Crypto-linguistics in Singapore : deciphering the Singapore Stone

• Main Author: Chua, Sock Hui
• Other Authors: Perono Cacciafoco Francesco
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2019
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities; DRNTU::Humanities::Linguistics
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/76546
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The Singapore Stone was a sandstone with around 50 lines of inscription, but was blown up in 1843. A fragment of the original stone now lies in the National Museum of Singapore. Three legends in the Sejarah Melayu detail possible origins of the Stone. This study is a methodical attempt at deciphering the Singapore Stone and comprises a fieldwork at the nearby Karimun Besar with a deciphered inscription. By examining the legends on Badang and Sang Ranjuna Tupa and the historical-geographical background of Singapore, this paper postulates that the unknown script could be the Kalinga script from Kling or Kawi script used in Java. Comparisons of the inscription on the fragment with the Kalinga and Kawi scripts yield no results due to the lack of available information. However, certain phonetic values of the Kawi script can be assigned to signs on the fragment, but reading does not mean understanding. The fieldwork showed that the legend associated with the landscape features is passed on although information on the Karimun Inscription remains unknown amongst the locals. This study also serves as a starting point for the decipherment of the Singapore Stone, and further research can look into finding the other fragments sent to Calcutta.