Talk:Karambit

Korambit page
I edited Korambit to redirect here. This is the text I removed from that page:
 * Korambit is a curved dagger pointed at the tip. The Korambit was born in the Indonesian archipelago around the 13th century with roots in the Philippines and Malaysia. A Korambit is much like the sickle, albeit small in scale and more curved inwards like a hook.

If the 13th century comment could be verified it'd be useful info. to add. JJL 14:11, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

The physics of this sentence seem misguided: "Generally, the short Filipino karambit has found favor in the West with some martial artists because such proponents allege the biomechanics of the weapon allow for more powerful cutting strokes, particularly against an attacker's limbs, even with a short blade, though this does not correlate to the torque equation of T= Fd, where torque increases with respect to distance from pivot point." The equation seems taken out of context. While torque does indeed increase with distance, the torque in question is supplied by the user's swinging motion, with the force corresponding the motion of the karambit's tip, necessitating the rearrangement T/d = F to solve for the force at the karambit's tip. Applied to the karambit, T/d = F means that distance is inversely proportional to the force at the tip of the weapon. I propose a removal of the equation's mention altogether until its veracity or inaccuracy is confirmed by more than one editor. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.169.83.189 (talk) 02:14, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

"Etymological roots" and origin
I'm curious about the opening claim "As proven by its etymological roots". The prevalence of the name "kerambit" or "karambit" is simply an artifact of linguistic borrowing, and does not in any way prove original geographic origin.

It would be like claiming that the proa originated from Malaysia simply because the word the Europeans brought back with them was Malay (perahu). We all know, however, that proas are omnipresent and is an integral part of the Austronesian cultural identity. It's what enabled our ancestors to colonize the islands of the Indian and Pacific oceans after all. Proas exist from Polynesia to Madagascar, just under different names. Names that ultimately didn't make it to English.

I argue that the same is true with karambit. In the Philippines for example, this farm implement (used somewhat like a sickle) is known more commonly as kalambit (karambit being a rhotic variant). As a verb, kalambit in Visayan means to scratch with your nails, to snatch at, to hang on.

A closely related word is kabit, which means to hang on [with your nails/fingertips]. The archaic form of the word, kalabit, also means to gain someone's attention by lightly flicking your finger on their back. The action is similar to scratching someone lightly with just the pads of your index finger. It serves in the same way as the western shoulder pat or elbow nudge.

As a noun, kalambit is also an archaic word for bats, since they hang down with their claws. Modern Cebuano has evolved it to kalapanit and kwaknit however.

These words and variants of it are present in all Austronesian languages in the Philippines indicating native origin. Having preexisting cognates and native spellings makes no sense if this farm implement was truly introduced and foreign.

And lastly. It's a FARMING tool primarily. Not a weapon. And it's a very basic tool at that. And all Southeast Asian Austronesians have another thing in common besides proas. They cultivated rice extensively. It's far more likely that this tool was a pan-Austronesian thing. Rather than a [relatively] recent invention from Sumatra. Though it may be true that they were the first to weaponize it.-- O BSIDIAN  †  S OUL  15:06, 8 July 2013 (UTC)


 * I also found the origin information is rather inconsistent. The infobox says that this is from Malaysia, however the text in the Origin section states that it originated from West Sumatra (which is in Indonesia).-Fixy (talk) 15:27, 26 February 2018 (UTC)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: Not moved. Per WP:COMMONNAME we should use whatever is the most common term used for this knife in English writings. No evidence is offered in this move request that 'kerambit' is more common than 'karambit' in English. In fact, straightforward Google searches indicate that karambit is four times more common on the general web when you search with google.com. EdJohnston (talk) 20:25, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Karambit → Kerambit – This is the original Indonesian/ Malay spelling and is by far the most common, whereas "karambit" is only one of several dialectal forms used in the Philippines. Using a Filipino spelling would only make sense if that was the most common form in English. However, the kerambit is not well-known among English-speakers so the most common spelling seems more neutral. Morinae (talk) 12:09, 25 March 2014 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.