The Uniqueness of Batak Toba

CHAPTER I

PRELIMINARY

I.1 Introduction

            Indonesia has many diverse cultures in every region and spread across the archipelago. One of them is Batak culture derived from northern Sumatera. Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The term is used to include the Toba, Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Angkola and Mandailing, which are distinct but related groups with distinct, albeit related, languages and customs (adat). Occasionally it is also used to include the Alas people of Central/Southern Aceh, but usually only as relates to language groups.

In North Sumatra, Toba people typically assert their identity as 'Batak', while other 'Bataks' may explicitly reject that label, preferring instead to identify as specifically 'Simalungun', 'Karo', etc. The Batak Toba are known throughout Indonesia as capable musicians, and are perceived as confident, outspoken and willing to question authority, expressing differences in order to resolve them through discussion. This outlook on life is contrasted to Javanese people, Indonesia's largest ethnic group, who are more culturally conciliatory and less willing to air differences publicly.^[1]

The Batak Toba people, also called Toba people or often simply 'Batak', are the most numerous of the Batak people of North Sumatra, Indonesia, and often considered the classical 'Batak', most likely to willingly self-identify as Batak. The Batak Toba people speak in the Toba Batak language and are centered around Lake Toba and Samosir Island within the lake. Batak Toba people frequently build in traditional Batak architecture styles which are common on Samosir. Cultural demonstrations, performances and festivities such as Sigale Gale are often held for tourists.

I.2 Formulation of the problem

The formulation of the problem which will be discuss in this paper are:

1.      What is a brief history of Batak Toba?

2.      How about the culture of Batak Toba?

3.      How about the Batak People?

4.      How about the languages such as alphabet and verb of Batak Toba?

5.      How much data was researched?

6.      How many consonants are frequently use? what are they?

I.3 The purpose of writing

The purpose of this paper, are:

1.      To know a brief  history of Batak Toba

2.      To know the culture and what kind the people of Batak Toba

3.      To know about the language such as alphabet and verb, and its association with phonology

CHAPTER II

The Uniqueness of Batak Toba

A.    Brief History of Batak Toba

A.1 Batak kingdom

At the time of Batak kingdom centered in Bakara , the Kingdom of Batak is the dynastic rule Sisingamangaraja divide the kingdom Batak in 4 (four) regions called King Maropat , namely:

1. King Maropat Silindung
2. King Maropat Samosir
3. King Maropat Humbang
4. King Maropat Toba

A.2 Dutch colonization

In the colonial period the Netherlands , the Dutch government established residency Tapanuli in 1910 . residency Tapanuli divided into 4 (four) regions called the department and is now known as counties or cities , namely:

1. Mulberry department , which is now the South Tapanuli , District Mandailing Natal , Padang Lawas regency , North Padang Lawas District , and the City of Mulberry .
2. Nias section , which is now the Nias and South Nias .
3. Cambodgien Sibolga and Ommnenlanden , who is now a Middle Tapanuli and Sibolga .
4. Bataklanden department , which is now the North Tapanuli , Hasundutan Humbang District , Toba Samosir , Samosir regency , Dairi , and Pakpak Bharat .

A.3 Japanese occupation

During the colonial era Japan , a form of government in the Residency Tapanuli virtually unchanged.

A.4 Early independence

After independence, the government of the Republic of Indonesia was still making Tapanuli into a residency. Dr.. Ferdinand Lumban Tobing is Resident Tapanuli first.

There was little change in the name. But divisions remain the same. Name Cambodgien Bataklanden example converted into LUHAK Batak Land and luhak was first raised Sihombing Cornelius who had served as Demat Silindung . Onderafdeling name was changed to fail and the village headman who led onderafdeing appointed as Head of Undo . Onderdistrik became Small Undo led by the Head of Small Undo the first is a Demat assistant.

Along with the history, government at the Residency Tapanuli been divided into four (4) districts , namely:

1. Silindung district
2. Samosir regency
3. Humbang district
4. District Toba

A.5 Early transfer of sovereignty in 1950

When the transfer of sovereignty at the beginning of 1950 , the Residency Tapanuli already incorporated in North Sumatra Province is divided into four (4) new districts, namely:

1. North Tapanuli (formerly Tanah Batak )
2. Central Tapanuli (formerly District Sibolga )
3. South Tapanuli (formerly District Mulberry )
4. Nias district

A.6 Now

On December 2008 , the Residency Tapanuli united in the province of North Sumatra . Toba is currently in the territory of the District Toba Samosir which had its capital in Balige .

Toba Samosir regency was established by Law No. 12. 1998 on the establishment of the Regency and Toba Samosir regency Mandailing Natal , in the Provinces of North Sumatra Province. Toba Samosir regency is a division of Level II Regional North Tapanuli .

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B.     The Batak Toba Culture

Toba Batak is a cultural unity. Toba Batak are not necessarily stay Toba geographic region, although the origin is Toba. As with other tribes, Batak tribes migrated Tobapun-stricken areas more promising livelihood labih good. Example, the majority of the population is indigenous clans Silindung Hutabarat, Panggabean, Simorangkir, Hutagalung, Hutapea and Lumbantobing. Though all six genera are derived Guru Mangaloksa which is one-a son of King Hasibuan Toba region. Similarly Nasution clan who mostly live area is the brother clan Padangsidimpuan Siahaan in Balige, of both genera are derived the same ancestors. Toba Batak as a cultural unity can definitely spread to various parts across the boundaries of their ancestral geographic origins, namely the Raja Batak Toba region which is specifically Mulamula Sianjur village situated on the slopes of Mount Pusuk Buhit, approximately 45 minutes drive from Pangururan, the Capital District Naidoo, now.

The Elements of the Culture, are:

1. Language

Batak Toba used Toba dialects

2. Society system

self-help community in Batak Toba called ‘Marsiurupan’. It means that a group of family works together to do something by turns.

3. Technology

Batak people had known simple tools which are used to process the soil such as hoe, plow, and sickle. Batak Toba has folk weapons too namely, piso surit (broad-bladed knife), piso gaja dompak (long and wavy double-bladed dagger), hujur (lance), and podang (sword). Besides, there is traditional dress named ‘ulos’ which has many function in Batak Toba traditional life

4. Social organization

a. Marriage

In Batak Toba tradition, someone could marry to another Batak Tobanese who has different clan. If they marry to other ethnics (such Javanese, Sundanese, etc), she or he must adopt one of Bataknese’s clans.

b. Brotherhood

Social stratification of Batak Tobanese based on four principals that are:

v  difference age level,

v  difference place,

v  difference characteristic authenticity,

v  marital status.

5. Marga Batak Toba

Clan or family name is part of the name is a sign of the family to which it belongs. People Batak always have the name of the clan / family. Name / surname is derived from the father's lineage (patrilinear) which would then be passed on to offspring continuously

6. Mean of livelihood

Generally, Majorities of Batak Tobanese are farmer. They work in wet rice field and in-irrigated agricultural field. The field comes from distribution based on clan; and every family who gets the field cannot sell it. Animal husbandry is one of Batak Tobanese mean of livelihood to;  for examples, the husbandry of buffalo, cow, pig, goat, chicken, and duck. Batek Tobanese who lives in the edge of Lake Toba, raises fishes especially mujair fish (freshwater fish widely stocked in inland waters and an important food) and gold-fish. Besides, there are also handicraft industries such as tenun (weaving affairs), anyaman rotan (cane work), ukiran kayu (carved wood), and glazed porcelain.

7. Art and Traditional Foods

There are many kind of arts in Batak Tobanese and it almost same with another Bataknese. Some of them are folk dances such as Tari Tor-tor (Tor-tor dance) which has the magic characteristic; Tari Serampang dua belas (Serampang dua belas dance) has the entertain characteristic. Traditional instruments: gong, hasapi (plicked stringed instrument), gondang (like drum). One of the handicraft products is ulos. Ulos is always used in every ceremony like wedding ceremony, new home celebration ceremony, entering the  new home ceremony, funeral ceremony, giving legacy ceremony, and Tor-tor dance ceremony. Besides, there are the Bataknese traditional foods such Batak Toba’s traditional foods that are: ‘naniura’ is made from gold-fish, vinegar, and traditional cooking spices, ‘napinadar’ is made from chicken, the chicken’s blood and traditional cooking spices.

8. Batak Toba Houses

The Batak Toba house is one of the most distinctive traditional buildings in Southeast Asia. No one knows when the creation of these houses started, but the Batak Toba Houses have been around as long as anyone can remember. These houses can be found around Lake Toba (hence its name) in the North Sumatra province of Indonesia, and one of the six Batak tribes construct and dwell in them.

Batak Toba Houses are built close to each other due to the history of the fights between the tribes, and this feature gives them more advantage to defend themselves. They are constructed on top of rows and columns of pillars, a foundation that goes above the ground, in order to avoid damages caused by floods. Its roofs are "boat-shaped" and tend to be very tall and tilted, reaching down as far as the main living area.

C.    The Batak Toba People

The Batak Toba are known throughout Indonesia as capable musicians, and are perceived as confident, outspoken and willing to question authority, expressing differences in order to resolve them through discussion. This outlook on life is contrasted to Javanese people, Indonesia's largest ethnic group, who are more culturally conciliatory and less willing to air differences publicly.

The Batak Toba people, also called Toba people or often simply 'Batak', are the most numerous of the Batak people of North Sumatra, Indonesia, and often considered the classical 'Batak', most likely to willingly self-identify as Batak. The Batak Toba people speak in the Toba Batak language and are centered around Lake Toba and Samosir Island within the lake. Batak Toba people frequently build in traditional Batak architecture styles which are common on Samosir. Cultural demonstrations, performances and festivities such as Sigale Gale are often held for tourists.

D.    Batak Toba Language

Batak Toba /ˈtoʊbə ˈbætək/ is an Austronesian language spoken in North Sumatra province in Indonesia. It is part of a group of languages called "Batak". There are approximately 2.000.000 Batak Toba speakers, living west and south of Lake Toba. Historically it was written using Batak script, but the Latin script is now used for most writing.

The name of this language arises from a rich and complex history of ethnic identity in colonial and post-colonial Indonesia. It is a generic name for the common language used by the people of the districts of Toba, Uluan, Humbang, Habinsaran, Samosir, and Silindung, centered upon the Island of Sumatra; more particularly, at Lake Toba. Linguistically and culturally these tribes of people are closely related. Other nearby communities such as Silalahi and Tongging may also be classified as speakers of Toba Batak.

The term "Toba Batak" is, itself, a derivation of the Toba Batak language. As such, it is used both as a noun and an adjective; both to describe a language, and also to describe the people who speak the language.

D.1 Batak Toba Alphabet

The Batak alphabet, or surat batak, is descended ultimately from the from Brahmi script of ancient India by way of the Pallava and Old Kawi scripts.  The Batak languages of northern Sumatra - Karo Batak, Toba Batak, Dairi Batak, Simalungun/Timur, Angkola and Mandailing Batak, and occasionally Malay. In most Batak communities, only the datu (priests) are able to read and write the Batak alphabet and they use it mainly for calendars and magical texts.

System of writing in the tradition of Toba Batak language though to have existed since the 13th century. With a script that may be derived from ancient Javanese script, through ancient Sumatera script. This script is silabis , it means to describe a tribal mark. Symbol number as many as 19 letters called parent letters and plus 7 types of children letters. Basically the letter /ka/ is never found in the Batak Toba language. Batak Toba people in the first instance when mention of coffee (kopi ) is hopi and hoda (not a horse).

Toba Batak syllabic alphabet :

Dairi Batak, which is also known as Batak Toba and Batta, is an Austronesian language spoken by about 2 million people in the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Vowel diacritics with ka

D.2  Batak Toba Verb

Sample Verbs :

to bite	makkarat
to blow	maŋullus
to breathe	marhosa
to burn	manutuŋ
to buy	manuhor
to chew	makkilhil
to choose	mamillit
to climb	nakkok
to come	ro
to cook	maŋaloppa
to count	maŋetoŋ
to cry	ilu, taŋis, tumataŋis
to cut, hack	mamotoŋ, maŋgotap
to die, be dead	mate
to dig	makkuar
to dream	marnipi
to drink	minim
to eat	maŋan
to fall	madabu
to fear	mabiar
to flow	mardalan
to fly	habaŋ
to grow	tubu
to hear	mabbege
to hide	martabuni
to hit	maŋgorpuŋ
to hold	maniop
to hunt	marburu
to kill	mabbunu
to know, be knowledgeable	boto
to laugh	mekkel
to lie down	gále-gále
to live, be alive	maŋolu
to open, uncover	mabbukka
to plant	manuan
to pound, beat	madduda
to say	marhata
to scratch	makkao
to see	mamereŋ
to sew	maŋjait
to shoot	manembak
to sit	huddul
to sleep	modom
to sniff, smell	maŋaŋgo
to spit	marsitijur
to split	mabbola
to squeeze	mamoro
to stab, pierce	maniham
to stand	joŋjoŋ
to steal	manakko
to suck	maŋoncop
to swell	marbokkak
to swim	marlaŋe
to think	marpikkir
to throw	maddaŋgurhon
to tie up, fasten	makkobet
to turn	gelok
to walk	mardalan
to vomit	muta-uta
to work	markarejo
to yawn	hohoamon

E.     Data

On this paper, the writer used Batak Toba language as research material. There are five hundred vocabulary used as research. As we know that, it’s not easy to researched, but in the end the writer managed to finish it.

From the research that has been conducted, the writer found quite a lot of consonant symbols used in the material (Batak Toba language). The consonant most commonly used, are ŋ, ʤ, j.

So, that’s the result of research that can be expressed by the writer through the research was quite complicated and took a lot of time.

CHAPTER III

A.    Conclusion

Batak ethnic is one of the old ethnics in Indonesia which comes from North Sumatra. The people is called Bataknese. They are known as ‘nomads’. Batak ethnics consist of some sub-ethnics; they live in North Sumatera regions. Most of them live in Tapanuli, Simalungun, Karo, Nias, and Pakpak Dairi. Batak Toba lives in Toba, Silindung, Samosir, and Humbang; Batak Angkola lives in South Tapanuli, Sipirok and Angkola; Batak Mandailing lives in Mandailing, Natal; Batak Simalungun lives around Simalungun regions; Batak Karo lives around Karo regions; Batak Pakpak Dairi lives around Pakpak and Dairi regions. Based on the anthropology lesson, Nias, Alas, Gayo is grouped in sub-batak ethnics.

Batak Toba /ˈtoʊbə ˈbætək/ is an Austronesian language spoken in North Sumatra province in Indonesia. It is part of a group of languages called "Batak". There are approximately 2.000.000 Batak Toba speakers, living west and south of Lake Toba. Historically it was written using Batak script, but the Latin script is now used for most writing.

The Batak alphabet, or surat batak, is descended ultimately from the from Brahmi script of ancient India by way of the Pallava and Old Kawi scripts. System of writing in the tradition of Toba Batak language though to have existed since the 13th century. With a script that may be derived from ancient Javanese script, through ancient Sumatera script. This script is silabis , it means to describe a tribal mark. Symbol number as many as 19 letters called parent letters and plus 7 types of children letters

B.     Contribution of Phonology

As we know that, if we are talking about phonology it’s mean study of sound in certain language. As the result of research, the writer found the contribution of Batak Toba language for phonology, those are:

·         Add  knowledge about another language, especially traditional language

·         Make phonology as a science that covers all aspects of language and variety of language

·         Make phonology more examine about the sound system of any language, so do not be pegged only in one language, that is English.

·         Phonology becomes easier to learn.

·         Phonology become more develop

C.    Suggestion of learning phonology for future

In my opinion, phonology is fascinating science, because phonology can examine every aspect and content in a word of the language. It could be said that phonology is very broad on the fact. So, my suggestion of learning phonology for future is:

Ø  Phonology should be developed to more languages that exist in this world, especially the traditional language

Ø  As we know that phonology is not familiar, and if phonology become developing, it will make people interest to learning phonology.

Ø  Hopefully phonology could be known on the future, and make a lot of people in the world interested to learn it.

Ø  In addition to covering about language, it might be worthwhile if the phonology also encompass about the culture of language, and how they produce the sound of their language.

Ø  Hopefully devoted language studied by phonology can have its own phonetic transcription such as, vowels, diphthongs, and consonant. And consonant chart also.

D.    Experience of Learning Phonology

According to my opinion above, my experience of learning phonology is very amazing to me. Because, this is my first time to study about phonology. However, phonology isn’t an easy subject to learn, for me it’s difficult enough. But, because my lecturer is so smart, she usually explain about parts of phonology clear to us, and it made us become easy to catch it.

Although when we studied phonology, we always got the assignment and test almost every week, but I never feel bored with it all. More frequent we got a lot of assignment, it actually add our knowledge of phonology itself.

By studying phonology, I came to know what is it phoneme, phonetic, phonogram, and allophone. And also I came to know what is meant place and manner of articulation and what are the divisions. And now I know what is vowel, diphthongs, and consonant and what the function of consonant chart.