Twining and Wrapping

 Today I would like to offer another little example of the challenge of translating technical weaving vocabulary from English into Indonesian. In this case, I have been trying to develop Indonesian translations for ‘weft twining’ and ‘weft wrapping’. 

 

Weft twining is a technique that Batak twiners practice to decorate the fringe ends of their weavings. It is an off-loom technique, hence Batak weavers do not consider the twining yarn to be ‘weft’ but rather, 'twining yarn'. It is considered ‘weft’ in English because it is a horizontal element. The twining yarn is ‘wound’ around the fringes of the cloth, fringe by fringe, and row by row.  This twining process is considered to be ‘lilitan’ in both Batak and Indonesian: ‘winding’ around the ‘vertical element’. While that vertical element would be considered ‘warp’ in English, it needs to be described as ‘fringe’, not ‘warp’ in Batak, because warp refers to the lengthwise yarns in the loom.

 

A twined edge in the Siimalungun Batak cloth called 'Bulang' (Collection Author) 

Weft-wrapping, on the other hand, occurs in the loom. The weaver stops using her regular weft for the duration, and wraps thicker weft, of various colours, around the warp yarns, to create patterns. Yes, in this case, there is both 'warp' and 'weft' for the Batak weaver because it is an on-loom technique. People may know this technique as ‘kilim’ because the weft of kilim rugs is wrapped around the warp. This wrapping process is called ‘lilitan’ in both Batak and Indonesian.

Weft wrapping in the Angkola Batak cloth called Ulos Godang

 

In English, in both cases, the description of the technique emphasizes the passage of the yarn doing the ‘twining’ or ‘winding’ or ‘wrapping’. In Indonesian and Batak, the emphasis is on the yarn receiving the wrapping: the vertical element – the warp or the fringe – is ‘being wound’ or 'wrapped'. This means that, in the translation, what is called ‘weft twining’ in English, must be called ‘twining of warp’ in Indonesian – except that the word ‘warp’ cannot be used, ‘so it is ‘wrapping of fringe' (pelilitan rumbai). Similarly, what is considered ‘weft-wrapping’ in English must be called ‘wrapping of warp’ (pelilitan benang lungsin) in Indonesian. 

Because the former is off-loom, and the latter is on-loom, Batak weavers perceive the two techniques as being completely different.

 

In the end, in the interests of clarity, I rely on the Batak vocabulary and I have chosen the following: 

• I am calling weft twining, twining of fringes (Indonesian pelilitan rumbai/ Batak manirat), a technique that makes use of twining yarn (benang sirat) (not weft).

• I am calling weft-wrapping, wrapping of warp (Indonesian pelilitan lungsin/ Batak bonggit lilit).

The translation of a single word can take a lot of time, and can send me down a variety of rabbit holes, but I love the complexity of it because it reveals how finely-tuned language is, to say nothing of the practice of learning another culture. Patience, persistence, and holding one’s (pre)conceptions in abeyance is what is required in order to get to the nub of the differences. The process teaches respect. Each conundrum is a little life-lesson in what it means to give room to another culture to be fully itself. Each rabbit hole is a pathway of learning to perceive the world in a different way

Translating cannot be done quickly, only carefully.

A twined edge in a Toba Batak cloth called 'Bolean' (Private Collection Pangururan)