Antu Language in the Sangin Oral Narrative of the Sihans in Sarawak
Main Article Content
Abstract
This article discusses the Sihan community and one of their traditional oral narratives, known as sangin. Sihan is an indigenous ethnic group residing in Belaga, Sarawak, Malaysia, and sangin is an activity that can be considered a folklore, narrative in manner, and performed for entertainment and native remedy. Data on the community in this study was obtained through interviews with 71 Sihan informants in Belaga, Sarawak, Malaysia. The sangin by one of its practitioners was recorded during the community’s leisure activities. The recorded sangin song, delivered in the style of storytelling, narrated for entertainment, not for remedy purposes. The description of the sangin indicates that the language in the oral tradition, called antu language (language of the spirit) is very different from the modern, every day Sihan language used by its speakers. In terms of usage, sangin can be considered extinct because of the reduced number of Sihan speakers (only 218 left) and lessening number of sangin practitioners (only three remain). Sangin as a native remedy no longer has a place in the community with the availability of modern medical treatment, the mass migration of the Sihans from their original area, and the change in the Sihans’ life style, from nomadic to community life.
Article Details
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Aichner, F.P. 1958. Punan, Penan, Bukitan, Kajaman, Kajang and Kayan. The Sarawak Museum Journal VIII: 12/27(Disember): 740–742. Asiatour.com. n.d. Retrieved from http://www.asiatour.com/malaysia/e-11sara/em-sar10.htm (accessed 26 March 2012).
Asmah Haji Omar. 1994. Bahasa-bahasa bumiputera di Sarawak. The Sarawak Museum Journal. XLVII: 68(December): 145–158.
______1982. Language and society in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. Blust, R. 2009. The Austronesian languages. Canberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics.
Brenzinger, M., Yamamoto, A., Aikawa, N., Koundiouba, D., Minasyan, A., Dwyer, A., Grinevald, C., Krauss, M., Miyaoka, O., Sakiyama, O., Smeets, R. and Zepeda, O. 2003. Language vitality and endangerment. Paris: UNESCO Expert Meeting on Safeguarding Endangered Languages.
Evans, I.H.N. 1953. The religion of the Tempasuk Dusuns of North Borneo. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fox, J.J., ed. 1988. To speak in pairs: Essays on the ritual languages of Eastern Indonesia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511551369
______2005. Ritual languages, special registers and speech decorum in Austronesian languages. In The Austronesian languages of Asia and Madagascar, eds. K.A. Adelaar and N. Himmelmann. London: Routledge.
______1993. The dictionary of Rotinese formal dyadic language, revised with English to Rotinese glosses. Unpublished MSc diss., Australian National University.
______1971. Semantic parallelism in Rotinese ritual languages. Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en Volkenkunde 127(2): 215–255. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134379-90002782
Gordon, R.G.J., ed. 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the world, fifteenth edition. Dallas, TX: SIL International.
Hoskins, J.A. 1988. Etiquette in Kodi spirit communication: The lips told to pronounce, the mouths told to speak. In To speak in pairs: Essays on the ritual languages of Eastern Indonesia, ed. J.J. Fox, 29–63. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511551369.002
Jemut Masing. 1997. The coming of the gods: An Iban invocatory chant (Timang Gawai Amat) of the Baleh region, Sarawak. Canberra, Australia: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies.
Kelbling, S. 1983. Longhouses at the Baluy River. The Sarawak Museum Journal XXXII: 53(August): 133–157.
Lewis, M.P. 2005. Towards categorisation of endangerment of the world’s languages. In SIL electronic working papers SILEWP 2006–002. Retrieved from http://www.sil.org/silewp/abstract.asp?fef=2006-002 (accessed 20 March 2016).
Maxwell, A.R. 1992. Balui reconnaissances: The Sihan of Menamang River. The Sarawak Museum Journal XLIII: 64(December): 1–46.
Nais, W. 1989. Overview of Bidayuh culture. Sarawak Museum Journal 40(61) Part 2: 367–374.
Noriah Mohamed. 2013. Daya hidup bahasa Sihan. Paper presented at the Persidangan Antarabangsa Daya Hidup Bahasa dan Budaya. Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, 5–6 June.
Noriah Mohamed and Muhammad Khairi Mohd Nor. 2011. Sangin dalam komuniti Sihan di Belaga, Sarawak. Paper presented at the ASEAN Folklore Seminar. Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia, 2–3 November.
Noriah Mohamed and Nor Hashimah Hashim. 2008. Language policy, language planning and the use of non-dominant language in Malaysia: Sihan versus Standard Malay. Paper presented at the Second International Conference on Language Development, Language Revitalization and Multilingual Education in Ethnolinguistic Communities. Bangkok, Thailand, 1–3 July. Noriah Mohamed and Rohani
Mohd Yusof. 2004. Pengelompokan leksikostatistik bahasa-bahasa bumiputera di Sarawak. Unpublished report, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Noriah Mohamed, Muhammad Khairi Mohamed Nor and Nor Hashimah Hashim. 2009. Komuniti peribumi Sihan di Sarawak: Satu pengenalan ringkas. Paper presented at the Seminar Indegenous Pedagogi 2009. Kuala Lipis, Pahang, Malaysia, 12–13 October.
Noriah Mohamed, Nor Hashimah Hashim and Yahya Che Lah. 2009. Factors that influence the sustainability usage of three endangered indigenous languages in Malaysia. The International Journal of the Humanities 7(6): 169–192. https://doi.org/10.18848/1447-9508/CGP/v07i06/42691
Pan Hui, Chong Sin and Remy Gedat. 2017. Menyoroti dua tradisi pemujaan laut di Sarawak: Semah dan Kaul. International Journal of the Malay World and Civilisation (Iman) 5(1): 29–36.
Prentice, D.J. 1981. The Mistrel-priestess: A Timogun Murut exorcism ceremony and its liturgy. In Papers on Indonesian languages and literatures, eds. N. Philips and Khaidir Anwar. London: University of London.
Sandin, B. 1985. Notes on the Sian (Sihan) of Belaga. The Sarawak Museum Journal XXXIV: 55(December): 67–76.
Sandin, B. 1977. Gawai Burong: The chants and celebrations of the Iban Bird Festival. Edited with an introduction by C.A. Sather. Pulau Pinang, Malaysia: Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Sather, C.A. 2016. The Sugi Sakit: Ritual storytelling in a Saribas rite of healing. Wacana 17(2): 251–277. https://doi.org/10.17510/wacana.v17i2.442
______2001. Seeds of play, words of power: An ethnographic study of Iban shamanic chants. Sarawak, Malaysia: Tun Jugah Foundation jointly with the Borneo Research Council.
Scharer, H. 1963. Ngaju religion: The conception of god among a South Borneo people. Translated by R. Needham. The Hague: Nijhoff. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-9346-7
Sri Kuhnt-Saptodewo, J. 1999. A bridge to the upper world: Sacred language of the Ngaju. Borneo Research Bulletin 30: 13–27.
______1993. Zum seelengeleit bei den Ngaju am kahayan. Auswertung eines sakratextes zur manarung-zeremonie beim totenfest. Munchen, Germany: Akademischer Verlag.
Taman Budaya Rumah Orang Ulu. n.d. Retrieved from http://www.malaysiahotelreview.com/sarawak/destination/rumah-orang-ulu.shtml.
Urquhart, I.A.N. 1955. Some interior dialects. The Sarawak Museum Journal VI: 5/20(July): 193–204.
Wheelock, W.T. 1982. The problem of ritual language: From information to situation. Journal of the American Academy of Religion L(1): 49–72. https://doi.org/10.1093/ jaarel/L.1.49