Figuring the Figures of Speech in Acehnese Traditional Song Lyrics

Abstract

Not much research has been conducted on the literature of the Acehnese traditional song lyrics. These songs are well known for their role in the society as lullabies, expressing aesthetic values, teaching morals, spreading wisdom, disseminating religious knowledge, encouraging soldiers in battles, and uplifting spirits to work, among others. The lyrics also reflect the contexts of culture, belief, and life of the Acehnese. Accordingly, to fill in this gap, this research aims at investigating the use of figures of speech in the Acehnese traditional song lyrics. A number of eight songs were analyzed based on the 11 figures of speech proposed by Kennedy. The results showed that only six figures of speech were found in the lyrics of the songs; they are: metonymy, ellipsis, repetition, personif ication, synecdoche, and litotes. Meanwhile, the most dominant used are metonymy and ellipsis. Nevertheless, in the culture of writing the Acehnese traditional songs, the writers preferred to use more of similar associations to the things that they are writing about, giving human characteristics to things being inferred to in the songs, and being humble in their expressions. These traits are intended to make their connotation more alive so that the messages or information that they are trying to convey to the listeners can spark emotions and be grasped within their empathy. These ways and means are important because these lyrics are the reflections of the images and values of the society. Finally, it is expected that future studies also focus on undocumented Acehnese traditional songs that are still sung by the society today to further develop the conclusions drawn from this present study.

Keywords: Figures of speech, Acehnese, traditional songs, lyrics, values