Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

marto suwignyo · 25th June 2005, 01:38 AM

Kiai yth

I wonder if you could help me with something.

You tell us that the agricultural tool with a recurved tip, and known as a bendho around Jogja is never called this east of Solo .

Now, when I live in Java, my house is in Palur, which is east of Solo, and we call the tool shown by Henk a bendho, and we also call another tool that is essentially the same as a European billhook or pruning hook, a bendho.The tool that we call a bendho is similar to Henk`s tool, but without the swelling , the blade being only recurved, this one sometimes gets called a parang, which of course it is, as parang is generic, and bendho is specific.

My wife comes from Pare, near Kediri, and that`s a long way east of Solo. I showed her the picture of Henk`s bendho and asked what she would call it. She told me that she would call it bendho. I then got my own bendho from the garden shed ( this one came from Boyolali, and looks like a European billhook or pruning hook) and asked her what that was called in Pare. Again she told me it was a bendho. I am inclined to believe that her identifications are accurate, as her father owned a business which amongst other things, produced tools commercially, and my wife herself once owned a dairy farm.

Neither I nor my wife have ever heard this tool shown by Henk, referred to as an "arit gedhe", and our understanding of an arit gedhe is of something quite different to what Henk has shown. Again, neither of us know of a tool called a kudhi, but I did show the picture of Henk`s tool to a friend who comes from Jember, and who has lived in both Bogor and Pamekesan, and he immediately identified it as a kudhi. The tool with a curved blade and a little axe-like projection near the handle I have only seen a couple of times, and my notes tell me that it is called a "luke"(pron:lukeh).

I understand very well that the names of things can change from village to village, so in order to help improve my own understanding of Javanese terminology I would greatly appreciate it if you could tell me :-

1) the approximate location of the place where Henk`s tool is known as an "arit gedhe".

2) what a tool that looks like Henk`s tool, but without the swelling in the blade---that is, something like a European billhook or pruning hook---would be called in this place.

3) the approximate location where the tool with the axe-like projection near the handle is known as a "kudhi".

Please understand:- this is in no way a challenge to you; I understand that you are Javanese, and I believe that you would know exactly what things are called in your own village. My enquiry is simply to assist my own understanding of the variations in usage of the Javanese language.

Thank you for your assistance.

25th June 2005, 01:38 AM	#6
marto suwignyo Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 52	Kiai yth I wonder if you could help me with something. You tell us that the agricultural tool with a recurved tip, and known as a bendho around Jogja is never called this east of Solo . Now, when I live in Java, my house is in Palur, which is east of Solo, and we call the tool shown by Henk a bendho, and we also call another tool that is essentially the same as a European billhook or pruning hook, a bendho.The tool that we call a bendho is similar to Henk`s tool, but without the swelling , the blade being only recurved, this one sometimes gets called a parang, which of course it is, as parang is generic, and bendho is specific. My wife comes from Pare, near Kediri, and that`s a long way east of Solo. I showed her the picture of Henk`s bendho and asked what she would call it. She told me that she would call it bendho. I then got my own bendho from the garden shed ( this one came from Boyolali, and looks like a European billhook or pruning hook) and asked her what that was called in Pare. Again she told me it was a bendho. I am inclined to believe that her identifications are accurate, as her father owned a business which amongst other things, produced tools commercially, and my wife herself once owned a dairy farm. Neither I nor my wife have ever heard this tool shown by Henk, referred to as an "arit gedhe", and our understanding of an arit gedhe is of something quite different to what Henk has shown. Again, neither of us know of a tool called a kudhi, but I did show the picture of Henk`s tool to a friend who comes from Jember, and who has lived in both Bogor and Pamekesan, and he immediately identified it as a kudhi. The tool with a curved blade and a little axe-like projection near the handle I have only seen a couple of times, and my notes tell me that it is called a "luke"(pron:lukeh). I understand very well that the names of things can change from village to village, so in order to help improve my own understanding of Javanese terminology I would greatly appreciate it if you could tell me :- 1) the approximate location of the place where Henk`s tool is known as an "arit gedhe". 2) what a tool that looks like Henk`s tool, but without the swelling in the blade---that is, something like a European billhook or pruning hook---would be called in this place. 3) the approximate location where the tool with the axe-like projection near the handle is known as a "kudhi". Please understand:- this is in no way a challenge to you; I understand that you are Javanese, and I believe that you would know exactly what things are called in your own village. My enquiry is simply to assist my own understanding of the variations in usage of the Javanese language. Thank you for your assistance.