Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Continuation on the wisdom of Adat Perpatih

As suggested by my good friend Hank @ Kaykuala, whenever possible the wise sayings from Adat Perpatih ( Customary Law from Negri Sembilan ) should be accompanied by an English translation for the benefit of those not conversant in the Malay Language, I append below my first attempt in the translation into English:-

Tegak rumah kerana sendi
Runtuh sendi rumah binasa
Sendi bangsa adalah budi
Runtuh budi runtuhlah bangsa

( The house stands firm because of its joints
  When the joints crumble, the house tumbles
  The race is strong because of its morals
   Once it is gone the race falls )

Adat bersaudara, saudara dipertahankan
Adat berkampung, kampung dipertahankan
Adat bernegeri, negeri dipertahankan
Adat berbangsa, bangsa dipertahankan

( The custom of kinship is strong bonds
   The custom of the village is its solidarity
   The custom of a State is undivided loyalty
   The custom of the race is its integrity )

3 comments:

Al-Manar said...

I am not familiar with 'sendi' untuk bangunan. How varied Malay words are generally. Why should not DBP take this as a main thrust into forming words instead of picking up Emglish words.

abdulhalimshah said...

Dear Pakcik,
My assumption is that the term 'sendi' must have been used by the 'tukang rumah' in the olden days when houses were built from timber. Since in the past they did not use 'nails' so the method of ensuring safety of the building was to use interlocking joints. This is just my guess, subject to verification by wooden house-builders which Trengganu is famous for.

kaykuala said...

Dear Hal,
This is great! I'm taken up by your perfect translation. One must be good in both languages to do full justice. It has that finess as opposed to direct translations. You accomplished it perfectly!

Sorry being late

Hank