Believe me Jussi, i do understand your frustration. However, the study of the keris is not like the study of a subject like mathematics. There are far less absolutes and a whole lot of very fussy areas. I am as interested in the why, where and when of this dhapur development as you are. The truth, i am afraid, is that it is very possible that no one can provide us with the definitive answers to these questions. Much of the information about keris is speculative or has been lost to time. So we discuss what we can. The name game can be quite frustrating and confusing and may well be a useless exercise in the end. Still i don't think the right thing to do is to shut down such discussions if people are interested in the exercise. Certainly there are some things to be learned from the application of languages in the keris world.
Your request that "all terms that are not clearly and broadly accepted and shared within the keris community should not be used" is indeed a difficult one because i believe that there are in fact many "keris communities" and they may use some different terminology. Words for various parts of the keris can differ from island to island and sometimes even be different on various parts of the same island. It is indeed complex and confusing, but it is what it is. Often enough i will try to use an English word to describe a keris part, but there is a limit to that and just as often i am left only with a local term to use. What English word could i use to describe a gonjo for instance, or to draw attention to the sogokan or gandik of a blade? Of course these are Javanese words and might not necessarily apply to a blade from another origin, but they are used in the hope that we all understand what is meant. But many keris come from areas where Javanese was not the dominate language and so different names developed for various parts, dhapurs and pamors. I don't think it is fair to call these different names excessive. At the end of the day i don't think any of these names really help us with understanding the deeper questions of the keris, which in my mind are many. But i also think that it is necessary to have a fair grasp of the cultures and languages (and therefore names given) of the various peoples of the keris if one is to have any hope of uncovering any of the deeper understanding that i think we all seek here. So in the end i think such discussions as these are at least relevant even if they are nothing more than a scratch at the surface.
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