Page 190 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

As shown in Figure 2, the relationship between Gamkonora language and Wayoli
language is significant (74% similarity of basic vocabulary). This is similar to the degree
of relatedness between Gamkonora and Sahu (72% similarities of basic vocabulary). If
the Sahu language is split into two dialects; Sahu Sahu-Talai and Sahu-Pa’disua, then the
Gamkonora language is closer to Sahu-Pa’disua (73% similarity vocabulary) than to Sahu-
Tala’i with only has 70% vocabulary similarity.
The reltionship between Gamkonora and Waioli is closer than with either Sahu Tala’i
or Pa’disua because Gamkonora and Waioli are in the same language group with the basic
vocabulary similarities by 74%. It can be concluded that Gamkonora and Waioli belong to
one language group with two dialects as well as those between Gamkonora and Sahu. It’s
just that the relationship between Waioli and Sahu is closer than the relationship between
Gamkonora and Sahu, especially with Sahu-Pa’disua. But the kinship of Sahu language
with language groups of Ternate-Tidore is far enough. From the chart made by Grimes and
Grimes, it is known that vocabulary similarities between Ternate and Sahu language are
only 55% as well as the kinship between Ternate and Waioli language that is only 55% while
the kinship between Sahu and Tidore languages is further because it has only 48% basic
vocabulary similarities. The question is why Sahu language of Padi’sua dialects is more
closely related to Gamkonora language. This is dealt with below.
The use of the figure proposed by Grimes and Grimes is helpful to explore degrees of
language relatedness. It can help explain why Waioli speakers can understand Gamkonora
and vice versa. Waioli and Gamkonora language speakers can also speak the Sahu language
because both of them are dialects of Sahu.
Thus, the description by using the chart proposed by Grimes and Grimes as mentioned
above is very useful for demonstrating degrees of relatedness between the languages in
Halmahera whether from the same group or from different groups.

Dolabolo and Pantun: Between Austronesian and non-Austronesian
Both bolabolo and pantun are oral poetic genres in Gamkonora culture. The Gamkonora
language is a part of Sahu language group or sometimes written as Savu. In Indonesia,
dolabololo and pantun are identical. However, in Gamkonora, the two are distinguished.
Dolabololo uses the Ternate language while pantun uses Ternate Malay. Dolabololo is an
oral genre which deals with values and it is a form of advice. Pantun, on the other hand,
deals with romance. Dolabololo is expressed in two forms which are in the same direction
and reciprocity while pantun is only expressed in the form of reciprocity.

190 Chapter 4

MELANESIA BOOK FA LAYOUT 051216.indd 190 2/10/17 2:10 PM