[A. G. Maisey]

Thank you for your response Kulino.

I think I might now understand a reason for your use of this rather strange terminology. I thought I might have been looking at keris terminology used by some particular keris study group, or perhaps terminology used in a place outside Jawa Tengah, but it seems this is not so.

Javanese is what linguists refer to as a "non-standardised language", in very simple terms this means that when spoken the speaker can change vowel and consonant order---or even the letters--- to provide a more pleasant delivery of the spoken word, the only rule is that the person to whom he is speaking must understand what is being said. This type of speech can develop into a game where each person is trying to outdo the other with his inventiveness.
When the original Javanese script of a printed or written word is transliterated into roman text, there can be degree of inconsistency in the spellings. This becomes particularly confusing when trying to correctly pronounce Javanese words printed in the modern era with type faces that make no provision for the necessary diacritical marks. This means that the only way one can reliably pronounce the word is to have been taught how to pronounce it. In this way, spoken Javanese is similar to English.

So, what all this comes down to is that it is difficult to fault anybody on spellings used in Javanese written in roman text.

However, when the spellings used do not render a clear meaning, or in fact render an incorrect meaning, then we have problems.

Below I have listed the words you have used that cause me some difficulty, and have commented on use of these words:-



endhas the term "endas cecak" is correctly given as "sirah cecak", which is more polite than "endas cecak".
If one wished to obliquely insult both Javanese indigenous belief, and/or the present custodian of a keris one could give a degree of insult by using the ngoko word in relation to the sirah cecak of the related keris, rather than using the krama inggil term. To understand why it is necessary to respect a keris, especially a pusaka keris, or a personal keris, one needs to understand the relationships of the keris in Javanese culture

cecek the word "cecek" means a dot or a point, I believe the word that was intended is "cecak", which is a kind of small house lizard
Thus your "endhas cecek" should be "sirah cecak", the broad end of the gonjo, given this name because of the similarity in form to the head of that small house lizard.
sirah(kr) = head, endhas(ng) = head

puncuk = as far as I can determine there is no Javanese word "puncuk", but there are several similar words, listed below; I'm guessing that you mean "pucak", or maybe "puncak" and using that word to indicate the point of the keris.
puncu = to point a sharp weapon
puncon = mountain peak
pucak = summit
puncak (Bahasa Indonesia) = top of a mountain

The correct word to use in Surakarta terminology for the point of a keris is "panetes", from "tetes" :- "able to be pierced by something", "panetes" : "able to pierce something"



condro = as far as I can determine there is no Javanese word "condro", the nearest I can get to this is "condre", an alternate pronunciation for "cundrik", a dagger.
You say that "condro" means the general appearance of the blade. The word normally used for this is "pawakan" or "wangun". Pawakan refers specifically to the posture of a man, wangun refers to appearance, design , shape, pawakan is the more polite term.

peksi --- in Javanese the word "peksi" means "bird", it is krama, the word for a keris tang is "pesi" .

The alternate pronunciation of "peksi" (bird) is "pesi". As in B.I., the Javanese "k" is a glottal stop, which means it is often very difficult to hear when spoken crudely or fast, thus some people habitually gloss it and omit the glottal stop altogether
This similarity in words has led to ongoing, and sometimes very funny error on the part of non-native speakers of Javanese

wingkinan = As far as I can determine, there is no Javanese word "wingkinan". I believe the word intended is "wingkingan", which means "back, rear" in Modern Javanese, in Old Javanese it also meant the buttocks or backside.

"Wingkingan" has an alternate meaning which refers to time.
It is not an alternate word for the keris.
The correct word to refer to a complete keris when worn at the back is "wangkingan". "Wangkingan" comes from "wangking" which in Modern Javanese means "slim waisted", but in Old Javanese simple meant "waist", so something worn at the waist becomes "wangkingan".

The blade alone of the keris cannot be referred to as a "wangkingan", nor can a keris that is not being worn be referred to as a "wangkingan", the use of "wangkingan" is strictly limited to a keris being worn at the back. The level of the word "wangkingan" is krama inggil.

This confusion between "wingkingan" and "wangkingan" is very common, even amongst native speakers of Javanese, about the only people who consistently get it right seem to be people who are involved with keris, or who regularly need to dress in a formal fashion.

selassih --- as far as I can determine there is no Javanese word "selassih", the nearest I can get to this is "selasih/slasih" which is kind of herb, I think the herb might be basil.
"selasih/slasih" is an alternate form of "tlasih"


Just to clarify:- I am not a walking Javanese dictionary, yes, I do have some low level Javanese (ngoko), but I cannot use krama or krama inggil. However, I do have immediate access to a number of native speakers of Javanese, and I do own textbooks and dictionaries. I was able to address most of the above from my own knowledge, but a couple of the words were simply beyond me, and also beyond my other sources.

I enjoyed trying to work out what you were saying, it was a learning experience.Thank you.

However, in your own best interests, I most sincerely suggest that you request your teachers to assist you in learning some basic Javanese.

EDIT

The image is taken from Haryono Haryoguritno's "Keris Jawa", which at the present time can probably be regarded as the standard reference for just about everything relating to physical aspects of the Javanese keris. It is a book that really should be in the library of every person interested in keris