APPENDIX.

The attached tabular form shows that system of transliterating the Arabic Alphabet which is now proposed to the Society as being the most suitable for use in its Journal, and also the variations found in other systems. In deciding upon it the Committee have been guided by the following considerations:

(a) That as the Indian system has been so generally adopted it is undesirable to depart from it without cogent reason.

(b) That it is desirable to use a single letter or character to represent one character of the original, i.e. to avoid (if possible) such combinations as sh, ph, etc.

(c) That sufficient diacritical marks should be used to render it easy to transliterate a passage back into the original character.

(d) That such letters shall be used that in case of diacritical marks and other such symbols being omitted (as must occur in newspaper reports, maps, etc.) the pronunciation of the words will not, to European ears, be materially altered.

NOTES TO THe Table.

1. Taking first the consonants as shown in the accompanying table it will be seen that as regards the following letters there is no difference of opinion♪j (as

bdhz y

and the Persian . Р

In Malay writing is used for p. It is proposed, however, that the should always be transliterated, and not omitted when silent at the end of a word, as has been customary in India.

2. As regards the following there is no important difference of opinion, the only point that is open to