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Systematic Features of Javanese Personal Names

E. M. Uhlenbeck

To cite this article: E. M. Uhlenbeck (1969) Systematic Features of Javanese Personal Names,
Word, 25:1-3, 321-335, DOI: 10.1080/00437956.1969.11435576

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R M. UHLENBECK----------------------

Systematic Features of Javanese

Personal Names

1 INTRODUCTION
Although the literature on proper names is quite extensive, few attempts
have been made to describe proper names as part of the grammatical
structure of language. Certain general linguistic problems such as the
semantic nature of proper names and their position vis avis common nouns,
have attracted. and are still attracting the attention of linguists and philo-
sophers alike, 1 but the empirical basis for the theoretical discussion of such
problems still remains fairly narrow and insecure, mainly consisting of
data often cursorily examined and mostly taken from a limited number of
Indo-European languages.2 The situation as described by Meyer more than
fifty years ago 3 seems basically unaltered. For most linguists the study of
proper names constitutes a marginal and not very promising area of
research, willingly left to the care of the science of onomastics. This
discipline, however, is inclined-to borrow Alien's apt formulation-"to
be etymologically explanatory rather than systematically descriptive." 4
The aim of this article is twofold: it will try to show that the synchronic
study of proper names may be an interesting and rewarding subject for the

1 See, for instance, A. Gardiner, The Theory of Proper Names (London, 19542); E. Put-
gram, Theory of Names (Berkeley, 1954); H. S. Sorensen, The Meaning of Proper Names
(Copenhagen, 1958); Francis Lee Utley, "The Linguistic Component of Onomastics,"
Names, XI (1963), 145-176; H. Fleischer, "Zum Verhaltnis von Name und Appellativum
im Deutschen, "Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Kart Marx-Universitiit Leipzig, XIII
(1964), Gesellschafts- und Sprachwissenschaftliche Reihe, Heft 2, 369-378; 0. Leys, "De
eigennaam als linguistisch teken [The Proper Name as a Linguistic Sign]," Mededelingen
van de Vereniging voor naamkunde te Leuven, XLI (1965), 1-81.
2 See Hamp's review of E. Pulgram, Theory of Names (1954) in Romance Philology, IX
(1955-56), 346-350.
3 R. M. Meyer, "Zur Syntax der Eigennamen," Beitriige zur Geschichte der Deutschen
Sprache und Literatur, XL (1915), 501-521.
4 W. S. Allen, '"Proper Names' in Onomastics and Linguistics," Actes et memoires
du 5e Congres International de Toponymie et d' Anthroponymie (Salamanca, 1958), 195-201.
321
 322 E. M. UHLENBECK

linguist as well as for the ethnographer and that at least in some linguistic
communities personal names may form a well-defined subsystem within
the whole of the linguistic structure.
This study is limited to Javanese personal names as in use around the
middle of this century. 5 Geographical names will not be discussed,
because they can be shown to form a system of their own, distinct from the
personal names as well as from the nouns. The data for this study come
from three sources: from the existing literature on the subject, from written
texts and last but not least from two Javanese informants. In view of the
small amount of attention bestowed on the description of proper names
by linguists in general, it is not surprising that within the realm of Javanese
studies very little has been published on Javanese personal names. Poen-
sen's article of 1870 which closes with a fairly long list of names, is an
exception. 6 The Leiden university library has two unpublished lists of
Javanese names.? In the ethnographical literature there are some brief
reports on name selection. 8 Some Javanese grammars have a short para-
graph on names,9 others are completely silent on the subject,lO
In addition to the names found in these sources, several thousands of
names have been culled from modern Javanese books, almanacs, journals
and newspapers. My two informants, Miss Soejatin Wirjosoekarto and
Mr. J. Soegiarto have provided me with valuable information. The long
discussions with them have given me an insight into the system of Javanese
personal names which could not have been acquired otherwise. Their
patient and cheerful assistance is gratefully acknowledged here.

s Developments after Indonesia gained its independence (1950) are not discussed here.
6 C. Poensen, "lets over Javaansche naamgeving en eigennamen [On Javanese Name-
selection and Proper Names]," Mededeelingen vanwege het Ned. Zendelinggenootschap,
XIV (1870), 304-321.
7 Leiden Univ. Library Cod. Or. 2159, pp. 95-101; Leiden Univ. Library Cod. Or.
7495, pp. 53-56. The first list contains names collected by T. Roorda, the second con-
tains some data on name-selection from an unpublished manuscript of the Primbon
Panaraga.
s L. Th. Mayer, "Een blik in het Javaansche Volksleven [A Look at Javanese Village
Life]," (Leiden, 1897), Vol. I, pp. 294-296; R. M. Koentjaraningrat, "A Preliminary
Description of the Javanese Kinship System," Yale University Southeast Asia Studies:
Cultural Report Series (1957), 23-24; Clifford Geertz, "The Religion of Java" (Glencoe,
1960), 47-49; 84.
9 A. H. J. G. Walbeehm, De woorden als zindelen in het Javaansch [The Words as
Sentence Elements in Javanese] (Batavia, 1897), pp. 164-168; C. Poensen, Grammatica
der Javaansche taal [Grammar of the Javanese Language] (Leiden, 1897), pp. 227-228.
IO H. N. Kiliaan's Javanese grammar of 1919, for instance, nowhere mentions
Javanese names.
 SYSTEMATIC FEATURES OF JAVANESE PERSONAL NAMES 323
2 GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE SYSTEM OF JAVENESE NAMES
In Javanese, personal names are words syntactically characterized by
their combinability with the so-called personal article si (Iioko ), pun
(krama) 11 and morphologically by their inability to take a suffix. Their
special position within the Javanese morphological system comes out most
clearly by the fact that they are differentiated according to gender and social
category. Apart from a few exceptions to be discussed later, Javanese
names are either feminine or masculine. As to social category they fall into
two groups: (I) names positively indicative of a low social category; (2)
names not exclusively related to a specific social category. This second
group is the unmarked member of the opposition. It contains a great
variety of names used by people belonging to different social categories.
A number of devices are found within this group by which subtle social
distinctions can be expressed.
Besides gender and social category there is a third distinguishing factor,
which is only operative within the group of masculine names. All mas-
culine names are either first names (in Javanese terminology nama a/it,
little names) or second names (nama sepuh, names for adults). This distinc-
tion rests on a name-changing practice, still widely in use but less so than
before the second world war and at present often considered to be an old-
fashioned custom. First names are normally given by the father to the
newly born at a name-giving ceremony five days after birth (slametan
pasaran). Second names are mostly 12 selected by the grown-up male
himself. They replace the first name and indicate that the bearer has
entered a new phase of life. Most often the Javanese male will select a new
name because of marriage, sometimes because of another important event
in his life such as getting a new job or recovery from a serious illness. If
the new name is taken at the occasion of a marriage, his wife will also
discard her first name but she does not select a new name of her own. As
a married woman she will just be called by the name of her husband or by
an abbreviation of it, preceded by mboq (=mother).
From the preceding it follows that with a few exceptions Javanese names
fall into six distinct groups. If F stands for feminine, M for masculine and

11 Si+ personal name is never used to address the speech partner, but only when referring
to somebody. The use of the personal article by the speaker implies that the hearer
knows the person in question fairly well, and also that the person referred to has a social
position lower than the participants of the speech-event themselves. One could translate
for instance Si A mat with: that fellow Amat (whom you know). The spelling of Javanese
used in this article is the spelling customary in Indonesian linguistics.
12 Sometimes the second name is given by the father, the grandfather or the father-in-
law.
324 E. M. UHLENBECK

if social category is indicated by L in case of low social category, and by no

special symbol in case of names not belonging to a specific category, and
finally, if exponents are used to distinguish between first and second
masculine names, one can represent these six groups by the following
diagram:

FL F

M1L M!

M2L M2

The linguistic mechanism by which the three kinds of information (gender,

social category, first vs. second name) inherent in this system, are conveyed,
is of a dual nature. In most cases it operates either by formal, or by
semantic devices, but in some instances both formal and semantic means
are employed. What these devices are, will be set forth in the next
paragraph.

3 THE SIX GROUPS OF JAVENESE NAMES

For reasons which will become gradually apparent, the six groups of
names can be discussed best in the following order: first the FL- and M 1L-
names, then the F- and M 1-names, and finally the masculine second names
(M 2L and Mz).
3.1 The FL- and M 1L-names
According to the method employed for signalling group membership all
FL- and M 1L-names fall into two subgroups: those names which are not
motivated, that is names which solely by means of their phonic form show
themselves to be Javanese names, and those which are motivated, that is
those names which also occur as words elsewhere in the Javanese lexicon,
mostly as nouns or adjectives. We will include in the group of motivated
names those names which are taken from the popular waymi-tales and
other comparable domains.
3.11 The FL-names of the unmotivated group are characterized by the
following features: (1) they all end in -em or -en; (2) the paenultima-vowel
is always i; (3) the antepeanultima vowel is mostly a, rarely u; (4) the first
consonant is never identical with the second. Examples: Ardinem, Bainem,
Kadinem, Sajinem, Waginem, Daliyem, Sugiyem, Wagiyem, Turiyem,
Jasiyem, Banikem, Murdikem, Warikem, Sarijem, Saitem, Jaitem, Rasmin-
ten, Jaminten, Dasminten, Sarinten.
 SYSTEMATIC FEATURES OF JAVANESE PERSONAL NAMES 325
While there is a clear preference for names with three vowels (pattern
a-i-e), there are a number of FL-names with two vowels: Dikem, Jinem,
Minem, Linem, Giyem. As it can be shown that the two vowel names are
always identical with the last two syllables of three vowel names, it is
legitimate to consider them as abbreviations (cf. for instance Nadikem,
Rajinem, Saminem, Galinem, Sugiyem).
The M 1L-names of the unmotivated group share with the FL-names
that they also end in a nasal consonant. This common feature distinguishes
both groups from the corresponding F- and Mrnames. While FL-names
end in -em or -en, M 1L-names end in -an or -in or sometimes in -un.13
Like the FL-names the M 1L-names have mostly three vowels; there are
also M 1L-names with two vowels: Dirun, Jidin, Ridin, Sidin, Dimin, Sirin,
Siman, Jiman. Like the FL-names those with two vowels may be con-
sidered abbreviations of longer names (Sadirun, Sajidin, Saridin, Kasidin
etc.). The dominant vowel patterns are a-i-a, a-i-i and, although markedly
less frequent than the other two, a-i-u. Rare vowel patterns are u-i-a
(Turiman, Mukiman), e-i-a (Jemiran, Semiran) and e-i-i (Jemidin). The
M 1L-names also show a marked preference fori as a paenultima-vowel.
Examples: Ardiman, Dagiman, Jandiman, Kadiman, Kasiman, Rasiman,
Sukiman, Sarsiman, Naliman, Mukiman; Baridin, Kalidin, Mukidin,
Saridin, Nadimin, Salimin, Salikin, Sadikin, Sairin; Kalimun, Nalimun,
Kadirun, Samiyun.
3.12 The motivated FL- and M 1L-names have in common that they are
taken from the same domains of the lexicon. They are either terms of the
Javanese calendar, or names taken from the wayan, the Javanese shadow
play, or names of animals, plants and flowers or words for certain instru-
ments or qualities. This does not mean that the distinction between FL-
and M 1L-names is obliterated; within each of the domains just mentioned
some terms are always used only for girls, others only for boys.
Terms of the calendar are mainly used for boys. All the terms for the
days of the seven-days' week are used only as boys' names (Akad, Senen,
Slasa, Rebo, Kemis, Jumuwah, Setu). Of the terms of the days of the five-
days' week (Legi, Pain, Pon, Wage, Kliwon), only Legi is used for girls,
Pon, Wage and Kliwon only for boys, while Pain may be used as a name
both for girls and boys. Of the Old Javanese terms for the days of the
seven-days' week Respati Thursday, and Tumpaq Saturday, are used only
for girls; the others (Dite, Soma, Buda, Sukra, Angara) only for boys.

13 However, not all names ending in -un, -in, -an, are ML-names. Among them are
members of santri-names which are not exclusively bound to one special social category;
see the following section B.
326 E. M. UHLENBECK

Certain names of animals are used only for boys, others only for girls.
Animal-names for boys are: Bajin squirrel, Jaran horse, Kampret bat,
Gudel young waterbuffalo, Waraq rhinoceros, Sendawa swallow, Befice
male quail, Bm;zifot billy-goat, Cevtaka frog, while animal-names for girls
include: Cebon tadpole, Atat parrot, Slivifit parakeet, Senuq tapir, Beficoq
tree-frog.
A few names are taken from well-known characters in the wayan. How-
ever, only names of panakawans, assistants of the hero, and not of the
heroes themselves are used as FL- and M 1L-names: Bagon and Semar are
used as boys' names, Limbuq and Caniq as girls' names.
Certain words designating certain objects are used only as names for
boys, others only as names for girls. M 1L-names are: Gavifen mallet,
Gembel cudgel, Palu hammer, Paku nail, Trisula trident, Kunta spear,
Beifug drum, Sankuh bayonet. FL-names are terms for baskets and pots,
such as: Tumbu rice-basket, J)unaq square basket of woven bamboo,
Cikraq basket for garbage, Tengoq basket for catching fish, Kevifil cooking
pot, Gevton pot for water. Clearly all these names contain an oblique
reference to the male and female genitals. Words for flowers, fruits and
plants are only used for FL-names. Some examples: J)uwet a kind of small
purple fruit, Jinten ginger, Keficur kind of root, Menur jasmin, Ranti a kind
of small fruit (solanum nigrum), Mawar rose, Bumbu spice.
Words indicating certain qualities are often used as FL- and M 1L-
names. Although words indicating favorable qualities prevail, unfavorable
ones are not wholly absent. Examples of words used as FL-names:
Mublaq white, Rempeg beautifully harmonious, Ofijo excellent, Umres
brisk, bustling, Rame lively, busy, Susah sorrowful, sad. Tulus prosperous,
Pantes, Patut, harmonious, proper, decent, Jabrud sour-faced. Examples
of names used as M 1L-names: Banter swift, dashing forward, Gatot
muscular, Kukuh steady, firm, Kuwat strong, Kuru thin, lean, Jarot
muscular, brawny, Lantip clever, shrewd, Sabar, patient Puguh firm,
Balinah beautifully yellow-coloured.
Finally there are FL- and M 1L-names which seem to refer to the
circumstances under which the birth took place, or to the attitude towards
the newly born. Even in these cases FL-names and M 1L-names are kept
distinct. Examples of FL-names: Barkat blessing, Beja happy, happiness,
good fortune, Wahyu grace, Ceplis suddenly emerging (cf. maqceplis to
emerge suddenly with force said of small things), Mevten swollen. Exam-
ples of M 1L-names: Procot suddenly shooting away or emerging (cf.
maqprocot to shoot away or to emerge suddenly with great force, to be born
suddenly), Gembos, Kempus deflated (said of a tire), Tampa to receive,
Trima to accept with gratefulness, Uda naked, Murid pupil.
 SYSTEMATIC FEATURES OF JAVANESE PERSONAL NAMES 327
3.2 The F- and Mrnames
As is often the case with unmarked members of an opposition, the F-
and Mrnames occur in great variety. However, the distinction between
non-motivated and motivated names holds good here too. We will discuss
first the non-motivated names.
3.21 The non-motivated F-names have in common that nearly all of them
end either in -ah or in -i. The -ah-names are further characterized by their
paenultima-vowel which is nearly always i and rarely e,14 and by the inter-
vocalic consonant which is mostly-n-or -y-. There is further a preference
for names with three vowels, although -ah-names with two or four vowels
do occur. The most frequent antepaenultima-vowel is a; in few cases also
u and e occur in this position.
Examples of common -ah-names are:
(1) with -n- as intervocalic consonant: Jakinah, Jatinah, Karinah,
Karlinah, Kardinah, Kasinah, Marinah, Marsinah, Rusminah, Sajinah,
Sakinah, Saminah, Suginah, Warinah, Naminah;
(2) with -y- as intervocalic consonant: Ardiyah, Bandiyah, Jaliyah,
Jariyah, Kaniyah, Kasiyah, Kawiyah, Mariyah, Rakiyah, Sadiyah,
Sajiyah, Sakiyah; Saliyah, Subiyah, Tamiyah, Tawiyah, Taniyah,
Tariyah, Wasiyah.
Less frequent types include: Ardisah, Kadisah, Nadisah, Tukisah, Warisah;
Atimah, Kadimah, Kaimah, Kalimah, Karimah, Radimah; Nadirah, Natirah;
Katilah, Natilah, Nadilah; Sarinah, Turinah; Dalijah, Kasmijah, Tasmijah,
Rasmijah.
The only -ah-names with two vowels found thus far are Disah, Midah,
Minah, Rinah and Wiyah. They are abbreviations of names with three
vowels. -Ah-names with four vowels are less rare, but in comparison to the
hundreds of -ah-names with three vowels they are very infrequent. We
collected 15 of them: Ambariyah, Juwariyah, Kamariyah, Sukartiyah,
Sutariyah, Subandiyah; lsindinah, Mutmainah, Sapartinah, Supartinah,
Sucipdinah, Sudarinah, Suhartinah, Sukamdinah and Sutamtikah. Eight
of these 15 contain the honorific prefix su-, as may be concluded from the
fact that the corresponding forms without su- also occur as F-names
(Kartiyah, Tariyah, Partinah etc.).
The fact that these names are not specifically low names, does not mean
that there are no social distinctions between them. There is a rather
delicate gradation in series of names such as Seminah: Saminah: Suminah
and Sewiyah: Sawiyah: Suwiyah, Seminah and Sewiyah being the lowest,
14 Roorda's list contains four names with e as paenultima-vowel, to wit Mujerah,
Waejah, Wae/ah and Waerah. These names were unknown to my informants.
12-F. Ill
328 E. M. UHLENBECK

Suminah and Suwiyah the highest of these sets of three. In general, when-
ever there are pairs of names of which one has a shwa-vowel as ante-
paenultima-vowel, this name is always lower than the name with another
vowel than shwa in that position.
It is interesting to note that while in the lexicon in general eis the normal
vowel in antepaenultima-position, the same vowel occurs rarely in names
in that position. This is one of the many facts which show that also as to
their phonemic shape names, taken as a group, differ from the rest of the
lexicon.
Another way of indicating different social connotations is the use of the
prefix su-. Of pairs such as Hartinah: Suhartinah, Tariyah: Sutariyah, the
name with su- is always somewhat higher than the same name without su-.
In the third place abbreviation plays a role. In pairs such as Partinah:
Tinah, Kadisah: Disah the shorter of the two is always socially the lowest.
All these three methods of making social distinctions (alternation of the
antepaenultima-vowel, prefixing of su-, abbreviation) are not limited to
F-names ending in -ah. They are found throughout the system, not only
in F- and Mrnames in general, but also in M 2L- and M 2-names, as we
will see in the next section.
Within the non-motivated F-names ending in -i two large groups can be
distinguished: those with -a and those with -i as paenultima-vowel. Both
groups have in common their preference for three vowels; those with two
or four vowels are rare. They also have in common their preference for t
and n as final intervocalic consonant. Within the names with a-i-vocalism
the intervocalic consonant is nearly always t (e.g., Maryati) and in a few
cases n (e.g., Darmani). If intervocalic clusters occur in final position,
combinations with torn prevail (Sukanti, Sukarti, Suharni, Suratmi), but a
few other combinations do occur in some names, to wit rs, rm and rw
(Sudarsi, Sudarmi, Sudarwi).
As initial syllable su- frequently occurs; this is especially the case in
names with a final intervocalic cluster; names such as Intarti and M akarti
are exceptions.
As far as social category is concerned the names with two vowels such as
Darmi, Parmi, Lasmi, Harti, Parni, Ranti, Wanti, Warti are felt as indica-
tive of a lower social category than their longer counterparts Sudarmi,
Suparmi etc. In the same way three vowel-names such as Wiyati and
Hartati are considered to be socially somewhat lower than Suwiyati and
Suhartati.
The names with i-i vocalism show a strong preference for -n- as inter-
vocalic consonant. Intervocalic -t- sometimes occurs (Istiti, Martiti,
Sudartiti). Praptiwi and Warsiki are the only names found thus far with a
 SYSTEMATIC FEATURES OF JAVANESE PERSONAL NAMES 329
different intervocalic consonant. In antepaenultima-position the vowel
most often found is a; u ore rarely occur in that position.
Some examples: Dahini, Sahini, Wahini, Nahini, Yakini, Wakini,
Warjini, Karjini, Darmini, Tarmini, Jamini; Tumini, Tukini; Kerfini, Sepini.
3.22 To a large extent the non-motivated Mrnames differ from the
corresponding F-names by having an a-vowel in those positions in which
the F-names have i. Some examples of pairs ofF- and M 1-names which
illustrate this:
Sugianti-Sugianta, Sukanti-Sukanta)S
Sudarti-Sudarta, Sugiarti-Sugiarta, Suharti-Suharta, Sukarti-Sukarta, Sumarti-
Sumarta, Sunarti-Sunarta, Suparti-Suparta, Sutarti-Sutarta, Suwarti-Suwarta.
Sumarni-Sumarna, Sunarni-Sunarna, Suparni-Suparna, Suwarni-Suwarna.
Sudarsi-Sudarsa, Sukarsi-Sukarsa, Sumarsi-Sumarsa, Sunarsi-Sunarsa, Suparsi-
Suparsa, Sutarsi-Sutarsa, Suwarsi-Suwarsa.
Sudarmi-Sudarma, Sukarmi-Sukarma, Sumarmi-Sumarma, Suparmi-Suparma, Sutarmi-
Sutarma
Sudarwi-Sudarwa.
KedJni-Keqana, Murdini-Murdana, Darmini-Darmana, Rukmini-Rukmana, Hartini-
Hartana, Kartlni-Kartana, Martini-Martana, Partini-Partana Sartini-Sartana,
Suhartini-Suhartana, Sumartini-Sumartana, Supartini-Supartana.
There are however, also M 1-names which have either a vocalism a-i
or i-i. As both types of vocalism also occur within the group ofF-names
the question arises how the F- and M 1-names are kept distinct. The
answer is that this is done by means of the intervocalic consonant. In
Mrnames this consonant is mostly d and sometimesj, while nand t, the
intervocalic consonants most frequently occurring in F-names of the
corresponding types, are hardly ever found in Mrnames.
Some examples of M 1-names with vocalism a-i: Asmadi, Darmadi,
Gunadi, Jayadi, Martadi, Rasadi, Supadi; Muhaji, Murtaji, Sumaji, Suraji,
Suwaji.
Some examples of M 1-names with vocalism i-i: Kasidi, Rasidi, Saidi,
Paidi, Wakidi, Jalidi, Sarmidi, Kasmidi, Mursidi, Jumidi.
There are some exceptions to this rule. A few M 1-names end in -ani,
to wit Madyani, Martani, Mulyani, Sabani, Samani, Harmani, Sarpani,
Subani, Sujani, Sukarni and Karni. One would expect these names to be
F-names, while we found them used in texts for men. These names need
further investigation.
15 It is worth noting that the a-allophone of the paenultirna-vowel phoneme A in
Sugianta and Sukanta is not the one occurring in comparable cases in the rest of the
lexicon (anta, santa). In MzL- and Mz-names the allophone-combination a-d does not
occur with intervocalic -nt-. For a discussion of the vowel-system of standard Javanese
we refer to our review of Elinor C. Horne, Beginning Javanese, in Lingua, XII (1963)
69-96.
330 E. M. UHLENBECK

3.23 The motivated F- and M 1-names are less diversified than the motivated
FL- and M 1L-names. They belong to two categories. They are either
names of important figures of the waymi-tales or they are words indicative
of favorable qualities; they are very often literary words, mostly of
Sanskrit origin. They are only understood by educated people.
Masculine wayan-names seem to be more frequent than feminine ones.
The only feminine wayan-names found thus far are: Rukmini the wife of
Kresna, Sukesi daughter of Sumali, Sundari the wife of Abimaiiu.
Masculine wayan-names include the names of some famous heroes, such
as: Pa~uju, Wibisana, Indrajit, Irawan, Lesmana, but also the names of the
kings of the monkeys Subali and Sugriwa. The names of the popular heroes
Arjuna and Werkudara seem not to be used as M 1-names; also Rama is
absent from our collection.
In general motivated F-names seem to be less common than Mr-names.
Examples: Sunk em respectfully inclining; Senen splendour, brilliancy,
Puji praise.
Masculine motivated names include: Sigit excellent, Sampurna complete,
perfect, Mulya exalted, glorious, Maruta storm wind, Gurnita loudly
resounding, Prayitna prudent, Turida, longing, desirous, Utama excellent,
Waskita sagacious, shrewd, Setya faithful.
Although in general the distinction in gender is maintained, there are
some motivated names of this category which are used equally for men as
well as for women.

The distinction between motivated and non-motivated names which

proved indispensable for the description of Javanese ·names thus far,
appears to do less useful service, when we turn to those F- and M 1-names
which are felt by native speakers to be "Arabic" or santri-names.1 6
It is true that among them some are not different from the other moti-
vated names discussed above. Names such as Mohamad, Abdullah,
Katijah or Patimah are simply Javanese adaptations of Arabic names of
central figures of Islam religion. Other names are clearly Javanese adapta-
tions of Arabic attributes of Allah found in the Koran. There are still
other names which became known among the Javanese via the very
popular Amir Hamzah-cycle and related literature. The names occurring
in this kind of literature are certainly not always identical with existing
Arabic names; they are modifications and elaborations in many respects

16 For those who have no access to Dutch publications, the best treatment of the
Islamic elements in Javanese culture is Clifford Geertz, The Religion ofJava, see especially
p. 121 sq.
 SYSTEMATIC FEATURES OF JAVANESE PERSONAL NAMES 331
and in many ways of the Arabic (or Persian) origina1s. 1 7 In favourable
cases these names can be shown to have served as starting points for the
formation of new names. From the synchronic point of view adopted in
this description all the names which are felt by native speakers of Javanese
to have an "Arabic" or santri-flavour are recognizable as such by some
formal feature or combination of such features. One might say that the
question whether or not these names can be traced back to an actual name
in religious Islamic literature and more in general to their Arabic or
Persian origin, is of quite secondary importance.
Names ending in 1) -am, -um, -im; 2) -ar, -ir, -ur; 3) -at (often written
-ad), -it (often written -id), and -ut (often written -ud) are M 1-names with
such an Arabic flavour, some of them being fully motivated, others only
to the point that there is a more or less clear formal similarity with moti-
vated names.

Examples:
Gartam, Kantam, Karsam, Markam, Marsam, Mistam, Mustam, Rustam, Rutam;
Markum, Marsum·; Dakim, Dalim, Kadim, Kasim, Rakim, Sakim.
Badar, Japar, Kadar, Mahdar, Kusdinar, Kusmindar, Iskandar, Munandar, Mukandar,
Sukandar, Sumandar, Sunendar; Amir, Kadir, Bunandir, Munandir; Makmur, Mansur.
Amad, Arsad, Kamad, Samad, Ahmat, Ahyat, Duryat, Kasmat, Kodrat; Wahid, Rasid,
Kamid or Kamit, Musatit; Dawud, Samud, Mahmud.

Also among names ending in -ah, -an, -in and -un there are a number
which have this santri-character. For this reason they cannot be said to
fall into the FL- and M 1L-categories to which they formally belong. It
appears for instance that in names such as Asminah, Rusminah, Kustinah,
Kasmijah, Mursinah, Mutmainah, Mursiyah, Murwiyah, Samsiyah two
features are responsible for this santri-character: 1o the presence of
consonant clusters only occurring in loanwords ts, 20 the presence of the
initial phoneme-sequence mu-.
Sometimes certain particularities in spelling further emphasize the
"Arabic" quality of the chosen name: Chadisah instead of Kadisah,
Zuhriyah with the foreign letter z, or Safiah with the equally foreign/ As
to names ending in -an, -in or -un, the following ones have a santri-flavour.
Murtawan, Sabariman, Kadarisman, Kadariman, Sahlan, Dahlan,
Su/eman; Basarudin, Basirudin, Rasidin, Rusin, Samsudin; Basirun,
Kadirun, Muksimun, Nalimun, Rapinun, Salamun, Saminun.

For the analysis of these names I owe much to professor A. A. Cense.

17
18See my "De Structuur van het Javaanse morpheem," Verh. Kon. Bat. Gen.,
LXXVIII (1949), Chap. 1.
332 E. M. UHLENBECK

3.3 The M 2L- and M 2-names

The masculine names selected by Javanese adults in replacement of the
name received shortly after birth, differ from all other masculine (and
feminine) names by the fact that they are always bipartite. They always
consist of two components which in most cases are identical with literary
words; they are mostly nouns and adjectives very often of Sanskrit origin.
Names such as Kerta-dansa, Wansa-guna, Karta-semita, Krama-dimeja are
immediately recognizable as masculine adult names.
The M 2 L- and Mrnames have further in common that both their com-
ponents nearly always end in -a. Exceptions are the Mrnames with
-ninrat as second component, those with Adi- and Manun- as first com-
ponent and those few names in which an Arabic M 1-name such as Amat,
!man or Kasan serves as a (first) component in a bipartite name.
The first component of M 2L- and Mrnames contains normally two
vowels, but the M 2L-names may also contain only one, which is impossible
for Mrnames. The second component of M 2L-names normally contains
two vowels, the second component of M 2-names normally three. This
requirement leads to lengthening by an extra syllable (di-, wi- or su-) if a
word with two vowels is serving as second component. Examples: Karta-
dikrama, Karya-dimeja, Santa-diwirya, Dipa-disura, Teja-susastra, Jaya-
sukarsa, Citra-wiguna, Duta-wikara.
The number of words used as elements in M 2L- and Mrnames is very
restricted. There are probably not more than about 200 different ones.
There are many names which have either the first or the second component
in common (e.g. Truna-meja, Truna-karya, Truna-krama, Truna-jaya,
Truna-dansa, Truna-dipa, Truna-sana; Ira-dansa, Karta-dansa, Karya-dansa,
Krama-dansa, Naya-dansa, Rana-dansa, Resa-dansa, Sana-dansa, Setra-
dansa, Wana-dansa).
In most cases there is no relation between a first and a second masculine
name. However, if the M 1-name belongs to the stock of words out of which
bipartite names are composed, the Mrname may be incorporated in the
Mrname. For instance, a boy with the name Subrata, may select as adult
name Sastra-subrata.
The M 2L-names are distinguished from the M 2-names by various formal
features. In the first place, in Mrnames no abbreviated components ever
occur, while in M 2L-names such abbreviations are common; they are only
found in the first component, never in the second. This means that names
such as: Ca-karya, Ca-muka, Ca-pada, Ja-dipa, Ja-drana, Ja-krama, Ja-
karta, Ja-wansa, Pa-jaya, Ta-drana, Sa-dansa, Tra-dansa, Tra-meja are
clearly M 2L-names, Ca being an abbreviation of Seca, Ja of Harja or Jaya,
Pa of Dipa, Sa of Resa, Tra of Setra, Ta of Kerta, Merta or Suta.
 SYSTEMATIC FEATURES OF JAVANESE PERSONAL NAMES 333
A second difference between M 2L- and M 2-names is that one or both
components of a M 2L-name may be the result of various processes of
reduction and simplification (vowel reduction, vowel elision, shortening,
simplification of consonant clusters). For instance, names such as Setra-
dikara (Sastra~Setra), Sina-semita (Sasmita~Semita), Resa-mengala
(Reksa~Resa, Mangala~Mengala), Merta-wijaya (Marta~Merta), Kerti-
mengala (Karti~Kerti), Truna-kariya (Taruna~Truna), Ira-dansa (Wira~
Ira) are all M 2L-names, while the corresponding names such as Sastra- ·
dikara, Sina-sasmita etc. would not be specifically low adult names.
A third difference between M 2L- and Mz-names consists in the nature
of the components themselves. Some components can only occur in M 2L-
names, others only in Mz-names.
Elements such as nata, kusuma, wijaya, prabu, surya, negara, praja are
never found as components in M 2 L-names. They are found nearly
exclusively in names in use in the upper layers of Javanese society. Con-
versely-as we have already seen-reduced elements such as semita, setra,
kersa, kerta, truna, setika, leksana, mengala, ira will never occur as com-
ponents of Mz-names.
Between these two extremes there are a great number of names which are
not limited to any special category of Javanese society.

4 THE PROCESS OF NAMING

After our short survey of the six Javanese categories of names it is
necessary to return to the process of name-giving and name-selection. A
striking feature of our description has been that hardly ever hard and fast
rules have been formulated. Nearly always the existence of a certain
number of exceptions had to be acknowledged. In our opinion the absence
of exceptionless rules can at least partly be explained by the customs in use
in Javanese society for selecting names. The selection of a name for a newly
born child is a matter of deliberate choice. Some members of Javanese
society are considered to have developed a certain expertise in selecting the
"right" name for a child. Often the father of the newly born has recourse
to the grandfather and seeks his advice.
As to adult names the Javanese male tries to select a name which in his
opinion seems most fitting to his particular circumstances. Sometimes he
wants his name to contain a reference to his new job, or he may want to
combine in his new bipartite name the names of those to whom he feels
particularly obliged. To the linguist who investigates Javanese names, the
reasons why a particular name has been chosen for a particular child, in
general are of no interest. In most cases they are impossible to trace any-
way. The name given to our male informant was Sugiarto, because of the
334 E. M. UHLENBECK

fact that his father was sugih arta= rich in money, at the time of his birth.
However, in some cases a name which appears as an exception in his
material, may be explained by special reasons which have led somebody to
select or to concoct a certain name in deviation of the general pattern. For
instance the name of our female informant is Suyatin. This is a masculine
name. This conclusion reached by the investigation of many Javanese
names, seemed to be invalidated, when it turned out that Suyatin was used
by a Javanese woman. However, in this case it was possible to learn the
reason for this unusual choice and to find out that also within Javanese
society itself the name Suyatin was considered to be masculine.
Another case of a somewhat different character is the name Legiyah.
This name is exceptional because of the shwa-vowel in antepaenultima-
position. This can be explained by the fact that the girl for whom this
name was selected, was born on legi, the name of one of the days of the
five-days' week. This means that the name Legiyah is partly motivated,
partly nonmotivated. This explains the slight deviation from the dominant
a-i-ah-pattern of feminine ah-names. Another case of a comparable nature
is the name Saparyati, a feminine name which is somewhat unusual because
of its four vowels, but which owes its length to its reference to the name of
the month Sapar.
Still other cases are the names Sutarinem and Sutartinem. Both names
are unusual because of the combination of the "low" ending -em with the
honorific prefix su-. The girls to whom these two names were actually
given, are children of a government official by his second wife, who being a
village girl was socially of considerably lower rank than her husband and
his padmi or first wife. The four-vowel names with su- and -em nicely
reflect the mixed character of their social position.
The fact that names are in many cases not just chosen out of an existing
supply of names, but are often deliberately coined to fit the occasion, makes
us expect that personal names can only partly be structured. Given this
general consideration one is surprised by the high degree of structuration of
Javanese names.

5 SOME FINAL REMARKS

The preceding pages only contain a rough outline of the Javanese system
of personal names. Many details still await further discussion. Also more
basic questions remain unanswered. The relationship between personal
names and the different speech styles, a topic so important in Javanese
language and Javanese society, still needs to be explored. Little attention
has been given to a systematic investigation of the differences and the
 SYSTEMATIC FEATURES OF JAVANESE PERSONAL NAMES 335
similarities in structure between personal names and the rest of the lan-
guage. Especially as far as Javanese morphophonemics is concerned some
interesting questions remain. The fact that e and o hardly ever occur in
Javanese non-motivated names, confirms the special position of these two
vowels within the Javanese vowel system. The exploitation of the contrast
between a and i and the absence of ein antepaenultima-position are no less
interesting facts. Further investigation is needed of the components of the
bipartite names. The fact that certain word-groups occur, consisting of
the words bambaiz or jaka with M 1-names and of the words endaiz, sri or
siti with F-names, has not even been mentioned. In general no attention
has been given to the syntactic aspect of our subject. For the moment all
this has to be left for treatment in a more extensive study which we hope to
publish in the near future.
University of Leiden