CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

Buginese is the biggest ethnic group in South Sulawesi and has several

regions in South Sulawesi such as, Wajo, Bone, Soppeng, Barru, Pinrang, Pare-

Pare, Sidrap, and Sinjai. They all include in Buginese ethnic group, but they has

several difference in their culture even tough have same ethnic like language

which is some words has difference meaning with other regions, ceremonial

performances, daily habits which is has their own values of culture or local

wisdom.

One of the Buginese ethnic group in South Sulawesi is In Sidrap regency,

which has an unique culture in Amparita village into the Tellu Limpoe district

namely Towani Tolotang Community. Ceremony to honor and sanctify the One

God “Dewata Swuwae” is a manifestation of Towani Tolotang Community, which

is a local wisdom in small part of society and are not recognized as an official

religion by the goverment. It has their own confidence and own culture such as

ritual of marriage day, feast day which has several kinds they are massempe,

Mappenreq Nanre, Tudang Sipulung , and death ceremony or Pa’tomatean.

Towani Tolotang consists of the words Towani and Tolotang.

Towani comes from the word Tau which means people and Wani is

the name of a village, so Towani means someone from the village of Wani.

Tolotang comes from the word Tau, which means people and Lotang is

means South. So, Tolotang is people from the south place. Towani Tolotang is

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the community that has their own local wisdom and participate if they have a

ritual ceremony such as marriage and death ceremony. Regarding marriage, there

is a little difference from the Bugis community.The community of Islamic

Bugisnese does not perform ritual outside the Islamic tradition, while the

community of the Towani Tolotang still practices the tradition of Hinduism that

they are often regarded as practicing syncretic Islam. Those ceremonies are

followed by Islam rules but before following by Islam rules, they must do which

is according to their beliefs.

Towani Tolotang Community is interesting to study because this

community embrace the social system of religious concepts that they can

understand. The other thing is they have own way in each ritual which is their

culture that has never been changed from their nobility. Marriage and Death

ceremony is generally use in Buginese culture as well as what they use in Islam

rule. But, those ceremonies has an unique tradition because they add and follow

their own beliefs and followed by some ritual such as Mappenreq Nanre ,

Pa’tomatean, Tudang Sipulung.

As a Buginese who was born and grew up in Sidrap regency , The

researcher aims to explore one of the ritual performances is ritual of death

ceremony in Amparita village, Sidrap Regency. Death ceremony has a similar

procession with islam. But, they still do the procession according to their beliefs.

Death ceremony of Towani Tolotang Community, people visit the grave of I

Pabbere at Perrinyameng . In this ritual, all people of Towani Tolotang

Community walk to the Perrinyameng without using footwear. In this procession,

the community use betel leaf in every ritual procession such as the corpse coated

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by betel leaf. The other precessios are Mappenreq Nanre is people bring some

food to the I Pabbere’s grave , and Tudang Sipulung is people are togather and

there must be Uwatta who will read Lontaraq as their holy book. This ritual

usually done once a year.

The activity of death ceremony has ritual speech which has own meaning

and the process of death ceremony. But, some people just follow the procession

without understanding the meaning. Talking about ritual speech, it is certainly

connect to pragmatic approach which becomes the basis of the study. Therefore,

the researcher will explain about the ritual speech and the procession of death

ceremony in Amparita, Sidrap regency.

1.2 Identification of Problem

The reaseracher find several problems in this research such as :

a. People do not know what the death ceremony of Towani Tolotang

Community is using for.

b. People who live arround this region do not to know to much the deep

meaning and values that exist in Towani Tolotang Community.

c. A lot of people live outside in that community do not know about life in

Towani Tolotang Community which is have some unique ceremonies such

as feast day, marriage day, and death ceremony. Those ceremonies are

generally use in Bugineese culture and followed by Islam rules. But they

use their own cultural ritual speech and still keep their beliefs in Towani

Tolotang Community.

There are some processions of death ceremony in Towani Tolotang

Community such as Mappenreq Nanre , Pa’tomatean, Tudang Sipulung. The

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 processions above, have ritual speech which is have own meaning. The meaning

of that ritual should be known and understood, particularly among people who

live in that community. So, that will be explain in this research

1.3 Scope of Problem

The researcher limits this research and will be focus on three cases. They

are the death ceremony in Towani Tolotang Community, the meaning in ritual

speech of death ceremony in Towani Tolotang Community and the values

existing in it, and the procession in death ceremony of Towani Tolotang

Community.

1.4 Research Question

Based on the description of previous stetements , the researcher can make

the problem statements as follows :

1. How is the procession of death ceremony in Towani Tolotang community?

2. What is the meaning implied in the ritual speech of death ceremony in

Towani Tolotang community?

3. What are the values depicted in the ritual speech of death ceremony in

Towani Tolotang community?

1.5 Objective of Study

The objective of this study are as follow :

1. To describe the procession of death ceremony in Towani Tolotang

community

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2. To explain the meaning in the ritual speech of death ceremony in Towani

Tolotang community.

3. To reveal the value implied in the ritual speech of death ceremony in

Towani Tolotang community.

1.6 Significance of Study

1.6.1 Practical Benefict

a. People who live inside and outside of Sidrap Regency know about the

culture of Towani Tolotang Community particularly the explaination of

death ceremony and can apply on their life.

b. The researcher hope that this thesis can be useful to readers and to

those who want to know about culture of Buginese especialy in

Amparita, Sidrap regency

1.6.2 Theoritical Benefict

The research is expected to contribute to further research which is related

to this topic and the reference for the government and society in Sidrap

Regency

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 CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

2.1 Previous Studies

There are some previous studies that had been carried out on the topic of

Ritual Speech which is related to this research.

The first, Busdamayanti (2016) “The Denotational and Interactional

Meaning of Bissu Ritual Speech in Bone Regency”. Her thesis aims to explain the

process of Sere Bissu ritual speech in Mattompang Arajang ceremony which is

carried out by Bissu community in Bone regency. Then, it is also aims to find out

the linguistic features of text in Sere Bissu ritual speech in Mattompang Arajang

ceremony. Furthermore, in her thesis aims to find out the peculiar features of Sere

Bissu ritual speech in Mattompang Arajang ceremony that can build the moral

value of Bone societies.

The second, Brenda Delmo (2015) “The Power Of Ritual Speech In

Maâ’pamanta Ritual In Tana Toraja ( Anthropolinguistics Analysis)”. This thesis

aims to analyze the power of ritual speech and the features of the text in

MaÂ’pamanta ritual in Tana Toraja.

The third, Mutmainnah Hasyari (2015) “The Power Of Ritual Speech In

Maddoja Bine Ritual In Pinrang Regency (A Semiotic Approach)”. The present

study aims to anlyze the meaning from the text or incantation of Maddoja Bine

Ritual and the using of symbol which is in thematerials or things in Maddoja Bine

Ritual in Pinrang Regency. The result of the research shows that the meaning of

the text or incantation of Maddoja Bine Ritual contains religious, philoshopy

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andtogetherness values, besides that the core of Maddoja Bine Ritual is ahoping to

get a good crop in the harvest time. In ritual uses materials orthings which have

meaning it self which conventionality pursuant tounderstanding of custom society

of Bugis to history values left by theirancestors.

Based on the explanation above, the researcher concludes several

differences among those previous studies. The difference between this research

and above researchers are the researcher tries to explain about the procession of

death ceremony, the meaning of this ritual speech, and the value implied in

Towani Tolotang community

2.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.2.1 Pragmatics

Pragmatics is important in order to be able to build social relationships

with other people. It is also important academically, as many curriculum based

activities rely on working in groups and communication between peers. According

to  Cruse (2000:16) said that :

Pragmatic can be taken to be concerned with aspect of information (in the

widest sense) conveyed through language which are not encoded by
generally accepted convention in the linguistic form used but which none
the less arise naturally out of and depend on the meaning conventionally
encoded in the linguistic form used, taken in conjunction with the context
in the forms are used (emphasis added).

Furthermore, in Mey (1993) define the study of the condition of human language

uses as these is determined by the context of society. From her definition, it is

seen as an understanding between people to obey certain rules of interaction. In

everyday language, the meanings of words and phrases are constantly implied and

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not explicitly stated. In addition, Levinson (1983) said that Pragmatic is the study

of those relations between language and context that are grammaticalized or

encoded in the structure of language. He also stated that Pragmatic is the study of

the relation between language and context that are basic to an account of language

understanding.

From those definition about pragmatics, it can conclude that pragmatic is

needed if we want a fuller, deeper, and generally more reasonable account of

human language behavior, it is also refers to the way people use language in social

situations and the way that language is interpreted

2.2.3 Meaning

Meaning seems at once the most obvious feature of language and the most

obscure aspect to study. It is obvious because it is what we use language for to

communicate with each other, to convey'what we mean effectively. But the steps

in understanding something said to us in a language in which we are fluent are so

rapid, so transparent, that we have little conscious feel for the principles and

knowledge which underlie this communicative ability. According to Lyons

(1977:643) suggested that :

We should draw a distinction between sentence meaning and utterance

meaning, the sentence meaning being directly predictable from the
grammatical and lexical features of the sentence, while utterance meaning
includes all the various types of meaning.
In brief, sentence meaning is important because sentence carry some

meaning that is independent of the context in which they are uttered and sentence

meaning is an abstraction of the grammatical and lexical content on an utterance.

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 Furthermore, Lyons (1977) states that utterance meaning is the part of

meaning of a sentence that is directly related to grammatical and lexical features.

We need to differentiate between lexical and grammatical meaning. Lexical

meaning refers to the meaning of words that belong to one of the four lexical word

classes. It is the aspect of meaning usually given in a dictionary. Important aspects

in describing lexical meaning are syntagmatic relations holding between particular

lexical items (bird:fly, blond:hair), as well as paradigmatic relations between

words which have a similar meaning (red:blue). While, Grammatical

meaning includes the meaning of grammatical items (e.g. function words and

inflectional affixes), grammatical functions (e.g. subject and object), and different

sentence-types (e.g. declarative and interrogative). Beside that, it is obtained

either from associated prosodic and paralinguistic features or from the content,

linguistic and non-linguistic. The seven types of meaning are as follows:      

1. Referential meaning (also called denotative meaning, descriptive meaning,

conceptual meaning, or sense) refers to the logical, cognitive, or denotative

content of an expression which is widely assumed to be the central factor

in linguistic communication.

2. Connotative meaning (associative meaning) denotes the associations and

secondary meanings the expression evokes. According to Leech (1974: 40-

41) connotative meaning is the communicative value an expression has by

virtue of what it refers to, over and above its purely conceptual content.

3. Social meaning (stylistic meaning) is Information that the linguistic

expression conveys about certain social characteristics.

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 4. Affective meaning is a sort of meaning which  an effect the personal

feeling of speakers, including his/her attitude to the listener, or his/her

attitude to something he/she talking about.

5. Reflected meaning involves an interconnection on the lexical level of

language, it is the meaning, which arises in case of multiple conceptual

meaning, when one senses of word forms part of our response to another

sense.

6. Collocative meaning consists of the associations a word acquire s on

account of the meanings of the words, which tends to occur in its

environment.

7. Thematic meaning, This is the final category of meaning, Thematic

meaning is the meaning that is communicated by the way in which the

speaker or writer organizes the message, in terms of ordering, focus, and

emphasis.

2.2.4 Context

Context are contained by the words and sentences that surround any part of

a discourse and that help to determine the meaning in the situation which

something happens in writing or speaking. Without the context, it can not be

understand what the clearly meaning. Alfred Marshall (1920) assumed that In

common use almost every word has many shades of meaning, and therefore needs

to be interpreted by the context. In addition, Kenneth (1982) said that Language is

not merely a set of unrelated sounds, clauses, rules, and meanings; it is a total

coherent system of these integrating with each other, and with behavior, context,

10
universe of discourse, and observer perspective. Beside that, According to Lee

McGaan (2003), The most important influence on what is appropriate and how

messages are interpreted is context. Lee McGaan assume that there are kinds of

context that it is can be understand to communication if we follow the six kinds of

context as below:

1. Physical Context: includes the material objects surrounding the

communication event and any other features of the natural world that

influence communication. 

2. Inner Context: includes all feelings, thoughts, sensations, and emotions

going on inside of the source or receiver which may influence how they

act or interpret events.

3. Symbolic Context: includes all messages (primarily words) which occur

before or after a communication event and which influence source or

receiver in their actions or understandings of the event.

4. Relational Context: the relationship between the sender and the receiver(s)

of a message.

5. Situational Context: what the people who are communicating think of as

(label) the event they are involved in, what we call the act we are engaged

in.

6. Cultural Context: The rules and patterns of communication that are given

by (learned from) our culture and which differ from other cultures.

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2.2.5 Towani Tolotang Community

Towani Tolotang consists of the words Towani and Tolotang.

Towani comes from the word Tau which means people and Wani is

the name of a village, so Towani means someone from the village of Wani.

Tolotang comes from the word Tau, which means people and Lotang is

means South. So, Tolotang is people from the south place. There are the religious

pillars of the Towani Tolotang as follows. First , believing that there is no God

worthy of being worshipped except the Dewata Seuwae ;saying prayer through the

ancestors; saying prayer in the mornings and afternoons and when the harvest

comes. Second , performing the obligation to the ancestors (attomatoangeng )

namely doing all that is inherited from the ancestors such as the ritual of funeral in

which the dead body is prepared witha mattress, pillow, bed and dishes, and this is

still performed to date. Third ,promoting malilu sipakainge, a pillar of promotion

of virtue and prevention of vice. For example, if one makes a mistake other will

remind and forgive them. Fourth, marrelau  (praying), which is done by gathering

at the Perriyameng  near the ancestral graves through the medium of uluwwatu.

2.2.6 Ritual Ceremony

Ritual is a series of actions or type of behavior regularly and invariably

followed by someone. In such case, there is not relation with religions. And

Ceremony is a formal religious or public occasion, typically one celebrating a

particular event or anniversary, or the ritual observances and procedures

performed at grand and formal occasions. In the first case, also this word is related

to religions.

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 Ceremonies and Rituals can for the most part be interchanged, however

most people will associate ceremonies more with organized religion (such as a

church service) or events of achievement, such as a graduation ceremony. Rituals

seem to give a cultish vibe or something considered more tribal, such as an

ancient Mayan ritual. According to Nicholas (2011) said that a ritual can also be

something entirely personal, something you do on a regular basis that helps you

get through the day (or the work week, or whatever). As an example, making

coffee is part of my morning ritual.

2.2.7 Ritual Speech

Ritual speech implies the action of a speaker. However, in the case of

ritual speech, the subject seems to define himself by a lack of intentionality, at

least as we can find it in ordinary speech. Ritual speech seems to achieve a supra

intentional status, standing over and above the subjectivity of the individual who

performs it. Ritual speech is generally related to a great variety of objects,

designs, places and gestures that are often present in the speech situation.César

Núñez (2010) said that ritual speech is not just a matter of communication. It is of

course related to the transmission of knowledge, but it is also fundamentally

linked to the way(s) in which that knowledge is distributed socially and to the

relational context of its performance.

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2.2.8 Death Ceremony

There are some rituals of death ceremony which is doing by Towani

Tolotang Community. First is the Towani Tolotang come to a place of worship to

perform rituals before the uwata (community leader that leads the ritual). Second

is when a member of the community dies, the dead body is planted in trees instead

of being buried, and before planting it in a tree, the corpse is thrown out through a

window or an opening that is not the exit door. Another ritual is, people visit the

grave of I Pabbere at Perrinyameng . In this ritual, all people of Towani Tolotang

Community walk to the Perrinyameng without using footwear. In this procession,

the community use betel leaf in every ritual procession such as the corpse coated

by betel leaf. The other precessios are Mappenreq Nanre is people bring some

food to the I Pabbere’s grave , and Tudang Sipulung is people are togather and

there must be Uwatta who will read Lontaraq as their holy book. The Towani

Tolotang jointly perform the ritual with the uwata only once a year in January.

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 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Type of research

To find out the goal of this research, the researcher collected the data that are

relevant with “The Ritual speech of Death Ceremony Towani Tolotang In

Amparita, Sidrap Regency” analysis. To collect the data, the researcher use

qualitative methods for this research. According Kerry (1992:1) qualitative

methods is we do science which is learning how to see involves the awakening of

all our senses and art which is expressed in how well we write.

This research took place in the Amparita Village into the Tellu Limpoe district

in Sidrap regency which is explain about the cultural of Towani Tolotang

Community particularly in procession and the meaning in ritual speech of death

ceremony.

3.2 Library Research

Library research is collect the information which is relevant in

writing. In this research, the researcher get data from some books, sources

from internet, published journals, material, thesis which are relevant to the

subject of this research.

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3.3 Field Research

The researcher used field research to support collect the data which is take

place in Amparita village, Sidrap regency and interviewing, recording and

note taking itself take place in the place where the ritual be held.

a. Population

The population of the research in Amparita village into the Tellu

Limpoe district namely Towani Tolotang Community in Sidrap

regency. The researcher took cultural observer as a sample of this

research which is they understand about the meaning and the ritual in

death ceremony of Towani Tolotang Community.

b. Sample

The researcher will use purposive sample method. Purposive

sample method is a type of nonprobability sample. The main objective

of a purposive sample is to produce a sample that can be logically

assumed to be representative of the population. The researcher will

choose people who is understand about this ritual and the leader of

this ritual called Uwatta.

3.4 Methods of Collecting Data

To collect the data, the researcher will use the following procedures :

a) Observation, the researcher visit the place where the ritual be held and

directly observing the people who involved in death ceremony of

Towani Tolotang Community.

b) Interviewing, the researcher will interview with people who are

knowing or understanding about this ritual.

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 c) Recording, record the information and the ritual speech, during the

interview .So, It will be easy to remember and set in writing of the

research.

d) Note Taking, write the important things that are obtained from

observations and interviews. And to complete the data, the researcher

collect picture which are related to this research.

3.5 Methods of Analyzinng Data

The methods of Analyzing data of this research are follows:

a) Transcribing, the researcher begin to trancribe the ritual speech of

death ceremony of Towani Tolotang Community in the forms of

words, phrases, and clauses.

b) Classifying, the researcher will classify the types of meaning the ritual

speech to make it clear and easy to understood

c) Translating, the reseracher will translate the ritual speech to clearly

understand the meaning of the object being studied from Bugis

language to Indonesian language, then translate it into English

d) Interpreting, the researcher analyze the text of ritual speech of death

ceremony of Towani Tolotang Community to find out the moral

values included in this ritual speech.

e) Drawing conclusion, the researcher will conclude the implict meaning

of ritual speech and the moral values in this ritual speech.

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 REFERENCES

Muidin, M., R. 2017. Model Kepemimpinan Uwatta dalam Komunitas Tolotang

Benteng. Makassar : Sah Media

Rusli, M. 2012. Kearifan Lokal Masyarakat Towani Tolotang di Kabupaten

Sidenreng Rappang. Jurnal Al- Ulum, Volume. 12, Nomor 2, Desember
2012

Cruse, A. 2006. A Glossary of Semantics and Pragmatics. Edinburgh : Edinburgh

University Press.

Qodir, Z. 2013. The Politics of Multiculturalism of The Towani Tolotang Minority

in South Sulawesi. Borneo Journal of Religious Studies (BJRS), Volume 2
(1). June 2013

Lyons, J. 1981. Language, Meaning, and Context. London: Fontana.

Levinson, Stephen C. 1983.Pragmatics. England : Cambridge University Press.

Bonhomme, J., Deleage, P. 2002. Ritual Speech and Subjectivity. University of

Austin.

McGaan, L. (2003). Understanding Communication Settings. Retrieved

November 1,2003, from
https://department.monm.edu/cata/saved_files/Handouts/
CONTEXTS.FSC.html

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