Zainal Abidin Ahmad
Zainal Abidin Ahmad was born on September 16, 1895. See ranking, bio blurb, and everyone else born that day.
About Zainal Abidin Ahmad
Tan Sri Zainal Abidin bin Ahmad (Jawi: زين العابدين بن أحمد; 16 September 1895 – 23 October 1973) or better known by the moniker Za'aba (alternatively spelled Za'ba, Jawi: زاءبا), was a Malaysian writer and linguist. He modernised the Malay language with the publication of a series of grammar books entitled Pelita Bahasa in 1936 at the Sultan Idris Training College. The book contained guidelines in modernising the structure of classical Malay, transforming it into the language that is in use today: the most significant change was the switch from the conventional passive to the modern active form of syntax. He also devised the Za'aba Spelling system for Malay, which was adopted as the official orthography of Malay in Malaya and successor state Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei until when it was replaced by the New Rumi Spelling in 1972.