Keris Videos (Malay Peninsula)

[David]

Originally Posted by Green

Malays never use the the specific word empu for keris makers as far as I can tell, despite what the prof said in the early part of the vid. Actually we (malaysian malays) don't have a specific word for that as far as I can tell.We usually refer to them as tukang buat keris, tukang buat sarong, tukan buat hulu... all general terms with the word 'tukang' in front (tukang= maker)

Well, i don't want to belabor this debate about language and i am indeed sure that you are correct Green, that these words such as "empu" and "warangan" are borrow words from the Javanese. However, i believe it might be a bit imprudent to suggest that Malays "never" use the word "empu" for instance. Certainly we have the good Dr. Abdul Mua'ti, who is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Modern Language and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, using that word in the video along with certain other Javanese terminology. Clearly the words are not unknown and are occasionally used.