Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

A. G. Maisey · 16th October 2015, 12:20 AM

That is an interesting suggestion Amuk, but does it apply to the languages spoken in Sarawak, Brunei, Sabah?

I do not doubt your knowledge of these languages, its just that I do not know.

If this "tilang kamerau" were Javanese usage, we could understand it in two different ways:- "tilang" is a variant pronunciation of "hilang" = "lost", "disappeared", "vanished"; "kamerau" is a variant pronunciation of "kemarau" = "dry season" ( can also mean the dry bottom of a boat after bailing), "tilang" also has the colloquial meaning of any sort of police ticket, like a traffic infringement ticket or similar.

So, "tilang kamerau" could be understood as "a dry season speeding ticket" --- pretty unlikely for a weapon name, or "the dry season has disappeared" --- possibly quite appropriate for a weapon name.

But this would be Javanese usage, not North Borneo.

16th October 2015, 12:20 AM	#3
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,085	That is an interesting suggestion Amuk, but does it apply to the languages spoken in Sarawak, Brunei, Sabah? I do not doubt your knowledge of these languages, its just that I do not know. If this "tilang kamerau" were Javanese usage, we could understand it in two different ways:- "tilang" is a variant pronunciation of "hilang" = "lost", "disappeared", "vanished"; "kamerau" is a variant pronunciation of "kemarau" = "dry season" ( can also mean the dry bottom of a boat after bailing), "tilang" also has the colloquial meaning of any sort of police ticket, like a traffic infringement ticket or similar. So, "tilang kamerau" could be understood as "a dry season speeding ticket" --- pretty unlikely for a weapon name, or "the dry season has disappeared" --- possibly quite appropriate for a weapon name. But this would be Javanese usage, not North Borneo.