An Ethnopragmatic Analysis of Speech Meaning and Cultural Values in the Nduna Bakula Tradition of Nusak Lole, Rote Ndao Regency
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59011/austronesian.5.1.2026.359-369Keywords:
Ethnopragmatics, Nduna Bakula, Ritual speech, Cultural values, Rote NdaoAbstract
The Nduna Bakula tradition is a customary ceremony in Nusak Lole, Rote Ndao Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, involving ritual speeches that convey social relationships, cultural knowledge, and communal values. However, the declining familiarity of younger generations with archaic vocabulary and metaphorical expressions threatens the intergenerational transmission of this tradition. This study aims to examine the ethnopragmatic meanings of Nduna Bakula utterances and identify the cultural values embedded within them. Employing a qualitative descriptive-phenomenological design, data were collected through participant observation, audio recordings, field notes, and in-depth interviews with three traditional leaders (Maneleo). Data were analyzed using Miles and Huberman’s (2014) interactive model, integrating Speech Act Theory, conversational implicature, ethnopragmatics, and cultural-value frameworks. The findings reveal three dimensions of ritual meaning: locutionary meanings expressed through poetic parallelism and agrarian metaphors; illocutionary forces manifested through assertive, commissive, and directive acts; and conversational implicatures conveying consolation, social-debt settlement, and peaceful passage to the afterlife. Furthermore, three fundamental cultural values were identified: solidarity and kinship, responsibility and protective leadership, and social balance and reconciliation. These values reflect the community’s customary norms and are associated with Fox’s local Rote cultural domains, Schwartz’s value theory, Gelfand’s Cultural Tightness–Looseness Theory, and Henrich’s Cultural Brain Hypothesis.
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