Talk:Silat Melayu

The word "Melayu" was not derived from Sanskrit
In this article mentions that the word "Melayu" came from Sanskrit of Malai Ur.

I believe, it derived from the name of the river in Sumatra. The river name is Melayu, that believes it is the same to "Melayu" meaning in Javanese language. In Javanese, it means "run".

To note, Malay and Javanese people are brothers (Austronesian) and they live near each other. So, sharing or owning words are the common matters in their life. So, the river name of Melayu implied that it is a river that flow swiftly or quickly as "running" in its way.

Then, "Melayu" was probably given to the clan (Melayu - which dwell around the river) by themselves since they are the residents who occupied the surrounding area of the swift and quick river.

This is my theory. Plus, the Sejarah Melayu had mentioned about the river name of "Melayu" in Sumatra that tells the origin of Melayu.

Everyone may develope any theory, but are the theories are just the theories (opinions)? Are the theory-makers look at Malay cultures, beliefs, folk stories, and most important the history records? In Sejarah Melayu, it exactly mentioned the river name of Melayu, even Malays always give names to any things based on its nature. In this context, the river was given the name "Melayu" because it flows quick/swift as the river is running.

That's all. Thanks. Master of Books (talk) 02:57, 31 October 2009 (UTC)

The origin of the word is unproven but the Sanskrit theory is most commonly agreed upon. Of course, other theories may also be included in the article. And yes, the etymologists who come up with these theories are familiar with Malay folk beliefs and history.Morinae (talk) 08:25, 13 July 2010 (UTC)


 * No, not all of them are familiar with Malay local folk beliefs and history, especially some historians who overlooked at some important points). Some etymologists seem ignoring the tendencies of Malay in naming their own names of the places (kingdoms, rivers, tribes, etc.) by using their own Malay language. Sometimes it is just like a bias. Before making any theory, they should look at the Malay historical records either the records have any information regarding the place/kingdom name, as well as doing a research on oral tradition and folk's beliefs. The etymologists (some) tend to look at foreign so-called influences and disregard the folk's stories behind the place name origin/history.


 * For your information, Malay also took the river name, i.e. Sarawak river as their own name for the state/region (now it's Sarawak State under Malaysia) which was under Brunei Sultanate. The name of the river is believed by historians as originated from the Malay word for "antimony" which is serawak. Antimony was among the minerals produced by Sarawak in those time.


 * Moreover, Sabah which is now under Malaysia as a state got its name from the banana 'Pisang Saba' which grew along the coast, according to Zakiah Hanum (1989) research in her book Asal Usul Negeri-Negeri di Malaysia (the Origins of the States of Malaysia). She adds that because the banana grew very well along the coasts and that many people planted and ate it, the name Sabah was applied to the place and that subsequently became the name of the state. However, Maxwell found that in Bruneian Malay, saba means downstream but other studies say it means upstream. Sabah is located to the northwest, or upstream of Brunei. From there, it is believed that the banana tree gets its name from local (Bruneian) word of downstream or upstream.


 * Back to the word Melayu, Mohd Dahlan Mansoer researched that the word Melayu originated from the river name (which was Melayu) & he states that the river gets the name because it flows swiftly like it is running. (mlayu = "run" in Javanese; = "melaju" in Malay). The meaning of the word is also supported by Werndly (a Western historian who believes it derived from the word melaju - fast, going fast = run) and Prof. Dr. Khoo Kay Kim (believes it came from mlayu = run in Javanese). Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals) also tells that there was a river named Melayu at the upstream and from there some historians believed it emerged the Melayu name to be used later as the kingdom name.

--Master of Books (talk) 19:35, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

Malay etymologists are usually Malays, and I'm sure they will have been familiar with the various theories pertaining to the origin of particular words. The Javanese origin theory is quite well-known and since you have mentioned several sources to back it up, there should be no problem in including it. Morinae (talk) 11:40, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Silat Pulut
This section should be separated and moved to List of Silat styles Sisiluncai (talk) 08:31, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

Silat pulut is not a style of silat. It is a form of light-contact competition, as opposed to sparring. It doesn't make sense to move this section to the list of silat styles. Morinae (talk) 08:21, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

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