A CORPUS-BASED ANALYSIS OF LEXICAL PATTERNS AND CULTURAL VALUES IN TRADITIONAL MALAY PANTUN
Keywords:
corpus linguistics, pantun, Malay poetry, traditional literature, cultural linguistics, digital humanities.Abstract
Pantun, a traditional Malay quatrain, stands as one of the most enduring cultural and linguistic
expressions in the Malay-speaking world, encapsulating moral wisdom, ecological awareness, and
aesthetic refinement transmitted across generations. This study employs a corpus-based analytical
framework to examine the linguistic structures and cultural meanings embedded in traditional Malay
pantun. The research aims to identify dominant lexical features, collocation patterns, and semantic
domains that define pantun discourse, while interpreting how these linguistic patterns encode and
sustain Malay cultural values and worldview. A specialized corpus of fifty authenticated classical
pantun was compiled from verified public domain sources and analyzed using AntConc 4.0.
Quantitative analysis revealed recurrent lexical clusters associated with natural imagery, interpersonal
harmony, and ethical reflection. Concordance and collocation analyses uncovered systematic
relationships between lexical choice and structural organization, particularly between the sampiran
(introductory couplet) and maksud (message couplet), reflecting metaphorical correspondence central
to pantun aesthetics. These findings demonstrate that pantun operates as a linguistic medium for
articulating ecological sensitivity, moral reasoning, and social cohesion. Methodologically, the study
highlights the value of corpus linguistic approaches in exploring oral poetic traditions, while
contributing to digital humanities initiatives for documenting and preserving intangible cultural heritage
through computational means.
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