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Post by sombersamir18 on Nov 9, 2017 22:03:53 GMT
I created this thread because I am very confused about the names of different types of Philippino swords due to all of the specific names for similar weapons. Based on what I have read, some of this seems to be caused by differences in language between different ethnic groups. Another thing I have noticed is that many of the names seem to refer to very specific blade shapes. I have the following questions:
1. What are the words that refer to all swords regardless of type?
2. What are the words for basic categories of swords?
3. Which sword names refer only to a specific variation?
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Post by Timo Nieminen on Nov 9, 2017 22:35:25 GMT
Bolo, parang, golok and itak work well as generic terms meaning "sword" or "large knife". There are many local terms that also just mean "sword" that are used by collectors to mean only the distinctive local sword that gets called by that term most of the time. E.g., talibong, pinute, sansibar AFAIK just mean "sword" generically in the local languages of origin. This is quite common for names for specific types of swords as used in English - gladius, shamshir, tulwar, kilij, jian, dao, katana, spatha, and many more just mean "sword" in the original languages. The advantage of "bolo" is that it still has that generic meaning in English. See www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1569 for some discussion of this.
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Post by Croccifixio on Nov 10, 2017 6:14:30 GMT
You have to understand that the Philippines is an island of 7000+. We have so many local dialects, and so many minor variations, that it will make your head hurt. Sometimes a word in one place, means something very different in another. A good example would be "langgam." which means 'ant' in the national language, but means 'bird' in Cebuano.
In any case, the most common words for generic blades are:
kutsilyo (spanish for knife) bolo (can range from a large knife to a short sword) itak (basically the same as bolo, but mostly used in the Northern islands - also has a more weaponish meaning) sundang espada (spanish for sword, and the most used/accurate term for bladed weapons that aren't considered knives, spears, or axes) panaga/pan-taga (hacking blade) tabak (sword in Tagalog, the most prevalent language that formed the basis for Filipino, the national language) talim (literally, "sharp") kampilan (though often used as a term for a specific, Moro sword, it literally translates to "sword" in the Bisaya dialect)
etc etc
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Nov 10, 2017 13:26:08 GMT
kutsilyo (spanish for knife) Actually we use cuchillo for knife. While not being sure of the Filipino pronunciation the two words could be pronounced the similarly.
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Post by Croccifixio on Nov 10, 2017 17:00:04 GMT
Yep that's where it's from, just Filipinized the spelling. A lot of Filipino words are bastardized spanish.
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