Old keris ?

[A. G. Maisey]

No problem with the spellings Henk.

Wrangka would still be pronounced wrongko. In fact, current correct formal spelling would be wrangka, and gonjo would be ganja. I usually use the phonetic spellings because most people reading these posts would not know how to correctly pronounce wrangka.

In fact, it is virtually impossible for somebody who has not been taught correct Javanese pronunciations to get them right from the printed word.

This "a" "o" thing has its roots in the change from hand writing to type writing to computers.

When hanacaraka (honocoroko) was romanised, words like gonjo and wrongko etc had the sound represented by an "a" with two little dots over it. The sound of this is definitely not "a", nor is it "o", its sort of like an "a" that is formed far back in the throat, and to the modern ear sounds like a phonetic "o". If I were a linguist I could explain this better, but I'm not.

In any case, how it is spelt doesn't matter, how it is pronounced does.

Wrangka = wrongko, ganja = gonjo


Re the use of brushed on lemon or lime juice for cleaning.

Yes, I agree that the use of this is an excellent method, and for a blade with a relatively smooth surface, and made from non-porous material, it is without question the premium method to use. It uses a lot of time, but it is the best.

However, for a blade that has pitting, or a blade that is made from porous material, a soak method of cleaning is required. The medium used for the soak could be coconut water, citric acid, vinegar, or any acidic medium. Some commercial blade cleaning in Jawa is done with very dilute hydrochloric acid.

For a long time I used pineapple juice, but in recent years that has not been my preferred medium, simply because good pineapple juice is no longer available.