Unveiling the Subtleties of Language and the Symbolic Meaning of Subur Boak Ritual

This study aims to unveil the language functions and the meaning of a cultural discourse found in the Subur Boak ritual of people in Habi Village of Sikka Regency. This research is conducted in the ethnolinguistic field, and it analyzes cultural discourse through particular utterances. This research uses ethnolinguistic theory, which also covers speech act theories, which can be directly found in the cultural discourse uttered in this ritual. This research uses in-depth interview techniques as its primary source since the authors found difficulties because this ritual is very rare. The authors also collected data from prior literature reviews as additional sources. Meanwhile, the authors applied the descriptive qualitative method to analyze the data. The findings in this study revealed that the Subur Boak ritual is held to repel misfortune done by the incest couple. There are some traditional fines that the incest couple should fulfill in the Subur Boak ritual. Those fines involved an uncastrated pig, a headless dog, a dog's tail, and coins, and the incest couple had to walk around the village. Meanwhile, the language functions found in this ritual are directives and declarations functions. Language in this context stands as a bridge for social reconciliation and also as a bridge that can connect and unite people in Habi Village with their abstract highest entity.