BBC News, “Trending: Batman Bin Suparman Jailed in Singapore”

November 12, 2013

Cordelia Hebblethwaite, “Trending: Batman Bin Suparman Jailed in Singapore” (BBC News, Nov. 12, 2013)

Batman bin Suparman’s family appear to be originally from the Indonesia island of Java – where the name Suparman is very common, explains Ben Zimmer, a language columnist for the Wall Street Journal, who has worked in Indonesia and who has written about Suparman.

“Su” has Sanskrit origins and is a common prefix in Indonesia, featuring in a whole rung of Indonesian presidents’ names – including the current one Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. “Bin” means “son of” in Arabic, making it very likely that Batman’s father was also called Suparman.

The Batman part is a bit harder to explain, however says Zimmer, as it’s not a traditional name in the region. The most likely explanation is that his parents chose it as a joke – Batman the superhero is popular there, and Indonesians are often playful in the names they choose, says Zimmer. “I see the name as this interesting juxtaposition of local naming with Western pop culture.”

Zimmer, for one, says he was sad to hear the news of Batman’s arrest and sentencing. He believes one of the reasons he became such a star on social media was because of how how young and innocent he looked.

Read the rest here. (Related Lexicon Valley post)

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