Exploring the Meaning of Language in the Sacredness of Djingi Ti’U: An Ethnographic Study of a Customary Ritual in Sabu Raijua Regency

Abstract

This study examines the meaning of ritual language and the sacred communication pattern in the Djingi Ti’u funeral ritual in Djadu Village, West Sabu District, Sabu Raijua Regency. Using a qualitative ethnography-of-communication approach, the data derive from participant observation, in-depth interviews with one customary leader and four community members selected purposively, and documentation. The findings show that the funeral is organized as a communicative event in which Li Hawu utterances, prayers, proverbs, ritual objects, gestures, spatial arrangements, and inherited prohibitions operate together. Ritual speech delivered by a customary elder mediates offerings, requests, gratitude, and hope toward Deo Ama and the ancestors. Petitions for the deceased’s path to be straightened and illuminated reveal language as performative sacred action, while proverbial speech reinforces solidarity. Nonverbal signs, including betel nut, coconut, animal fat used as ritual light, sacred stones, and the seated position of the corpse, extend verbal meaning into embodied symbols. The ritual therefore functions as burial practice, sacred communication, collective identity, and intergenerational cultural transmission.