Investigating and Maintaining Mandailing Cultural Terminology

Syahron Lubis

, Muhizar Muchtar

, Adriana Hasibuan

Faculty of Cultural Studies, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Jl Universitas. Medan, Indonesia,English and Literature

Department

Keywords: Cultural term, idiomatic cultural expression, ceremony, tradition, Mandailing.

Abstract: Part of Mandailing Language (ML) lexicon is susceptible to loss particularly the cultural terms and

idiomatic cultural expressions. The loss may be due to the replacement of the old words by the new ones

and the limited use of the words (they are used only in cultural events). Since the youths of Mandailing

seldom attend their cultural ceremonies, their mastery of cultural terms and expressions is very poor. The

poor mastery of those cultural terms and expressions cause them to lose interest in them. This study tries to

investigate and list those cultural terms and expressions and to describe their meaning in Bahasa Indonesia .

Fifty common cultural terms and fifty idiomatic expressions have been collected from Mandailing tradition

figures functioning as informants and from some printed sources. The common cultural terms belong to

simple (one-word structure) terms and complex (more than one word structure) terms. The simple terms

express literal meaning and the complex terms express nonliteral meanings and those idiomatic expressions

express idiomatic/connotative meanings only. Three ways can be suggested in order to sustain the life of

those terms and expressions : 1. To record every cultural term and expression and have them published for

public readers, 2. To train more people to become tradition figures who are skilled in using cultural terms

and expressions and 3. To write more books on Mandailing traditions for children’s reading at schools.

1 INTRODUCTION

One of the characteristics of any language is change.

Change may occur at any level of the language

(phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics) and

it can be caused by both internal and external factor

(Bussmann, 1995:258; Curzon and Adams, 2006:19-

25; Akmajian, 1995:296). Even in the worst

condition language may disappear or dies

(Bussmann, 1995:261).

When a language is lost, its speakers will

undergo disadvantages since language is culture or

language is part of culture. A term in one language

may disappear because the referent (the physical

object, event or the concept to which the term refers)

has disappeared, referent change due to social and

cultural changes (Robins, 1976:313-315; Bussmann,

1995:260; Malmkjaer, 1991).. For example in

Mandailing culture in the past garigit ( a piece of big

bamboo used as water container), panggilingan (a

large and flat stone with a bit hollow surface used as

an apparatus for grinding chillies and other grains

with a small rounded stone) and losung aek (a mill

used to grind rice (to remove the husks) run by water

power),hauma (farm), jolma (human), ultop

(blowpipe made of bamboo) each has disappeared

or undergone archaism (no longer in current use)

(Lubis, 2015:51). The young people at present do

not know these old words anymore. What they

know now are modern tools which have replaced the

old ones whose functions are similar to the

traditional tools such as bucket/pail replacing

garigit, electric blender replacing panggilingan and

rice grinding mill powered by machine replacing

losung aek, hauma is replaced by kobun, a word

which derives from Bahasa Indonesia, jolma is

replaced by halak ( a synonym from ML and ultop

is no longer in current use. However sinapang

angin ‘air rifle’ a gun having the same function but

with very different form and material is used at

present.

The present study tries to address: (1)

investigation of terms closely related to Mandailing

culture, (2) types of terms/common terms, idioms,

metaphors, similes and proverbs which will undergo

loss or unintelligible to many Mandailing young

speakers at present, and (3) possible efforts that

could be made to maintain the terms.

1468

Lubis, S., Muchtar, M. and Hasibuan, A.

Investigating and Maintaining Mandailing Cultural Terminology.

DOI: 10.5220/0010082514681473

In Proceedings of the International Conference of Science, Technology, Engineering, Environmental and Ramiﬁcation Researches (ICOSTEERR 2018) - Research in Industry 4.0, pages

1468-1473

ISBN: 978-989-758-449-7

2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

It is a natural phenomenon that every thing

undergoes change and loss. There is no a single

thing that remains unchanged. Living things can

grow bigger, taller or smaller and shorter. Non living

things even though they do not grow as living things

but they may undergo erosion or disappearance.

Season may last longer or shorter at a certain period

of time. The same is true for language. Many

languages have undergone change and loss (death) .

Since there is no documentation made (no

dictionaries) those languages at least some certain

terms may disappear for ever. A language spoken at

a certain time in the past is now unintelligible to the

present speakers. For example, Old English verbs

used hundreds of years ago like scinan , smeocan

and singan are quite different from the verbs we use

in present English :shine, smoke,and sing

(Millward, 1988:88). Not only the words, spellings

and the pronunciations of the words which have

changed but the meaning change as well. Meaning

may broaden, narrow, degenerate, and elevate

(Malmkjaer, 1991:206 ). For example, the meaning

of holiday in the past was limited to religious days,

the days on which people did not go to work but

only to religious places but now it has broadened to

‘any day where people do not go to work’.

It is a natural phenomenon that every thing

undergoes change and loss. There is no a single

thing that remains unchanged. Living things can

grow bigger, taller or smaller and shorter. Non living

things even though they do not grow as living things

but they may undergo erosion or disappearance.

Season may last longer or shorter at a certain period

of time. The same is true for language. Many

languages have undergone change and loss (death) .

Since there is no documentation made (no

dictionaries) those languages at least some certain

terms may disappear for ever. A language spoken at

a certain time in the past is now unintelligible to the

present speakers. For example, Old English verbs

used hundreds of years ago like scinan , smeocan

and singan are quite different from the verbs we use

in present English :shine, smoke,and sing

(Millward, 1988:88). Not only the words, spellings

and the pronunciations of the words which have

changed but the meaning change as well. Meaning

may broaden, narrow, degenerate, and elevate

(Malmkjaer, 1991:206 ). For example, the meaning

of holiday in the past was limited to religious days,

the days on which people did not go to work but

only to religious places but now it has broadened to

‘any day where people do not go to work’. ML

vocabulary in general is divided into five kinds, i.e.

1. Bahasa adat, words related to cultural

ceremonies, 2. Bahasa Andung , words used to

mourn for death, 3. Bahasa Parkapur, words used

especially when people are in the forest, 4. Bahasa

na Biaso, words used in every day speech, and 5.

Bahasa Bura, words or expressions used when

someone is in anger (Nasution,2005:15 ).

The special terms used in cultural ceremonies are

relatively stable, i.e. they do not change as rapidly as

the change of common words and they are not

replaced either by new words. For example, the old

term raja panusunan (the most powerful king) is still

used in Mandailing traditional meetings even though

the king as the village ruler acted only long time

ago for his position has now been replaced by kepala

desa or lurah at present regional or village

administration.

When a traditional ceremony is being held like a

mangupa ceremony (part of Mandailing wedding

ceremonies) normally young people are not

interested in attending the ceremony since many

terms, idioms, metaphors used are intelligible to

them. They feel that a traditional ceremony is

boring, impractical and tends to be redundant since

many who are present at the ceremony are given

opportunity to talk and the matter talked by one is

almost the same as the matter talked by the next

speaker. Commonly a traditional ceremony takes a

long time since, as has been mentioned before,

many people must talk. The tradition obliges them to

have a share. This condition causes the youths to

lose interest. Moreover they do not understand what

is being talked about. If something is not desirable

anymore it is very likely sooner or later it will

disappear.

3 METHOD

About 1000 ML cultural terms and expressions will

be collected at the end of the investigation and

documentation project. The project will last for two

years from 2018 to 2019. The project is now still in

progress. Until now 100 ML cultural terms and

expressions have been found and they have been

classified according to types: 1. Common cultural

terms and 2. Idiomatic expressions. The meaning of

each term and expression has also been described

and the possible efforts that should be made to

maintain the cultural terms have also been advised.

Investigating and Maintaining Mandailing Cultural Terminology

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The data have been collected from reliable

informants and printed sources: books, magazines

and newspapers. The location of research, especially

the location of the informants from whom the field

data were collected is Mandailing-Natal Regency.

4 FINDINGS

A number of 50 common cultural terms have been

found as can be seen in the Table 1 and 50 cultural

expressions have also been found as listed in Table 2

below.

Table 1. List of common cultural terms in ML

NO TERMS MEANING IN BAHASA INDONESIA

Tondi

Mangupa

Gobak-gobak

Raja-raja adat

Raja-raja torbing balok

Raja panusunan

Ugari

Horja

Naduma bulung

Na poso bulung

Paralok-alok

Hatobangon

Bayo pangoli

Boru na nioli

Mata ni horja

Siriaon

Siluluton

Pangupa

Horas

Ihan adat

Bulung ujung

Induri

Uhum

Patik

Na uli bulung

Batang boban

Tading-tadingan

Partanoan

Martiga-tiga

Paruhum

Jamita

Marpangir

Mangan pamunan

Napuran

Uning-uningan

Morapule

Rongkap

Salapa

Taon sabagas

Humolip

Don

an tubu

Semangat

Upacara pemberian nasihat kepada pengantin

Selimut

Raja-raja yang menguasai adat

Raja-raja di daerah sekitar

Raja yang kedudukannya paling tinggi

Aturan menurut adat

Upacara/perhelatan perkawinan

Isteri raja

Para pemuda

Pengatur/pemimpin upacara

Orang-orang yang dituakan dalam adat

Pria yang melamar

Gadis yang dilamar

Acara utama sebuah horja/pesta

Peristiwa/keadaan gembira

Peristiwa/keadan duka

Bahan-bahan yang dipakai dalam upacara mangupa

Sehat rohani dan jasmani/ Sapaan

Anak ikan jurung yang dipakai dalam upacara mengupa

Bagian ujung daun pisang untuk upacara mangupa

Penampi tempat bahan-bahan pangupa

Hukuman

Peraturan adat

Gadis-gadis

Kewajiban yang dibebankan oleh pihak mora kepada pihak anak

boru

Harta peninggalan

Tanah yang dimiliki

Berdagang/berjualan

Hakim/ahli hokum

Kisah/cerita

Mandi dengan daun-daunan yang beraroma wangi

Upacara pemberian makan terakhir kepada seorang putrid

sebelum menikah dengan suami

Sirih untuk upacara adat

Peralatan musik

Kedua pengantin

Pendamping/pasangan dalam perkawinan

Tempat sirih persembahan

Undangan untuk sekeluarga/seisi rumah

Menin

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Momongan

Tulila

Gordang sambilan

suhut

Jagar-jagar

Dongan saripe

Anak boru

Kahanggi

mora

Saudara sedarah

Gong

Suling

Satu set gendang sebanyak sembilan buah dengan ukuran yang

berbeda dari yang paling besar hingga yang paling kecil yang

menghasilkan suara yang berbeda

Tuan rumah/pendiri upacara

Anak gadis

Isteri

Pihak pelamar atau pihak yang mengambil isteri dari mora

Sejumlah orang yang berasal dari marga yang sama

Sejumlah orang/pihak yang dilamar oleh pihak anak boru

Table 2. List of cultural expressions in ML

NO EXPRESSIONS MEANING IN BAHASA INDONESIA

Pastak-pastak ni paradaton

Ompu na robian

Haroan boru

Pabagas boru

Mambongkot bagas

Ulos naso ra buruk

Maralok-alok

Pataya-taya patik

Pagana-gana ugari

Raja adat

Goruk-goruk hapinis

Pareme usang-marusang

Raja na mamboto etongan na

hurang sanga na lobi

Pokat ulu tot

Martandolan

Ompu ni kotuk

Hombar suhut (kahanggi

pareban)

Anak ni manuk na langka-langka

indalu

pira manuk na ni hobolan

habang tondi

hobol tondi dohot badan

manuk na direngrengan

bulung gadung na dipudun

pangupa pahoras tondi

pangupa manuk

upa hamben

Rambu-rambu adat

Nenek moyang

Mengawinkan anak laki-laki

Mengawinkan anak perempuan

Memasuki rumah baru

Adat yang tidak pernah hilang

Sidang adat

Menguasai adat

Bijaksana dalam menjalankan adat

Ahli dalam adat istiadat

Anak boru yang pertama sekali

Pemilik padi yang tak pernah habis dari

tahun ke tahun

Raja yang tahu membedakan adat yang

benar dari yang salah

Musyawarah antaranggota keluarga dan

kerabat dekat saja

mengambil pedoman

pengambil keputusan pendapat raja-raja

Dua atau lebih laki-laki yang isterinya berasal dari

sumber yang sama dan mereka tidak semarga

kerbau muda

telur ayam rebus yang kulitnya telah dikupas

semangat hilang

teguh semangat dan badan

ayam gulai yang telah dicerai-beraikan

daun ubi yang dipelintir untuk dimasak

(bukan ditumbuk)

Acara mangupa yang dihadiri oleh anggota keluarga

saja

acara mangupa yang dihadiri oleh keluarga dan

kerabat dekat saja

acara mangupa yang dihadiri keluarga,

kerabat dekat dan oran

sekampun

Investigating and Maintaining Mandailing Cultural Terminology

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pangupa horbo

mangampehon goar

pangitean na mangolu

pangkancing pamoldas ni huta

tarkurung di bondul na opat

uhum mate

uhum pasung

uhum jadi hatoban

uhum horbo mate

uhum horbo mangolu

pamasuk aili paruar babi huta

pangalantuk,panggete-gete

teas

si tuan na torop

janglas

si timba paya

tapian raya bangunan

indahan lungun-lungun

burangir parsomba

burangir pataonkon

burangir karopit

burangir na hombang

banir na bolak parkolipan

mata ni ari naso

akon

acara mangupa besar yang dihadiri juga

oleh raja-raja torbing balok (raja-raja

tetangga)

mewariskan nama kepada cucu

pengganti yang telah meninggal

orang yang mengurus ketertiban masyarakat

disaksiksn oleh empat saksi

hukum mati

hukuman pasung

hukuman menjadi budak

hukuman seekor kerbau disembelih oleh

orang yang bersalah

hukuman seekor kerbau hidup

kesalahan mengadu domba dengan tujuan

menimbulkan perang

kejahatan mengadu domba yang dapat diberi

hukuman mati

kejahatan menghina raja atau bangsawan.

hukumannya si penjahat bisa dijadikan

budak

Orang banyak

Hukuman ringan

Kesalahan yang dilakukan oleh kalangan

bangsawan berupa penganiayaan atau

menghamili seorang gadis

tempat kedua pengantin mandi dengan

tujuan meninggalkan masa remaja menuju masa

perkawinan

hidangan sebagai oleh-oleh

sirih persembahan

sirih pengantar undangan

sirih yang dilipat empat yang digunakan

untuk memberi nasihat khusus

sirih yang ditawarkan kepada semua hadirin

mora yang dapat memberikan perlindungan

mora

tidak dapat disan

ah/dilawan

Of the 50 common terms, 25 terms belong to a

single word term, i.e. those words are made only of

one word like tondi, mangupa, ugari, horas, horja,

uhum, patik etc. and they express literal meaning so

that it is not difficult to understand. In terms of use

those words are commonly used in traditional events

like wedding ceremonies, childbirth ceremonies etc.

In every day occasions they are seldom used since a

new word as a synonym is available now to replace

the old word. For example, jamita, napuran,

rongkap, tulila, uhum have been replaced by carito,

burangir, dongan, suling and paraturan.

And the other 25 common terms are made up of

two or more words. So they belong to compound

words or complex words such as mangan pamunan,

taon sabagas, dongan tubu, tading-tadingan,

gordang sambilan etc. These very old words are

rarely heard in every day speech.

In terms of word category they mostly belong to

noun like suhut, mora, horja, dongan tubu, gordang

sambilan, mangan pamunan, taon sabagas etc. only

one word that belongs to to verb that is marpangir.

Unlike the 50 the common cultural terms, the 50

idiomatic cultural expressions express nonliteral

/connotative meaning. The meaning of those

expressions cannot be inferred from the meaning of

each element of the expression. For example, ompu

ni kotuk which literally means ‘the main button’ but

its connotative meaning is ‘one

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who makes a decision in a meeting’; pangitean na

mangolu literally means ‘living bridge’ but its

connotative meaning is ‘one who replaces the dead’.

In terms of form, all the expressions belong to

phrase only; mostly noun phrases. There are three

ways which can be applied to maintain the cultural

lexicon of ML which is susceptible to loss. They are:

1.To record every ML term and idiomatic expression

and have them published not only for local and

national use but for international use as what is

being done now.

2. To train more people to become ML tradition

figure because being a tradition figure and should

know and use many cultural terms in cultural

ceremonies. The language used in a cultural

ceremony is characterized by the dominant use of

cultural terms and expressions.

3. To write books on Mandailing traditions like

ceremonies, folklores, literary works for children’s

reading at schools. By reading the books they will be

introduced to cultural terms and expressions in their

native language (ML).

5 CONCLUSIONS

Many cultural terms and expressions are used in ML

especially in ritual occasions, no in every day

speech. Since their use is limited only to the special

occasions, only special people like tradition figures

and elderly people who have opportunity to hear

and use them. Most of common people especially

the young people do not know them. The young

people are commonly not interested in attending

traditional ceremonies because lots of terms and

expressions are unintelligible to them. Since only the

number of people who know and use the cultural

terms and expressions is very limited they are

susceptible to loss. In terms of structure those

cultural terms and expressions are distinguished into

simple structure (one-word structure) and complex

structure (consisting of more than one word). Those

one-word terms express literal meaning and those

with complex structure express non-literal meaning.

Three methods can be advised to maintain those

terms and expressions that is (1) by documenting

them and have them published for public use, (2) to

encourage more people to become tradition figure,

and (3) to provide cultural reading materials for

school children to make them interested in learning

and using the cultural terms and expressions.

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