Editing Sumba (section)

== Nomenclature ==
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Drie aanzienlijke vrouwen gekleed in een danskostuum Kanangar Soemba TMnr 10005880.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Native women of Sumba wearing the traditional Sumba clothing in Kanangar district of East Sumba, {{circa}} 1900s.]]

The name "Sumba" is derived from the native [[Sumba languages|Sumbanese]] word ''humba'' or ''hubba'' (in various Subanese dialects), which means “original”, “native”, “indigenous” or “no interference”; this was initially an [[ethnonym]] referring to the native inhabitants of this island who identified themselves as ''tau Humba'' or ''tau Hubba'' ({{lit|native people}} or 'original people'), to differentiate themselves from foreigners (non-Sumbanese people) who gradually and continuously came to occupy the island.
[[File:Hinggi (man's mantle) from Melolo village, Indonesia, Honolulu Museum of Art accession 12983.1.JPG|thumb|250px|The ''Hinggi'', typical cultural woven cloth of native Sumba men depicts the Sumba mythological creatures.]]
On the other hand, the Sumbanese cultural territory (Sumba Island and its surrounding seas including [[Savu Island]] to the southeast) are also known as ''tana wai humba'' or ''tana wae hubba'' (in Sumbanese languages), which means “our native land” or “the motherland of Sumba people”; these sentences appeared in ancient Sumbanese manuscripts that told the tale of ''Inya Nyale'' (a mermaid-like creature who used to live on land but then moved to the ocean), considered as a sacred figure in Sumbanese mythology.

The letter '[[h]]' in later time (around [[12th century]]) replaced by '[[s]]' due to the mass migration of [[Javanese people]] from the island of [[Java]], because the word ''humba'' sounds so similar to the [[Javanese language|Javanese]] word of ꦲꦸꦩ꧀ꦧꦃ (''umbah'', but written as ''humbah'' according to [[Javanese script|Javanese writing system]]), meaning "to wash" or "to cleanse".