LANGUAGE OF THE TERENGGANU FISHERMEN

Allow me to apologise to my blog followers (all 20 of them) for being lethargic in updating this blog. I am still without a phone line and my Celcom Broadband is not behaving too well. In spite of being very near the Menara Telekom, I am apparently too far from a Celcom tower to get a trouble-free connection. It was satisfactory during the 7 day trial period. After that it went downhill.

The beauty of blogs is that we learn from each other. You learn something from me and I learn something from your comments and feedback. I wonder if any of you are familiar with the language of our Terengganu nelayan. Like any other professionals, they have their own terms and phrases. I am trying to collect as much istilah of these orang kelaut as I can and I need your help. I did ask a friend in a fishing village in Terengganu to collect as much words as he can but he is busy ferrying tourists to Pulau Redang.

I do remember a few words unique to the orang kelaut though. Words like awok. To the ordinary Terengganu Jusoh, awok is a crude form of "you". To to the orang kelaut, awok is a member of the boat crew. Galle (standard: tenggala) is usually when you plow the land with the plough. To the orang kelaut, galle is the sticky stuff that you plug leaky boats with.

While some of the ordinary Terengganu folks might enjoy listening to keroncong, the music, orang kelaut know keroncong as the part of pukat tarek where the fish are caught. They may or may not hum a keroncong tune when they see a full keroncong rising out of the sea.

Orang kelaut also have specific words to describe the condition of the sea. If it is a bit choppy, they say that the sea is kucoh. Worse than kucoh is gelora. I and other sea-sick people would wait when the sea is lenang before venturing out in boats. Lenang, as my sea-sick uncle described it is "when the sea is like teh-o in a cup".

Now tell me of other words and phrases that the orang kelaut use. Until then, let us wish all the fishermen of Terengganu to always come ashore with their boats muat luang (filled with abundant catch).

Labels: Terengganu fishermen's terms

SOUND ADDITIONS

Movie fans who bothered to read the credits might see the names of Foley Artists responsible for the sound effects in the film. I would think that Terengganu speakers would make good Foley artists because most action words in Terengganuspeak are inevitably followed by an appropriate sound.

Take falling as an example. In Terengganu, things or bodies just do not jatuh (fall). They jatuh bedebok (falls with a thud) no matter how hard the surface is or how high the fall. A stumble sounds more painful. Doesn't reboh bedebing sounds sharper and the receiving surface is hard and unforgiving?

Certain things do not just break, they explode noisily. A bottle of budu (anchovy sauce) absent-mindedly left in the car on a very hot day can pecoh belepong (explode) as easily as an inflated balloon rudely poked with a pin. The poker might be caught by the balloon owner's father or big brother and duly tapo beleping (bitch-slapped) or if the owner is big enough (and angry enough), he himself might tumbok bedebuk (punch) the poker. Some young ballon owners might be just shocked and a short while later nangih berdrohong (wail). In this case, the poker's best course of action is to tembor bedaung and show a clean pair of heels. As for the aforementioned bottle of budu, when the owner of the car opens the door, he/she will be hit by a malodorous smell. He/she can say that he/she bau wa wa (smells something strong).

In Terengganu, running into things is never a silent affair. There is always a noise. Thus langgor gedegang although it is not necessarily the corrugated iron fence that you collide with. Sucking something, either a cold beverage sucked through a straw or a runny nosed young boy sucking in his nasal mucilage give us isap serok serok (suck noisily) much to the displeasure of the prim and proper Miss Emily Post.

I know some of you might be suka gelekek (titter) by this time but unfit me is already leloh bedohor (out of breath). So be my guest and add in your action words (verbs) with the sound added that you have heard spoken in Terengganu.

Labels: Foley, onomatopoeiac action words

FAMILY TAGS

Some cultures have specific name or title for a particular member of the family. A close friend of mine who has Bengali roots is Dada to the children of his sons while his daughter's kids call him Nana and his wife Nani. His brothers' kids call him Chacha and his wife Chahchi while the children of his sisters call him Mamu and his wife Mami.
The Chinese too have specific names for members of the family. The eldest auntie, father's side is called Kuma while the eldest auntie on the mother's side is called Tai Ee (Big Auntie).

Terengganu families are not that rigid or elaborate. The eldest auntie is Mak Long from "Sulong" which is the first. Eldest uncle is Pak Long or Ayoh Long. Another variation is Wa (from the word tua or old). So your eldest auntie is Wa and your eldest uncle is Ayoh Wa. The next older auntie is Mok Ngoh/Chek Ngoh and the uncle is Ayoh Ngoh or Pok Ngoh. This is fairly simple to deduce because the second one is in the middle (tengoh).The youngest sister of your mother is Mok Su (bongsu-youngest) and the youngest brother is Ayoh Su or Pok Su. A variation of Su is Chu as in Mok Chu or Pok Chu.

This works well if your grandparents had only 3 kids. If they had more they were given titles that did not reflect their seniority at all. Some are called Cek Teh because they are fairskinned (putih) or Cek Tam because they are dusky (hitam). Some are even called De (from the word muda) because they are younger but not the youngest. Since uncles too might be called De or Ayoh De, there are aunties in that particular position called De Mek. Unlike the Bengalis or the Chinese, Terengganu Malays use Mak Long for the eldest auntie on both the mother and father's side. To avoid confusions, the auntie's or uncle's name is affixed. Thus we have Mok Long Selamoh or Pak Chu Mang to differentiate them from Mok Long Haji Lijoh or Pak Chu Beraheng.

In extreme cases where one is the only child,your cousin's kids would call you Ngga (from the word tunggal or only one). So to my cousin's children I am Ayoh Ngga- the Lonely One. Lonely shall I retire to ponder why I call my father's younger brother Bah Abang, their late mother Mok Tok and my father's cousin who is younger than me Mok Adik. I have never met my paternal or maternal grandfather. I was born after they were gone. Thus I do n't call them Ki or Tok Ki. Whatever I would call them, I am sure they won't answer.

Labels: family tags

MINYOK

Long before Terengganu was blessed (or cursed - depending on who you talk to) with the discovery of petroleum within her waters, Terengganu folks were already familiar with "minyok".

We used minyok tanoh (kerosene) to light our pelita ayang (oil lamp) or the brighter and noisier pressure lanterns that you have to pump and prime before you get any light. Later on there were "Butterfly" stoves which also ran on minyok tanoh. Some of you might remember being sent to the local provision shop with an empty bottle so that the shopkeeper can gumba (pump) kerosene for you from a square tin that looks like a biscuit tin. The pump itself fascinated many young Terengganu lads. It is simple yet effective. It has only one moving part and that is the rod that you move up and down to get the minyak tanoh flowing from the big tin down the spout to your bottle.

Minyok tanoh is called such to differentiate it from minyok tanok (cooked oil) or minyok nyo (coconut oil) whose source is higher up and far from the tanoh (ground).

As you get closer to Kelantan, minyok tanoh gets to be called minyok gah. There is a famous Lorong Minyok Gah in Kota Baru. I guess minyok gah is from the the English "gas" which in turn is short for gasoline which is not kerosene at all. Gasoline is what Terengganu people call minyok petrol or sometimes called benzine (minyok benzeng). Oil for the engine is called minyok selendar because Terengganu motorists know that the oil lubricates the pistons in the cylinder. Engine oil is also called minyok itang.

Surprisingly, in Terengganu, perfumes are not called minyak wangi but air wangi. Preferences for eau de cologne perhaps? Perfumes used for Friday prayers are called minyok attor (attar) and brilliantine, cream or oil you put on your hair are called minyok rambut (hair oil). The popular brands during my time are Brylcreem, Yardley and for Hindustani fans of both sexes, Zam Zam.

Just like the car that needs change of minyok selendar every now and then, boys that use brilliantine changed oil on their head every few miles.

Underfoot, all the way from Trinidad and her famous Steel Band came minyok tar or asphalt. At one time many drums of asphalt were abandoned on the river bank in front of the Kuala Terengganu Post Office and quite close to Pok Kadir's famous stall. Inevitably, the asphalt found its way out of the rusting drums and onto the soles of Pok Kadir's customers. Some might get stuck to shiny mudguards of motorcycles or the body of some cars. These black stuff were not called minyok tar anymore. Off the road, they were called blakeng and seasoned motorcyclists and motorists cleaned them off with a mixture of minyok tanoh and apah nyo.

It was after a lot of headaches and copious administration of minyok rima (Tiger balm) did I suspect that blakeng came from the English word "blacking". Any other theories welcomed.

(Due to lack of breath and unsuitable voice, there will be no audio version of this post. Apologies.)

Labels: blakeng, minyok benzen, minyok gah, minyok itang, minyok tanoh, minyok tar

APRIL FOOLS

There will be no Terengganu words to learn this time around because after what happened in Terengganu yesterday. I have only swear words in my head.

Are those group of BN assemblymen in Terengganu for real? My friends in Terengganu told me that they are as real as the plastic palms that used to dot Terengganu towns. Three of them received "threatening SMS" and 10 played truant and did not attend the sittings. How many assemblymen has been assasinated in Terengganu? People in Terengganu Darul Iman are comparatively religious. They believe life and death are in the domain of Allah and not in the powers of political rivals. Besides, the hotel they were holed up in is less secure than the Dewan Undangan Negeri. You can see the State Police HQ from the assembly.

What have they achieved other than disgracing the state? Nothing whatsoever. When the new PM talk of unity they displayed divisiveness. When the new cabinet are talking about being more responsible, these sorry excuse of lawmakers chose to be irresponsible. They should be in the Dewan asking questions on behalf of their voters, shouldn't they?

Whatever your ambition is, whatever you want to happen, do it with some class and lots of intelligence. Being petulant (and some would say flatulent too) will not get you anywhere. As my friend Dato' Omar Khalid said:
"Di Teganung ramai orang pandai, tapi tak ramai yang bijok." I would not have guessed that he meant the BN politicians.

ANOK

Even though there is a Malay saying that goes "Kecil jangan disangka anak, besar jangan disangka bapa" Terengganu speakers, just like other Malay speakers call the smaller of things anok. So the key, which is smaller than the lock is called anok kuci and the arrow which is smaller compared to the bow is anok panoh. Similarly, we have anok mata which is part of the eye and anok tekok, which is a part of the throat. I think it is the uvula. Can someone with a copy of Gray's Anatomy check?

If you want to get out of the house, you go down the steps. If your house is a typical kampung house, you would step on several anok tangga before you reach the ground. If you are at night and the time is right you might see a crescent moon in the sky. That would be anok bulang. There is no mok bulang or bapak bulang although there is bulan purnama in Kuala Terengganu and in Bukit Gantang shining very brightly during by-elections.

Venture further into the bushes and you might find tough, wiry thumb-sized trees growing. These are called anok kuat and Merang folks used them as floors and walls for their huts. Anok kuat sometimes can be found near anok sunga (streams or tributaries) where small boys catch anok seriding (very small fishes). Very small boys, usually uncircumcised, when in a team of older boys (probably circumcised) would be called anok wek for the duration of whatever game they were playing.

There was one such anok wek who accidentally caught hold of his grandma's breast. His father was furious and gave the boy a scolding. The boy apologized to the grandma and muttered:
"Ayoh ning, orang pegang kopek mok dia sekali maroh doh. Dia pegang kopek mok kita ari ari kita dak kata apa pong."

Labels: anok bulang, anok kuat, anok kuci, anok mata, anok panoh, anok seriding, anok sunga, anok tangga, anok tekok, anok wek

SOUND WORDS

Before Mimi cok (reserve) the wireless modem, I'd better finish this post. So I will make it short.
There will be not enough time for lengthy explanations so I will just introduce you to the words in a story that purportedly happened in Kampong Longger Terengganu many many years ago. The veracity of the story could not be confirmed since all those involved and maybe the kampung too are no longer with us.

One evening in December, Ayoh Wang Deramang was shaken out of his post-asar nap in his rattan kerusi malah (lazy chair) by loud noises coming out of the next room. His house has many rooms and he rented them out to supplement his income. The room next door where the grudung gradang came from was rented by a couple who were both orally and aurally challenged. Non-politically correct people would call the couple deaf and dumb.
"How could a deaf and dumb couple make so much noise, so bising bangor?" Ayoh Wang Deramang thought to himself. He proceeded to bang dengor (pricked his ear) and there were more grudung gradang from the next room. Since there were no speech, Ayoh Wang Deramang could not describe the din as geger. Were the couple having an orgy after the birth of their baby? Ayoh Wang Deramang, a bachelor, scolded himself for having such an unsavoury thought. The grudung gradang continued. Ayoh Wang Deramang became curiouser and curiouser. He could not hold himself much longer. Throwing caution and good breeding to the monsoon wind, he rushed to the store to get his putorela (hand drill/gimlet) and drilled a hole in the wall. He peeked through the hole and what did he see?
He saw furnitures upturned. He saw the room in a mess. He saw the husband holding a picture of his wife's father in one hand and an open umbrella in the other. He also saw the wife holding her baby with one hand and pointing to her exposed breast with the other.
Ayoh Wang Deramang was mystified. He could not make out what was happening. Only one person would know. Cikgu Rozak, a teacher at the deaf and dumb school would know. Conveniently, Cikgu Rozak was renting a room at the other end of the house. Ayoh Wang Deramang ran to fetch Cikgu Rozak who came to the peephole and peeped. He saw the same thing that Ayoh Wang Deramang saw.
He saw furnitures upturned. He saw the room in a mess. He saw the husband holding a picture of his wife's father in one hand and an open umbrella in the other. He also saw the wife holding her baby with one hand and pointing to her exposed breast with the other.
Cikgu Rozak turned to the expectant Ayoh Wang Deramang.
"Ayoh Wang, the wife is telling the husband to buy milk for the baby.."
"Pah tu? (Then?)"
"The husband said pala ayoh mu (your father's head). It is raining lah."

Labels: bang dengor, bising bangor, geger, grudung gradang, putorela