Kalis: Origin of Minadanaon Kris

[baganing_balyan]

Originally Posted by RhysMichael

Ok I have been trying to follow this. But I have to ask. Don't both Moro and Christians in the Philippines both have spanish and portuguese words in their vocabulary ? I admit my experience is limited.

punal from punyal entered the maranao lexicon through chavacano (filipinized spanish) in zamboanga. it is a word for a knife not a maranao traditional name for a blade. Tagalogs use punyal too to mean a knife not as a name for a specific knife.

[RhysMichael]

Originally Posted by baganing_balyan

punal from punyal entered the maranao lexicon through chavacano (filipinized spanish) in zamboanga. it is a word for a knife not a maranao traditional name for a blade. Tagalogs use punyal too to mean a knife not as a name for a specific knife.

I know what punal/puyal means. I said my experience was limited but I am a student of Pananandata. The blade, sheath and handle form in every book I have seen ( From Stone to Cato) for Punal matches what David says. That is not to say there may not be other names for it in other dialects. I have stuggled with that on Aceh weapons, with all the ethnic groups lliving there the same weapon may be called a dozen different things depending on who you ask. Its the same weapon. I have seen a balisong the length of my arm. While not a traditional balisong it was still one.

And as I said above I have been led to believe that even "anti-christian, anti-spanish muslims" have both spanish and portuguese words they commonly use.

[baganing_balyan]

can someone tell me if this guy is holding a knife? his kris proves that not all krises in mindanao are the same. I have even seen a kris that has no snaky blade, and the handle is tube-like without design and the katik is not elaborate.

[RhysMichael]

Perhaps as with the large balisong( that was made for a window display) the larger punal developed more as a display piece than a use piece. Even if that is not the case I have also seen "Bowie Knives" nearly that large. So again what is one mans big knife may be anothers short sword.

[David]

Originally Posted by baganing_balyan

can someone tell me if this guy is holding a knife? his kris proves that not all krises in mindanao are the same. I have even seen a kris that has no snaky blade, and the handle is tube-like without design and the katik is not elaborate.

No need to link to the same site again. We can all see what the guy in yellow is holding. A serpentine blade is not a requirement for a kris BTW. No one is saying that. Though i would be willing to bet that the blade in that guy's sheath is in fact wavy. But let me say this again...and please, let it sink in. If it doesn't have an asymmetrical blade with a gonjo feature (separate or otherwise), it...is NOT...a kris. Clearly the width of the sheath on the blades you link to do NOT provide enough space for this feature. Therefore, these are NOT kris. What about this don't you understand?