Betel pestles and their handles

A. G. Maisey · 21st September 2025, 04:10 AM

Thank you for your prompt response , Detlef.

Here is the back story.

Many years ago, I was told by a Balinese friend that the name for these things was "pelecok".

A well informed Australian tribal arts dealer of Scots descent also used to refer to these little tools by the same name.

I have not been able to confirm this name in recent years with anybody whom I know in Bali.

However, in Javanese we have two words that can provide a root for "pelecok", these two words are "lecok", which as a verb becomes "nglecok" and means to crush or to grind finely to enable chewing, the second word is "locok", which as a verb becomes "nglocok", and with the same meaning, so not really two different words, but the same word with a variant pronunciation, possibly one pronunciation in Central Jawa, a variant pronunciation in East Jawa.

When we use the prefix "pe", that root of "lecok/locok" becomes a noun:- "pelecok".

It seems to me that the word you know, "plocokan", is from the same root.

The use of the suffix "an" in Malay languages creates a noun from a verb and indicates both the result and the tool used to create the result.

So " locok" becomes a noun:- "locokan", or "plocokan" , the missing "e" is common in both spelling and pronunciation in Malay languages, thus we can also write the word as "pelocokan" the sound would be the same to a foreign ear, eg:- "kris", "keris".

The use of the prefix "pe" in Malay languages creates a noun from a verb and/or an action or instrument of an action.

And that was the reason I asked my question. It would have been nice to able to identify the form you know with a definite source.

21st September 2025, 04:10 AM	#14
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,059	Thank you for your prompt response , Detlef. Here is the back story. Many years ago, I was told by a Balinese friend that the name for these things was "pelecok". A well informed Australian tribal arts dealer of Scots descent also used to refer to these little tools by the same name. I have not been able to confirm this name in recent years with anybody whom I know in Bali. However, in Javanese we have two words that can provide a root for "pelecok", these two words are "lecok", which as a verb becomes "nglecok" and means to crush or to grind finely to enable chewing, the second word is "locok", which as a verb becomes "nglocok", and with the same meaning, so not really two different words, but the same word with a variant pronunciation, possibly one pronunciation in Central Jawa, a variant pronunciation in East Jawa. When we use the prefix "pe", that root of "lecok/locok" becomes a noun:- "pelecok". It seems to me that the word you know, "plocokan", is from the same root. The use of the suffix "an" in Malay languages creates a noun from a verb and indicates both the result and the tool used to create the result. So " locok" becomes a noun:- "locokan", or "plocokan" , the missing "e" is common in both spelling and pronunciation in Malay languages, thus we can also write the word as "pelocokan" the sound would be the same to a foreign ear, eg:- "kris", "keris". The use of the prefix "pe" in Malay languages creates a noun from a verb and/or an action or instrument of an action. And that was the reason I asked my question. It would have been nice to able to identify the form you know with a definite source.