THE CONSTRUCTION OF SEMANTIC FIELDS IN THE BABARITAN TRADITION OF MUKTIJAYA VILLAGE CILAMAYA KULON DISTRICT

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the people of Muktijaya Village, Cilamaya Kulon
District, Karawang Regency, West Java Province, construct semantic fields in the Babaritan
tradition. This study views meaning as a relational system created by links between lexemes within
certain cultural domains. It is based on lexical semantics, specifically the theory of semantic fields.
The data were gathered using a qualitative descriptive-analytical methodology using field
observations, community member interviews, and recording of spoken speech related to the
Babaritan ceremony. Finding lexical units and grouping them into semantic fields that appear before
to, during, and following the ritual are the main goals of the analysis. The results show that a number
of dominating semantic fields, such as ritual-religious, agrarian, social solidarity, and ecological
fields, shape the Babaritan heritage. Lexical items like hajat bumi, sedekah, ngumpul, pare, and
sawah represent preliminary phases and agrarian values prior to the ceremony. Terms like doa,
baritan, liwet, tumpeng, and tolak bala, as well as Sundanese phrases like ngariung and syukuran,
highlight holiness and thankfulness during the event. Lexical options like berkah, wilujeng, rame,
silih asah, and silih asih signify social peace and the strengthening of communal ties following the
ritual. These results show that semantic fields serve as a language mechanism for creating,
preserving, and passing down cultural meanings to future generations. This work contributes to
semantic field studies based on real cultural practices within a glocal linguistic context and
emphasizes the function of language in maintaining local wisdom.