The Rejang is the alphabet of Lemba and Pasummah on the western side of Sumatra. It consists of 23 substantive characters, formed of upright strokes.
The Lampung nation, which occupies that portion of the south-western side of Sumatra which lies opposite to Java, divided from it only by the Straits of Sunda, has an alphabet of 19 substantive letters with double or treble con sonants, making them up to 44.
The Acheen and Malay of Sumatra are written in the Arabic character.
The Bima alphabet, formerly in use amongst the Bima people in the island of Sumbawa, east of Sumatra and Java, has now given way to the alphabets of the Celebes.
In Celebes are two distiuct alph abets, —Bugi and Macassar. The Bugi, at present in use over the whole island, extends to Bouton and Sumbawa, and -wherever the Bugi nation have settled or colonized. The modern Bugi has 23 substantive characters, consisting mostly of small segments of circles running horizontally. The Bugi letters have no resemblance to those of Sumatra or Java, or even to the obsolete alphabet of Sumbawa. The other alphabet of Celebes is now obsolete.
The last alphabet of the Archipelago is the Philippine, that of tbe Tagala nation of the great island of Lucon or Luconia, and consists of 13 characters. It is the only one existing in the whole of this group, and seems at one time to have been used among the civilised tribes of the neighbouring islands, having spread even to Magindanao and Sulu. The forms of the letters are rather bold and more cotnplex than that of the Sumatran alphabets.
Thus in the Archipelago are nine distinct alpha bets, but Dr. Taylor says the Sumatra alphabets are degraded types of the old Kawi. He also says that the prototype of the Eastern Malay alphabets seems to be the Eastern cursive alphabet, which is represented by the Ve • and Chalukya inscrip tions in the south, and by lie Assam inscriptions in the north. The Tagala is type of the Eastern Malay alphabets, and is the p ototype from which '33,,T\I.
the alphabets of Celebes and Macassar have been derived. The Tagala alphabet must have been conveyed by mariners from the Indian shores.
Javanese letters, also, are based'on an alphabet of the Pali type, obtained through lae old Kawi, known from copperplate grants of the 9th and 10th centuries. The ancient Kawi of Java is calle4 there the Buddha's alphabet, Akchara Buddha. N.The modern Javanese has additional letters derived float au earlier alphabet, and is also used in Borneo. ' The Corean is a primitive form of the Indian alphabet, supposed to be introduced by Buddhist teachers. It is from an ancient Pali or Tibetan type.
At present, in the south and east of Asia, the Roman and Italic characters, with slight diacritic points, are used everywhere by the British, French, Dutch, Portuguese, and Spaniards, alike in vrriting, printing, and engraving, and the sim plicity and the facility of these forms commend them. The plan of transcribbag oriental languages by Roman letters was first used in India and Japan by the Jesuits of the 16th century. Books printed by them at Goa about A.D. 1586, and at Amacosa (Japan), still exist.
Throughout all the south and east of Asia there are many races and numerous broken tribes who remain unlettered, though dwelling in the midst of civilisation. Such tribes affix their marks to documents, the implement or weapon in use with them, a dagger, a staff, a balance, a trowel, etc.; those of them who do write with letters have adopted one of the alphabets of the more ad vanced nations around them. The helot or
predial slave races, known in the Peninsula as the , Pariah, the Holar, the Mhang, the Mhar, have for two thousand years been dwelling as the village labourers, in hourly contact with people following the Buddhist and Brahmanical teachings, but they have not acquired either the religion or the lemn ing of their masters. The Gujar and Chamar of N. India are all illiterate. The great Gond nation, now partly under Muhammadan rule, partly under British sway, have no written character of their own, and very few- of them know how to read or write ; the sarne remark is applicable to the Bhil, the Mundah, Ho or Kol, the Kond or Ku,— perhaps all the Kolarian races. The Ahir, the Med, Afer or Meena, the Gonds in Bustar, the forest or inountain races, the Chaura, Saura, Suar, Chensuar, the Yanadi, and the Korawa of the eastern side peninsula, the Toda, Kotah, Badaga, or Irular of the Neilgherry Hills, do not know how to read or write, nor is it known that any of the Kurb or Kurumbar race of the Peninsula of India can do either. This is remarkable, because with their great flocks they must have numerous sales the written record of which would be useful to them ; but this remark is equally applicable to many other races engaged in trading transactions, such as the Binjara or Lambara, who till recently were the chief carriers throughout India, the Phakili or °hamar, leather-workers ; the Mali or gardener races ; the Upuravar ; the Beldar or Waddara, labourers, road-makers, tank -diggers, who take great contracts for roads and other public works ; and the smaller broken tribes of Beder or Veddah of the Peninsula and Ceylon ; the Rhodia of that island, the Yerkala, the Kai kara, the Baura, the Makwa, and many others.
The Mongol and Manchu of Central Asia have characters which they use in writing. It is not known whether the- tribes near the Chinese frontier and Tibet, the Gyami, Gyarung, Tak-pa, Alan-yak, Thochu, Sok-pa, Horpa, have any know ledge of letters ; and the same remark is applicable to the broken trilat in Nepal, particularly to the languages of the Kiranti -6.ro, up in East Nepal. It is not known that any of the tribes near the valley of Assam, the Aka, Dofla, Abor, Bodo, Kocifh, Garo, Naga, Mishmi, Miri, Singpo, Shendu, or Khassya have any written tongue. The Rev. Dr. Mason and Mrs. Mason taught letters to the Karen, but the Ku-ki, Ka-mi, Pwo, Khampa, Kam-ti, Shan, and other tribes in the north-east of Burma are not known to have any scriptory menus of intercommuni cat ion.
The nations of Europe write and print from left to right.
Tho Chinese, Japanese, and Mongol write in perpendicular lines.
Some of the ancient Greeks used the double mode, called the boustrophedon or plough-wise, runnino. from the right to left, and left to right in the ablternate lines.
Machines called type- writers have been in vented for printing Roman and Italic cha racters, and for figures. — Dr. Isaac Taylor, JILA., LL.D., on the Alphabet; Professor Max Midler, Ancient Sanskrit Literature ; Thomas' Prinsep's Antiquities ; Professor A. IL Sayce ; Lubbock's Origin of Civilisation; Crawfurd's Dic tionary ; A. R. TVallace, itIalay Archipelago ; Layard's Nineveh, p. 184; 1Veber p. 15 ; G. Rawlinson, ii. p.376; Renan, Ilistoire'des Langues Semitique. See languages.