Keywords

7.1 Introduction

Academic enquiry into the myriad ways in which humankind has made use of plants and animals commenced in the late nineteenth century with the publishing of ‘Purposes of Ethnobotany’ by Harshberger (1896). The publication also marked the beginning of ethnobotany as an academic discipline. For the next five decades, cataloguing the economically important plants used by various communities formed the bulk of ethnobotanical research. However, as Hunn (2007) points out, these decades were not bereft of intellectual enquiry, as ethnobotanists had begun emphasising the need for conducting a deeper enquiry into the relationship between people and the environment from the emic perspective. In 1954, Conklin published his dissertation on ‘The Relation of Hanunoo Culture to the Plant World’, the first work fully devoted to the ethnotaxonomy of a community. Conklin’s dissertation marked the beginning of ‘cognitive ethnobiology’, where cognitive psychology and linguistics played an important role in understanding emic perspectives of flora and fauna (Hunn 2007). In 1962, Levi-Strauss highlighted that the ways people named and classified plants and animals have an intellectual basis, and not merely meant to satiate their needs (Levi-Strauss 1966). The turning point in ethnobotany, however, was the towering work of Berlin et al. (1966). Besides leading to the evolution of the concept of linguistic ethnobiology, their works also brought to light the general patterns shared by folk classifications worldwide (Hunn 2007). There has been a resurgence of a new wave of research on linguistic ethnobiology in the last two decades, resulting from the increasing collaborations between linguists, anthropologists, and biologists. However, the new wave of research focuses more on the nomenclatural patterns or the folk/vernacular names that form an inherent component of the larger folk classifications.

Kakudidi (2004) and Franco and Narasimhan (2012) analysed the Traditional Knowledge (TK) that are apparent in the folk names of plants and animals. Such naming strategies are straightforward reflections of the knowledge of salient characteristics of the taxa such as morphology, quality, ecology, utility, etc. Semantic analyses of folk names undertaken by Evans (1997), Turpin (2013), and Zariquiey (2014) show that folk names, however, are the results of complex nomenclatural processes. A single folk name is capable of encoding TK on multiple taxa and the complex cultural relationships between them, as understood by the respective community. Their approach demonstrates that folk names could also be metaphoric or metonymic representations of TK on multiple taxa. A synthesis of these two approaches helps in understanding the elaborate TK encoded in folk names of plants and animals.

Ethnobiologists have recognised the importance of folk names as repositories of TK long ago. Folk names help us understand how communities recognise and utilise plants and animals known to them (Berlin 1992; Franco 2021; Sunderland 2004). They also provide us information on the richness, diversity, phenology, and ecology of taxa, which helps in developing community-specific conservation and management plans (Pinto et al. 2016). The value of folk taxonomies and nomenclatures to biodiversity conservation and management is higher when the language in question is endemic such as the Kanekes language represented in this study. This is because endemic languages enjoy time-tested information on the taxa in the respective localities, unlike immigrant languages or newly acquired languages (Maffi 2001). In this study, we demonstrate that folk plant names are condensed forms of traditional knowledge. We do this by decoding the traditional knowledge encoded by the folk food plant names of the Urang Kanekes of Banten, Indonesia.

The Kanekes people, popularly known by their etic name ‘Baduy’ speak the Kanekes language that is etically considered as a sub-dialect of the Sunda language (Garna 1973; Permana 2006; Rahmania 2009). The Kanekes believe that their ancestors had come to the altar of Sasaka Domas to protect its forest, and hence take pride in calling themselves the ‘keepers of the forest’ (Danasasmita and Djatisunda 1986; Permana 2006; Wessing 1999). Based on the residents’ adherence to the communities’ culture and customary regulations, the community categorises their territory into two cultural zones: inner and outer zone. The inner zone consists of three hamlets—Cibeo, Cikertawana, and Cikeusik—that serve as the centre of spiritual and cultural activities, while the outer zone has 63 hamlets (kampong) with six more kampong expected to be added soon. The outer zone acts as a buffer zone for the culturally ‘pure’ inner zone, shielding it from ‘outside’ influence. Members of the community in the outer zone are permitted to wear coloured clothes, mostly black compared to the ‘white’ attire of the people of the inner zone; usage of modern kitchen utensils, motorcycles, and cultivation of ‘non- traditional’ crops such as kopi (Coffea arabica), cokelat (Theobroma cacao), and dangdeur (Manihot esculenta) are also tolerated in this zone. The community’s culture has evolved to accord utmost importance to food security, represented by the traditional rice varieties they cultivate. Therefore, cultural restrictions, totems, folklores all celebrate the importance of food, with a special emphasis on the need for saving grains for a famine that has been foretold longback by the pu’un (Shaman and calendar keeper). In addition to the agricultural produces, forest products gathered from the wild also contribute to the food security of the Kanekes. The community’s folk classification of food plants and the TK that forms the basis for it help them in the identification and utilisation of such food resources (Franco et al. 2015).

7.2 Materials and Methods

7.2.1 Data Collection

The research was conducted during May–June 2014 in collaboration with the Kanekes community, at the Kanekes Village of Lebak District in the Banten Province of Indonesia (Fig. 7.1). The Kanekes people have a robust traditional system in place to facilitate responsible collaborative research. According to the community’s traditional protocol, the researchers should secure informed permission from the jaro dainah (village head) to conduct research, following which the jaro dainah would explain the terms and conditions under which the permission has been granted. The foremost concern of the community is to maintain the sanctity of the inner zone and hence, the use of electronic gadgets and cameras are prohibited in the inner zone. Researchers are also not permitted to wear footwear or stay overnight anywhere in the inner zone.

Fig. 7.1
figure 1

Map showing inner and outer Kanekes

Full size image

After securing clearance from the Ethics Committee of Curtin University, Sarawak, Malaysia, we sought the Prior Informed Consent from jaro dainah empowered by the community to liaise with researchers. The primary author has been working with the Kanekes people since 2009 which helped her to understand and respect the community’s customs and tradition in detail. The personal relationships and trust built over time have benefited this project to a great extent, and the present research builds upon her previous research (Hidayati 2013).

In the present research, we interviewed 60 people from inner and outer Kanekes to retrieve 358 Kenekes food plants’ names. We also documented information on medicinal properties, timing, and agricultural techniques associated with the respective taxa. During these interviews, we elicited the meanings of the names from the interview participants. We confirmed the results by consulting key informants recognised by the community as proficient in Kanekes language and TK. Subsequently, we interpreted the names and the underlying nomenclatural mechanisms following the works of Evans (1997), Kakudidi (2004), and Turpin (2013). The lead author conducted the interviews in the Kanekes tongue with the help of Mr. Samin of Kaduketug village and Mr. Lamri of the outer Panggiwa village who also facilitated the interpretation of plant names. The second author joined her during the final stages of the interviews, for wrapping up. We obtained informed consent from each participant before the interviews. The research conforms to the Code of Ethnobiology (ISE 2006), and the guidelines issued by the Human Research and Ethics Committee of Curtin University (Approval No. CSEA 041,214, dated 4 December 2014).

7.2.2 Analysis of Kanekes Food Plant Names

Our intention is to demonstrate that folk names are condensed forms of traditional knowledge. We do this by bringing out the various kinds of TK encoded in Kanekes food plant names. We classify folk names into two based on the apparency of TK to the Kanekes speakers: (1) barefaced folk names, and (2) cryptic folk names. Barefaced folk names are those names where the TK on the salient feature of the respective taxa is apparent to the speakers of the language. In other words, they are self-explanatory in nature. Such names readily reveal TK related to ecology, morphology, phenology, quality, and utility value of the taxa denoted. Kakudidi’s (2004) study on the folk plant classification of local communities near Kibale National Park, Western Uganda is an example of studies that deal with such names. Names of prototypes where a name appended with a suitable identifier such as ‘original’ denote a taxon and the superordinate taxa encompassing it are also examples of barefaced names (Forth 1995; Zariquiey 2014). However, taxonomic polysemy where a name denotes multiple categories in the taxonomic hierarchy, are cryptic names as the knowledge on the community’s folk taxonomy is a prerequisite to decode the name.

Cryptic names are those with TK either not readily comprehensible, or those containing TK on multiple taxa/entities. Understanding the TK encoded in such names requires a relatively greater degree of proficiency in the community’s TK and language. Cryptic names are usually metonyms, metaphors, or portmanteaus. Evans (1997), Turpin (2013), and Zariquiey (2014) have reported polysemous names including names that are metaphoric or metonymic in nature. Metaphoric names are coined on the basis of resemblance with other entities (both living and non-living), human expressions, and cultural artefacts. In most cases, metaphors deal with the colour, shape, size, texture, and structure as well as qualities that the association is based on. This is understandable from the following example from Mayali language (Evans 1997).

Nakarndekin (Capparis sp.); thorny vine. The name refers to the resemblance of Capparis thorns to the dingo’s sharp tooth.

Metonymy is a polysemous condition where a name or its root identifies multiple denotata that are culturally related (Evans 1997). The Merriam-Webster dictionary (2020) defines metonymy as ‘a figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated’. Metonyms differ from metaphors in that, they are given based on the perceived association between the named entities, whereas metaphors are based on resemblance (Charteris-Black 2003; Warren 1999). Both metaphors and metonyms encode TK on multiple denotata. Metaphoric names presented in this study occur in compounds, while metonyms either occur as modifiers in compounds (analysable lexemes) or manifest monolexemically (unanalysable) as in example V below. The third category of cryptic names is portmanteaus which are lexemes coined by blending the sounds and meanings of two or more lexemes (Bauer 1992; Kridalaksana 2001; Pound 1914), a complexity that renders them cryptic.

7.3 Results and Discussion

We present our results beginning with the linguistic morphology of the Kanekes language (Sect. 7.3.1). Following this, we present the outline of the Kanekes folk classification of plants (Sect. 7.3.2). From Sect. 7.3.3 onwards, we discuss the traditional knowledge encoded in the Kanekes folk names used to denote food plants.

7.3.1 Linguistic Morphology of the Kanekes Language

This section provides a brief overview of the linguistic morphology of food plant names in the Kanekes language to give the reader a better understanding of their morphological forms.

7.3.1.1 Compounding

Many of the food plant names go through a process of compounding as in the examples in I (a) to I (d) and these include:

  • Noun + Adjective ‘N + Adj’ (Colour/Size) compound

  • Noun + Noun ‘N + N’ compound

  • Noun + Verb ‘N + V’ compound

Bawang beureum is a noun followed by a colour functioning as an adjective (not unlike ‘green beans’ in English but with the opposite adjective-noun word order). Areuy palungpung is another ‘N + Adj’ compound made up of a noun followed by an attributive adjective to describe size. Huwi ramo is an ‘N + N’ compound as two nouns combine to form an identifiable food plant name for the Kanekes people. Awi apus is a deverbal ‘N + V’ compound made up of a verb preceded by a noun.

  1. I.
    1. (a)

      Bawang beureum ‘onion + red’ (Allium cepa L.)

    2. (b)

      Areuy palungpung ‘vine + big/plump’ (Decalobanthus peltatus (L.) A.R.Simões & Staples)

    3. (c)

      Huwi ramo ‘tuber + hand’ (Dioscorea sp.)

    4. (d)

      (d) Awi apus ‘bamboo + erase’ (Gigantochloa apus (Schult.f.) Kurz)

7.3.1.2 Derivation

Another name-formation pattern in the Kanekes language is derivational where the food plant name is derived by taking a portion of an existing lexeme in the language to create a new form as shown in example II.

  1. II.

    Kukuk ‘fruit with curved shape’ (Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.) derived from lekuk ‘curved’.

7.3.1.3 Locative and Temporal

A common naming procedure for food plants is to include the plant’s locative and temporal information by combining a noun with a word expressing where the plant grows or when it is normally found as exemplified in III (a) and III (b), respectively. Supa kayang provides locative information and identifies mushrooms that grow only in the dead trunks of kayang (Lithocarpus korthalsii) whereas katulampa includes temporal information as it names a plant that only blooms in the flowering season of the Kanekes.

  1. III.
    1. (a)

      Supa kayang ‘mushroom + kayang’ (Bertrandia sp.)

    2. (b)

      Katulampa ‘walk together’ (Elaeocarpus glaber Blume)

7.3.1.4 Onomatopoeia

Another naming process is the incorporation of onomatopoeia into the names of food plants by combining a noun and the sound produced when it is utilised by the Kanekes people. In IV (a), the sound is produced when the plant is cut vertically, while in IV (b) it is the sound produced when children play with the plant’s trunk.

  1. IV.
    1. (a)

      Awi ater ‘bamboo + ter’ where ter is the sound characteristic (Gigantochloa atter (Hassk.) Kurz)

    2. (b)

      Cau kepok ‘banana + kepok’ where kepok is the sound characteristic (Musa acuminata Colla)

7.3.1.5 Polysemy

Some food plant names have a polysemous relationship in that they are related in meaning to another word in the Kanekes language. In example V, binglu is a skin disease; the tree that shares the same name is believed to cause the disease if one comes into contact with it.

  1. V.

    Binglu ‘a skin disease’ (Mangifera caesia Jack).

7.3.1.6 Blending

Blending is also used by the Kanekes people to name food plants by a process of combining a word or the first syllable of a word and the second syllable of another word as shown in VI (a) and VI (b).

  1. VI.
    1. (a)

      Bonteng ‘plant accessible only in swidden field’ taken from kebon ‘swidden forest’ + enteng ‘light’ (Cucumis sativus L.)

    2. (b)

      Kecapi ‘sour fruit that produces a sharp sensation in the mucosa’ taken from kecap ‘speaking’ + pipi (Sandoricum koetjape (Burm.f.) Merr.)

7.3.1.7 Suffixation

Food plant names are also formed by a process of suffixation where the suffix—an is added to a verb. This suffixation process then expresses that the particular food plant is consumed via the action of the suffixed verb. So for instance, in VII (a) the suffix—an attached to the verb pisit (which means ‘to rip off’) tells us that the fruit must be ripped open to be eaten.

  1. VII.
    1. (a)

      Pisitan ‘fruit consumed after ripping open fruit’ from the verb pisit ‘to rip off’ (Dysoxylum alliaceum (Blume) Blume)

    2. (b)

      Poh-pohan ‘fruit compressed before eating’ from the verb popoh ‘compress’ (Pilea melastomoides (Poir.) Wedd.)

7.3.2 Outline of the Kanekes Folk Taxonomy on Plants

The Kanekes people use the terms tatangkalan and sasatoan as Unique Beginners for plants and animals, respectively. The word tatangkalan is derived from the partial reduplication of the word tangkal (tree), attached with the suffix ‘an’. Similarly, sasatoan is derived from sato, meaning ‘animal’. The terms tangkal and sato are also used by other Sunda speaking communities (Rigg 1862). The usage of the category ‘unique beginners’ conforms to the general pattern in ethnotaxonomy (Berlin et al. 1966). However, no term that could be considered as an equivalent to the category ‘living beings’ was recorded in this study. Three different life forms are presented under the category of tatangkalan, viz., (1) tangkal (big tree), (2) jukut (shrubs, herbs, seedlings, and small trees), and (3) areuy (liana or vine). They also recognise two types of mushroom—supa and suum; supa is the mushroom growing on rotten plant materials while suum grows on the ground. Both supa and suum are polysemous terms referring to the categories of life form as well as genus.

Example:

  1. VIII.
    1. (a)

      Supa koja: Phallus indusiatus Vent.

    2. (b)

      Suum pahatu: Hygrocybe acutoconica (Clem.) Singer.

Such polysemy where a name refers to two taxonomic hierarchy is common in folk classifications. Similar to the life form-genus polysemy seen in the above example, a folk name could also denote both a folk genus as well as a species. In such cases, the species denoted often serves as the ‘type species’ to name other species included in the genus (Franco and Narasimhan 2012), a phenomenon similar to the concept of ‘type species or species typica’ of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (International Code of Zoological Nomenclature 1999). Berlin (1992: 29) refers to such species as ‘prototypes’. Our study reveals the existence of such prototypes in Kanekes food plant taxonomy. For instance, laja refers to the genus that comprises Alpinia galangal, A. purpurata, and A. malaccensis. However, when the name laja is used alone, it exclusively connects to the denotatum A. galanga. Prototypical names are not always polysemous. When recollected in a group comprising of multiple taxa of the same category, they are attached with a modifier such as original, genuine, ideal type, wild, etc. (Berlin 1992; Zariquey 2014; 2018). The Kanekes use modifiers such as biasa meaning ‘original/ordinary’, to qualify it as a protoype.

Example:

  1. IX.

    Honje biasa (Etlingera hemisphaerica (Blume) R.M.Sm.): prototype of all other taxa included the folk genus honje.

7.3.3 TK Encoded in Kanekes Food Plant Names

Our study recorded 358 Kanekes plant taxa that were consumed as food, of which 218 corresponded to the species rank and five to the variety rank as per the formal systems of classification (Table 7.1). Of the 358 folk names, we were successful in decoding the TK held by 294 names. These names encode TK related to morphology (161), ecology (45), utility (39), and quality (49) of the taxa. A majority of these names (172 names) are cryptic (111 metaphors, 53 metonyms, and 08 portmanteaus), while the rest are barefaced (122 names). When they exist in compound forms, barefaced names are either Noun + Adjective (Colour/Size) or Noun + Verb compounds, while cryptic names are either Noun + Noun compounds (metaphors and metonyms) or products of blending (portmanteaus). When they manifest monolexemically, cryptic names are unanalysable lexemes (example V, binglu), while barefaced names convey Noun and Verb senses (examples III (b) katulampa and VII (a) pisitan).

Table 7.1 Kanekes food plants and the TK and linguistic mechanisms employed in naming them
Full size table

Evans (1997) proposed three major types of metonymy occurring in folk plant and animal names, viz., temporal, spatial, and culturally mediated metonymy. Turpin (2013) proposed ten types of metonymy, viz., salient body part metonymy, spatial metonymy, seasonal metonymy, behavioural metonymy, diet metonymy, sound metonymy, sign metonymy, meaningful call metonymy, human influence metonymy, and kin-based commemorative metonymy. Of these, we encounter spatial, behavioural, diet, sound, and human influence metonymies in our study. We also introduce the categories of introducer metonymy, procedural metonymy, and medicinal metonymy. Introducer metonymy occurs when the name of the person who introduced plant taxa to the community, or the place of origin of the taxa is encoded in the folk name. Unlike human influence metonymy, it is the history that is encoded in the name of species, serving as a folk intellectual property protection measure (Mekbib 2007). In procedural metonymy, the name encodes procedures such as the specific method of use of the plant. Likewise, in medicinal metonymy, the name encodes the medicinal use attributed to the plant.

The general notion in linguistics is that metaphors require great cognitive effort to decode the meaning, unlike metonyms (Charteris-Black 2003). However, when it comes to folk names, metonyms could also have an equal, or greater degree of complexity, especially when they exist in unanalysable forms. This is because of the complex cultural relationships recognised by the community between the different taxa or entities denoted by the name. The TK contained in metonyms is also vulnerable to loss as it depends on the TK and linguistic proficiency of the speaker and listener to uncover the knowledge. When the speaker loses proficiency in TK and language, the ability to decode the information is also lost. There is also a possibility of the information evading documentation if the researcher fails to comprehend the complex body of knowledge that connects the denoted entities. In such cases, the names could be mistaken for homonyms (Evans 1997).

A notable feature of Kanekes food plant names is the prevalence of portmanteaus. Indonesians in general love to use portmanteaus in their cultural life (Wandelt 2009), not only for social interaction but also in formal uses (De Vries 1970; Pratiwi 2008). The Sundanese term for portmanteau is ‘kirata’ which itself is a portmanteau of dikira-kira tapi nyata meaning ‘approximated but obvious’. In Kanekes food plant names, most portmanteaus denote folk genera, which at the first instance appear as unanalysable primary lexemes. It is important that researchers working with the ethnotaxonomies of Southeast Asia look into the possibility of the occurrence of portmanteaus denoting folk genera categories.

The following section provides a detailed explanation of the various kinds of TK encoded in Kanekes food plant names.

7.3.3.1 Utility

Plants named according to their utility value bear testimony to the Kanekes traditional knowledge and biodiversity management practices. Various researchers agree that Kanekes people have impressively managed their ecosystem through their traditional management practices (Garna 1987, 1993; Iskandar and Ellen 1999; Senoaji 2012). Their emphasis on sustainability also extends to food management, which is also reflected in certain food plant names that point to the management practices associated with it. Rice is the most important food crop for the Kanekes; Kanekes believe that Nyi Pohaci, the Rice Goddess showers her kindness and blessings on her people in the form of rice. Thus, farming is one of the rukun or pikukuh (customary mandate) to be undertaken by every Kanekes individual (Danasasmita and Djatisunda 1986; Senoaji 2012). They save rice grains for up to 100 years in their sacred bamboo granaries called leuit, to ensure food security during famines, and are customarily permitted to retrieve it only on senen (Monday), salasa (Tuesday), and jumaah (Friday). This limitation has ensured food sustainability and diversification, as the community resorts to diversify its food bases by cultivating non-rice crops including yams and tubers. The plant names often encode such information.

  1. X.
    1. (a)

      Huwi mantang ‘tuber that can be eaten on taboo days’ (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.); barefaced name

The barefaced name in example X (a) conveys the information that the Kanekes could depend on this tuber on those days when it is restricted to consume rice.

Some names also indicate timing and access to the resource.

  1. X.
    1. (b)

      Kacang suuk ‘beans collected from underground’ (Arachis hypogaea L.); barefaced name

    2. (c)

      Gedang (Carica papaya L.), derived from gedag-gedag, meaning ‘to shake’; barefaced name

Kacang is a Bahasa Indonesia term applied to ‘beans’. All other folk species of kacang such as ‘kacang panjang’ (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) or ‘kacang hejo’ (Vigna radiate (L.) R.Wilczek) known to Kanekes people grow above the ground. The mechanism of naming kacang suuk encodes TK on access to the plant, differentiating it from the other folk species of kacang.

Recipes or specific ways to consume a plant are also conveyed through names.

  1. X.
    1. (d)

      Huwi kalapa ‘tuber cooked with coconut’ (Dioscorea alata L.); cryptic name (procedural metonymy)

    2. (e)

      Picung (Pangium edule Reinw.), from cung-cung, meaning ‘submerged in water for a long time’; barefaced name

    3. (f)

      Kokosan (Dysoxylum parasiticum (Osbeck) Kosterm.), from kokos meaning ‘remove the skin by mouth, or suck’; barefaced name

Huwi kalapa refers to a tuber that is cooked with coconut. Without coconut, the tuber will be rough, dry, and unpleasant to consume. In X (e), the name encodes specialised TK on the detoxification method to be undertaken before cooking. Detoxification of crops is a strategy in maximising food security that requires extensive traditional knowledge (Chiwona-Karltun et al. 1998). Names such as kokosan X (f) also encode information on the specific method to consume. Example X (g) is a folk name that encodes the information that the plant is used in the preparation of the dish leuksa that will be presented to government representatives as a part of the seba ceremony.

  1. X.
    1. (g)

      Areuy leuksa ‘leuksa vine’ (Nothocnide repanda (Blume) Blume); cryptic name (procedural metonymy)

We found four food plant names that encode traditional medicinal knowledge:

  1. X.
    1. (h)

      viz., Awi apus ‘bamboo that erases diseases’ (Gigantochloa apus); barefaced name

    2. (i)

      Keras tulang ‘bone tonic’ (Chloranthus elatior Link); cryptic name (medicinal metonymy)

    3. (j)

      Binglu (Mangifera caesia); cryptic name (human influence metonymy)

    4. (k)

      Cecendet (Physalis angulate L.); cryptic name (human influence metonymy)

Awi apus is a bamboo that is believed to have the property of removing diseases (apus = erase). The usage of G. apus for medicinal purposes has also been reported before from Bali (Sujarwo et al. 2010). As indicated in its name, keras tulang (keras = hard, tulang = bone) is used as a bone tonic, a knowledge that has also been reported from other Sundanese cultures (Aritonang 1999; Purnawan 2006). The name could be mistaken for a metaphor when the medicinal knowledge is lost or unknown to the speaker. Binglu is the name of a plant as well as the name of a disease involving dermatic rashes; it is believed that people will be infected by this disease when they happen to pass by the binglu tree. However, the stem of the same tree also provides the remedial medicine when used along with a magic spell. Similarly, cecendet is the name of a disease as well as a plant. Cecendet is the swelling of the penis corona due to infection and scar; males who have just undergone circumcision are prohibited from consuming cecendet, as it can lead/aggravate the cecendet disease.

  1. X.
    1. (l)

      Cau kepok (Musa acuminata Colla); cryptic name (sound metonymy).

Cau kepok is an example of sound metonymy. The name refers to the sound that is produced when Kanekes kids play with the pseudostem. The banana trunk is split by children and whipped in the air to create the kepok sound. The winner is the one who can produce the loudest sound. The name signifies that this banana trunk produces a louder sound than others. Turpin (2013) proposed sound metonymy, to refer to metonyms related through sounds. Unlike animals that possess distinctive body parts to produce and transmit sound, plants generally do not produce sounds by themselves, and it is the human cultural element of the utilisation of plant and plant materials that produce sound.

7.3.3.2 Ecology

The ecological information encoded in names is mostly on historical ecology—the source or plant origin, habitat of the plant, or ecological characteristics of the plant. Information on the historical ecology of the plant such as the names of places from where the taxa/variety has been introduced, or the name of the introducer is often used to name crop varieties/taxa. Mekbib (2007) points out that, such naming processes could be an informal mechanism to recognise the Intellectual Property Rights of the introducer or for the place of origin.

  1. XI.
    1. (a)

      Cau ambon ‘banana from Ambon’ (Musa x paradisiaca L.); cryptic name (introducer metonymy)

    2. (b)

      Jambu samarang ‘guava from Semarang’ (Syzygium samarangense (Blume) Merr. & L.M.Perry); cryptic name (introducer metonymy)

    3. (c)

      Jeruk bali ‘citrus from Bali’ (Citrus maxima (Burm.) Merr.); cryptic name (introducer metonymy)

    4. (d)

      Walang cina ‘Eryngium from China’ (Eryngium foetidum L.); cryptic name (introducer metonymy)

The above names indicate that the plants were introduced from Ambon, Semarang (central Java), Bali, and China, respectively. Farming communities have an extensive network for sharing germplasm (Nettle 1998; Renfrew 1991) and the names clearly provide direct clues to the place from where the germplasm was procured from.

There are also names encoding the information on the specific individual who introduced the germplasm to the community.

  1. XI.
    1. (e)

      Pare abu ganti (Oryza sativa L.); cryptic name (introducer metonymy)

    2. (f)

      Pare janah (Oryza sativa L.); cryptic name (introducer metonymy)

Pare abu ganti (pare = rice, abu ganti = name of the introducer) is a cultivar of rice that is named after Abu Ganti, its introducer. Likewise, pare janah (pare = rice, janah = individual) indicates that the cultivar was introduced by Janah. These plant names quickly transmit the historical knowledge that Abu Ganti and Janah had handed over the respective landraces to them a long time back. This pattern of naming has also been reported from Ethiopia, where the name of the introducer as well as the place of origin, have been used to mark the infra-specific folk taxonomy of sorghum (Mekbib 2007).

Generally, Kanekes people classify their land as leuweung (forest), huma (swidden field), kampong (hamlet and close by), reuma (secondary forest), jami (swidden field fallowed for 2–3 years), and pipir cai (wetland) (Iskandar and Ellen 1999; Marlina 2012). The traditional knowledge that leuweung, being the primary forest, serves as a source of edible plants is encoded in names.

  1. XI.
    1. (g)

      Harendong leuweung ‘harendong from the forest’ (Bellucia pentamera Naudin); cryptic name (ecological/spatial metonymy)

    2. (h)

      Manggu leuweung ‘mangosteen from the forest’ (Garcinia lateriflora Blume); cryptic name (spatial metonymy)

Some names narrow down further to the specific habitat requirements. In example XI (i), the specific condition of the habitat is encoded in the name. The folk name in XI (j) encodes the TK that supa kayang is an obligatory saprophyte of L. korthalsii. In XI (k), the specific epithet is a portmanteau of cing (cicing = stay), dina (at), and calok (legok = ditch). The name conveys the TK that the guava grows in low-lying areas.

  1. XI.
    1. (i)

      Huwi dahong ‘tuberous plant growing in dryland’ (Ipomoea batatas), dahong from rahong meaning fissured land; cryptic name (ecological or spatial metonymy)

    2. (j)

      Supa kayang ‘Lithocarpus korthalsii (Endl.) Soepadmo mushroom’ (Bertrandia sp.); cryptic name (ecological/ spatial metonymy)

    3. (k)

      Jambu cingcalok (Syzygium aqueum (Burm.f.) Alston); cryptic name (portmanteau)

Plants found in abundance or commonly available without habitat specificity are also marked accordingly.

  1. XI.
    1. (l)

      Seeur ‘abundant plant’ (Antidesma tetrandrum Blume); barefaced name

    2. (m)

      Tundun biasa ‘ordinary tundun’ (Nephelium lappaceum L.); barefaced name

    3. (n)

      Bonteng ‘swidden forest light’ (Cucumis sativus L.); cryptic name (portmanteau)

Seeur refers to ‘excess of supply’, indicating that the plant is abundant. Examples IX (honje biasa; Etlingera hemisphaerica) and XI (m) consist of two epithets, the first indicating the folk genera, and the second indicating its commonly available nature (biasa = common). The epithet biasa serves a dual purpose—to indicate the commonly available nature of the taxon, as well as its status as a prototype for all plants under the folk genus honje and tundun. Example XI (m) is a portmanteau resulting from the blending of bon (kebon = swidden forest) and teng (enteng = light). The name conveys the TK that this plant is easily accessible in swidden fields.

Folk plant names could also portray TK knowledge on the food chain. Our study records three names that are diet metonyms. Diet metonymy is usually represented by animal behaviour on its prey such as other animal or plant (Turpin 2013). In the Kanekes food plant name corpus, diet metonymies are applied to represent the relationship between plants and their consumers such as birds. In the following examples, plant names encode information on their consumers.

  1. XI.
    1. (o)

      Cau kulutuk ‘eagle banana’ (Musa balbisiana var. brachycarpa (Backer) Häkkinen); cryptic name (diet metonymy)

    2. (p)

      Hantap heulang ‘eagle sterculia’ (Sterculia macrophylla Vent.); cryptic name (diet metonymy)

    3. (q)

      Hantap manuk ‘bird sterculia’ (Sterculia sp.); cryptic name (diet metonymy)

7.3.3.3 Phenology

Kanekes folk plant names can encode information on the phenology of plants. The folk specific epithets in examples XII (a) and (b) indicate the crop duration/cycle.

  1. XII.
    1. (a)

      Cau sabulan ‘banana that ripens in one month’ (Musa x paradisiaca L.); barefaced name

    2. (b)

      Pare hawara ‘paddy that matures quickly’ (Oryza sativa L.); barefaced name

7.3.3.4 Quality

Quality is an unquantifiable character, where the taste, smell, and preference of a community form the basis for naming a plant. In such cases, it is usual for one of the epithets to encode the salient quality such as sweet, sour, bitter, etc.

  1. XIII.
    1. (a)

      Huwi manis ‘sweet tuber’ (Ipomoea batatas); barefaced name

    2. (b)

      Cau haseum ‘sour banana’ (Musa x paradisiaca); barefaced name

    3. (c)

      Lingsuh ‘fruit that causes pain’ (Baccaurea lanceolate (Miq.) Müll.Arg.); cryptic name (human influence metonymy)

    4. (d)

      Pare menyan ‘incense paddy’ (Oryza sativa); cryptic name (metaphor: quality)

    5. (e)

      Cau nangka (Musa x paradisiaca); cryptic name (metaphor: quality)

In examples XIII (a) and (b), the names encode the quality of taste. In XIII (c), lingsuh refers to the sour taste that inflicts a sharp pain in the teeth. The name indicates the consequence of humans consuming the plant. Likewise, smells are also indicated in the names of plants such as pare menyan (Oryza sativa) and cau nangka (Musa x paradisiaca). The name pare menyan encodes the information that its smell is as desirable as that of incense. Although the name implies that the rice smells like incense, menyan is used to drive home the point that the rice gives a desirable odour when cooked; the odour however is not similar to that of incense. Psychophysically, aromas such as ‘incense’ that are normally considered as pleasant are repulsive when emanating from food and the food environment. A banana that smells like incense has little chances to be selected by the community for cultivation. In the larger Sundanese culture, preference is usually indicated by the term hoyong/hayang meaning ‘desire’. This term is also used to highlight the qualities of ki hiyang (Albizia procera) and oyong (Luffa acutangula) that were culturally selected by the community for their desirable traits of strength and taste, respectively.

  1. XIII.
    1. (g)

      Areuy ki koneng ‘yellow grandfather tuber’ (Arcangelisia flava (L.) Merr.); cryptic name (metaphor: strength)

    2. (h)

      Huwi ki hiyang ‘desirable grandfather tuber’ (Ipomoea batatas); cryptic name (metaphor: strength)

    3. (i)

      Ki lauk ‘grandfather fish’ (Acalypha caturus Blume); cryptic name (metaphor: strength)

In the above examples, the term ki which is derived from aki (a grandfather) is used to highlight the strength of the plant. The strength of the stem or tuber is compared to the superior wisdom of grandfather.

7.3.3.5 Morphology

Morphological traits such as size, colour, shapes, pattern, texture, and patterns are encoded in Kanekes food plant names. The metaphors employed by the community to encode such TK are collectively referred to as ‘visual metaphors’ by Turpin (2013, p. 500). Colour is the most commonly used morphological trait to differentiate plants at the species level, as well as cultivars/varieties. According to Rahmanadia (2012), Kanekes have eight basic colour terms: putih (white), hideung (black), beureum (red), hejo (green), kolenyer (yellow), paul (blue), coklat (brown), and abu-abu (grey). In addition to these, our study also recorded terms such as bodas (white), koneng (yellow), and bulawok used by the Kenekes to denote colours. Of these eight colours, they have used at least six basic colour terms to name their food plants. Examples are: bawang bodas (Allium sativum), bawang bereum (Allium cepa), honje bereum (Etlingera solaris (Blume) R.M.Sm.), laja bereum (Alpinia purpurata), kacang hejo (Vigna radiata), kalapa hejo (Cocos nucifera L.), taleus hejo (Colocasia esculenta), areuy ki koneng (Arcangelisia flava (L.) Merr.), koneng (Curcuma longa L.), pare koneng (Oryza sativa), huwi mantang bulawok (Ipomoea batatas), coklat (Theobroma cacao L.), etc. However, the Kanekes lack equivalent terms for pink (kayas) and purple (bungur) which other Sunda communities possess.

In addition to these barefaced names, they also use metaphors to highlight the salient colour of the plant.

  1. XIV.
    1. (a)

      Cau apu ‘limepaste banana’ (Musa x paradisiaca L.); cryptic name (metaphor: colour)

    2. (b)

      Pare siang ‘rice with bran as yellow as the afternoon light’ (Oryza sativa L.); cryptic name (metaphor: colour)

    3. (c)

      Pare ketan keuyeup ‘stickyrice with brans as reddish as crabs’ (Oryza sativa L.); cryptic name (metaphor: colour)

    4. (d)

      Cau hurang ‘banana as red as prawns’ (Musa x paradisiaca L.); cryptic name (metaphor: colour)

    5. (e)

      Kapundung ‘fruits as red as angry face’ (Baccaurea sp.); cryptic name (metaphor: colour)

    6. (f)

      Cau haseup ‘smoky banana’ (Musa x paradisiaca L.); cryptic name (metaphor: colour)

    7. (g)

      Supa lember lutung ‘human-ear shaped Javan langur mushroom’ (Auricularia polytricha (Mont.) Sacc.); cryptic name (metaphor: shape and colour)

The above names are cryptic due to the delicate sense of resemblance encoded in them. For instance, cau haseup (smoky banana) employs the word ‘smoke’ to highlight the red colour of the banana skin. Both the fire and firewood appear bright red while burning, and smoke is a by-product of fire. As shown in XIV (g), there could be a single folk name encoding information on resemblance to multiple entities (1. Human ear, 2. Trachypithecus auratus ssp. mauritius).

The Kanekes use terms such as gede, bitung, gejloh, and gembor to denote the size ‘big’. However, these words are highly specific, with hidden preferences attached to them. Awi gede (Gigantochloa verticillata (Willd.) Munro) and awi bitung (Dendrocalamus asper (Schult.f.) Backer) are both ‘big’ kinds of big bamboo. However, the term gede is used more frequently in Kanekes than bitung. According to our informants, these terms indicate the frequency of use, where G. verticillata is preferred and used more frequently, especially for construction purposes. Areuy palungpung (Decalobanthus peltatus (L.) A.R.Simões & Staples) is a type of creeper with a big, plump vine. The name carries the information that the plant is an areuy (vine/liana) that is palungpung (big and plump).

Morphological features such as shape, size, structure, pattern, and texture are commonly related to other living and non-living entities.

  1. XIV.
    1. (h)

      Cau badak ‘rhinoceros banana’ (Musa x paradisiaca); cryptic name (metaphor: shape)

    2. (i)

      Huwi ramo ‘hand tuber’ (Dioscorea sp); cryptic name (metaphor: shape)

    3. (j)

      Cau rejang ‘narrow-mouthed frog fruits’ (Musa x paradisiaca); cryptic name (metaphor: size)

    4. (k)

      Supa nyeruan ‘asian honey bee mushroom’; cryptic name (metaphor: structure)

    5. (l)

      Pare hawara benteur ‘spotted barb paddy’; cryptic name (metaphor: pattern)

    6. (m)

      Nangka bubur ‘porridge jack’ (Artocarpus sp.); cryptic name (metaphor: texture)

The beauty of folk names listed above lies in their ability to encode TK on the denoted taxa, as well as the taxa to which they bear a resemblance. Except for huwi ramo which is a tuber shaped like human hand, all these names possess TK on two taxa. Cau badak (rhinoceros banana) uses the shape of rhinoceros horn to draw attention to the shape of the banana fruit. Cau rejang yields fruits that are smaller in size like the narrow-mouthed frog (Microhyla achatina) which is one of the smallest frogs in Java (Snout-vent length of males = 20 mm; females = 25 mm). The gills of the mushroom Favolus tenuiculus (Fr.) Fr. resembles the hive of Apis cerana. Pare hawara benteur is a short-term paddy with patterns on the surface of its grains resembling fish scales. Here, we see folk infra-specific taxa named using animal body and colouring patterns. In example XIV (m), the softness of porridge is used to explain the softness of nangka bubur. The pericarp of this landrace is soft that it is impossible to distinguish the individual fruits, just like the rice porridge where the individual rice grains are inseparable.

Kanekes people also use their unique cultural artefacts to relate to the shape of plants.

  1. XIV.
    1. (n)

      Mangga golek ‘puppet mango’ (Mangifera indica L.); cryptic name (metaphor: shape)

    2. (o)

      Supa koja ‘bag mushroom’ (Phallus indusiatus.); cryptic name (metaphor: shape and pattern)

Mangga golek is a mango curved like the nose of a puppet. Wayang golek is the Sundanese puppetry, where wooden puppets are used to narrate stories accompanied by gamelan (traditional music instruments) (Buurman 1991). The wooden puppets are designed with exaggerated physical traits such as a large nose to highlight the personality of the character they stand for. Hence, puppet figures that portray negative characters in mythology such as Kumbakarna, Suratimantra, and Prabu Arimba have noses that resemble pelokan (mango seeds). Here, the morphology of mango seed is used to connect the viewers with a particular personality. Phallus indusiatus Vent. is a tropical mushroom from the family Phallaceae. The veil-like indusium of the mushroom resembles the plaits of the traditional koja bag of Kanekes, made from the bark of teureup (Artocarpus elasticus Reinw. ex Blume). Such names encode information on the shape of the plant part, as well as the cultural artefact.

Example XIV (p) is a metaphor that encodes TK on the prickly nature of the plant. The plant is identified with the ‘toet’ sound. However, ‘toet’ does not correspond to the sound produced when one steps on the spine, but refers to ‘toet’, the traditional trumpet that in turn produces the loud sound.

  1. XIV.
    1. (p)

      Bintatoet (Canthium horridum Blume); cryptic name (metaphor: sound).

7.4 Conclusion

Our study documents 358 food plant names that encode TK related to morphology (161), ecology (45), utility (39), and quality (49) of the taxa. Majority of these names (172 names) are cryptic (111 metaphors, 53 metonyms, and 08 portmanteaus), while the rest are barefaced (122 names). Barefaced names contain TK exclusively on the denoted taxa, while cryptic names often hold knowledge on multiple taxa/entities. When these folk names are lost or replaced by borrowed names, the TK encoded in these names are also lost. The loss is further amplified in the case of cryptic names due to the complexity of TK encoded. Such losses are anticipated when the autochthonous language of the community is lost or eroded. Likewise, the complex TK encoded in cryptic names could also evade documentation, when overlooked by researchers and practitioners. Beyond serving as condensed forms of TK, folk plant names also bear testimony to the linguistic and TK prowesses of the Kanekes community. We, therefore, call upon ethnobiologists, environmental anthropologists, and linguists working with local communities to consider the potential of folk names as condensed forms of traditional knowledge.

7.5 Funding Sources

This research received funding from a fellowship awarded to Merlin Franco by the Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research, USA.