Origin of the word 'batik'?

[Roger Mills]

Piotr Gasiorowski wrote:

> As no expert has spoken yet, I hope the following may help a little as a
stop-gap explanation: The American Heritage Dictionary cites the PAN
reconstruction as *baCík 'tattoo' (> Malay batek [via Javanese]) "from the
fact that the original process of piercing the waxed cloth prior to soaking
was similar to tattooing".
>
> http://www.bartleby.com/61/42/B0114200.html
>
Of course, Dempwolff reconstructed *baCik 'bemalen' based on near-identical
forms in Ml., Jav. Tag. and NgD, which suggest ultimate borrowing from Ml.
or Jav.

Also, *Cik (onomat. 'tick') and *CikCik 'ticken', with a Sa'a cognate. If
you've seen any TV program about Maori or other South Seas tattooing (the
old-fashioned way), the connection is obvious. The making of batik cloth is
much quieter, but a not dissimilar motion that also lays on a pattern.

Note that there's a whole family of similar roots *Cak, *Cek, *Cuk, also
reduplicated and some with CV- "prefixes"

Piotr's "self-correction" *beCik would be a later addition and/or
adjustment.

Roger Mills