getel

getel

n.

A finger-mounted harvesting knife used for cutting mature rice panicles individually during harvest.

DESCRIPTION

A traditional agricultural implement consisting of a short transverse blade fixed to a wooden finger grip and worn in the hand while harvesting rice.

USAGE

Nagpolot sira gamit yo getel.
“They harvested rice using a finger knife.”

NOTES

The getel enables precise harvesting of rice panicles with minimal grain loss and has long been associated with traditional upland rice cultivation.

Although primarily associated with rice harvesting, similar finger knives occur throughout the northern Philippines, including among the Ifugao, where comparable implements are known as gamlang. The Boie’nen term, however, is indigenous and should be treated as a distinct lexical item.