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Hi,<br><br>
This is not a request for information, but rather an update.
<br><br>
First of all, I wrote to the list back in January asking if anyone knew
the etymology of the Dutch word foeja (modern Indonesian spelling fuya)
meaning 'bark cloth'. The short answer is that it is a corruption
of the Minahasan word <i>wuyang</i> 'woman's sarong'. Paul Geraghty
sent me the details a while ago, but did not copy the entire list.
Since at least one other person has requested this infromation, I've
included Paul's complete response below, as others of you may also find
it useful--especially about where to find the <i>VOC Glossarium</i>
online.<br><br>
Second, and apart from the list, I had also been pursuing the etymology
of the Dutch word <i>Alfoer</i>, an exonym which has been used to
describe inhabitants of both interior Celebes and interior New
Guinea--usually with negative connotations, and for this reason the word
seems to have passed out of usage around the turn of the 20th
century. Since this word had also entered the English language, I
had some etymological speculations already at my disposal.
Webster's Third New International indicates the word is of
Malayo-Polynesian provenance:<br><br>
<b>alfur</b>, <i>n</i>. -s, <i>usu cap</i> [Sp <i>alfur</i>,
<i>alfor</i>, fr. Pg <i>alforro</i>, of Malayo-Polynesian origin; akin to
Indonesian <i>alifuru</i>] 1: any one of a group of aboriginal peoples of
mixed ancestry inhabiting interior regions of the Moluccas and parts of
Celebes; 2: a member of an Alfur people.<br><br>
The Oxford English Dictionary, on the other hand, indicates a merger of
Arabic and Portuguese:<br><br>
<b>alfur</b> [ad. Pg. alfuori ‘the outsider,’ f. Arab. al the + fuori
outside:L. foribus out of door, fores doors. (R.N. Cust.)] <br>
A member of a race or group of races in Celebes and
the surrounding islands, distinct from the Malay and Negrito, but perhaps
intermediate between them. Hence Alfurese a. 1878 CUST Mod. Langs.
E. Ind. 147 The seven Alfurese languages of<br>
which we have vocabularies. 1879 Syd. Soc. Lex. Alfurian Race: the
Alfurs. 1881 A. KEANE in Nature XXIII. 251 The fusion of yellow, white,
and black produces the so-called ‘Alfuros’ in the East.<br><br>
However, as a colleague of mine noted, Van Baarda's 1895
<a name="baarda1895"></a><i>Een Galelareesch-Hollandsche
Woordenlijst</i><a name="baarda1895"></a> ('s-Gravenhage: Martinus
Nijhoff) gives the following entry. Here, Alfoer is ascribed to
Tidore (a West Papuan language). <br>
<br>
<b><i>Halefuru</b> (o) </i>of o Halefuru-ka ma nyawa, Alfoer:
boschmensch, wilde (hale - Tid - = land, furu = woest, wild: bewoners van
het woeste land, van het bosch). [<i>Halefuru</i>
(<i>o</i>) or <i>o Halefuru-ka ma nyawa</i>, Aflur: bushman, savage (hale
- Tidorese - = land, furu = wild, savage: inhabitants of the wild lands,
of the forest], <br><br>
Everything considered, it strikes me that Van Baarda must be correct, and
that both Webster's and the OED simply got this one wrong.
<br><br>
Yours for what it's worth,<br><br>
David Mead<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
=============================================<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">From: Paul Geraghty
<geraghty_p@usp.ac.fj><br>
To: "'David Mead'" <david_mead@sil.org><br>
Subject: RE: [An-lang] etymology of foeja 'bark cloth'<br>
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 17:21:18 -0000<br><br>
<br>
These are the entries from the 'VOC-glossarium':<br>
fuja, zie bij boskleedje. <br>
[fuja: go to 'boskleedje']<br>
<br>
boskleedje (gm5) . kleedje van geklopte boombast of fuja. Verbastering
van de Minahassische term wujang = vrouwensarong.<br>
[dress of beaten bark or fuja. Corruption from the Minahassic[?] term
wujang = woman's sarong]<br>
The 'glossarium' is available on the internet, but has also been
published. <br>
Kooijmans, M. & J. Schooneveld-Oosterling<br>
2000 VOC-glossarium. Verklaring van termen, verzameld uit de<br>
Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatien die betrekking hebben op<br>
de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie. Den Haag: Instituut<br>
voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis.<br>
<a href="http://test.inghist.nl/pdf/vocglossarium/VOCGlossarium.pdf" eudora="autourl">
http://test.inghist.nl/pdf/vocglossarium/VOCGlossarium.pdf</a><br>
Hope this helps! <br><br>
<br><br>
-----Original Message-----<br>
From:<x-tab> </x-tab>David Mead <br>
Sent:<x-tab> </x-tab>Saturday, 29 January 2005 9:14
AM<br>
To:<x-tab> </x-tab>an-lang@anu.edu.au<br>
Subject:<x-tab> </x-tab>
[An-lang] etymology of foeja 'bark cloth'<br><br>
Hi,<br><br>
I'm wondering if someone could tell me the etymology of the word
"foeja", a <br>
(widespread?) term in the Dutch East Indies for bark cloth.
Following <br>
modernized Indonesian spelling, the word would now be written as <br>
"fuya". Curiously, I've not found any Dutch or Indonesian
dictionary which <br>
lays claim to this word. Whilst the practice of making bark cloth
has <br>
declined, people in many parts of Central Sulawesi at least still readily
<br>
recognize the word "fuya", and are even a bit surprised to find
out that <br>
it's not the 'official' Indonesian word for bark cloth (which is <br>
jeluang). Indigenous words for bark cloth bear no resemblance to
"fuya".<br><br>
Thanks much,<br><br>
David Mead<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
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