KIAI yth
Yes, the distinction in terminology could be between usage of a term in a village environment, and usage in a town. As you remark, there is little need for a bendho in a town, but we don`t live in town, we`re in the perumnas, and probably most of our neighbours do have bendho, which we all call bendho. Big ones, small ones, ones with rounded tips, ones with broken tips, ones with pointed tips. If it is a chopper with a curve and the edge on the inside of the curve, it gets called bendho, except by a few recalcitrants who call all big choppers of any type" parang". Possibly not correct, but this is the way language is used.
My wife does have a rural background, but she was never a gatherer of wood and water; I myself have never lived outside of an urban or suburban environment.
I was particularly interested in Sragen area, because I have several workers who come from the villages around Sragen, and in an earlier post you mentioned that you came from near Sragen, however 30km is not all that near, and there is still room for variation.
This usage variation has me interested, and I will follow through on it when I have the opportunity.
In earlier times the bendho was used as a weapon. Examples of weapon quality bendho can be found in the Musium Radyopustoko. Raffles shows a picture of what he calls a "bandul", but what is shown is exactly what we call a bendho. Possibly he meant "bandol" but its not really a bandol. Attached is a photo of a bendho made by Empu Suparman in the early 1990`s; the owner has told me that the head at the point is a representation of the rojomolo.I have heard that in old times a very big bendo was used as an implement of execution in the Surakarta kraton.
Thank you for your charmingly phrased input.
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