Previous Research THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
express their affection to couples by saying sweet lines that were heard rhyming, like the example below
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: Mudamandurungko di pahu
Tampulsimandulang-dulang, Mudamalungun ho di au,
Tatap sirumondang bulang. The translation is:
If you go fishing in a pond Cut some tray leaves
If you long for me Look at the light of the moon.
Pantun can be found in many places as the result of Sriwijaya’s existence in
the 8th century and maritime trading from an island to another. Pantun spread widely to the east, north and southwest of Sumatera, bridging malay people to interact with
local people.
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Throughout the archipelago, there are Acehnese, Minangkabau, Javanese, Sundanese, Batak.
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“The pantun is the most beautiful flower in the garden of the Malay language and literature. A simple form, it is yet capable of romance, humour, and could even
carry customary laws which are the unwritten rules of conduct and guidelines for the communities. Many are pithy and wise, parcelled in chosen words, and therefore
lend themselves to being easily memorable and often taken back on ships by sailors
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Fang, Op.Cit.
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Pantun, http:pantun.usm.mypantuninenglish2.asp
, web accessed on December 13
th
2014 at 12.58 AM.
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Fang, Op.Cit., pg. 445.
and traders, sung in the markets and to be spread to the hinterland of the ports. […]”
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Malay pantun is a part of Malay people throughout the decades. The pantun was created anonymously just like other works of Malay oral tradition such as
Gurindam.
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The oldest malay pantun comes from 400 years ago, although it is still possible if pantun is older than any history recorded and later on, pantun developed
over centuries following the trend of each era.
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