Wor, the Traditional Biak Folksongs: A Study of Their Metaphorical Expressions

Abstract

Biak is a Papuan tribe inhabiting the Biak Island, to the north of mainland Papua. This tribe has a type of folksongs called wor. Using Nöth’s theory of metaphor and Haley’s 9 categories of the hierarchy of human perceptions, this study aimed to explore the metaphorical expressions (metaphiers) found in 17 wor lyrics through metapherein process to find their metaphands, and to identify the human perceptions in the metaphiers seen through the 9 categories. The study found that the Biak tribe expresses their concerns about life and its complexity as discovered in the metaphors found in the metaphands: happiness, deliverance, caring, preservation of culture, respect, longing for homeland, perseverance, youth reminder, evil spirit, inhumane treatment to others, fighting spirit, dexterity, vigilance, strong family support, ‘heaven’, the ritual for luck, and creator of the universe. Most languages in the world must have similar universal metaphors, but their meanings may be universal or local as is true with wor lyrics. Haley’s 9 categories were found. The categories observed are: Being was found 4 times in 4 lyrics; Cosmos was observed 2 times in 2 lyrics; Energy was found 2 times in 2 lyrics; Terrestrial was discovered 2 times in 2 lyrics; Object was found 2 times in 2 lyrics; Living was not found in these present data; Animate was not observed in these current data either; and Human was observed the most, 5 times in 5 lyrics.