Dear George, Since you also speak Malay, during your short trip to the Minangkabau heartland, you'll figure out how much you'll easily understand Minangkabau. Your host will love to point out the rough similarity between Malay and Minangkabau. It's not a bad idea to practice it during the trip with him and with real people (native speakers) in the open environment. You'll enjoy it.
As a rule of thumb, we called the Malay as a refined Minangkabau. Generally the word ending with Minangkabau "o" becoming "a" in Malay (but not always!), such as "kayo" becoming "kaya", "sarikayo" becomes "serikaya", "mato" becomes "mata", "Bandaro" > "Bendahara", Apo > Apa, etc. Yes indeed, "kaya" here means Minangkabau "kayo", rich, wealthy, not like the Javanese's kayak [=seperti, just like] monyet. If ALan Stevens' "hantu pemburu" as a classical term for a dog-like spirit, that's one way to describe it. Another one is like "the ghost [hantu] who always trying to ["buru"] chase and scare you away. Salam, --MakNgah I'll forward this email to Rantaunet At 10:33 PM 2/26/2006 -0800, George Fowler wrote: >And also thanks for that great message in Bahasa Minang, the first >time I have ever seen such. Very, very interesting. > >George > >On 2/26/06, George Fowler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I meant, MakNgah Sjamsir! > > > > On 2/26/06, George Fowler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Thanks again, Pak Sjamsir. I am sure Pak Yasni will take me to all the > > > places related to Sitti Nurbaya and Si Malin Kundang. > > > > > > One more question on the text. Nurbaya is describing the ineffable > > > Datuk Maringgih in her letter to Samsul. She says: > > > > > > "Sungguh kaya, rupanya sama dengan hantu pemburu..." I assume "kaya" > > > here means "wealthy, rich" and not Javanese "kaya" (=gaya) or > > > "srikaya" for that matter... > > > > > > But what is the "hantu pemburu"? ALan Stevens' dictionary has an entry > > > with says that this is a classical term for a dog-like spirit. This > > > seems to fit in here,but I just wanted to first get your take on this. > > > > > > Thaks, > > > > > > George > > > > > > On 2/24/06, Sjamsir Sjarif <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Maa Rang Lapau nan Basamo, > > > > > > > > MakNgah porowaikkan psotiang Angku Ephi manganai Kuburan Siti > Nurbaya ke > > > > Pak George Fowler di Seattle, USA. Baliau sadang manterjemahkan > Buku Siti > > > > Nurbaya ka dalam Bahaso Inggirih. > > > > > > > > Awal Maret ko Pak George ka pai ka Sumatera Barat dan ka pai ka Gunuang > > > > Padang ka tempek Kuburan Siti Nurbaya tu. Iko balasan email baliau ka > > > > MakNgah dalam parsiapan baliau ka pai ka Indonesia jo > > > > Malaysia. Mudah-mudahan baliau indak kacewa dan baibo hati dalam > macaliak > > > > tampek-tampek nan ado hubuanganyo jo Siti Nubaya tu. > > > > > > > > Dear George, > > > > > > > > I wrote those two paragraphs in Minangkabau so you'll have a taste > of Caro > > > > Awak (Minangkabau Language) a little bit. It's not too hard to > figure it > > > > out. Oh yes, address to "Mbak Ephi" is mistaken, he is Angku Ephi > (address > > > > to Minangkabau male). I did the same thing earlier before I knew the > > > > backgropund of some members of Rantaunet. > > > > > > > > Jembatan Siti Nurbaya just a new bridge across the Arrau Muara. I never > > > > crossed that Jembatan yet. When you get to the site of Siti > Nurbaya, the > > > > Air Manis area, you'll see also the legend of the Rock si Malin > Kundang. > > > > > > > > We'll keep in touch George. Have a great time. In case you want to > email me > > > > during the trip please do not hesitate to do so. > > > > > > > > Bon Voyage, > > > > -- MakNgah > > > > [MakNgah is my name as usually used in this Lapau (Rantaunet). > > > > > > > > At 12:55 PM 2/24/2006 -0800, George Fowler wrote: > > > > > > > > >THanks, Pak Sjamsir and to Mbak Ephi, too. Well, we will no doubt be > > > > >going up Gunung Padang with our friends, and I expect to see at least > > > > >Jembatan S.N. I will take to heart the warnings that visiting the > > > > >"kuburan" of S.N. could be a disappointment. > > > > > > > > > >We will take pictures on my new digital camera and post some of > these here. > > > > > > > > > >I will also look for a copy of the book for you. > > > > > > > > > >Finally, thanks for your and everybody's most generous help to-date on > > > > >the problems I have encountered in translating this book. > > > > > > > > > >George -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 268.1.0/269 - Release Date: 2/24/2006 -------------------------------------------------------------- Website: http://www.rantaunet.org ========================================================= Berhenti, berhenti sementara dan konfigurasi keanggotaan anda, silahkan ke: http://rantaunet.org/palanta-setting -------------------------------------------------------------- UNTUK DIPERHATIKAN: - Hapus footer dan bagian yang tidak perlu, jika melakukan Reply - Besar posting maksimum 100 KB - Mengirim attachment ditolak oleh sistem =========================================================
