Wanitawan vs. Buayawan, Wanita vs. Perempuan

While waiting for the elevator near CELPAD the other day, I saw an article "Wanitawan - Buayawan" (maybe from the Sastera column in B/Harian or U/Msia). This article talks about the changes that happened in Bahasa Malaysia, the progress and development of its lexicon and grammar etc through the passage of time. Before this, womaniser in Bahasa is called - buayawan (combination of the word "buaya" - crocodile, and "wan" - I think this inflection functions like "man" / "woman" in postman, fireman, policewoman etc - English is a gender bias language ehehe!!) Orang lama-lama (hope am using the correct term) usually refer to womaniser as "buaya darat". Now, the word buayawan has been changed to wanitawan. Funny rite how people, ehem, I mean linguists could come up with such term/lexicon.

Some examples:
Pretty woman - jelitawan
Laureate - sasterawan (is karyawan applicable here? - dunno lah)
Artiste - seniman/seniwati (gender bias juga to a certain extent ;) )
How about an insane person - gilawan perhaps hehehehe

********

Was eating dinner in front of the TV (so unhealthy!!) with Zak. Mom used to scold us for doing so, nowadays, she couldn't be bothered, maybe she's tired after 30 years of scolding, yelling and lecturing ^__^, pity her. Zak asked me, "kak rul, what's the difference between 'wanita' and 'perempuan'."
"Ala, kacang je tuh. Wanita is like erm, macam lebih manis compared to perempuan."
"You mean, more beautiful?"
"Bukanlah, dia macam lagi elok lah dari perempuan kalau dari segi penggunaannya"
"Kalau perempuan tu kenapa, tak elok ke? Habis tu, kat sekolah cikgu panggil budak lelaki, dan budak perempuan"
"Ish...wanita ni macam orang dewasa lah"
"Perempuan untuk budak ke?"
"Duh, pening ar cakap ngan nko nih. Perempuan pun elok, wanita pun elok. Wanita untuk orang dewasa berjantina perempuan, perempuan boleh guna untuk kanak-kanak perempuan dan orang dewasa."
"Habis, apa bezanya?"
*scratched my head.

Pernah baca karya penulis-penulis veteran? Maksud saya karya yang ditulis dalam Bahasa Melayu/Malaysia. Ada sesetengah penulis menggunakan "perempuan saya" merujuk kepada isteri. Pernah juga saya mendengar perbualan antara datuk saudara saya, Malungun (seorang penulis veteran) dengan ayah saya, "perempuan saya asal orang Perak". Agak kurang enak bila mendengar perkataan "perempuan saya" , kerana ia memberi satu "impression" atau gambaran yang kurang baik - "patriarchalism". Apabila saya mengkritik penggunaan perkataan ini di depan ibu saya, dengan selamba dia menjawab, "that's a polite word to use during his time, and you have to learn to accept things from different time and place. Don't judge people based on your limited cultural scope." Kalau dengan ibu, saya selalunya terpaksa mengalah, maklum sajalah, wakil perbahasan dan pengucapan umum di TKC dulu. Kesimpulannya, sama ada wanita atau perempuan, "impression" yang kita dapat adalah bergantung kepada konteks penggunaannya. Contohnya, perempuan jalang, perempuan murahan, perempuan sundal boleh juga dipanggil dengan wanita jalang, wanita murahan, wanita sundal. Walaupun penggunaan wanita dalam konteks yang tidak baik agak janggal dan jarang digunakan, itu tak bermaksud ianya lebih baik berbanding dengan perempuan. Seperti yang saya katakan tadi, yang paling penting adalah konteks dan konsep - emphasis on the semantic part. Mengenai "patriarchalism" atau sistem sosial di mana lelaki mendominasinya akan saya cuba bincangkan di "blog" yang lain.

-it's going to rain soon, and I'm sooooo sleepy *__*

WORDs of the day.

*artiste - skilled public performer, e.g musical, theatrical
entertainer (this is more specific according to
Penguin dictionary lah)(Penguin Pocket English
Dictionary,1990)

*artist - one who professes and practices an imaginative art, or
skilled in fine arts.(Penguin Pocket English
Dictionary, 1990)

*patriarch - social system in which men dominate: a social
system in which men are regarded as the authority
within the family and society, and in which power
and possessions are passed on from father to son
(MSN Encarta-Dictionary)