The Agency in Apology in Toraja Language

Abstract

In the previous researches of apology show that the agent who responsible in doing the act of apology is the speaker. This research aims to find out the agent who is responsible
in succeeding the act of apology in Toraja Language. This research was conducted in various sub-districts in North Toraja. Since this is an ethnic study where the researcher has to dig into one’s culture, it is classified as an ethnograpy study. By doing participant observation, indepth interview with the experts and recording in about a year, the data are collected. The data are analyzed by using ethnograpic analysis that is domain analysis, taxonomic analysis and componential analysis. By not only looking at their denotational text that is linguistic analysis but also their interactional text, the actual social relations in each interactions can be found. The result of this study shows that Torajans apologize by using the word ‘tabe"(pardon), using various disclaimer such as ‘tomatua’ (old person) and ‘to pangkambi’/to manglaa’ (young shepherd), asking the addressee to fix speaker’s mistake(s)in ‘ia ke den salana na kamu mora umpakaloloi’ and forbidding the addressee to keep the mistake in their heart ‘da’ta banni ma’diong ba’teng/da’ta banni inaata malua’. In those apologies, the speaker/addresser only says the apology but in terms of responsibility, it is not his or hers but the addressee’s responsibility. Therefore, it can be concluded that the agent who is responsible in succeeding the act of apology is not the speaker but the addressee.