Concept of Metaphysics in Malay Proverbs

Abstract

Malay proverbs began in the form of oral traditions and memorisation before being expanded into written form. Although the expert or creator of the proverb is unknown, the structure of their meaning and formation is very interesting and beautiful and spans various metaphysical concepts. With these characteristics, Malay proverbs are small pieces of products and manifestations of Malay philosophy set against the backdrop of local wisdom. This article (1) explains the structure of metaphysical meaning in Malay proverbs, and (2) discusses the formation of metaphysical concepts in Malay proverbs. 10 proverbs were selected, each representing five metaphysical concepts with a focus on ontology, namely change, reasoning and experience, cause and effect, natural law and space and time. The meanings of all the proverbs are sourced from Kamus Istimewa Peribahasa Melayu Edisi Kedua compiled by Abdullah Hussain (1989). This article finds that in expressing the metaphysical concept, the structure of its meaning is systematic, subtle, unique and has parallelism with expressions and rhymes. The diversity of metaphysical concepts in the proverbs is shaped by the understanding, wisdom and high intellect of the expert or creator of the proverbs in interaction with reality and the existence of nature. This is revealed through the existence of various concepts, such as change, ‘priori’ and ‘posteriori’ in reasoning and experience, corollaries in cause and effect, constant relationships in the laws of nature, as well as order and movement in space and time. However, the next question is how the formation of the concept of Malay metaphysics was carried out and why its existence seems to be unnoticed and uncared for? Future studies need to pay attention to this concept by tracing the master that connects metaphysics in proverbs with other pieces of products and manifestations of Malay philosophy in a clear mapping framework so that its existence is felt and its importance is appreciated. 

Keywords: Malay philosophy, Malay metaphysics, ontology, proverbs, semantics, pragmatics