[An-lang] Betta as a Javanese fish name

[Rader, James]

Greetings to list members-

Questions about a Javanese fish name:  The Dutch ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker introduced  <Betta> as a taxonomic name for a fish genus. His earliest publication of the name was apparently in "Bijdrage tot de kennis der ichthyologische fauna van Midden- en Oost-Java," _Verhandelingen van het Bataviaatsch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen_, 23, 1850.  Bleeker lists "indigenous names" ("de inlandsche namen") for many species of fish. For his <Betta trifasciata>, found in the vicinity of Ambarawa in central Java, he gives the name "Ik[an] wader bettah." "Ikan" I presume is the Malay word for "fish." The word "wader" is glossed "a freshwater fish" in Robson and Wibisono's Javanese dictionary. Bleeker's "bettah" is not self-evident. Robson and Wibisono list <betah> as a verb meaning "to feel comfortable" and "to endure" but I'm not sure what this word would mean conjoined to <wader> as a fish name, or even if this is the word in question.

My thanks to anyone who can illuminate the matter-Jim Rader, Merriam-Webster, Inc.

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