Sunda language

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Sunda, the Western half of the island called by Europeans generally Java. It extends from Java Head to, and includes the residency of Cheribon, as distinct from the Eastern half of the island, which is Jawa or Java properly so called, and on the island itself always meant, when Java is spoken of. Sunda may be derived from the Sunda word Tunda, to set aside, to put by, and Sa or Saha, Clough, 722, a particle and prefix signifying union, association, with, together. In Sunda Sa in the composition of words means also having the property of. ”

“ 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. ”

“ From this tree being called Ki-tua, and having certain supernatural attributes ascribed to it, and not tuwa, but kolot being the Sunda for old, it may be fairly doubted whether it exactly means old, and the idea suggests itself that it means: supernatural power or being, in some way, in which sense the word Atua has been preserved in the Pacific islands for Deity, and indeed both in Sunda, Malay and other Polynesian dialects generally. Tuhan Allah is still used to express the True God. ”

“ Jégéng, a plant in the humahs growing innumerable small seeds, of the size of a pin's head, in clusters. It is called in Malay Jawa-wut. It can be steamed like rice and eaten. It is much given to cage birds. The Sunda people have a tradition that their ancestors lived on Jégéng before Paddy was known to them. The Malay word Jawa- wut is Sanscrit, composed of Jawa and But, C. 475 Eating (of Priests) literally Java- eating- See Jawa. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Nu di gawé kudu di pupuluran, you must feed well those who work; givo them plenty to eat and drink. Pulur simply occurs more rarely in Sunda, but CRAWFURD gives it as Malay, meaning: meal, farina, the pith of plants (and thus probably alluding to the pith of the sago palm, which however, it does not imply in Sunda) . ”

“ In the mountainous interior there are many kings, called Gunos; they live among rugged mountains, are savage and brutal, and many of them eat human flesh."
"These mountains are exceedingly high, and some of them emit flames like the island of Ternati. Every one of these kingdoms which we have named has a language of its own; yet they mutually understand each other, as we do the Spaniards and Galicians.
"The kingdom of Sunda is thriving and abundant; it lies between Java and Sumatra, having between it and the latter the Straits of Sunda. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Thus we have in Sunda Sa hiji for one, which see, and in Malay Sa tu or Sa watu,—with or by means of a seed,—with or by means of a stone, to indicate unity. Sa has been very extensively used in the formation of words in Sunda, as well as in other Polynesian tongues, as will be seen by reference to what follows, where it will be found at the commencement of the word, and has chiefly the meaning of: by means of,—by the intervention of,—as long as (referring to duration of time) ,—having in use, —wearing,—of one common origin. Sa is often used instead of Saha even in Singhalese ”

“ Diyeuk might be related to the Malay duduk; the Sundanese is the simple form with a prolongation of the vowel; dudok, seems to be a reduplication, and has not altered the vowel, just for reason of the reduplicating syllable. (Diyĕuk, shorter pronounced yet, than it appears from the writing, is rather monosyllabic. So (monosyllabic) are all "the idiomatic expression” of this dictionary, and they will turn out to be the real roots of the greatest part of the languages of the Archipelago. But this is no sign that these languages represent a broken Sanscrit. Fr. ”

“ Also a continuons ridge of land uncut by any stream of water, and in this sense is always used in conjunction with the word tali, rope or line as tali alas, the unbroken ridge connecting two hills, or leading from the lowlands to the mountains. Alas in the sense of forest is not Sundaese but Javanese. But in Sunda it is used in composition as seen from the following examples, Alasan, aswalas, kopi alas. ”

“ And thus Sunda Kalapa may, in early times, have meant a secret place of deposit or a depot for the traders from continental India, to collect their goods and rendez-vous before leaving in a fleet, to proceed up the coast of Sumatra, and then cross the Bay of Bengal on their way home. The Sunda people have a tradition that Europeans first showed themselves at Nusa Kalapa, a small island lying off the mouth of the Chidani river, and thus a little to the westward of the present town of Batavia. ”

“ Sĕurĕuh, called in Malay Siri; it is the leaf of the Piper Betle, or Chavica betle, and is universally chewed by the natives, accompanied by lime, gambir and tobacco, which cause a plentiful blood-red saliva, which they spit out. As a matter of courtesy, the natives always present these materials for chewing to strangers or visitors, in the same way that Europeans would offer a glass of wine or spirits. The Sunda and Malay are word are evidently of a common origin. ”

“ 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. ”

“ D is pronounced as in English did, added, and in Dutch, dak, dood.
F occurs only rarely in words from the Arabic, when it has generally been converted into p, as f is a sound which the Malays, Javanese and Sundaese are unable to pronounce. Thus fikir to think, becomes pikir, fasal becomes pasal.
G is always hard as in game, gay, get, give, go, gun; and never soft as in gestūre, giant, wage, for which j is uniformly employed. ”

“ Bumbung, a bambu for keeping anything in. Kĕmbung swollen, inflated. Jubung, a circle of mat work set in a boiling pan, to prevent the matter boiling over. Bung in these senses being indicative of containing, having capacity, and is again heard in the Sunda Lulumbungan, which probably is the word , now in its simple sense of Lumbung only retained in Malay , but still indicating in Sunda- a place into which fish collect. That savage natives do not often, in the early stages of their existence collect into villages, may be learned from the present state of the ruder parts of Celebes. ”

“ This word is also good Malay; see Marsden, page 216, though no word like Du-um exists in Malay for to divide. Padoman, may also be derived from Dhom in Javanese, a needle, but Dhom is neither Sunda nor Malay. With Dhom meaning needle, the compass would then be—an instrument with a needle—which is also a very apposite etymology. The Sunda people never having been apparently much of mariners, perhaps the Javanese Etymology from dhom a needle, must be allowed to preponderate. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Jĕro corresponds to the Malay word Dalĕm, and implies Inner in the sense of refined or accomplished. Basa jĕro, refined or far- fetched language. Paré jěro, called in Malay Padi Dalěm. Paddy which is of the best description and requires full five months to grow. Orang jěro, people who attend on great men or ave about a court. Yet the Sundas do not say Jěro as applied to a native chief, but use the word Dalěm, which see. ”

“ The word Dara is still preserved in Sunda , and as can be seen means — „a young woman who has just got her first child” In Malay — Marsden 128 — it means — „a virgin, a maiden” — and Dara-dang, a damsel, so that in Malay the original meaning has been somewhat modified.
It is not a little remarkable that Indian and Sanscrit names should, in the Eastern Archipelago, have superseded Polynesian names, for neither in Malay, Sunda nor Javanese, does there now thus exist a pure Polynesian name for so common an object as the domestic Dove. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Jaring'au, name of a dark green sedgy plant; much used in Jampĕ or incantations , called in Javanese Dringo, and Crawfurd gives for Malay- Daringgu, acorus terrestris. Clough gives two words for assafoetida- Jaratian, C. 206 and Hingu, C. 792 of which two words the Sunda word appears to be compounded, coalescing into Jaring'au. The Sundas may have heard both these words from the Indians, and joined them together to be sure of the article. It is much used by women in child- birth and is supposed to charm away evil spirits. ”

“ Tuwak in Malay is toddy, the juice of a palm-tree, which is called Lahang in Sunda.
Tuwalut, Arabic, calamity, misfortune.
Tuwang, to cast as metal. To pour out molten metal. To make castings. In Malay Tuwang is merely: to pour out any liquid, but the Sundanese restrict its use to the
pouring out of melted metal. Tuwangan tambaga, brass castings. Bĕusi tuwangan, smelting iron, pig iron. Tuwar, to cut down. The same as Tuar, which see.
Tuwĕr, the knee. Tuwĕr na ngadégdég, his knees trembled.
Tuyun, to lead, to conduct, to take by the hand. To lead as a blind man. ”

“ The Sunda people have also Ladog and Gandol for Rhinoceros. Nyampal badak, the evening star, literally the feeding time of the Rhinoceros. Cheuli badak the cactus or opuntia plant, literally Rhinoceros ears. [1]
Badan, the body- The trunk of any animal- Crawfurd and Marsden call this word Arabic. It would easily come from Bada C 455 the belly, the abdomen, with Polynesian an suffixed = Badan, which would indicate „what had a belly”. The Sundas more generally use Awak for the body, yet still say Badan Semporna a faultless body, safe and sound, and some other similar expressions. ”