Kekal A badi 21 (2) 2002

HERMAN NEUBRONNER VAN DER TUUK AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY LANGUAGE STUDY IN ·

Dr.Kees Groeneboer Academic Advisor of the Union, and affiliated with the University of in Depok and the Erasmus Dutch Language Center in Jakarta, Indonesia

Abstract: This article describes the life and works of Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk one of the greatest scholars and linguists of the nineteenth century, well known for hi~ works on Batak, Malay, Javanese, Lampong and Balinese languages.

Abstrak: Artikel ini memperihalkan riwayat hidup dan hasil penulisan Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk, salah seorang ilmuwan dan pakar bahasa yang terkena/ dengan penulisan di da/am bahasa Batak, Melayu, Jawa, Lampong dan pada abad ke-19.

At the beginning of 2002 the Royal Institute of orphanage in Malacca. Herman's mother was Linguistics and Anthropology in Leiden born in Malacca as the daughter of vac official published a book which I edited entitled Een Johann Anton Neubronner from Frankfurt am vorst onder de taalge/eerden: Herman Main in and Catharina Koek, born in Neubronner van der Tuuk, afgevaardigde voor Malacca. Herman was given the family name Indie van het Nederfandsch Bijbelgenootschap of his mother as a middle name. Information 1847-1873 (A Prince Among Linguists: Herman on the family can be found in the National Neubronnervan der Tuuk, Representative of the Archives of Malaysia, where the birth certificate Dutch Bible Society for the East Indies 1847- of Herman and the marriage licence of his 1873). This volume of sources i~cludes an parents are deposited. integral publication of the letters written by ~an der Tuuk to his employer, the Dutch Bible After Malacca was exchanged for the British Society. These are supplemented with lett~rs colony of Bengkulu in 1825 as a result of the to friends and colleagues as well as a Wide Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the family left sampling of his publications. The ~olume as a Malacca for Surabaya, and Herman grew up whole gives a good picture of the life and work there surrounded by speakers of Dutch, Malay, of Van der Tuuk, who can be considered one of Javanese, as well as Madurese. In 1836 he was the greatest linguists of the nineteenth century, sent to the for his secondary thanks to his work on Batak, Malay, Javanese, education. He began studying law in Groningen Lampong, and Balinese. I would like to tell a in 1840, earned his first degree little more about this unusual person, who was (kandidaatsexamen) in 1843, but did not already a legendary figure in his lifetime - a complete his studies. At that time he was great scholar but also a contrary, already spending more time studying unconventional, bold, and eccentric charac.ter languages, especially Arabic and Persian. This who launched vigorous attacks on everything prompted his move to Leiden in 1846, where that displeased him in his time. he also learned . While there he made a thorough study of Malay as well, and at the Van der Tuuk was born on February 23, 1824 young age of twenty-two published a book in Malacca at that time still a Dutch colony. review in which he demonstrated his familiarity He was the ~Idest son of Sefridus van der.Tu~k with all the relevant literature about and in the . At the end of 1847 he was and Louise Neubronner, who e~e married In Malacca on January 27, 1823. HIs father h.ad recommended to the Dutch Bible Society for the of the Bible into Batak and was been a notary In the Netherlands before moving to the East Indies in 1820 He began. as a appointed - at age twenty-three - 'language member of the Court of Justice in B~tavla, but representative' for the Batak Lands in Middle . Following some preparation in Europe In 1821 was appointed fiscal ~aglstrate for e left for the East Indies, and In September revenue offenses and president of the

K I Lumpur on September 2nd, 2002. This lecture IS based on the introduction to the book Een •A lecture It Unr:drsltl alays, u~a rman Neubronner van aer Tuuk, afgeva8digde voor Indie van het Nederlandsch vorst ondpf de taalge/eerdenB e npubliCat16door Kees Groeneboer (Leiden. KITLV Press, 2002) B~ ..,000 $Ch P 1847-1873. ronne 7 KekaJ Abad! 21 (2) 2002

1849 arrived in Batavia. As the west monsoon Bataks, the exploitation and suppression by made it impossible for him to travel on the Batak chiefs, and the heavy labour exacted immediately to West Sumatra, he occupied from the Bataks by the colonial government. himself with the Malay language in Batavia and He complained about practical problems, such wrote a treatise on what he called as the difficulties in getting cash from his Centralization Malay - the High Malay spoken account in a remote place like Barus, the by educated Malaysians around the Straits of scarcity of good Batak writers, and the lack of Malacca. good servants (which meant that he was poorly cared for and his house was always a 'pigsty'), In May 1850 he contracted a serious skin the high cost of living in Sumatra compared to disease. The sweating and sulfur therapies , the murderous climate, and the vermin nearly drove him mad, and a long that forced him to completely rewrite his hospitalization followed. He was released from manuscripts several times. He also complained hospital only in October of that year and had about the lack of intellectual conversation and to spend a few more months convalescing in about having to live unmarried and in solitude. Buitenzorg (now Bogor), where he immersed himself in Sundanese. Finally, in January 1851 For the Bataks the house of Si Pan Dor Tuk, he set out by boat for , and from there or Raja Tuk, as he was called, was always travelled further north to Tapanuli. He first open, and he talked with them all day long, settled in Sibolga, but did not find the place jotting down notes that he transcribed in the particularly suitable for his language study evening. He always made use of Batak owing to the great influence of Malay. He informants, whom he also hired to copy therefore moved on to the northern coastal town manuscripts and record stories. He also asked of Barus, where the population had largely them to check his to see whether converted to Islam but was of Batak origin and they made sense. Although he was often spoke Batak. annoyed at what he called the laziness, filth, and greed of the Bataks, he did everything to In 1852 he travelled to Mandheling in the part win their confidence. of the Batak Lands that was under Dutch rule. A good part of the long journey to the main He worked energetically at the tasks assigned locality, Padang Sidempuan, he made on foot. him. First he made a translation of a Bible Everywhere he went he noted down words, storybook. By way of experiment he then had recorded songs and stories, and copied pustaha a small section of this book lithographed in (books made of tree ). Amsterdam and distributed in the Batak Lands. Never before had anything been published in In 1853 he undertook an expedition to Silindung Batak. The people expressed their appreciation in the Batak Lands, still independent at the of the beautiful booklet, but because the time. This brought him to the shore of Lake content was strange and surprising to them, it Toba,which was considered holy and had never aroused their suspicions, and they did not want before been seen by a European. The journey to accept it. Van der Tuuk complained about almost proved fatal for him, however. On the the problems he encountered in his translation way back, according to his own report, he was work owing to the un-Batak content of the Bible. twice in danger of being eaten up by the Bataks, He also saw little point in producing a Bible and the expedition became more like a flight translation as long as the Batak language had to safety. Apparently he had quite a scare, for not been standardized and introduced as a he never ventured into the Batak interior again. classroom and administrative language. Only then would the contact with the people become From Barus Van der Tuuk corresponded more direct and it would be possible to regularly with the Dutch Bible Society. Besides counteract the further spread of Malay. The news about his life and work, his letters problem, however, was that the European civil contained more general information about the servants and members of the military had no situation in the Batak Lands. He wrote, for knowledge whatsoever of the indigenous example, about the spread of Islam, the advance languages and consequently introduced 'jabber of Malay, and the neglect of Batak; and he gave Malay' all over the colony. Van der Tuuk proved advice to the mission, which in his opinion, himself a defender of the regional languages could exert a civilizing influence on the Bataks against Malay, which in his view was having a and counter the rise of Islam. He expressed detrimental effect on almost all the Indonesian his annoyance at the superstitions of the languages, causing them to change radically 8 Kekal Abadi 21 (2) 2002

in a short time. He was afraid that in just fifty Pinang in Riau to compile a Malay-Dutch years no one would understand his Bible dictionary. Riau Malay would also become the translations, a prediction that did come true. publishing norm for schoolbooks in the East Indies. Van der Tuuk made interesting distinctions between what he called Centralization Malay, But let us return to the Batak Lands. In Local Malay, and Convention Malay. September 1854 Van der Tuuk suffered a severe Centralization Malay, which originated in the attack of dysentery and was hospitalized in Malay peninsula, was spoken, he maintained, Sibolga. For a long time after that he continued by educated Malays on both sides of the Straits to feel weak. The tone of his letters darkened, of Malacca. Its many dialectic variants, such and he was frequently troubled by depressions. as Minangkabau Malay, Ambon Malay, but also He considered his Bible translating more and Batavian Malay, he subsumed under the term more wearisome and found it almost impossible Local Malay. The label, Convention Malay, he to combine his tasks as linguist and translator. applied to the Malay used by the Europeans One could not translate the Bible into a language as an everyday language with the indigenous at the same time that one was describing it. people, also referred to as Pas~r Malay or He therefore decided to accept the Bible 'jabber Malay,' which exists in.a Wide range of Society's proposal to return to the Netherlands local variants which do not qualify as languages and transcribe and publish his material there. in his opinion. Van der Tuuk advised the Bible At the last moment before leaving Barus in April Society to produce a com~let.ely new 1857 he sent the following disillusioned translation of the Bible in Centralization Malay message to the Bible Society: to replace the mid-eight~enth century translation of Leydecker, which was nearly It is a great misfortune to be in the service incomprehensible owing to its confusing blend of people who are unable to judge uncivilized of Ambon Malay and Convention M~lay. Th~ people and think that translating the Bible into Batak with the help of savages is pleasant Malaccan-born Abdullah bin Abdulkadtr ~unsYI work [ ...J. If I were a deceiver, I would paint testifies to this in his autobiography Hlkayat a splendid picture for you and tell you, among Abdullah, published in 1849. He relates ~ow other things, that there is a keenly felt need the Malay translation of Leydecker came into for Christ among the Bataks, etc., etc. I leave his hands around 1820, and how difficult he those lies to missionaries, and do not wish found it to read: to ingratiate myself like a hypocrite with gullible people. The book had Malay letters and Malay sounds, but the manner of speech was not Malat On October 1, 1857 Van der Tuuk, now aged Words were used in places where t~ey d~d thirty-three, arrived in the Netherlands and not fit at all, and words were combined m settled in Amsterdam, where he started places where they should not have been transcribing his Batak work. His translations · d at all For this reason I could not combmec ar eu. hl of the gospel of John, Genesis, Exodus, and grasp the meaning of the book. Everyt mg Luke were published in 1859, and his large sounded so awkward to me that I could ~ot help but say: 'This is a book of the white Batak-Dutch dictionary appeared in 1861. In nd I do not know the language of order to enable missionaries and civil servants peopIe, a . ement hites' I therefore sat In amaz to learn Batak, he also published a few readers th e w. k [ ] The form of thinking about that boo .... with original Batak writings. the letters is pleasing but the words make no sense. In 1862 the Bible Society decided to terminate Van der Tuuk's work on Batak. For the time In keeping with Van derTuuk's advice, the Bible being enough had been translated for the Society decided in 1860 to produc.e a recently initiated mission work among the completely new Malay translation of the Blbl~, Batak people. The agreement was that after . the Malay of Riau and Malacca. This finishing his grammar and his translation of the ~~anslation by Klinkert appeared in the i 870fd gospels he would be sent to the East Indies From then on the East Indies govern men wo~ again, this time to produce a Bible translation also consider this Malay to be ~he norm, while in Balinese. We do not know whether Van der the Malay variants spoken outside th~se areas Tuuk was pleased with this decision. He in any . d as deviations deformations, and case did not rush to finish his Batak work. were viewe ' d 1850 impure. This explains why already arou~ . The first volume of his Batak grammar appeared the linguist H. von de Wall was sent to anJung in 1864, the second a full three years later, 9 Kekal Abadi 21 (2) 2002 followed by the remaining translations. He scholars from the Netherlands, the East Indies, definitively rounded off his work on Batak at and elsewhere. In 1867 he wrote: the end of 1867. In May of 1868 he would leave for Bali. Everything that has been done up to now for the native languagesI consider shoddy work, and no changewill comeabout as long While working on Batak, Van der Tuuk also as the languages are not studied for their delved into other languages and planned a wide own sake. Little progresscan be madein any variety of projects relating to them. In 1864 he discipline if it is practised without love. The wanted to compile a Malay-Dutch dictionary person who learns a language in order to but later thought it a better idea to make it a translate the Bibleis by definition a miserable Malay-English dictionary. He got no further, creature, and for this reason I have more however, than a short critique of the existing contempt for myself than for others. I Malay dictionaries. He had plans to produce a understand that it was a cruel fate that led Malagasi dictionary and grammar, but never me into the arms of the Bible Society. went beyond a preliminary study. He wanted to publish a large catalogue of all Malay When he arrived in the East Indies for the manuscripts found in European libraries, but second time in 1868 and heard that a rebellion all that materialized was a description of the in Bali would make it impossible for him to go collection' of the Royal Asiatic Society in there for the time being, he gratefully accepted London. He did edit a set of three Malay readers the offer of the colonial government to undertake for the East Indies schools, and he published a study of Lampong in southern Sumatra. For other work on Malay as well, both of a almost one and a half years he travelled on lexicographic and philological nature - an foot through the Lampong interior and worked activity he would continue the rest of his life. on a Lampong dictionary. This comprehensive After the death of Von de Wall, for example, he work of more than six hundred closely written continued the editing of his Malay-Dutch pages was never published, however, because dictionary and published it in three thick no suitable Lampong printing type was volumes in the years 1877-1884; and in 1894 available. he produced a supplement to the existing Malay dictionaries. Van der Tuuk's significance It was in 1870 when he finally went to Bali for for Malay - a language that was not included the Bible Society and settled in Boelelenq, in in his job description - can hardly be the northern part of Bali that had been placed overestimated and deserves closer study. under Dutch rule. In order to work in as authentic a Balinese environment as possible, From his publications it is also evident that Van Van der Tuuk had a simple house of bamboo der Tuuk had knowledge of a wide range of other and wood built for himself a few kilometers south languages, such as Nias, Aceh, Rejang, of the principal town of Singaradja. He wrote: Mentawai, and Minangkabau Malay in Sumatra, of like Tagalog and Visaya, I had my houseplacedat an isolatedlocation of Hindustani, of Favorlang and other and I am determinedto have as little contact languages in Formosa (now Taiwan), and also as possiblewith Europeanstaff, for otherwise I see no chance of learning the language of Chinese, Vietnamese, and Siamese (or thoroughly. As for my living conditions here, Thai). Through the work of his fellow Bible they are not very pleasant, because translators he gained familiarity with conversation is totally lacking, but I can put Sundanese, Dajak, Buginese, and up with this if I see progress in my work. A Makassarese. His formidable knowledge of person should not come to the Indies as a languages made it possible for Van der Tuuk linguist in order to enjoy himself,becauseone to level solid criticism at his fellow linguists, is totally isolated here. Most Europeanshere and he did so with gusto and considerable have no interest whatsoever in studies of vehemence. Not only was the Delft Professor this kind, and the richly paid civil servant regard a man as crazy who hasthe maniafor of Javanese Roorda severely taken to task, studying languages and for that reason is but also De Hollander, who taught Malay at the satisfied with a low Income. Military Academy in Breda; Klinkert, who was working on the new Malay Bible translation; As earlier in the Batak Lands, he was annoyed Pijnappel, who taught Malay in Delft and here, too, at the suppression of the people by Leiden; Von de Wall, who was working on his the Balinese princes, by the inertia of the Dutch Malay-ChHch dictionary; and rnany other authorities on this matter, and by the behaviour

10 Kekal Abadi 21 (2) 2002

of the missionaries. Again he complained about behaviour. He was said to bathe like the people the problems he had withdrawing money from of Bali under the pancoran in his neighborhood, his bank account and about what he called the and walk around wearing only a sarong, bare- greed of the Chinese and Arabs, on whom he chested, always with a heavy club in his hands. was dependent for anything he needed from People talked about his filthy house, which was Java. Yet he liked Bali better than Sumatra,. more like a storage place for books and because he considered the Balinese more manuscripts. On the other hand he was said civilized and gentler in character, and their to have the most excellent wines and literature was more highly developed. delicacies in his house. For the Europeans living in Bali his house was a kind of tourist He worked there at compiling a Balinese-Dutch attraction; people wanted to see this odd dictionary, and in the process soon realized character for themselves - a cause of that Balinese could not be understood without considerable annoyance to him. For the Kawi, Old Javanese, because all of Balinese Balinese his house was always open, and they literature was actually a continuation of Kawi consulted him about almost everything. One of literature. He therefore decided to include the the Balinese rajahs is even supposed to have Kawi words in his dictionary as well, which said: 'In all of Bali there is only one man who would of course make the work even more knows and understands the Balinese language, voluminous. It was self-evident to him that this and that man is Gusti Dertik, Van der Tuuk.' work had to precede the translating of the Bible, and he wrote to the Bible Society in 1871 that On August 17, 1894 Van der Tuuk, now seventy they should have no illusions about a Balinese years old, died in the Military Hospital in Bible translation appearing soon. It is not Surabaya, where he had been rushed with an surprising that in 1873 the Society reacted with attack of dysentery. His Kawi-Balinese-Dutch relief at the news that Van der Tuuk had been dictionary, which was supposed to be his appointed by the East Indies government to ~he crowning achievement, was still incomplete and post of 'civil servant tor the study of East Indies ..vould be published posthumously in four thick languages.' Van der Tuuk was relieved as well. volumes totaling 3,600 pages. As a language official he would now be able to devote himself completely to the study of It turned out that during his lifetime Van der Balinese without having to translate the Bible Tuuk had accumulated a small fortune in into that language, a task under which he had savings -135,000 guilders - while the value of always chafed because it inevitably meant that his little house was estimated at less than ten his other work would suffer: guilders. His housekeeper continued living there for many years, making it her task to welcome If you translate according to. the curious European visitors with the words: 'Ini requirements of the language, the missionary Goesti Dertik poenja roemah, masoek sadja is likely to accuse you of violating God's.word. toean' ('This is the house of Mr. Van der Tuuk, If you sacrifice the language to the Bible, a do step inside, sir.'). One of the visitors early linguist will be up in arms. in 1896 was the Bible translator Adriani, who related: Working for the colonial government was not really to Van der Tuuk's liking either. It bot~ered The house was closed in the front, but we him to have lost his freedom and to be ~sslgned could push the bamboo door open at the all kinds of tasks that kept him from his actual back and walk around the four small rooms. · I Bali too he seemed to have found Before long his former 'kokki' came out of a studres, n , , I ft B r little outbuilding, a Balinese with a rather little happiness. Yet he never really e a I immodest appearance, who soon told me again. He worked for anothe: twe~ty years on that she had worked for Van der Tuuk for his steadily expanding Kawl-Bal~nese-Dutch many years. 'The gentleman had become half dictionary. He also published a Wide range of Balinese, hadn't he?' I asked her. 'Certainly scholarly work, much of it in the area of Malay not,' she said, 'he was a grand gentleman, he reviewed and frequently slept in an iron bed, and earned 1,000 d J ese: an avan , f II gues and wrote guilders a month!' criticized the work 0 co ea , articles for East Indies newspapers. In indigenous eyes Van der Tuuk had apparently H li ed those years 'like a Balinese.' Many become much less of a Balinese than European e IV . the Europeans about eyes perceived. stories Circulated among . t . his lifestyle, but also about hts eccen nc 11

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