Balinese Wedung

marto suwignyo · 27th September 2005, 09:46 AM

The names I have been given by Balinese people in possession of, and using this type of knife are :- blakas pengentas, caluk, madik, and arug.

A number of differently shaped knives are used for the same and similar purposes, and I have not been able to get anybody to differentiate in the name used for any of them. Some people will use pengentas, others blakas pengentas, others blakas,others madik, others caluk, others madik, all for the same knife, and for different knives.

Do the dictionary exercise and you`ll find that they have similar meanings in different language levels.

Possibly the "correct" name varies according to current use of the knife and the hierarchical levels of the persons involved in using it and whether they are speaking, being spoken about, or being spoken to.

When we try to give a "correct" name for any Balinese or Javanese item, be it weapon or other than a weapon, we are really attempting to do something that is often almost un-do-able.

I suggest that the use of a term understood by all participants in a discussion is adequate.Wedung if you wish, but my preference would be "Balinese knife".

Incidentally, in my opinion this is a very good example of this type of knife, certainly it is a little more utilitarian than the highly decorated published examples, but these published examples hardly exist outside the covers of books, and they certainly are not common in Bali.

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27th September 2005, 09:46 AM	#6
marto suwignyo Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 52	The names I have been given by Balinese people in possession of, and using this type of knife are :- blakas pengentas, caluk, madik, and arug. A number of differently shaped knives are used for the same and similar purposes, and I have not been able to get anybody to differentiate in the name used for any of them. Some people will use pengentas, others blakas pengentas, others blakas,others madik, others caluk, others madik, all for the same knife, and for different knives. Do the dictionary exercise and you`ll find that they have similar meanings in different language levels. Possibly the "correct" name varies according to current use of the knife and the hierarchical levels of the persons involved in using it and whether they are speaking, being spoken about, or being spoken to. When we try to give a "correct" name for any Balinese or Javanese item, be it weapon or other than a weapon, we are really attempting to do something that is often almost un-do-able. I suggest that the use of a term understood by all participants in a discussion is adequate.Wedung if you wish, but my preference would be "Balinese knife". Incidentally, in my opinion this is a very good example of this type of knife, certainly it is a little more utilitarian than the highly decorated published examples, but these published examples hardly exist outside the covers of books, and they certainly are not common in Bali.