(Review Dick van der Meij) A new edition of Pigeaud's Javanese-Dutch dictionary
Rob van Albada and Th. Pigeaud, Javaans-Nederlands woorden-boek. Herziene uitgave, gemoderniseerd en aangevuld. Leiden: KITLV Uitgeverij, 2007, xxxii + 1,085 pp. ISBN 9789067183089. Price: EUR 49.50 (hardback).
Nowadays, with the development of a theoretical framework for how to make dictionaries, a bilingual dictionary can be compiled with a certain target group in mind - for example, for native speakers of the source language or for speakers of the target language. The differences between these groups of users are reflected in different content and in the way information is presented in the dictionary. This is not the case with Pigeaud's Javanese-Dutch dictionary of 1938, which was meant for two groups of speakers: Javanese and Dutch. In practice both groups made use of this dictionary. It is therefore interesting to juxtapose two reviews of the renewed version of Pigeaud's dictionary, written respectively by a Dutchman (Dick van der Meij) and an Indonesian (Harimurti Kridalaksana), both of whom have used the 'old' Pigeaud intensively in the past.
DICK VAN DER MEIJ
Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta Dickvdm2005@yahoo .com
In 1938 Th.G.Th. Pigeaud's Javanese-Dutch dictionary appeared; the last practical Javanese dictionary in the Latin alphabet to be published in the Dutch East Indies. It received mixed reviews. Some users liked it a lot, considering it a marvel. Hooykaas wrote in Djawd that it was the best Javanese dictionary to date (1938:229). Over time, however, it came to be accused of being old-fashioned, incomplete, and outdated. Despite its shortcomings, it has been reprinted six times (in 1938, 1970, 1978, 1982, 1989, and 1994 - only four of which reprints are listed by the present publisher on p. iv), and only now has there finally been an attempt to update and enlarge it. In this new edition the old Dutch spelling of Javanese has been replaced by Javanese spelling following the latest rules of 1991, and Pigeaud's old-fashioned Dutch has been brought closer to present-day Dutch usage. As is so often the case, the new dictionary was necessary not only because of developments in the source language but also because of changes in the target language.
The book is the result of a project of the Stichting Indonesische Lexicografie (Foundation for Indonesian Lexicography), founded in 1994. Whether Van Albada started to work on this dictionary in that same year is not stated, but he probably started soon after. At the time the lexicographical position of Indonesian languages, especially Javanese, was considered highly unsatisfactory. Given the many times Pigeaud's admirable dictionary was reprinted, however, is the position of Javanese in Dutch lexicography all that bad? Certainly not when compared to most other Indonesian regional languages which, if they have ever been afforded a dictionary at all, have never seen it reprinted, let alone updated. The most recent Balinese-Dutch dictionary, by Van Eck, dates back to 1876, and has never been updated. No other Balinese-Dutch dictionary has seen the light except the vast Kawi-Balineesch-Nederlands woordenboek (in Balinese script) by Van der Tuuk, which at present is almost impossible to find and, when found, impossible to afford. Van Eck's dictionary was printed on the worst possible quality of paper, and the copies that are still extant are falling apart. Kiliaan's Madoereesch-Nederlandsch woordenboek (Madurese-Dutch dictionary) - in Javanese script - was never reprinted, and a host of other Dutch dictionaries of languages of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi have likewise become both outdated and very hard to find. It is sad to reflect on all the years of effort put into producing Dutch-language dictionaries for so many Indonesian languages, when all these dictionaries are presently languishing in the vaults of libraries, hardly ever used. The time when knowledge of Dutch was a prerequisite for the study of Indonesia and its languages is long past.
Van Albada states in his introduction (p. ix) that Pigeaud's dictionary was the most extensive dictionary of Javanese before the edition under review. I wonder if this is true. I think he means the largest Javanese dictionary in the Latin alphabet; surely the two-volume Javaansch-Nederlandsch handwoorden-boek by J.F.C. Gericke and T. Roorda (last edition 1901) is more extensive, but it is in Javanese script and therefore inaccessible to most people interested in Javanese nowadays.
At the front of the book, the reader is confronted with a bewildering array of prefaces, forewords, and introductions. The first one is by Van Albada. The second, just two pages long, is by Uhlenbeck, reprinted from the third edition of Pigeaud's dictionary. This is immediately followed, without its own title page/ by a 16-page introductory text which closes with two names, Pigeaud and Van Albada. By laying this text side-by-side with Pigeaud's dictionary, I discovered that these 16 pages are, with very few changes, Pigeaud's original introduction. Nowhere is it explained to the reader what parts of this original introduction have been retained, and what parts have been added by Van Albada. Not all the information provided by Pigeaud in 1938 is still relevant in 2007; there is/ for example, no 'large dictionary'being compiled (§ 5, p. xix). Closer inspection reveals that § 2 has been expanded, creating the impression that etymological 1
information has been added. Van Albada's only significant addition is § 51 (p. xxxii). The explanation there of word frequencies is puzzling. The overwhelming bulk of the entries do not have any indication of frequency whatsoever. This might be because they were not included in the frequency list used - but what list was that? Since no information is given about how the frequencies of Javanese words were established, this indication is of little use.
Regrettably, the highly useful comparative tables of corresponding years in the Muslim, Javanese, and Christian calendars have been omitted from this edition. Also omitted was the incomplete but nevertheless useful list of words found in candra sengkala (a frequently used system in which dates are represented by words instead of numerals). In a book of almost 1,100 pages, surely four and a half pages could have been added, the more so since space could have been gained by deleting irrelevant parts of Pigeaud's original introduction. In order to be able to consult these highly useful lists, owners of the old Pigeaud are advised to keep it, and not to throw it out in favour of this new one.
The page dimensions of the dictionary are the same as those of the Indonesian-Dutch dictionaries by A. Teeuw, also published by KITLV Press. For Teeuw's dictionaries this small format is fine, and helps to make these the appealing, indispensable and easy-to-use dictionaries they are. For the present dictionary these page dimensions are too small, making the book bulky and cumbersome to handle. The book is not bound properly, so that it closes all the time (very frustrating), instead of staying open at the page one is consulting. The larger format of Vruggink and Sarmo's Surinaams-Javaans-Nederlands woordenboek of 2001 would have been more appropriate.
Coming to the entries proper, the following needs to be said. Even at the time the first edition of the dictionary was published, Hooykaas expressed a strong need for a large number of additions (Hooykaas 1938:230). In the present dictionary 6,000 new entries have finally been added to the 43,000 entries included by Pigeaud. This means an expansion of 14 per cent, which is not much given the passage of 70 years.
It seems that no entries have been deleted from Pigeaud's dictionary (at least, Van Albada does not mention deleting any). This is a good thing, especially with a view to reading older texts and manuscripts. The large 'colonial' Javanese vocabulary has luckily also survived, as well as the many other Dutch loan words in Javanese.
The introduction (p. xi) notes that words have been included from a number of other dictionaries, but does not say how many, or why these particular words were added and not others. A brief browsing of the dictionary turned up only a few such entries. If the intention was to complete Pigeaud's dictionary rather than to modernize it, there are quite a few other words in the dictionaries Van Albada lists that should have been included as well. If the intention was to modernize the dictionary, many words related to Islam and modern technology, words which have found their way into modern Javanese from Arabic, English and Indonesian, would have been worthy of inclusion
The dictionary also has some features of an encyclopaedic nature. For instance, the name of Ki H. Anom Soeroto, a famous shadow-play puppeteer is included (p. 22), but there are many other Javanese people equally worthy of inclusion. One looks in vain for the name of Kartini, who has reached proverbial status among the Javanese as well as internationally. The names of the various macapat verse forms are mentioned and explained; however, information intended to add to our understanding of the verse form asmarandana is completely unintelligible to non-initiates.
For some entries etymological background is given - for instance, bonafide<-Nld<-It (the last abbreviation presumably refers to Italian, but is not explained). Most other loanwords, however, are presented without any derivation - for example, branwir (p. 85), which clearly comes from Dutch brandweer 'fire brigade'. Many other examples, for instance springbed (p. 950), are clearly borrowed from English. Again, it is not explained why the derivation is given in some cases and not in the overwhelming majority of others.
Conclusion
After having been out of print for almost 20 years, Pigeaud's dictionary is available again in a new edition, compiled by Van Albada who has now been given the honour of appearing as main author (a demotion for Pigeaud which I don't think the latter deserves). The introduction is disappointing, and much too limited in scope. Etymological promises are not met, and the unpredictability of the information furnished to entries is annoying. Despite claims that Pigeaud's Dutch has been modernized, most entries seem to have simply been copied from Pigeaud without any change apart from the modernization of the Javanese spelling.
My criticisms notwithstanding, the fact is that an updated dictionary is now available, with 6,000 new entries. Much work has gone into producing this book, and Van Albada's efforts are to be lauded. The use of modern Javanese spelling is very helpful for today's students. The book is therefore a useful tool, not only for newcomers to the field, but for old hands as well. In view of developments in Dutch university policies pertaining to the study or Indonesian languages, it is to be hoped that this dictionary has not come too late and will still find its way to Dutch students and other interested scholars with knowledge of Dutch.
References
Eck, R. van
1876 Eerste proeve van een Balineesch-Hollandsch Woordenboek. Utrecht: Kemink.
Gericke, J.F.C. and T. Roorda
1901 Javaansch-Nederlandsch handwoordenboek. Vermeerderd en verbeterd door
A.C. Vreede, met medewerking van J.G.H. Gunning. Amsterdam: Miil-
ler. Two vols.
Hooykaas, C.
1938 'Javaans-Nederlands handwoordenboek, samengesteld door Dr. Th. Pi-
geaud', Djawa 18/3-5:229-30. Kiliaan, H.N.
1904-1905 Madoereesch-Nederlandsch woordenboek. Leiden: Brill. Two vols.
Teeuw, A.
1996 Indonesisch-Nederlandsch woordenboek. Met medewerking van I Supriyan-
to; vierde, herziene en uitgebreide druk. Leiden: KITLV Uitgeverij. [First
edition 1990.] Tuuk, H.N. van der 1897-1912 Kawi-Balineesch-Nederlandsch woordenboek. Batavia: Landsdrukkerij. Four
vols.
Vruggink, H. and J. Sarmo
2001 Surinaams-Javaans-Nederlands woordenboek. Leiden: KITLV Uitgeverij.
source: Bijdragen, tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 164.4, 2008 pp. 583-587