How wide spread is the term Sundang

Conogre · 16th February 2005, 03:53 PM

I know it only adds to the confusion, but I in particular tend to find the history and artifacts of each particular tribe or tribal group and feel that, when possible, knowing/using the local name for a piece from the originators is 1) a sign of respect, and 2) that this tiny area of linguistics out to be researched and documented in connection to weapons and weapon/tools in particular as modernization draws more and more away from the tribes and into "civilization" these terms are lost to posterity at a rate that's truly mind boggling.
Speaking just for myself, Federico and Zamboanga, please pass on any local info that you can think of and I'll definitely try and incorporate it into my collection.
Having remote Native American ancestry on both sides of my family I find that what knowledge remains of Native American weaponry is truly shameful, with most a gone as if it never was.

Federico · 18th February 2005, 12:46 AM

So we find locals in Pampanga, Leyte/Samar, Manila, add Nueva Ecija (just remembered mom using the term) using the term sundang. Anymore specific areas that use this term? The Malay root sounds like a very plausible reason for its diffusion in such a large area, but what does the sundang refer to in Malaysia, Borneo, Indonesia (aside from the keris sundang)? I like Zel's interpretation that perhaps sundang refers to fighting blades, but then when my mom uses the term she uses it to describe just regular bolo. Is its meaning perhaps also rooted in time? Eg. in the past it refered to a weapon, but as modern times erase the commonness of weapons in Xtian areas, it joins the pantheon of generic bolo terms such as itak, tabak, etc... (in the kitchen my mom always tells me to pass her the itak when she wants a knife and the tabak when she wants the cleaver).

16th February 2005, 03:53 PM	#1
Conogre Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Clearwater, Florida Posts: 371	I know it only adds to the confusion, but I in particular tend to find the history and artifacts of each particular tribe or tribal group and feel that, when possible, knowing/using the local name for a piece from the originators is 1) a sign of respect, and 2) that this tiny area of linguistics out to be researched and documented in connection to weapons and weapon/tools in particular as modernization draws more and more away from the tribes and into "civilization" these terms are lost to posterity at a rate that's truly mind boggling. Speaking just for myself, Federico and Zamboanga, please pass on any local info that you can think of and I'll definitely try and incorporate it into my collection. Having remote Native American ancestry on both sides of my family I find that what knowledge remains of Native American weaponry is truly shameful, with most a gone as if it never was.

18th February 2005, 12:46 AM	#2
Federico Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Minneapolis, MN, USA Posts: 312	So we find locals in Pampanga, Leyte/Samar, Manila, add Nueva Ecija (just remembered mom using the term) using the term sundang. Anymore specific areas that use this term? The Malay root sounds like a very plausible reason for its diffusion in such a large area, but what does the sundang refer to in Malaysia, Borneo, Indonesia (aside from the keris sundang)? I like Zel's interpretation that perhaps sundang refers to fighting blades, but then when my mom uses the term she uses it to describe just regular bolo. Is its meaning perhaps also rooted in time? Eg. in the past it refered to a weapon, but as modern times erase the commonness of weapons in Xtian areas, it joins the pantheon of generic bolo terms such as itak, tabak, etc... (in the kitchen my mom always tells me to pass her the itak when she wants a knife and the tabak when she wants the cleaver).