Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk

Portrait of Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk

HN van der Tuuk in front of a temple complex in Soekasade

Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk (born February 23, 1824 in Malacca , Malaysia ; † August 17, 1894 in Surabaya , Java , Indonesia ) was a Bible translator and linguist who specialized in the languages ​​of Dutch-Indian .

The early years and student days

Van der Tuuk was the eldest son of the marriage of the Dutch lawyer, Sefridus van der Tuuk (1776–1853), with Louise (Louisa) Neubronner (1794–1845), half German and half Javanese , whom he met in Malacca for professional reasons and got married. Their family name, Neubronner, also found its way into the name of van der Tuuks. He was born during the time of the Dutch colonial administration over Malacca, which lasted from 1644 to 1824. After the Malacca region had been exchanged with the British for areas on Sumatra (with a base in Bengkulu (then: Bengcoolen ) on the Sumatric west coast), the family moved to Surabaya in East Java under the British-Dutch Treaty of 1824 1825, where other van der Tuuks siblings were born. Van der Tuuk grew up in an environment of strong cultural influences from the indigenous people and European sailors, although he attended a European elementary school. In 1836, at the age of twelve, van der Tuuk was sent to his uncle, a pastor in the Dutch province of Friesland, to a further education school, where he came into close contact with his parish . As a result, he enrolled at the University of Groningen . In 1843 he received his doctorate there as a lawyer. He then studied Arabic , Persian , Malay and Sanskrit at the University of Leiden . He lived there until 1849 when he returned to the Far East to work for the Dutch Bible Society .

Linguistic meaning

Between 1851 and 1857, van der Tuuk lived as a representative of the Dutch Bible Society with the Batak in Sumatra . There he collected data to compile a dictionary and grammar book of the Batak languages and their script . He spent the time between 1857 and 1868 in the Netherlands to sort through his collected knowledge and to publish various books on it, including a Bataksch-Nederduitsch woordenboek, 1861 , a four-volume Bataksch leesboek, 1860-1862 and his famous two-volume grammar book on Toba Batak language, Tobasche spraakkunst, 1864-1867 . In 1868, at the behest of the Dutch Bible Society, he returned to Far East Asia, to Bali , where he devoted himself to the study of the Balinese language and script .

Between 1873 and 1894 van der Tuuk worked for the government of the Dutch East Indies in the capacity of clerk responsible for education, religion and the economy. During this time, van der Tuuk concentrated on creating a large-scale compilation of languages. The result of these efforts was the four-volume Kawi-Balineesch-Nederlandsch woordenboek (1894–1912) , which, however, was only published after his death.

Language command and Christianization mandate

Map of Batavia around 1888

The Dutch Bible Society 's aim was to Far Eastern colonial territory proselytize and Christianity to subdue. It was therefore considered necessary to implement Bible translations into the local original languages, which is why Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk was commissioned to ensure this for the Batak area in Sumatra. Van der Tuuk had to overcome considerable internal resistance, which related to the linguistic incompatibility as well as to basic ethical dislikes.

In 1849 van der Tuuk reached Batavia , as Jakarta was called as a former trading post during the times of Dutch colonization, today the Indonesian capital. There he was dismayed about the condition of the library there, because he did not find any information available and had to discover that many books had been lost. A trip to the Batak was forbidden because monsoon rains prevented him from crossing and he was also exposed to a protracted malaria disease that tied him to his sickbed.

It was not until 1852 that he succeeded in immersing himself in the Batak cultures and devoting himself intensively to the study of their writings, songs, anecdotes and other cultural customs. Outside of the Batak centers, he encountered increasing Islamization of the region, triggered by the Malay population. It was important to counter this process effectively, but in particular to build a bridge between the very different linguistic requirements for a Christian mission. Van der Tuuk realized that a dictionary (Batak / Dutch) had to be created in advance, which would help to resolve the linguistic incompatibilities and a religious conversion could only become conceivable after the linguistic differences had been overcome. In order to curb the Islamic expansion claim at the same time, van der Tuuk pleaded for a broad-based (school) education system that would do justice to the interest in making Batak languages ​​official.

Dictionaries

Nias man

In 1857 van der Tuuk returned to Amsterdam in order to create a dictionary and grammar book from the variously collected materials. For this, after meticulous detailed work on the part of the Utrecht University, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1861 , the year in which the evangelical missionary Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen was also sent to the Batak in Sumatra. After van der Tuuk had positively overcome scientific hostility (through and against him), he was able to complete his famous grammar book on the Toba- Batak language in 1867. Van der Tuuk is described as a die-hard positivist at the time.

At the behest of the Dutch Bible Society , van der Tuuk turned to the Balinese- speaking area from 1868 . In preparation for the new task, van der Tuuk studied Balinese and Javanese languages ( Kawi ) as well as Sanskrit. At the same time, he also dealt with a variety of other languages, including Filipino (Tagalog and Visaya), Siamese , Vietnamese , Chinese , Hindustani and several Sumatric languages ​​( Nias , Ache , Redjang , Mentawai and Minangkabau ).

Due to frequent and now increasing differences with the Dutch Bible Society , van der Tuuk broke off his relations there in 1873 and accepted a well-paid service contract with the government of the Dutch East Indies. This employment relationship resulted in a. the Malay dictionary and the Kawi dictionary . The peak of his creative power, however, was the 3,600-page Kawi-Balineesch-Nederlandsch woordenboek, which was published only posthumously .

death

In 1894 Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk died of the consequences of a dysentery .

Fonts

• 1861 - Bataksch-Nederduitsch woordenboek . Muller, Amsterdam (“A Batak-Dutch Dictionary”).
• 1864 - Tobasche spraakkunst, eerste stuk . Muller, Amsterdam (“A Toba-Batak Grammar, Part 1”).
• 1866 - Hikajat Pandja-tandaran; Tamilsche omwerking van het Indian fabelboek: de Pantja-Tantra , mixed up door Abdullah ben Abdilquadir bijgenaamd 'de Munsji' (de Tolk). Uitgegeven en met aanteekeningen voorzien by HN van der Tuuk . Brill, Leiden (an edition of the Malay version Sanskrit Panchatantra stories translated into Tamil).
• 1864 - Tobasche spraakkunst, tweede stuk . Nederlandsch Bijbelgenootschap, Amsterdam (“A Toba-Batak Grammar, Part 2”).
• 1897–1912 - Kawi-Balineesch-Nederlandsch woordenboek . Landsdrukkerij, Batavia, 4 dln (published in 1971 in Engelse vertaling, red. A. Teeuw and R. Roolvink) (“A Kawi-Balinese-Dutch Dictionary”; English reprint in 1971).

literature

• CD Grijns: Van der Tuuk and the Study of Malay . In BKI 152 [1996] -3, pp. 353-381.
• Kees Groeneboer: Een vorst onder de taalgeleerden. Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk. Afgevaardigde voor Indië van het Nederlandsch Bijbelgenootschap 1847-1873 . KITLV, Leiden 2002 (on Van der Tuuk's activities as a missionary translator).
• Mohamad Ngajenan: Kamus Etimologi Bahasa Indonesia . 3. Edition. Dahara Prize, Semarang 1992 (“An Indonesian Etymological Dictionary”).
• Rob Nieuwenhuys: Van der Tuuk . In Tussen twee vaderlanden . 3. Edition. Van Oorschot, Amsterdam 1988, pp. 85-158 (an essay).
• Ferdinand de Saussure: Course in General Linguistics (transl. Wade Baskin). Fontana, London 1974 [1959].

Remarks

1. ^ Neubronners' in the Far East ( Memento from June 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
2. ^ Peter Schmitter, History of Language Theory , Volume 5, p. 111 f.
3. ↑ Peter Schmitter, History of Language Theory , Volume 5, p. 111
4. ↑ EM Beekman; Fugitive dreams: an anthology of Dutch Colonial literature (p. 153 ff.)