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• 1 2021-08-02T19:49:21+00:00 Structure of Pantun 16 Formal features of pantun plain 2021-08-03T20:09:19+00:00 Pantun is a poetic form found throughout the Malay world, which includes the Minangkabau region, some other parts of Sumatra, parts of Java and Kalimantan, and parts of Malaysia.
  
  There are a number of formal features to the poetic structure. The list below represents them according to Minangkabau understandings and applications of the form.   
  1. The lines are eight or nine syllables long. 
  2. They are structured in two equal halves. In saluang, these are referred to as the batang (literally "branch") and isi (literally "content"). In Minang contexts, batang draws on references to the natural environment, specific places, and/or the context of performance. The isi contains the content, which is usually a moralistic or philosophical message. Sometimes, when people quote a pantun, the only include the isi. 
  3. The two halves must having matching rhyme schemes
  4. The length may range. In saluang, there are examples from four to twenty-four lines total. The most "standard" is probably the 4-line version. 
  Let me illustrate with the first pantun I ever learned, which is four lines in total. I present it separate from the song itself, as it could technically be adopted to any tune that can accommodate a four-line pantun.     
  1. Janiah aia talago biru                                               
  2. Nampak dari Koto Malintang
  3. Piliah mamak nan katuju
  4. Bungo sakabun nan kakambang.          

  Syllable Length

  1. Jan/iah ai/a ta/la/go bir/u                                   
  2. Nam/pak dar/i Ko/to Mal/in/tang 
  3. Pil/iah ma/mak nan ka/tu/ju
  4. Bung/o sa/ka/bun nan ka/kam/bang    

  The lines are: 9, 9, 8, and 9 respectively, depending on how you deal with elision of "iah." 

  Formal Structure

  1st half: Batang       

  Janiah aia talago biru
  Nampak dari Koto Malintang             

  2nd half: Isi                    

  Piliah mamak nan katuju
  Bungo sakabun nan kakambang        

  Rhyme Sceme

  Batang

  1. Janiah aia talago biru                                               
  2. Nampak dari Koto Malintang

  Isi

  1. Piliah mamak nan katuju
  2. Bungo sakabun nan kakambang.          

  Scheme

  The rhyme scheme is indicated above with the bold text, which is as follows. 
  a: "u"
  b: "ang"
  a: "u"
  b: "ang"

  Translation and interpretation

  1st half: Batang       

  Janiah aia talago biru
  Nampak dari Koto Malintang             

  2nd half: Isi                    

  Piliah mamak nan katuju
  Bungo sakabun nan kakambang        

  Batang

  Clear water in the blue pond
  Visible from Koto Malintang.
  
  This batang draws on a reference to the natural environment in a specific place. The "talago biru" (blue pond) is a reference to Lake Maninjau, which is visible from the nagari of Koto Malintang.  
  
  
  
  Isi

  Choose wisely uncle from 
  The flowers in the garden. 

  This isi, like all isi, is not thematically connected to the first half. The isi delivers advice using a metaphorical reference, telling the mamak--the maternal uncle, who is historically a more important authority figure over his sister’s children than their own father in the Minangkabau matrilineal system—to choose wisely from the flowers in the garden when picking a bride for his nephew. Here the flower is a metaphor for a young woman. 

  Another Example

  To illustrate the principles, here is a second example which was delivered as part of the song "Pariaman Panjang" at a recording session in 2016 (see this rendition). I heard a variant of it delivered in the same song four days later at a performance in Sariak Laweh, suggesting that it is a pantun baku. This one is twelve lines in length, rather than 4. The rhyme scheme is more complex: abcdef/abcdef. 

  Batang

  1. Manih tabunyo rang Piaman                                        
  2. Dikilang sadiang mandaki                                            
  3. Urek di lingkah layang-layang                                      
  4. Daunnyo banyak nan patah                                         
  5. Patah dek ribuik pagi hari                                            
  6. Sado nan patah lareh juo                          

  Isi

  1. Manangih Gunuang Pasaman                                      
  2. Tambah hanguih Gunuang Marapi                    
  3. Taisak Gunuang Singgalang                                         
  4. Managun aia di lurah                                                     
  5. Cando baniaik kok dak jadi                                            
  6. Ka tau utang awak di namo  

  Translation and Interpretation

  Batang

  The sugar cane of the Pariaman people is sweet
  It’s squeezed while walking
  The roots are sat on by swallows
  The leaves have many that are broken
  Broken by strong wind in the morning
  All that are broken fall off.

  Isi

  Mt. Pasaman is crying
  Mt. Merapi is often smoldering
  Mt. Singgalang sobs
  The water in streams has stopped flowing
  It is like the interest doesn’t come. 
  We already have a name. 
  
  Batang: The batang is relatively descriptive about a place and nature. It talks about the sweetness of sugar cane grown in Pariaman, a way of establishing connection to the place, Pariaman, but also about sugarcane, wind, and birds.
  Isi: The mountains here, which are important landmarks in the Minangkabau region, are a metaphor for people: the father is crying, the mother is crying, the whole family and surrounding community is sobbing. But there is a second layer of metaphorical reference. It is a metaphor for an individual who is romantically interested in someone but the interested party does not reciprocate.
  
  
• 1 2021-03-11T21:39:49+00:00 Rendition: "Pariaman Panjang" 08/01/2015 14 "Pariaman Panjang" performed at Malam Bagurau, Suayan. plain 2021-06-30T02:05:06+00:00 Song: "Pariaman Panjang"
  Performance: Malam Bagurau for a wedding 
  Place: Suayan
  Date: August 1, 2015
  
  People: 
  • Padendang: 
    • Te E
    • Nor Cingkariang
  • Tukang Saluang: Bujang Rao-Rao
  Duration: 7.13
  
  
  
  Structure:
  

  Lyrics: 

  Pantun 1: Te E

  Batang

  Minangkabau:
  Ka balai mambali kain  
  Mambali sitin ba karatan 
  Di Payokumbuah hari akad 
  Lah dapek kain saukuran 
  Baguntiang bajaik balun
  Dek tuan tolong manyudahkan 
  Talatak apo kagunonyo 
  
  Indonesian:
  Ke pasar membeli kain. 
  Membeli kain satu potong
  di pasar Payakumbuah hari minggu
  sudah dapat kain satu ukuran
  sudah bergunting belum dijahit
  dek tuan tolong menyudahkan
  terletak apa ke gunanya 
  
  English:
  Going to the market to buy cloth
  To buy a length of cloth
  At the Payokumbuah market on Sunday
  I got one measure of cloth
  It was already cut but not yet sewn
  Sir, please help me finish it
  To be put into place the use for it. 

  Isi

  Minangkabau:
  Ambo mandapek kaba angin 
  Lah kambang si bungo intan 
  Pamenan allah jo Mohamad
  Biarlahnyo bungo larangan
  Kumbang baniak nak ka kiyun
  Tagak dek balun dapek jalan
  Kini mamadang jauah sajo
  
  Indonesian:
  Saya mendapat berita. 
  Sudah kembang si bunga intan
  Hadiah Allah dengan Muhammad
  Walaupun itu bunga larangan
  Kumbang berniat ke sana
  Tapi karena belum dapat dijalan
  Sekarang memadang dari jauh saja. 
  
  English:
  I’ve received some news
  The bungo intan (jewel of a flower) is already flowering
  It's a gift from God
  However, it's a forbidden flower. 
  The bee is interested in searching there
  But because he has not yet received any (nectar) in his journey. 
  He’s forced to look from afar. 

  Interpretation of Pantun 1

  Batang: This verse is largely descriptive, about buying cloth at the market for a project, and the padendang suggesting the person listening should define a need for it. It also makes mention of a specific place. 
  Isi: This verse could be read on many levels. On one, it can be taken quite literally: a bee looking for nectar in a flower. On another, it could taken metaphorically to mean a man looking for a woman. Finally, the context at this performance offers a different interpretation. When I asked Pak Ketua why there was so much laughter, he explained that Te E, a dear friend of his, was teasing him specifically through this lyric. She was inferring that he was the bee and that I was the sparkly flower. 
• 1 2021-03-14T12:57:05+00:00 Text: The Bee and the Flower 7 The Bee and the Flower is a pantun baku plain 2021-08-03T19:40:13+00:00 The following pantun is an example of a pantun baku ("a frozen verse") or stock verse that many padendang and audience members know. While technically the two halves are not attached to each other except through the rhyme scheme and one can theoretically exchange out a batang for another, in a pantun baku the two halves are typically connected. Once a padendang has started delivering a specific pantun, the audience knows what isi will be delivered. I heard this pantun in a number of contexts: the metaphoric meanings are consistent, but sometimes implied to hold to a specific instance. 
  
  All the instances where this text was noticed are tagged. Note that it is often but not always used in the same song. 

  Batang

  
  Minangkabau:
  Ka balai mambali kain  
  Mambali sitin ba karatan 
  Di Payokumbuah hari akad 
  Lah dapek kain saukuran 
  Baguntiang bajaik balun
  Dek tuan tolong manyudahkan 
  Talatak apo kagunonyo 
  
  Indonesian:
  Ke pasar membeli kain. 
  Membeli kain satu potong
  di pasar Payakumbuah hari minggu
  sudah dapat kain satu ukuran
  sudah bergunting belum dijahit
  dek tuan tolong menyudahkan
  terletak apa ke gunanya 
  
  English:
  Going to the market to buy cloth
  To buy a length of cloth
  At the Payokumbuah market on Sunday
  I got one measure of cloth
  It was already cut but not yet sewn
  Sir, please help me finish it
  To be put into place the use for it. 

  Isi

  
  Minangkabau:
  Ambo mandapek kaba angin 
  Lah kambang si bungo intan 
  Pamenan allah jo Mohamad
  Biarlahnyo bungo larangan
  Kumbang baniak nak ka kiyun
  Tagak dek balun dapek jalan
  Kini mamadang jauah sajo
  
  Indonesian:
  Saya mendapat berita. 
  Sudah kembang si bunga intan
  Hadiah Allah dengan Muhammad
  Walaupun itu bunga larangan
  Kumbang berniat ke sana
  Tapi karena belum dapat dijalan
  Sekarang memadang dari jauh saja. 
  
  English:
  I’ve received some news
  The bungo intan (jewel of a flower) is already flowering
  It's a gift from God
  However, it's a forbidden flower. 
  The bee is interested in searching there
  But because he has not yet received any (nectar) in his journey. 
  He’s forced to look from afar. 

  Interpretation of Pantun 

  
  Batang: This text is largely descriptive, about buying cloth at the market for a project, and the padendang suggesting the person listening should define a need for it. It also makes mention of a specific place. 
  Isi: This text could be read on many levels. On one, it can be taken quite literally: a bee looking for nectar in a flower. On another, it could taken metaphorically to mean a man looking for a woman.