as in "cô gái"). It is obviously no difference for both Eastern and Western scripts because Cham language is grouped in Melayo Polynesian language. Example, “rup” is “rupa”, "bicar" is "bicara", “drei” is “diri”, "daruai" is "duri", "marai" is "mari", "harei" "hari", "rabung" "rebung", "ribau" "ribu"..ect. Isn't “ر” makes Cham language so similar to the other Malay languages?

We decide to name it Majid Transliteration to differentiate this kind of Jawi Cham from the other Jawi Cham. Many Muslim Cham researchers who conscientious to preserve our language aren't study Cham language from the root, The Akhar Cham in Indic Sanskrit form. We can’t say a word is written correctly unless there’s proof from Cham inscriptions, or another way – set a council. The word ‘baik’ in Cham language can’t be understood by the Chams around An Giang and Cambodia, as they usually use “waik”. Well, ‘baik’ is a standard Cham language. We write “rup” instead of “rub” because there’s no “b” at the end of all Cham words. It’s okay if you can’t read Majid Transliteration, but this is not an excuse for us to stop. We shall continuously keep moving linking with the ancestors for the sake of the forthcoming generations.

Our team is ready and open for any debate and discussion, to create a better script for the Muslim Chams worldwide. We don’t say that Majid Transliteration is the fix one, we shall reorganize if there are logic and justified points. Anybody is welcomed, not excluded the Balamons.

Last but not least, let us examine this simple phrase:

Cam: “Parandap hagait krung njep, panjep hagait krung randap”.

Melayu: “Biasakan yang betul, betulkan yang biasa”.

English: “Habituate right things, do rightly habitual things”.

Anything, please leave your comment. Thank you for your precious time, great day!

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Awwalanya, Transliterasi Majid bukanlah berkaitan dengan modenisasi Bahasa Cam. “Transliterasi Majid” adalah nama yang diberi kepada Huruf Cam di dalam bentuk hijaiah. Skrip jenis ini juga dikenali sebagai Jawi Cam.

Pihak kami telah mengamati Jawi Cam sejak 20 tahun lalu di mana kawasan kajian meliputi keseluruhan perkampungan orang Islam di wilayah An Giang dan Kemboja. Kami menggunakan kebanyakan Huruf Cam dari Kemboja berdasarkan beberapa kualiti yang tidak didapati di dalam Huruf Cam dari Vietnam. Huruf Cam di Vietnam tidaklah sepakat seperti mana Huruf Cam di Kemboja, yang mana perbezaan ini ketara dapat dilihat dari satu kampung ke kampung yang lain. Kami juga bersetuju bahawa keadaan ini turut berlaku di Kemboja namun di Kemboja terdapat seorang ketua agama yakni Mufti yang berusaha menyeragamkan ejaan dan bentuk huruf bagi keseluruhan Negara Kemboja. Jika ya pun ada perselisihan, kami kira, ia amatlah sedikit. Satu lagi ciri yang kami amati ialah bentuk huruf. Contohnya, orang Arab mempunyai huruf ‘dal’ kemudian ‘dzal’, ‘ro’ ‘zai’, ‘sin’ ‘shin’ dan seterusnya. Kami menyedari sesuatu yang seragam di dalam penulisan mereka, “titik”. Logiknya, kebanyakan titik bagi huruf mereka berada di atas huruf, maka untuk Akhar Ndak kami memilih untuk menggunakan “dal dengan tiga titik di atas” (Kemboja) berbanding “dal dengan satu titik di bawah” (Vietnam). Oh lupa, sekali lagi suka saya nyatakan di sini bahawa Encik Majid berasal dari An Giang. Maka, di kemudian hari, janganlah menuduh bahawa Transliterasi Majid dihasilkan oleh orang Cam Kemboja hanya kerana kami menggunakan kebanyakan huruf dari sana. Kumpulan kami ialah Cam secara keseluruhan.

Kami menggunakan huruf ‘ro’ bagi menggantikan ‘ghain’ untuk Inâ Rak dan Takai Krak. Sebahagian daripada golongan Jahed mengatakan bahawa Panduranga menggunakan bunyi Rrrr manakala Kampong Chnang menggunakan bunyi Ghhh (Viet: "cô gái"). Ia terang-terang tidak ada perbezaan bagi kedua-dua skrip Eastern dan Western kerana Bahasa Cam tergolong di dalam kumpulan Melayo Polynesian. Contoh, ‘rup’ ialah ‘rupa’…’bicar’ ialah ‘bicara’…’drei’ ialah ‘diri’,,,’daruai’ ‘duri’…’marai’ ‘mari’…’harei’ ‘hari’…’ rabung’ ‘rebung’…’ribau’ ’ribu’…dll. Bukankah ‘ro’ menjadikan Bahasa Cam begitu mirip dengan bahasa-bahasa Melayu yang lain?

Kami memutuskan untuk menamakannya Transliterasi Majid bagi membezakan Jawi Cam jenis ini dengan mana-mana Jawi Cam yang lain. Kebanyakan orang Cam Islam yang bertungkus-lumus untuk mengekalkan bahasa kita tidak mengkaji bahasa Cam dari asas iaitu Akhar Cam dalam bentuk Sanskrit. Kita tak boleh nak kata satu-satu perkataan itu dieja dengan betul melainkan ada bukti dari inskripsi kuno atau dengan alternatif lain – tubuhkan Majlis Syura.

Perkataan ‘baik’ di dalam Bahasa Cam tidak dapat difahami oleh orang Cam di sekitar An Giang dan Kemboja, kerana mereka biasanya menggunakan ‘waik’. ‘Baik’ merupakan Bahasa Cam standard yang dijumpai di dalam manuskrip, yang bermaksud ‘-lah’ di dalam Bahasa Melayu …’bac baik’…’bacalah’ …(=bac nao, bac waik, bac maik). Kami menulis ‘rup’ tetapi tidak ‘rub’ kerana di dalam Bahasa Cam tidak ada ‘ba mati’. Jika kita ingin mematikan huruf ‘ba’ kita perlu menggunakan huruf ‘pa’. Tidak mengapa jika anda tidak mampu membaca Transliterasi Majid tetapi ini bukanlah satu alasan untuk kami berhenti. Kami akan terus bergerak menerokai ilmu dan waris dari zaman silam demi kepentingan generasi akan datang.

Kumpulan kami bersedia dan terbuka untuk sebarang debat dan perbincangan, bagi menghasilkan skrip yang lebih baik demi kemuafakatan orang Cam Islam di seluruh dunia. Kami tidak mengatakan bahawa Transliterasi Majid adalah tetap dan tidak boleh dilakukan pindaan, kami akan menyusun semula sekiranya terdapat pandangan yang logik dan bernas. Semua orang adalah dialu-alukan, tidak terkecuali yang Balamon.

Akhir kata, marilah kita bersama-sama menhayati ungakapan mudah ini:

Cam: “Parandap hagait krung njep, panjep hagait krung randap”.

Melayu: “Biasakan yang betul, betulkan yang biasa”.

English: “Habituate right things, do rightly habitual things”.

Apa jua pandangan, sila tinggalkan komen anda. Terima kasih untuk masa anda, great day!

12 comments:

Azah said...

nice post here.
I love u & family named it Majid Transliteration.

If there is debate in Cham, i guess is more good. so we know that Chams is start thinking.

urangCam said...

The name given is as an honor for his effort. Mr Majid is very low profile, he needs nothin except for the sake of our people. So, we decide to name the Huruf Cham Transliteration by his name. Thanks to him!

Azah said...

yes thanks to him. i have open up my eyes to create doodle Cam becoz of seeing his effort, and admiring his love to his peoples.

I hope he will keep continue striving and you too and us :)

Anonymous said...

assalamualaikum..
kat mana saya boleh download majid translation ye?utk pc..

Anonymous said...

Hi! My name is Ilya, i'm collecting obsolete and rare letters not represented in the Unicode. Now I'm planning to write a proposal to add several missed Arabic letters to this standard, for examples a Seen with dot above for Chinese Xiaoerjing or some letters of Bosnian Arebica. I've found that sometimes Arabic alphabet is used for the Cham language. But there was no explanation what Arabic letters are used to write Cham. Could you provide me a list of them? Possibly, if some of them doesn't exist in the Unicode it will be a matter for new issue in my proposal.


please answer on eljah[at]mail.ru
--
Regards, Ilya.

urangCam said...

Hi Ilya, thx for droppin by. There are some kinds of Arabic alphabet in Muslim Cham communities in Vietnam and Cambodia. And there's NO AN AGREEMENT in both countries; or the Muslim Chams worldwide. Mr.Majid hd found out tht this matter happens bcoz the Muslim Chams don't know the primary figure of Cham alphabets in the Hinduism era. So the writing is problematic when they don't do the directly transcription (form Sanskrit form into Arabic and ABC form). When Islam arrived, there was chaos in the Kingdom of Champa, so the converted Cham peoples (into Islam) had abandoned the Sanskrit form of writing. When centuries passed by, the Chams don't even know tht their own Kak Khak (like ABC Cham in Sanskrit)exists. Nowadays, when the Chams had mastered the Islamic religious practice and Arabic language, they fully use the Cham language in Arabic form....as they please or as they think they spell right. When this happen, it's hard for the other parts of Muslim Chams read the writing. And frequently there were argumentation. Mr.Majid had realized this matter and tried to correct their Arabic-Cham usage. U can look at the script I had posted in this entry.
From above:
1)Akhar(Cham alphabet) Kak equals to 'Kaf', ok, everybody agrees this.
2)The 2nd one is akhar Khak, some of them represent this with 'Kho', while there's no pronunciation of 'Kho' in Cham language. So Mr.Majid had disagreed with the usage of Kho and hd replaced it with 'Kaf+light Hak' as a single akhar Khak. Eg: the spelling of 'Khin'(Want) --> 'Kaf Hak Yak Nun', read as 'Khhhin' not 'Kahin'.
3)Kaf with a dot above is called 'Huruf Ga' around the Malay Archipelago. All of the Muslim Chams agree the akhar Gak is represented by 'huruf Ga', ok.
4)Akhar Ghak is represented by a 'Kaf+heavy Hak'. Why we use the heavy Hak while it's the light Hak juz now? Bcoz the pronunciation of akhar Ghak is heavier than akhar Khak. This explanation tells the relevant of akhars Chak-Jhak, Thak-Dhak and Phak-Bhak.
5)Akhar Ndak = 'Dal' with 3dots above. In Vietnam, they use a Dal with a dot below. Mr.Majid isn't agree with a dot below bcoz, logically, the Arabian Dal is either zero dot (Dal) or a dot ABOVE (Dzal). The Dal with 3dots above is used by the Muslim Chams in Cambodia. This explanation also applied for akhar Mbak.

Hope this clarification helpful. I stop here for now, any request, tell me later. All the best!

suaramirza said...

This is an intresting fact that our ancestors are not from Southern China >> http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/

suaramirza said...

This is an intresting fact that our ancestors are not from Southern China >> http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/

Anonymous said...

Hi. I am working on an Internet project that covers South East Asian languages using Arabic script. I am very interested in the Majid Transliteration.

Questions:
1. How widely used is the Majid Transliteration? Has it been used to publish written materials? Can you show some images that indicate use?

2. How is the Alif with 3 dots above pronounced in your language?

Are the 3 dots required above the Alif?

Thank you for your response.

Sincerely,

Rina

urangCam said...

Dear Suaramirza,
Thx for the interesting info!

Dear Rina,
To know how this kind of transliteration exist, plz check this link.

http://naipaleikaohkabuak.blogspot.com/2010/04/kamus-cam-melayu.html

Answer:
1) It is hard to say how wide it is used as Cham people tend to do as their please. Very few interested to study with foundation. We developed the form of transliteration with proof but it's a hard work if the Muslim Chams totally reject the Sanskrit form, which this leads to their complication of understanding the logic behind Majid Transliteration.

2) Yes, the dots are needed to distinguish between other vowel sounds; "a"(alif) & "e"(alif + sukoon). The pronunciation is hard to explain..urgh! N it's one of the hardest to pronounce.

Hope answered. All the best! :)

Anonymous said...

Urang Cham!
My name is Ysa Cosiem, a Cham from Vietnam. I am interested in this interesting Transliteration technique of the Cham language. I myself do not know much but try hard to be able to write my native anguage in Alphabet first and my own Akhar Thrah (Cham writing text) later. Please send me anything you have - history, who created, and in what year - about the Rumi Cham (transliteration from Akhar Thrah to Alphabet). Thank you very much. Your request for comment at the end regarding the phrase “Parandap hagait krung njep, panjep hagait krung randap” is interesting but I do not know what you mean by that. However, I sê that you have a gơd comand of the Cham speaking language. You perfect the Cham language by using the Prefix "Pa". There is also the prefix "Ma". You use the term RANDAP=habit, practice, but there is another term that our Cham in Châu Đôc use, SRAM=practise. We have the word MASRAM=practise it yourself. Similarly we have the term KHAM=Try which has both prefixes PA and MA such as PAKHAM=you urge someone to try and MAKHAM=you try yourself. I have these things inside me for a while, but haven't sên or heard about these prefixes from anyone else and want to share with you here. Give me your thought and please clarify your request of the phrase listed at the end of your posting. I can be reached at Ycosiem@yahơ.com or via Facebơok with the name "Ysa Cosiem". Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Urang Cham!
My name is Ysa Cosiem, a Cham from Vietnam. I am interested in this interesting Transliteration technique of the Cham language. I myself do not know much but try hard to be able to write my native anguage in Alphabet first and my own Akhar Thrah (Cham writing text) later. Please send me anything you have - history, who created, and in what year - about the Rumi Cham (transliteration from Akhar Thrah to Alphabet). Thank you very much. Your request for comment at the end regarding the phrase “Parandap hagait krung njep, panjep hagait krung randap” is interesting but I do not know what you mean by that. However, I sê that you have a gơd comand of the Cham speaking language. You perfect the Cham language by using the Prefix "Pa". There is also the prefix "Ma". You use the term RANDAP=habit, practice, but there is another term that our Cham in Châu Đôc use, SRAM=practise. We have the word MASRAM=practise it yourself. Similarly we have the term KHAM=Try which has both prefixes PA and MA such as PAKHAM=you urge someone to try and MAKHAM=you try yourself. I have these things inside me for a while, but haven't sên or heard about these prefixes from anyone else and want to share with you here. Give me your thought and please clarify your request of the phrase listed at the end of your posting. I can be reached at Ycosiem@yahoo.com or via Facebơok with the name "Ysa Cosiem". Thanks.