Before Balanda: Yolngu-Macassar Contact

It's a well-known fact that long before white people came to Australia, Aboriginals had already a long history of contact with traders from several areas of what is now Indonesia. Generally considered to be predominantly Makassar sailors, but also probably originating from other islands such as Flores and Roti, these people came to the northern shores of what is now Arnhem Land looking for trepang (sea cucumbers).

I recently found a dictionary of the Yolngu language available on the public domain.

As I browsed through it, I discovered more than a few entries strikingly similar to Indonesian/Malay and some Javanese words. I have provided a comparative list here. The first entry is the Yolngu, followed by a comparison with Indonesian. Some entries are very similar if not identical, whereas others which are less identical are more of a speculative nature :

Balanda - White person (Indonesian - Belanda - Dutch person specifically, white person generally)

Bandirra - A flag (Indonesian - Bendera - A flag)

Bapa - Father (Indonesian - Bapak - Father)

Bathu - A rock / stone (Indonesian - Batu - a rock / stone)

Baw' - A pleasant smell (Indonesian - Bau - a smell / odour)

Bawi - A pig (Indonesian - Babi - a pig)

Bawang  - Vegetable food, potatoes (Indonesian - Bawang - Onions / Garlic)

Dhambaku - Tobacco (Indonesian - Tembakau - Tobacco)

Dhimurru - East (Indonesian - Timur - East)

Dhinggi - High (of mountains etc) (Indonesian - Tinggi - High / Tall)

Dhuryun - to descend (Indonesian - Turun - to descend)

Djaga - to look after / care for (Indonesian - Jaga - to look after / guard / care for)

Djalathang - South (Indonesian - Selatan - South)

  

Djarrang - A horse (Javanese - Jaran - A horse)

Djawa - A storm / cyclone (Javanese - Jawah - rain)

Djorru' - A Cigar (Indonesian - approximates Cerutu - a cigar)

Gapala - A large boat (Indonesian - Kapal - a large boat)

Gayu - A tree / wood in general (Indonesian - Kayu - wood)

Gola - Syrup / treacle (Indonesian - Gula - sugar)

Gonydjin - A key (Indonesian - approximates Kunci - a key)

Mangatharra - Makassar and its people

Nona - a White woman (Indonesian - Nona - traditionally a well-to-do European or westernised Indonesian woman)

  

Rranhdhing - A chain (Indonesian - approximates Rantai- a Chain)

Rrothi - Bread (Indonesian - Roti - bread)

Rrupiya - Money (Indonesian - Rupiah - Indonesian currency)

These three websites contain detailed information about theYolngu - Makassan trading relationship:

http://austhrutime.com/macassan_traders.htm

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2009/07/21/2632428.htm

http://woorama.suite101.com/macassancrew-a923

Indonesian Readers for Schools

Here's a link to an Australian Government project I worked on a few years back -

DEST NALSAS Indonesian and Japanese Readers -

http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/sites/readers/main.htm

Click on 'Indonesian' then roll the mouse cursor over the squares to access units and lessons.

Click on the middle square of the top right corner to see all those involved in production.

These are particular lessons in each unit that I authored -

* Kehidupan Sehari-hari

-Agen Rahasia (I had a thing for monkeys)

- Sehari di Sekolah

- Cita - cita

* Dunia Saya

- Keluarga Saya

* Makanan & Kesehatan

-Resep (want to learn how to make 'klepon'?)

* Agama dan Kepercayaan

-Cerita Hantu dari Jawa

* Dunia Manusia

- Rumah Apa yang Anda Sukai?

- Di Kota Saya

-Rumah Saya

Gereja Ortodoks Indonesia - Indonesian Orthodox Church

As part of my enquiries into Orthodoxy I have come across information on the Indonesian Orthodox Church.

Look here:

http://friendsofindonesia.org/
and here

http://www.orthodox.cn/news/050331indonesia_en.htm

Who Said Indonesian was an Easy Language?

My response in a language forum recently addressing this issue-

I think it's a bit inaccurate to say Indonesian is an easy language. Grammatically it is less complex than a lot of European languages or English. But Indonesian as taught in grammar books is what we call 'Standard Indonesian' - Bahasa Baku. These days more and more people are making a greater distinction between Standard Indonesian and the many varieties of Spoken Indonesian.

These varieties are not really 'dialects'. They all constitute Indonesian, ie, what Indonesians call Bahasa Indonesia. Until recently many Indonesian linguists even refused to acknowledge these varieties as legitimate; I think because they did not conform to the standards of Standard Indonesian, and because they couldn't really be classified as dialects.

Standard Indonesian is rarely encountered in spoken form except in older movies, some TV dramas, TV advertisements and the news, and on formal occassions, although none of these contexts necessarily exhibits purely Standard Indonesian.

The disparity between Standard Indonesian and the colloquial Jakarta variety is very wide - wider than that between Standard (Oxford) English and most colloquial forms of English.

The Central Java variety (the one I'm most familiar with) is different again, but still Indonesian - not a dialect. It is endowed with a rich array of idiom and innuendo as a result of the influence of Javanese.

The Jakarta Chinese variety, which I encountered on a daily basis in my job as a high school teacher in Jakarta is different again. It is influenced by a variety of factors and is spoken at a very fast pace.

In fact, it may be fair to say that once you have studied the grammar of Standard Indonesian, in order to progress on to spoken communication there is much you have to 'unlearn'.

My dilemma after years of exposure to non-standard varieties of Indonesian has actually been getting back into Standard Indonesian in order to improve my written Indonesian skills.

This shouldn't be taken as discouragement, but rather encouragement to explore the very interesting array of spoken Indonesian on offer is this country.

Cheers,

DavidG

....oh..did I mention 'Bahasa Gaul' as well? Now there's an interesting variety. There are even a few dictionaries (albeit little ones) devoted to this variety of spoken Indonesian....

Da...Landa (Do...Londo)

The term landa (pron: lo - ndo) is Javanese for a Dutch person, but typically applied to any white western-looking person. Functionally it is the cousin of the Indonesian term bule. In its most innocent use it is simply used to refer to the westerner such as in the sentence -

'kae lho, nggone landane...' (Itu lho, tempatnya bulenya - That's the white guy's place).

But then we also encounter frequent instances where a person calls out from anywhere as near as right beside you to unidentifiably distant - a voice from nowhere, so to speak. In these cases it is usually a male, sitting with a group of 3 or 4 others, who it would appear gets some sort of thrill or satisfaction from calling out the blatantly obvious - 'Da....Landa....'

The scene: I, a white person, am walking along the street in a Central Javanese town. Weaving my way in and out of pedestrians, footpath vendors, ducking to avoid losing an eye to a low-hanging end of a bamboo support beam, I walk past a group of young males eating nasi rames in a small warung.

"Da...Landa!", the tone of voice not at all endearing but rather quite abrupt;

I look around and see one of the group smiling with satisfaction, as if he's just scored an impressive trophy, proud of his achievement. I think to myself that I would like to walk up to him and calmly respond with something like -

"Lha, aku pancen wong landa. Wong, kulitku kulite wong landa; mripatku mripate wong landa; rambutku rambute wong landa....

(Indeed I am a white guy. My skin is a white guy's skin; my eyes are a white guy's eyes; my hair is a white guy's hair).

Needless to say, those thoughts stay right there in my heart. Instead, with a nod and a smile I reply-

"Inggih, mangga. Sugeng dhahar." (Yes, followed by a polite greeting, and lastly, have a nice meal.)

After all, one need not say much as the very fact that you understand even landa comes as a complete surprise to those people.

Ngaten.

Ce Nok Sa...

Having learned most of my Indonesian in Central Java it came as a bit of a shock when I started working at a high school in Jakarta and being confronted with the Jakarta Chinese variety of Indonesian. I can't say at this point in time just how much it differs from Central Javanese Indonesian, nor if it differs greatly from the typical Jakartan style of speaking, other than it is often spoken at break-neck speed - much faster than one is used to hearing in Java.

I find the Jakarta Chinese variety of Indonesian a fascinating code and wish I had more time to devote to a serious analysis of it.

One difference is the counting system that one often hears. I think it comes from the Hokkien language. The following is a summary of what I found on a scrap of paper that my wife noted from a Jakartan friend - the writing and pronunciation follows Indonesian orthography -

1 - ce
2 - nok
3 - sa
4 - si
5 - nggo
6 - lak
7 - cit
8 - (can't remember this one; anyone?)
9 - kao

units

10s - cap
100s - pek
1000s - ceng
10000s - ban
1000,000s - tiao

100 - cepek (one and unit of 100s)
200 - nopek (two and unit of 100s)
300 - sapek
500 - nggopek
etc

1000 - ceceng
10, 000 - ceban
100, 000 - cepekceng (one hundred and unit of 1000s)

150 - pek nggo - (unit of 100s and 5)
15,000 - ban nggo (unit of 10,000s and 5)

Corrections and further enlightenment greatly appreciated.

Pamrih

There's a Javanese saying:

RAME ING GAWE; SEPI ING PAMRIH

In Indonesian it translates to: Rame dalam kerja; Sepi dalam pamrih, which in English translates to: Work hard without expecting rewards (literally - busy in work; quiet in reward).

It's a pretty hard philosophy to try and adhere to. The Javanese continues on with what translates roughly to - for the sake of the Harmony of the world.

In everything we do, we should do it for the sake of doing, without expecting or wanting to gain anything from it - no reward, no praise, not even being remembered for what we have done in our lives once we die - all that is 'pamrih'.

Talking to my Javanese brother-in-law about this, he chuckled and replied -

"Yes, that is right. But for Javanese these days, it's no longer 'rame ing gawe; sepi ing pamrih' but - 'rame ing pamrih, sepi ing gawe' :)