A : I am sorry, I,can’t come B :
[ I know For the turn-taking distribution, Sacks, et.al. 1974: 704 found rules as: 1 the
current speaker the next makes self-select and 3 if there is no self-select, the current speaker conbtinues. This I done at initial talks, the current speaker continues. This is
done at initial talks. The features turn distribution are also investigated in Toba Batak conversation.
2.6 TB Language and Culture
This section discusses about Toba Batak language culture.
2.6.1 TB Language
Toba Batak Language TBL is one of Batak languages which is used by Toba Batak etnic group. According to Sinaga 2002: vii TBL has a unique grammatical,
phonetic, and semantic system. Sibarani 1997: 1 observes that TBL has its own grammatical system. TBL has a predicate-object-subject pattern, in this case, Verb
precedes the Subject, as seen in sentences: Manuhor Boras Ibana
Buy rice he ‘He bought some rice’
In its phonetic system, TBL undergoes assimilation, that is, a process of sound changing which is influenced by its phonological environment. There are 29 relation
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among phonems and syllable or words which lead to assimilation. As a case in point, the verb ribakhon “to tear”, phoneme k and h become kk in its pronunciation, and
thus pronounced as ribakkon. From semantic aspect, Sibarani observed lexical meaning in TBL. One of them
is that the lexical meaning of sogot ‘tomorrow’, is not always literal, but it can refer to haduan ‘next time’, as in the following sentence:
Ro pe au sogot molo masihol au come SP I tomorrow if long I
‘I’ll come if I long for you’ In the context of language use, TB language is rarely researched. However,
most of social interactions of TB are realized in spoken language-in ordinary or institutional conversation. Ordinary conversation always occur almost everday in all
villages of TB, at family houses, and places such as markets, coffee counters, etc. People especially adult men can be easily seen talking at the coffee –counters
every morning before they start working in the rice-field and every afternoon after working. They talk each other spontaneously and casually with any topic they come
across in the conversation. TBL is not only spoken by Toba Batak people who dwell in the vilage, it is also
used by those who have lived outside the area for years. As one of the regional languages in Indonesia, TBL should be maintained and developed by its speakers as a
part of Indonesian culture as embedded in 1945 constitution Halim in Sibarani, 1997.
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Some previous studies of TBL were dominated by formal approaches. In 1997 Sibarani observed the Syntax of TBL. He made a complete description of TB
sentences, and in 2003 he made an analysis in TB semantic by explaining lexical meaning and grammatical meaning.
Sinaga 2002 wrote the Grammar of Toba Batak. He described TB phonology and parts of speech. Another Grammar of Toba Batak was written by Nababan 1981.
His research was about the phonology, morphology, and the syntax of Toba Batak. He described the phonomes in phonology and part of speech in morphologys as well as
constructions in syntax. Parkin 1978: 107 studied about the vocabulary of Toba Batak in relation to the
Sankrit as well as Malay vocabulary. He listed about two hundreds words of Toba Batak which have similarities with Malay and Sankrit. He said that Toba Batak
vocabularies were influenced by the Sankrit. These are some similar words between Toba Batak, Malay, and Sankrit.
Table 1: Similarity between Toba Batak words, Malay, and Sankrit. No Batak Malay Sankrit
Meaning
1 antara antara antara
between 2
arga harga
argha price of value
3 ari hari
hari day
4 arta harta
artha property
5 bisa bisa
visha poison
6 dangsina daksina dakshina south
Parkin 1978:107
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From functional aspect, there is only a few studies made. Pardede 1994 investigated the use of Umpama in adat ceremony. Simbolon 1981 discusses about
kinship communication in Toba Batak culture. Sihombing 1989 wrote about Words used in Adat activity.
A study on language in relation to culture has been done by some writers such as, a description of traditional expression Umpama, Umpasa which is concerning with
adat ceremony Situmorang, 1983 Siahaan 1982 wrote about a principal and its process in Adat Dalihan Natolu.
In his book, he touched about the process of Marhata talking. He introduced two terms concerning with the process of talking, they are: Panukkun and Pangalusi.
Panukkun refers to one who starts a conversation by questioning, and Pangalusi refers to one who answers the question.
Sianipar 1991 talked about language script and traditional expression Umpasa of Toba Batak. He divided Batak language in three daily languages, adat
language, language for science and religion, and language for monk. He listed four different words for ear: for daily use, it is called Pinggol, for adat activity, it is
Sipareon, for religion activity, it is Siparbinege, and for monk activity, it is Sipanangi.
2.6.2 TB Culture
