Semantic Analysis of River Fauna in Banjarese Proverbs, South Kalimantan, Indonesia

Banjarese people live in South Kalimantan Indonesia. Basically, the Banjar culture is inseparable from the river because the river and lowland or swamp environments influence the development of Banjarese culture. Banjarese people perform many activities in the river, such as trading foods, transportating people and stuff, cultivating crops, etc. Various river based activity is a source of livelihood to support daily life. Hence, Banjarese culture, including Banjarese proverb, is associated with the river. This study aims to describe how the fauna in the river and swamp environment contribute and inspire the birth of Banjar proverbs. This research used descriptive method, a method which seeks to explain the data carefully as what was recorded from observation, informant interviews, and document. Data analysis processes use content analysis method (content analysis). The results of the study were described as follows: (i) faunas of the river environment that contribute to the formation of Banjarese proverbs include moluscs, fishes, reptiles, birds, and mammals; (ii) river fauna words/phrases that became part of the sentence in Banjarese proverbs including timpakul (The mudskipper), bakut (The marble goby), baung (The two-spot catfish), saluang (Rasbora), hundang (The shrimp), haruan (The striped snakehead), and pupuyu (The climbing perch); (iii) reptile word/phrases that became part of the sentence in Banjarese proverbs are tadung (The cobra), buhaya (The crocodile), bidawang (The flatback sea turtle), and kukura (The Bornean river turtle); (iii) bird word/phrases that became part of the sentence in Banjarese proverbs including itik japun (The duck), balibis (whistling duck), buak (The brown hawk-owl), and buburak (The Javan pond heron); (iv) swamp animal words/phrases that became part of the sentence in Banjarese proverbs including siput (The snail), hadangan (The buffalo), and pilanduk (The mouse-deer); (v) rice field fauna words/phrases that became part of the sentence in Banjarese proverbs including tikus (the mouse), baringkatak (Common toad), and haruan (The striped snakehead). All the phrases or words that became part of the sentence in the proverb describe river fauna life and behavior to make an analogy of life and Banjar human nature.