Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

baganing_balyan · 3rd July 2008, 09:46 AM

Mr. Maisey, I know you are an expert of Javanese language and culture, but what really made me laugh-- inside though-- is your stubborn insistence that "kinris" appeared in early javanese text.

I refrain from questioning peoples knowledge of logic, but since you really want me to resort to it, this is my logical explanation that will hopefully open your mind and close the issue.

How could "kinris" appear in early javanese text when the javanese people that time period used a sanskrit-like script? If you ask me it's the fault of the translator not yours.

Maybe the original javanese word means cut or "gorok"-- Filipino gulok (bolo) comes from that word. Instead of using "gorok", the tranlator used keris. That's already problematic right there. Why would a verb be tranlated into a noun? I think the translator thought of gorok as a blade like gulok. The appropriate translation would have been "ginorok" not "kinris." By the way "gorok" is still widely used in relation to slaughtering animals. "kinris" is never used according to my indonesian friend.

If you read the javanese prose you posted, it is definitely about hunting, spearing, and cutting animals. I think you are lost in translation.

3rd July 2008, 09:46 AM	#2
baganing_balyan Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 89	Mr. Maisey, I know you are an expert of Javanese language and culture, but what really made me laugh-- inside though-- is your stubborn insistence that "kinris" appeared in early javanese text. I refrain from questioning peoples knowledge of logic, but since you really want me to resort to it, this is my logical explanation that will hopefully open your mind and close the issue. How could "kinris" appear in early javanese text when the javanese people that time period used a sanskrit-like script? If you ask me it's the fault of the translator not yours. Maybe the original javanese word means cut or "gorok"-- Filipino gulok (bolo) comes from that word. Instead of using "gorok", the tranlator used keris. That's already problematic right there. Why would a verb be tranlated into a noun? I think the translator thought of gorok as a blade like gulok. The appropriate translation would have been "ginorok" not "kinris." By the way "gorok" is still widely used in relation to slaughtering animals. "kinris" is never used according to my indonesian friend. If you read the javanese prose you posted, it is definitely about hunting, spearing, and cutting animals. I think you are lost in translation. Last edited by baganing_balyan; 3rd July 2008 at 10:00 AM.