The concept of animals in Balinese proverbs

Abstract

This research is aimed to figure out the syntactic structure of Balinese proverbs, the relation of meaning between the name of the animals and the meaning of the proverbs, and how the meanings are constructed in logical dimension. This research belongs to a qualitative as the data of this research are qualitative data which taken from a book entitled Basita Paribahasa written by Simpen (1993) and a book of Balinese short story written by Sewamara (1977). The analysis shows that the use of concept of animals in Balinese proverbs reveal similar characteristics, whether their form, their nature, and their condition. Moreover, the cognitive processes which happen in resulting the proverb is by conceptualizing the experience which is felt by the body, the nature, and the characteristic which owned by the target with the purpose of describing event or experience by the speech community of Balinese. Analogically, the similarity of characteristic in the form of shape of source domain can be proved visually, while the characteristic of the nature and the condition can be proved through bodily and empirical experiences. Ecolinguistics parameters are used to construct of Balinese proverbs which happen due to cross mapping process. It is caused by the presence of close characteristic or biological characteristic which is owned by the source domain and target domain, especially between Balinese with animal which then are verbally recorded and further patterned in ideological, biological, and sociological dimensions.