‘Mpama Hepe’ Symbolic Metaphor Expression

Abstract

Research by title ‘Mpama Hepe’ Symbolic Metaphor Expression conducted and presented to describe the use of language symbols expressed through local wisdom mpama hepe oral traditions in the social dynamics of the user community, namely the Donggo ethnic community as one of the original Mbojo tribes who reside in Donggo and Soromandi Districts, Bima Regency, Nusa Tenggara Province West. This study uses a qualitative approach to the type of ethnographic research. Ethnographers collect data using engaged observation techniques, friendly conversation techniques and accompanied by recording activities. The data collected is in the form of verbal data of mpama hepe interaction and confirmation data of friendly conversation, as well as non-verbal data obtained through observation of friendship activities. The results showed that the local wisdom of the oral mpama hepe tradition used by the Donggo ethnic group was a symbolic expression of language that is metaphorical. Specifically, the findings of this study are in the form of symbolic expressions of mpama hepe; about human behavior, about animals, about plants, and the nature of things. Applicatively, this research is useful for the wider community to be able to recognize and understand the oral tradition of mpama hepe as one of the Donggo ethnic local wisdom. The results of this study can be used as material for folklore, linguistic, stylistics, and research methods courses (for example, applications of qualitative research on oral traditions using ethnographic approaches). The novelty of this research lies in the research problem, which is 'mpama hepe'. This research reveals the uniqueness in the social interaction of one of the ethnic groups in the world, namely the Donggo ethnic group. The use of symbolic language in social expression mpama hepe becomes something important to be revealed so that it can be known and understood by the wider community.