Posted by Origin Man on January 18, 2005 at 14:13:43:
Here's my part. I don't know if u guys agree with me. As of my knowledge "Dayak" or "Dyak" derived from our vocab literally means race/bangsa/people of. This is where we address white man as Dayak Biputih(bangsa biputih), chinaman as Dayak Bisina(bangsa bisina), indian as Dayak Thambi(bangsa thambi), Dayak singai(people of singai), Dayak tongang(people of tongang), Dayak Jagoi(people of Jagoi), Dayak Bau(people of Bau), Dayak Serian(people of Serian), Dayak Padawan(people of Padawan) ect. ect. During colonial, the term "Dayak"/"Dyak" were advancely used by us(later called Bidayuh) to address certain bangsa and in this text, JB(Sir James Brooke) branded the natives in Borneo as "Dyak". This mostly applied to us and our close relative, the Iban as land dyak and sea dyak. JB's biography says it all and causes the commotion.
The word "Bidayuh" came later somewhere in 1950s or earlier. The "Bi" was used to address a person as in BiSingai, BiTongang, BiAtah, BiJagoi ect. ect. Appropriate to address as singular. Exp: "Mu onak BiSingai ke onak BiTongang?"
The "dayuh" derived from the word "doyoh" as in land/darat. So if u're somebody from the land, u're address as "BiDoyoh" or "BiDayuh"...sound proper.
So the conclusion, it's not wrong to called ourself "Dayak BiDayuh".
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