Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk
Encyclopedia
Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk (Malacca
, 23 February 1824 — Surabaya
, 17 August 1894) was a Bible
translator and linguist specialising in the languages of the Dutch East Indies
.
(1824) took effect, and Malacca became British in exchange for Bengkulu
(a region in Sumatra
). As a consequence, the Van der Tuuk family moved to Surabaya
on the Isle of Java
.
At the age of about twelve, Van der Tuuk was sent to the Netherlands, where he attended grammar school and in 1840, aged sixteen, took the entrance exam to Groningen University. He read law, but his interests were in the field of linguistics, and in 1845 he moved to Leiden University
to read Arabic and Persian
with Th.W. Juynboll, a famous scholar in Arabic studies. Van der Tuuk also read Sanskrit
and acquired a thorough grounding in Malay
.
served as starting points. By the middle of the nineteenth century, religious linguists were ready to turn to research into other indigenous languages and to translate the Bible into them.
One of the first languages (or rather, language groups) chosen for this purpose was Batak
. The choice was motivated by political motives as well as religious ones. Roman Catholic missionaries, who had been banned from carrying out their activities, were re-admitted to the colony from 1807, and throughout the nineteenth century were in tough competition with their Protestant opposite numbers. Another motive was the desire to keep Islam
in check. The Malay population of East-Sumatra
and of the coastal regions had become predominantly Muslim by this time, but the ethnic groups in the interior had not been converted, and were, as contemporary terminology had it, still “pagans”. It was assumed they would be more receptive to conversion than those already Islamised. Among these interior tribes were the Batak. Protestant mission from the Netherlands was in the hands of Nederlands Bijbel Genootschap (“Society for the Translation of the Bible”, NBG).
Batak
.
Van der Tuuk reached Java in 1849. He at once fell seriously ill, and indeed was to be haunted by various diseases and by depressions for the rest of his life. The remedy chosen in his case was a sulphur treatment, which appears only to have worsened his condition, and in letters which testify to his confusion, Van der Tuuk requested that NBG relieve him of his duties. They declined, the reason probably being that they had learnt about his condition.
In 1851, he had recovered sufficiently to be able to depart for the Batak regions. By way of Padang
, he reached the coastal village of Siboga (alternatively known as Sibolga
), where, however, conditions were not conducive to success. Many inhabitants were coastal Malays, and for closer contact with Batak, he had to travel into the interior. He did not succeed before 1852, when he traveled inland some sixty miles. Later, he was to make another trip inland, becoming the first European to set eyes on Lake Toba
. By that time he had settled in the more northern coastal town of Baroes (alternatively known as Barus), where Batak influence was still strong.
His assignment had a linguistic component (writing a dictionary and a grammar of the language studied) as well as a practical one (translating the Bible into that language). In 1854, however, he fell ill again, and apparently suffered from a liver complaint and renewed depressions. As a result, he had to return to the Netherlands for convalescence in 1856. He remained in Europe until 1868, translating books of the Bible into Batak (1859), publishing his Dictionary of Batak (1861), formulating his linguistic laws, and receiving an honorary doctor's degree from Utrecht University
in 1861.
In 1862, NBG judged that Van der Tuuk was able to depart for the Dutch East Indies once more. The need was now felt for a Bible translation into Balinese, and Van der Tuuk was to be stationed on the Isle of Bali
. Van der Tuuk did not allow himself to be affected by these considerations. He remained in the Netherlands, working on his two-volume Batak grammar, which was published in 1864 and 1867. He did, however, take up the study of other languages, among them Balinese and Old Javanese or Kawi, a published extensively on the Malay language.
In 1868 he returned to the Dutch East-Indies, first travelling to the Lampung
region of South Sumatra to write a dictionary of its language. Once more he was struck by illness, and returned to Java in 1869, in passing making a study of the Sundanese
(West Javanese) language, and in 1870 left for Bali.
On that island, he set to work on a dictionary of Balinese, only to find that this necessitated a study of Kawi (Old Javanese). This led him to the conclusion that he had better write a trilingual dictionary: of Kawi, Balinese and Dutch. However, NBG was primarily interested in Bible translation, and rather jibed at Van der Tuuk's plans. He therefore decided to resign and became a civil servant in 1873.
In that capacity, he worked on his trilingual dictionary for the rest of his life, and this magnum opus was not to appear before his death. Meanwhile, he was also active in other linguistic activities, such as reworking a dictionary of Malay and a dictionary of Kawi and Modern Javanese.
, Tamil
, Sanskrit
and languages from other parts of South-East Asia. It was rumoured that he was able to learn a dictionary by heart in a matter of days, and to learn a language in a few months.
On the other hand, he stressed the great importance of written texts as sources of information. This was in line with his view that there was such a thing as “pure language use”. He also held that each and every language was a system in decline, whose pure form could only be discovered through reconstruction.
He more and more inclined to the study of general linguistics. When applying himself to Balinese, he concluded, not unreasonably, that this was only possible in combination with a study of Old Javanese.
Van der Tuuk's first Law states that among a number of Indonesian languages, the phonemes /r/, /g/, and /h/ alternate. Thus, pari in one language is equivalent to page in another and to pahe in yet another. urat alternates with ogat and ohat.
Van der Tuuk's second Law states that the phonemes /r/, /d/, and /l/ are likewise interchangeable: pari beside padi and palai, and ron beside daun beside laun.
He did, however, view mission as a civilising force, and in addition held the opinion that it would be able to check the advance of Islam. An advisory document to that effect by NBG to the Dutch government was based on a report by Van der Tuuk.
When in the end Van der Tuuk became alienated from missionary activities, this was due to his impossible dilemma. On the one hand, he held, a linguistically faithful translation would lead to conflict with missionaries — on the other, shaping the language in accordance with Biblical traditions would raise objections by linguists. Charged with making translations, he was convinced that only thorough previous study of the source language would make this possible. In his day, this was not received wisdom. Many missionaries have published in inadequate Malay, incurring Van der Tuuk's scorn.
Van der Tuuk was no less vehement in criticising the faulty Malay often used by those who set themselves up as authorities — a faulty model of the language which, misguidedly, was even presented as a linguistic standard or grammatical model. Controversies such as these were common at a time when new linguistic insights saw the light and when scholars often heaped scorn and invective on their colleagues.
Another version of the same story relates that any visitor was presented with refreshments from a tin containing all kinds of cheese parings, and that declining the offer would incur Van der Tuuk's everlasting enmity. This, however, is held to be an apocryphal story which may have been inspired by the above anecdote.
At the same time, the Balinese respected him greatly. He had made such a thorough study of their customs and habits that one of their elders noted that “if we are faced with a problem, we consult with Tuan Dertik [Mr Van der Tuuk]”.
Malacca
Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...
, 23 February 1824 — Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
, 17 August 1894) was a Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
translator and linguist specialising in the languages of the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
.
Early years and studies
Van der Tuuk's father was a Dutch lawyer who had settled in Malacca (part of the Dutch East Indies at that time) and had married a half German and half Dutch Eurasian wife named Louisa. Her surname being Neubronner, it was added as a middle name to “Herman”. In 1825, the Treaty of LondonAnglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824
The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, also known as the Treaty of London, was a treaty signed between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in London on 17 March 1824. The treaty was to resolve disputes arising from the execution of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814...
(1824) took effect, and Malacca became British in exchange for Bengkulu
Bengkulu
Bengkulu is a province of Indonesia. It is on the southwest coast of the island of Sumatra, and borders the provinces of West Sumatra, Jambi, South Sumatra and Lampung. The capital and largest city is Bengkulu city. It was formerly the site of a British garrison, which they called Bencoolen...
(a region in Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
). As a consequence, the Van der Tuuk family moved to Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
on the Isle of Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
.
At the age of about twelve, Van der Tuuk was sent to the Netherlands, where he attended grammar school and in 1840, aged sixteen, took the entrance exam to Groningen University. He read law, but his interests were in the field of linguistics, and in 1845 he moved to Leiden University
Leiden University
Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
to read Arabic and Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
with Th.W. Juynboll, a famous scholar in Arabic studies. Van der Tuuk also read Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and acquired a thorough grounding in Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
.
Linguistics and linguistic politics in the East Indies
Linguistic activities in the Dutch East Indies were motivated by missionary activities until well into the nineteenth century. Linguistic studies were taken up with a view to translating the Bible into Indonesian languages, and Malay and JavaneseJavanese language
Javanese language is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...
served as starting points. By the middle of the nineteenth century, religious linguists were ready to turn to research into other indigenous languages and to translate the Bible into them.
One of the first languages (or rather, language groups) chosen for this purpose was Batak
Batak languages
The Batak languages are spoken by Batak and Alas people of North Sumatra, Indonesia.Historically they were written using Batak script but the Latin alphabet is now used for most writing....
. The choice was motivated by political motives as well as religious ones. Roman Catholic missionaries, who had been banned from carrying out their activities, were re-admitted to the colony from 1807, and throughout the nineteenth century were in tough competition with their Protestant opposite numbers. Another motive was the desire to keep Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in check. The Malay population of East-Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
and of the coastal regions had become predominantly Muslim by this time, but the ethnic groups in the interior had not been converted, and were, as contemporary terminology had it, still “pagans”. It was assumed they would be more receptive to conversion than those already Islamised. Among these interior tribes were the Batak. Protestant mission from the Netherlands was in the hands of Nederlands Bijbel Genootschap (“Society for the Translation of the Bible”, NBG).
Linguist
In all but name, Van der Tuuk was still reading law, but he had become noted for his phenomenal aptitude at studying languages, and on the basis of that reputation, NBG resolved to send him to the Batak regions to study their languages. These interior regions of Sumatra were still largely unknown to westerners at that time, so it was left to Van der Tuuk to decide which Batak language to research with a view to translating the Bible into it. In the end, he opted for TobaLake Toba
Lake Toba is a lake and supervolcano. The lake is 100 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide, and 505 metres at its deepest point. Located in the middle of the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra with a surface elevation of about , the lake stretches from to...
Batak
Batak (Indonesia)
Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The term is used to include the Toba, Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Angkola and Mandailing, each of which are distinct but related groups with distinct, albeit related, languages and...
.
Van der Tuuk reached Java in 1849. He at once fell seriously ill, and indeed was to be haunted by various diseases and by depressions for the rest of his life. The remedy chosen in his case was a sulphur treatment, which appears only to have worsened his condition, and in letters which testify to his confusion, Van der Tuuk requested that NBG relieve him of his duties. They declined, the reason probably being that they had learnt about his condition.
In 1851, he had recovered sufficiently to be able to depart for the Batak regions. By way of Padang
Padang, Indonesia
Padang is the capital and largest city of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It is located on the western coast of Sumatra at . It has an area of and a population of over 833,000 people at the 2010 Census.-History:...
, he reached the coastal village of Siboga (alternatively known as Sibolga
Sibolga
Sibolga is a city and a port on the west coast of North Sumatra province, in Indonesia. It is located on the western side of North Sumatra, facing the Indian Ocean and is a transit harbour to Nias island. It was hard hit during the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake.- History :Poncan Ketek Island in...
), where, however, conditions were not conducive to success. Many inhabitants were coastal Malays, and for closer contact with Batak, he had to travel into the interior. He did not succeed before 1852, when he traveled inland some sixty miles. Later, he was to make another trip inland, becoming the first European to set eyes on Lake Toba
Lake Toba
Lake Toba is a lake and supervolcano. The lake is 100 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide, and 505 metres at its deepest point. Located in the middle of the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra with a surface elevation of about , the lake stretches from to...
. By that time he had settled in the more northern coastal town of Baroes (alternatively known as Barus), where Batak influence was still strong.
His assignment had a linguistic component (writing a dictionary and a grammar of the language studied) as well as a practical one (translating the Bible into that language). In 1854, however, he fell ill again, and apparently suffered from a liver complaint and renewed depressions. As a result, he had to return to the Netherlands for convalescence in 1856. He remained in Europe until 1868, translating books of the Bible into Batak (1859), publishing his Dictionary of Batak (1861), formulating his linguistic laws, and receiving an honorary doctor's degree from Utrecht University
Utrecht University
Utrecht University is a university in Utrecht, Netherlands. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe. Established March 26, 1636, it had an enrollment of 29,082 students in 2008, and employed 8,614 faculty and staff, 570 of which are full professors....
in 1861.
In 1862, NBG judged that Van der Tuuk was able to depart for the Dutch East Indies once more. The need was now felt for a Bible translation into Balinese, and Van der Tuuk was to be stationed on the Isle of Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
. Van der Tuuk did not allow himself to be affected by these considerations. He remained in the Netherlands, working on his two-volume Batak grammar, which was published in 1864 and 1867. He did, however, take up the study of other languages, among them Balinese and Old Javanese or Kawi, a published extensively on the Malay language.
In 1868 he returned to the Dutch East-Indies, first travelling to the Lampung
Lampung
Lampung is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southern tip of the island of Sumatra and borders the provinces of Bengkulu and South Sumatra. Lampung is the original home of the Lampung people, who speak a distinct language from other people in Sumatra and have their own alphabet. Its...
region of South Sumatra to write a dictionary of its language. Once more he was struck by illness, and returned to Java in 1869, in passing making a study of the Sundanese
Sundanese language
Sundanese is the language of about 27 million people from the western third of Java or about 15% of the Indonesian population....
(West Javanese) language, and in 1870 left for Bali.
On that island, he set to work on a dictionary of Balinese, only to find that this necessitated a study of Kawi (Old Javanese). This led him to the conclusion that he had better write a trilingual dictionary: of Kawi, Balinese and Dutch. However, NBG was primarily interested in Bible translation, and rather jibed at Van der Tuuk's plans. He therefore decided to resign and became a civil servant in 1873.
In that capacity, he worked on his trilingual dictionary for the rest of his life, and this magnum opus was not to appear before his death. Meanwhile, he was also active in other linguistic activities, such as reworking a dictionary of Malay and a dictionary of Kawi and Modern Javanese.
Language command
Beside studying a variety of Indonesian languages, he also had extensive command of other tongues, such as ArabicArabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
, Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and languages from other parts of South-East Asia. It was rumoured that he was able to learn a dictionary by heart in a matter of days, and to learn a language in a few months.
Methods and insights
Van der Tuuk's method was twofold. On the one hand, he sought the company of native speakers, and for that reason he had avoided Siboga with its strong Malay influences when he had wished to study the Batak languages instead. For a similar reason, when in Bali, he settled in a village among native inhabitants. In both cases, then, he wished to be among the authentic population. He often availed himself of the services of a native informer, keeping his company, sharing meals, thus garnering any linguistic information he could. He took copious notes, writing them out in the evenings.On the other hand, he stressed the great importance of written texts as sources of information. This was in line with his view that there was such a thing as “pure language use”. He also held that each and every language was a system in decline, whose pure form could only be discovered through reconstruction.
He more and more inclined to the study of general linguistics. When applying himself to Balinese, he concluded, not unreasonably, that this was only possible in combination with a study of Old Javanese.
Van der Tuuk's Laws
In his many polemics, Van der Tuuk stated two laws which were named after him.Van der Tuuk's first Law states that among a number of Indonesian languages, the phonemes /r/, /g/, and /h/ alternate. Thus, pari in one language is equivalent to page in another and to pahe in yet another. urat alternates with ogat and ohat.
Van der Tuuk's second Law states that the phonemes /r/, /d/, and /l/ are likewise interchangeable: pari beside padi and palai, and ron beside daun beside laun.
Christianity
Van der Tuuk has often been alleged to view Christianity unfavourably while at the same time earning his living with missionary activities, and this has led people to believe that his position was less than straightforward. It may be objected to this that he never dissembled his views. Indeed, when Van der Tuuk was considered for the post of NBG missionary translator, Professor Taco Roorda in a letter of recommendation stressed the fact that this candidate was “not a theologian”.He did, however, view mission as a civilising force, and in addition held the opinion that it would be able to check the advance of Islam. An advisory document to that effect by NBG to the Dutch government was based on a report by Van der Tuuk.
When in the end Van der Tuuk became alienated from missionary activities, this was due to his impossible dilemma. On the one hand, he held, a linguistically faithful translation would lead to conflict with missionaries — on the other, shaping the language in accordance with Biblical traditions would raise objections by linguists. Charged with making translations, he was convinced that only thorough previous study of the source language would make this possible. In his day, this was not received wisdom. Many missionaries have published in inadequate Malay, incurring Van der Tuuk's scorn.
Conflict
Van der Tuuk was caught up in a great many conflicts with his fellow-linguists. He was outspoken and at times even coarsely straightforward. His life-long rancour against Professor Roorda has become notorious. The latter was a reclusive scholar with linguistic principles diametrically opposed to Van der Tuuk's, and held the incorrect view that Javanese was a kind of basic (Ur-)language which, he claimed, lay at the root of other Indonesian languages.Van der Tuuk was no less vehement in criticising the faulty Malay often used by those who set themselves up as authorities — a faulty model of the language which, misguidedly, was even presented as a linguistic standard or grammatical model. Controversies such as these were common at a time when new linguistic insights saw the light and when scholars often heaped scorn and invective on their colleagues.
Anecdotes
At the end of his life, in Bali, Van der Tuuk became an object of curiosity to Europeans. He lived in seclusion from western influences, and it was rumoured that his house was dusty, grimy and disordered. One official wishing to visit him was able to observe him from a distance, sitting on his veranda, holding a piece of Edam cheese. As soon as Van der Tuuk discerned his would-be visitor, he gestured as if to fend the visitor off, exclaiming, “I'm not at home!”Another version of the same story relates that any visitor was presented with refreshments from a tin containing all kinds of cheese parings, and that declining the offer would incur Van der Tuuk's everlasting enmity. This, however, is held to be an apocryphal story which may have been inspired by the above anecdote.
At the same time, the Balinese respected him greatly. He had made such a thorough study of their customs and habits that one of their elders noted that “if we are faced with a problem, we consult with Tuan Dertik [Mr Van der Tuuk]”.
Primary
- 1861 — Bataksch-Nederduitsch woordenboek; Amsterdam, Muller (“A Batak-Dutch Dictionary”).
- 1864 — Tobasche spraakkunst, eerste stuk; Amsterdam, Muller (“A Toba-Batak Grammar, Part 1”).
- 1866 — Hikajat Pandja-tandaran; Tamilsche omwerking van het Indische fabelboek: de Pantja-Tantra, vermaleischt door Abdullah ben Abdilquadir bijgenaamd 'de Munsji' (de Tolk). Uitgegeven en met aanteekeningen voorzien door H.N. van der Tuuk; Leiden, Brill (an edition of the Malay version Sanskrit PanchatantraPanchatantraThe Panchatantra is an ancient Indian inter-related collection of animal fables in verse and prose, in a frame story format. The original Sanskrit work, which some scholars believe was composed in the 3rd century BCE, is attributed to Vishnu Sharma...
stories translated into Tamil). - 1864 — Tobasche spraakkunst, tweede stuk; Amsterdam, Nederlandsch Bijbelgenootschap (“A Toba-Batak Grammar, Part 2”).
- 1897-1912 — Kawi-Balineesch-Nederlandsch woordenboek; Batavia, Landsdrukkerij, 4 dln (in 1971 uitgebracht in Engelse vertaling, red. A. Teeuw en R. Roolvink) (“A Kawi-Balinese-Dutch Dictionary”; English reprint in 1971).
Secondary
- Grijns, C.D. “Van der Tuuk and the Study of Malay”. In BKI 152[1996]-3:353-381.
- Groeneboer, Kees. Een vorst onder de taalgeleerden. Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk. Afgevaardigde voor Indië van het Nederlandsch Bijbelgenootschap 1847-1873. Leiden, KITLV, 2002 (on Van der Tuuk's activities as a missionary translator).
- Ngajenan, Drs Mohamad. Kamus Etimologi Bahasa Indonesia. Semarang, Dahara Prize, 19923 (“An Indonesian Etymological Dictionary”).
- Nieuwenhuys, Rob. “Van der Tuuk”. In Tussen twee vaderlanden. Amsterdam, Van Oorschot, 19883, pag. 85-158 (an essay).
- Saussure, Ferdinand de. Course in General Linguistics (transl. Wade Baskin), London, Fontana, 1974 [1959].