Ritual expressions in Rongga and in other languages in Flores and the neighbouring islands are regarded as a 'high' register. In Rongga, they are known as Vera. Vera is in fact a ritual dance (shown in this picture) with ritual poetic language involved. This tradition is endangered now. As seen from the picture, it is generally performed by the old(er) generation.
The structure of ritual language
The ritual forms of the languages in the eastern islands of Indonesia are highly elaborated and structured in formulaic phrases and parallel verses. The Vera ritual forms in Rongga also share the se characteristics. The following are sample verses of the Vera of the history of the Motu clan:
Motu
Meka
ndili
mai,
Weka
ndili
mai
Jawa
name
name
down
come
name
down
come
Java
'The Motu Weka who came here (were) the (Motu) Weka from Java'
Rajo
ngazha
Milo
Motu,
tu
ndele
Sarikondo
boat
call
name
name
land
north
name
'(Their) boat called Milo Motu landed in Sarikondo'
Sarikondo
mosa
me'a,
tei
Motu
stana
mezhe
name
male
alone
see
name
as.big.as
big
'Sarikondo itself was well-known, and the Motu grew big'
Motu
Woe
limazhua,
embu
me'a
Sunggisina
name
friend
seven
grandmother
alone
name
'The Motu were seven brothers, descendents of Sunggisina'
Motu
Woe
limazhua,
beka
sogho
wae
kodhe
name
friend
seven
break
because
water
monkey
'The Motu were seven brothers, but they were split because of fighting for monkey soup'
The following is a different kind of Vera, showing ancient advice:
Lo
resi
mbojo,
mudha
ngata
lima
lua
body
drizzle
tired
luck
person
hand
hair
Weki
resi
semi,
mudha
ngata
lima
lua
body
drizzle
tired
luck
person
hand
hair
'Something hard should be done without thinking of something in return'
The following should be noted from the structure of the Veras shown above. First, each line consists of two parts (separated by a comma in the written fragments above), and each part generally consists of four (or three) two-syllable words. Second, typical are parallel lines repeating words of exactly the same form, e.g. Motu Woe limazhua in the first Vera , and muda ngata lima lua in the second one. Alternatively, the parallel lines may consist of synonymous words, e.g. the expressions of Lo resi mbojo and Weki resi semi in the second Vera both mean the same thing.
RONGGA SONG
Ana Kolo "the Baby Dove"
Click and/or hover your mouse over the line, and when the line turns red you'll hear the sound!
(Do it one line at a time)
"the baby dove, the baby dove, the small baby dove"
"at the sea, at the sea, not at the sea"
"take water, take water, take water in Nangarawa"
"(in) the big bucket, the big bucket, place the white sea snail"
"gouge out the snail, gouge out the snail, gouge out the snail"
