Jonathan Rigg

“ Brěg, the idiomatic expression of flinging anything down on the ground, or of anything giving way and falling to the ground.
Bréh, the idiomatic expression of sight or view, as Bréh bai témbong and lo! it came into sight. See ébréh.
Brěm, a fermented liquor made from rice, with sundry additions to give it relish or strength.
Brěng, smut on corn, on coffee trees or other plants. It is a disease on coffee trees imparting to the leaves and branches a black pellicle, whilst at the axillae of the fruit a white smut sets itself, which causes the berries to rot and fall off. ”

“ Whenever a scoundrel sets up in opposition to Government authority, or makes a rebellion, he always hopes to delude the simple native, and for that purpose pretends to be Wěduk or invulnerable, or that no weapon can cut him nor shot wound him, in which he easily succeeds and gets a concourse of people after him. ”

“ Liar, to go abroad, to stroll out. To stroll carelessly about. To come out to feed as a wild animal.
Liat, tough, tenacious. Daging kĕbo liat, tough buffaloe flesh. Kayu liat, tough wood.
Liat is not always so much tough, that is hard, as resisting any attempt to cut or tear it asunder; a cutting instrument only makes small effect upon it.
Lichik, skulking from work, evading obligations.
Lidig, well beaten down by people passing over; trampled down.
Ligar, roomy, having space.
Ligar kawung, the spatha or flower case of the Kawung palm expanded. ”

“ Rajěg, standing upright. Standing in a row, as a crowd of men. Jélěma na gěus rojěg bai, plenty of people are present standing waiting.
Rajěg Wěsi, name of an ancient place in Java, the site of which has not been determined, meaning Iron fence.
Rajěki, profit, prosperity, good luck. No doubt the Arabic word Rězěki, which both Marsden and Crawfurd give as—victuals, food, subsistance. Crawfurd, however, has also Răzăk, Arabic, riches, good fortune. Nimu rějěki, to have a fall of lack. ”

“ Any wood set fast and projecting, as drift wood in a river.
Tunggal, alone, separate, distinct. Independent of any other. Séngyang Tunggal, the independent, the only divinity, - which conveys the nearest approach to the unity of the godhead, as understood by the ancient and pagan Javanese, only we know that they had the whole Hindu tribe of gods in reverence at the same moment, and thus that Séngyang Tunggal, though independent of the other gods, and in many respects the chief divinity, did not prevent the other deities being active, each in his own peculiar sphere. ”

“ The combination of letters ng is to be sounded as in sing, ringing, longing in English, and zang, bang, tang, boring, hangen in Dutch. A great many words in Sunda begin with this ng, the pronunciation of which to a beginner is rather difficult and perhaps can only be overcome by a little practice from hearing the natives pronounce it. Thus in ngang'ah to gape, the apostrope after the second ng' shows that the word must be prounced ngang-ah, and not ngan-gah. The ng being in reality one letter sound, for which no European language perhaps possesses an appropriate letter. ”

“ Friederich explains the word Marapati for dove as the „Lord of Death” in reference to the custom still in use on Bali of letting fly a dove from the head of the widow at the moment she plunges into the gulf of fire, and explains that on Bali this bird is called Titiran, wich is the same as the Perkutut of Batavia and of the Sunda districts, and thus not the common domestic dove. Whatever may now be the case as to the bird so let loose, there can, from what has been said above, exist no doubt that that bird was originally the common domestic dove. ”

“ On Java and Bali there existed an adoration of serpents (Vasuki) and the Bujangga's appear originally to have been worshippers of reformer of Indian absurdities. Every body knows Buddha is not the name but the title acquired by the son of Cuddhodana, But Budha is one of the till now rather mysterious persons of unrcformed Hindu Mythology, whose coming into existence depends upon the decision at what time the week of seven days first was invented, or when the next planets became known to the Indians. Budha appears at the head of the lunar race of Kings of India. ”

“ Arabic, MARSDEN 207, obligatory observances (by divine institution) .
Pėréng, name of a ficus variety with multitudinous small seeds all over the stem, Picus Ribes.
Pěrés, to squeeze out water from a cloth, to wring out. To milk a cow. The word sounds like the English press in press out. In Malay it is Pruh, with same meaning as the Sunda Pěrés. See MARSDEN p. 221.
Pěrěték, steep and rugged; said of a road or way which is very bad and almost impassable from its steepness.
Péri, Persian, a fairy; a class of supernatural beings residing upon earth but invisible, whose nature is beneficent. ”

“ Over these five days Hindu deities preside, viz Mahiswara or Siva—Bisnu or Vishnu—Barahama or Brahma—Asri or Sri who is the goddess Lakshmi—and Kala who is also Yama, the Regent of death. All sorts of rebels to constituted authority generally have, or pretend to be provided with a Pancha-lima, with which they dupe their followers. Pancha is Sanscrit for five, C, 347 and Lima is also five in Malay, Sunda, and many other Polynesian tongues and the compound word seems therefore to be tautology, of which the uninitiated are not conscious. ”

“ The only word to be brought forward in favour of Marsden and Crawfurd is Kuda, derived by Humboldt and others from Scr. ghota. But even this derivation is no more than a conjecture. The name self dragon's tail is not an auspicions one, why should it have been given to such a fine, celebrated country? Kaduwa might be Khadga, on Java however such an alteration seems not to be admissible. We might find perhaps the Etymon of the word in any of the Polynesian languages. The writing كدو (Kĕdu) in Marsdens Malay dictionary leaves it uncertain if the e be long or short. ”

“ We must, however, except the Rejangs of Sumatra, who use Do for one, but again these same people have Duy for two, and the rest of their numerals are closely allied to those of the Malays. How these people of the Archipelago came by these Sanscrit words to express One and Two is very perplexing, as though they are Sanscrit, or can be traced to an intelligible Sanscrit origin, they are not the usual words in that language for One, which is either Ek or Eka,—which is also the case in Singhalese, as well as in the Kawi and Pali of Java, which had their origin from the continent of India. ”

“ Sumatra, the island so called by Europeans. The island is not so known by any natives, either on the island itself or on Java, and yet Europeans appear to have learnt that name from natives, when they first visited the East. Natives do not appear to have any general name, now adays at least, for the whole country, but designate its various parts, as Lampung, Bangkahulu, Aché &c. &c. The natives of India called it of old Jawa, as well as the island which we call Java. At Singapore, to this day, they call the wind blowing from Sumatra, angin Jawa. ”

“ Chégér, a bit of young jungle cut down and planted with paddy; a small humah made in young forest. A small paddy plantation in addition to some greater piece of cultivation.
Chéhchéran, to drop out grain by grain, like rice out of a torn bag.
Chékchok, chattering, much petty talk; grumbling and snappish at each other in conversation
Chěkék, to throttle a man or animal; to size by the collar or neck; to kill by tightening anything about the neck. Figuratively to oppress, to deal hardly with. ”

“ The Sunda people have a well known tradition that a time existed when their ancestors were not acquainted with paddy, but lived on Jégéng. Paddy is either grown on irrigated lands and hence called Paré sawah, or on uplands dependent upon rain and called Paré humah or Paré pasir. It may be useful to subjoin a list of the varieties known at Jasinga, distinguishing the sawah from the humah, giving the colour of the rice and noting whether the ears bear awns or beards or not. ”

“ The initial consonants of many words often vary rather arbitiarily for the sake apparently of what appears to be euphony to native ears, thus
when a word cannot be found in the dictionary with one form of initial, an attempt must be made to quess at its cognate affinily, and sought elsewhere, as to have always given the words with their varying shapes would only have unjustifiably tended to swell the size of the dictionary.
An extensive class of words exists in the Sunda, which I have distinguished by the name of idiomatic expressions. ”

“ In Roorda van Eysinga's dictionary of the Javanese language we find „Kalang, name of a people on Java, who formerly wandered about, but who are now chiefly fixed at Kali Wungu, Demak and Kěndal, and who have partly retained their peculiar customs." The word Balang, both in Javanese and Sunda, is to throw or fling, and Ka-balang, or by contraction perhaps Kalang, would mean flung out, and thus an outcast In Sunda also the word Alang-alangan means to wander about at random, and from this we may have Ka-alang. ”

“ Dalem is no doubt the same as Malay Dalam, within as in the estimation of natives, inner arrangements or a withdrawal from public view is considered consistent with a great man's dignity.
Dalěm, as dalem, individually, distributively , within the compass of. Didalem sa orang kabagian sapatong séwang individually each man got a little bit. Didalem is also Malay, and in that language implies, in, within, as well as the meaning attached to it in Sunda, The Sunda people retain the word only in a sort of metaphorical sense, as given above, and use di jero for in, within. ”

“ Tasik, this word only occurs, as far as I can learn, in one solitary instance in the Sunda language, and that is to form a proper name; viz in the Preanger Regencies, on the banks of the Chitandui, and south of the mountain Talaga Bodas, occurs Tasik Malaya, and thus inland and at a considerable distance from the sea. Tasi and Tasik, in many languages of the Archipelago, and throughout the Pacific, mean the Sea, and even in Javanese the word Tasik is found meaning a lake, the sea. The Ta may be the very common Polynesian negative, No, not, called in Sunda To. ”

“ Ma is also a constructive particle not only in Sunda but in most of the Polynesian languages, and is an inseparable prefix giving a verbale power to a substantive or idiomatic expression, as Mabur, to run away, from Bur, which see.
Ma-akham, burying ground, a place of interment for human beings; a cemetery. Ma-kam, arabic, place, situation. Makamkĕn in Malay, to bury, to inter. (Arab. مَقَامٌ Maqâm remaining at a place; a place) .
Ma-ap, arabic, absolved, pardoned, excused. The word is in common use for asking pardon, or begging excuse in occurrences of every day life. Pardon me; Excuse it. ”

“ Tangtang, to challenge, to provoke to fight, to defy, to call out. Musuh di tangtang, or Nangtangan musuh, to challenge the enemy.
Tangtang ang'in, the challenger of the wind, — rice boiled to a soft consistence, and then tied up in bambu leaves to carry on a journey. ”

“ But Kali is the word for a river in both Javanese and Malay as spoken on the coasts of Java, and especially at Batavia. The Sunda people use for river, Chi, chai, waluran.
Kakang, elder brother, more frequently Kaka, which see.
Kakap, name of a fine large sea fish of excellent flavour.
Kakapa, a padded cloth used by natives by way of a saddle.
Kakara, now for the first time; never before; Kakara nyaho di hadé na, now for the first time we know of its being in order.
Kakarak, only now, just now, freshly; as yet; now for the first time. Kakarak datang sa orang as yet only one man is come. ”

“ The Hindu people who cut the Sanscrit inscription on the rock on Jambu, at Pasir Koléangkak, might have introduced the system of irrigated rice-lands, and called so large a river as the one in question Si Dani, or her of the Paddy, personifying the river which gave the water, as the grain-producer or Ceres. Dhani, C. 298, is a rich and opulent man, and Chidhani or Chi-Si-Dani would be the river typical of opulence either from irrigating the land or from admitting foreign traders at its mouth. ”

“ Kampung, a village; is properly Malay, but is still from associating with Europeans and Chinese often used, especially to designate themselves as- orang kampung, village people, as distinct from foreigners. Kampung is probably derived from Kapung or Kepung to enclose, with the peculiar m interposed, giving it the sense of an enclosed place or village, as in rude states of society, every village was a fortified place. The usual word for village in Sunda is Lumbur. Kampung in Malay is not merely a village, but „an inclosure" a place surrounded with a paling; a fenced or fortified village ”

“ Bubur, Pap, rice or any other grain boiled well down till it is soft and watery, and being then mixed with sugar, is so eaten. Poultice for a wound.
Buburak, to chace out of any place, out of a field or forest; to drive impetuously before one. To hunt wild animals with dogs.
Buburuh, to take wages to do any work; to work for wages. Buburuh nyatu, di upah béas, taking pay for eating, he is still rewarded with rice: a Sunda proverb, for doing every thing to the best advantage. ”

“ Jélěma to embul-embul? is there no appearance of the people. See umbul-umbul.
Embun-ěmbun, the fontanella; the soft place on the top of the head of a new-born child; the crown of the head. Embung, unwilling, I won't; not being disposed to do anything. (The ĕ is rather not heard) .
Émés, a climbing plant found in gardens, or planted about the huts in humahs; a cucurbitous plant. Luffa Foetida.
Émpang, a fish pond. Any pond of water artificially made.
Empét-ĕmpétan, a child's trumpet made of Paddy straw, something after the fashion of a Clarionet, and played by sticking one end in the mouth. ”

“ The present town of Sidayu is within the straits of Madura, but the old Sidayu, called Sidayu lawas, faces the Java sea, and is found near the 153th paul from Samarang towards Sourabaya, and consequently 25 1/2 pauls more to the westward than the present chief town. The origin of the word Sidayu may perhaps be traced to the Javanese word Dayuh, a stranger, a visiter, a guest, and thus the resort of strangers, consequent on the trade carried on by sea, and from this circumstance the whole district has derived its name. Si is a common prefix in such sense. ”

“ I have never heard of it in the Sunda districts. The Bulu Ongko is a large forest tree growing in the Eastern districts of Java. I have seen it in Malang and inland of Banyuwang'i, and the people there all assure you that from its juice the virulent poison is prepared. Bulu they say is the name of a particular Ficus called in the Sunda districts Bunut, to which the leaf bears a resemblance; and Ongko is an abbreviated form of Nongko, nangka, the Jack fruit tree, because the fruit resembles it. In most books the famous Poison tree of Java is said to be called Anchar, antiaris Toxicaria ”

“ Biru, name of a plant. Colocasia odorata.
Biruluk, a small dwarf cocoanut, the nut injured in its growth.
Birus, as di birus, to strip young growing paddy, in order to get at the stem, to make a child's pipe or ole-ole-an. The young stems so stripped.
Bisa, able, clever, skilled, learned. Can, to be abe, to have the power. To bisa, I cannot, Id'ont know how. This word is also, no doubt, of Sanscrit origin, though Clough does not give the word in the shape of simply Bisa or Wisa. ”

“ Parahiang, a proper name frequently occuring in the districts of Sunda. The natives tell you that in such places, their heathen forefathers vanished from the earth on the introduction of Mahomedanism, and they derive it from Para, of the rank or number of, and hiang, to vanish. See Priangĕn and Hyang. Such places may have possibly had, in former times, a Buddhist or Brahminical temple or offering place at them. The word Parahyangan is still current on Bali, and means a collection of temples for all the gods and for the Pitaras or ghosts of deceased mortals. ”

“ Sat, Arabic, essence, substance; person, sect, caste. Zat, MARSDEN 140.
Satak, two hundred; the number 200. Satak in ancient method of counting Chinese cash, is equal to eight Dutch doits of the present time, or as the Sunda people call that amount Sa-wang. At the present time these Chinese cash are still in use on Bali and Lombok, and Satak there now-a-days means a string of 200 Pichis, which is of the value of one guilder copper money. Singapore Journal, 1851, vol. ”

“ Saung na rěuntas, the shed has fallen in.
Rěuntěut, to become compressed together; collapsed. To press down. Pare na ngarěuntěut, the paddy has settled together (when piled in a heap) .
Rěuntěutan, to shampoo; to give relaxation to the body by pressing and squeezing it all over with the hands. Called in Malay Pijit, of which the natives are very fond, when fatigued or wearied.
Rěurěujěungan, to accompany, to go along with. All together; in one band.
Réyang, I, my, a personal pronoun. Used only as a pet word, and is perhaps more properly Javanese, and by them only used in some places. ”

“ The natives of India, coming from the droughty coasts of Coromandel, would be struck with the beauty of the ever-verdant plains and mountains of Java. One of the wives of Silawangi of Pajajaran was called Nyai Mantri Manék Mayang Sunda, Raffles, Java, 2 vol., page 104, which may be translated, her ladyship the counsellor, the beautiful gem of illusion, or her ladyship of the counsellor, the gem of illusion of Sunda. ”

“ Here the Waisyas became kings, and some title was required for them, though even on Bali they rank inferior to the Déwa Agung of Klongkong, who is of Kshatriya descent. The Balinese restrict the title of Gusti to the Waisya caste. On Java it is still retained as a designation of the Almighty, Gusti Allah, and is also applied to the two native sovereigns, the Susuhunan and the Sultan. That, however, the princes of Solo and Yogyakarta are called Gusti is a strong presumption that also their families were originally of the Waisya caste. ”

“ The etymon of the word is from Puhu, the lower stump of a tree, hence Puhu-an = Puhun or Puhon, which in Malay means a tree. Our Sunda word with Pěm — before, and an after the word makes Pěmpuhunan, that which answers for a tree, and is thus emblematic of the future paddy stems.
Pěndak, met, encountered, jumped with.
Pěnděm, to bury in the earth, to secrete by burying. To throw down into a bole in the ground. To thrust into any place out of sight.
Pěnděng, to shut off by an enclosure, to fence off. A division in a house forming a room or rooms. ”

“ Ruhak, a firy stick; a stick fresh out of the fire. Embers. Wood that is burning and alight.
Rujak, any green or raw fruit, as mangoes, pineapple or cucumbers etc., shred up fine and mixed with sugar or any sweetening or seasoning, and then eaten. Considered a cooling delicacy in the heat of the day, but well adapted to bring on a fit of cholera.
Ruka, fallen,—as a tree blown down by the wind. Uprooted and cast down.
Rukan, Arabic, aid, support;—this word only occurs when talking of religious matters. ”

“ People whose steps to their houses, Tangga, are near our own steps. All the houses of the natives are reached by mounting steps. Tangga for steps is Malay, not Sunda. The Sunda people call the steps and landing place before a house door Jodog, and the steps or ladder of this Jodog are called Tarajé. The etymon of Tatangga is therefore borrowed, or has become obsolete. The word is still retained in the compound form of Imah tangga. ”

“ Even in Java living in the interior, surrounded by natives who speak the language as their mother tongue, it often requires, with many words, some judgment to select the right meaning, and words are current in different districts which are not known again in others, or which have a somewhat modified meaning, and are sneered at when used differently from what is usual with any particular set of people. ”