Origin of the Tombak?

katana · 25th September 2010, 06:20 PM

Hi Bill,
I am wondering whether this has anything to do with the naming of Tombaks..........

".....Tombac, as spelled in French, or Tombak is a brass alloy with high copper content and 5-20% zinc content..............The term tombak derives from the Javanese derived Indonesian (erroneously termed Malay) word tembaga- meaning copper. Tembaga entered Dutch usage concurrent with their colonisation of Indonesia (see Dutch East Indies). Likely, the term was used generically to describe Indonesian high-copper brass items, including gamelan gongs. It is one of the very few Indonesian or Malay loan words used in English, German or Dutch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tombac

Perhaps, its simply due to brass decoration

Kind Regards David

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25th September 2010, 06:20 PM	#24
katana Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Kent Posts: 2,658	Hi Bill, I am wondering whether this has anything to do with the naming of Tombaks.......... ".....Tombac, as spelled in French, or Tombak is a brass alloy with high copper content and 5-20% zinc content..............The term tombak derives from the Javanese derived Indonesian (erroneously termed Malay) word tembaga- meaning copper. Tembaga entered Dutch usage concurrent with their colonisation of Indonesia (see Dutch East Indies). Likely, the term was used generically to describe Indonesian high-copper brass items, including gamelan gongs. It is one of the very few Indonesian or Malay loan words used in English, German or Dutch. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tombac Perhaps, its simply due to brass decoration Kind Regards David