:: Studying Literature - Ariya Cam Bani

Ariya Cam Bani is a popular literature I think, because I’ve heard about this ariya before but never have a chance to read it. Actually I dun know how to read before..hihihi... The Cams use the terminology “Bani” to refer to the earlier Islamic influence in Campa kingdom. We can divide it into two meanings for the nowadays understanding, but please notify that this is juz my personal perspective – First group is the “Bani Cam” group. They think that “Bani” means “religion” which hooked to the orthodox Islamic practice. Eg: they do believe in Allah and Muhammad, performing solah, fasting, and also doing hajj, but it’s only the elders who fulfill the religious orders (in their ways) to represent the whole villagers in one village. Ok, enough about that because I dun know their ritual. The second group is the “Muslim Cam” group. This group is fully pure Muslim, and their practices are based on the holy Quran and hadith. I’m in this kind of group. Well, this group knows about the “Bani Cams” and how they practice but the Muslim Cams use the terminology “tamâ Bani” to refer to the mualaf (the person who convert himself into Islam). Huhh..it’s a bit debatable here as the right word should be “”tamâ Islam” not “tamâ Bani”. “Bani” doesn’t bring any meaning of “religion” or “Islam”. “Bani” is actually an Arabic word which means “Son”/“Anâk”. Dun believe me? Get an Arabic dictionary and search “Bani / Bin".

Enough for the introduction, now let’s head to the content of this ariya. Honestly, I dun really understand what is this literary writing is about. I know it is not a straight-forward poetry but symbolic instead. However, I don't know how to clarify what were the symbols symbolized. I can’t really classify whether the narrator was in the first person point of view or the third person point of view. I also cannot able to figure out the plot, I don’t know which part was the climax, and I don’t understand the ending. The writer put in the dialogue element, causing me a big problem because I cannot detect the speech belonged to whom. Thus, I can’t figure out the characteristic of the main characters in this ariya.

What do I understand is that this ariya is about a girl who was in love with a guy, who’s a Bani Cam but they dun get their families blessing, due to the different religion. Have U ever heard about “Romeo & Juliet”...or “Laila Majnun”? Their feeling towards each other is someway somehow alike to both Laila and Majnun. Laila is like a princess, while Majnun is just an ordinary guy. Majnun (Arab) = crazy / gila. This ariya is challenging as the usage of the language is awesome. Besides, I don’t know “love” words or expressions in my language, daddy never taught me. If not because of this ariya, I’ll never know what is “passion” or “darling” for the rest of my life. Hmm..I prefer to be frank. I found out that many literary devices applied in this ariya – the monologue, dialogue, hyperbole, foreshadow, poetic words, idioms...making the storyline hard to be understood. I studied the craftsmanship in the ariya myself, and I dun exactly know what I was doing! It took me one month to study, yet, I'm still not able to fully understand it. Too many strong words I never heard..headache! Below is the result:

- ELEMENTS OF THE ARIYA -

Speaker/ Persona

It seemed to be a dialogue between a guy and a girl.

Guy: “Mayut dreh yau ni aey haleng”. Haleng is girl darling.

Girl: “Kau huec kanda pacei puec suei”. Pacei refers to a beloved guy.

Setting

(1) Background Setting

:: The girl’s house – “Sang suer mariah siam ndei”

:: The guy’s bedroom – “Tamâ tel duk cei ndih”

:: A path in a bush – “Rimaong daok pagrang di krâh jalan”

:: A tree – “Ala phun hara tattey rambah”

:: A forest (?) – “Ka than kau rimbah mai daok di glai”

(2) Time Setting

:: Night – “Malam ndih sa tuk min wer”

:: Afternoon – “Amâ amaik patey kau di pandiak”

Themes

:: Love and Passion between both guy and girl is the main theme.

:: Sacrifice is another theme. The girl was willing to abandon her family and against the tradition for her beloved guy.

:: Antagonism showed by the girl’s parents when her mother beat her hard when she knew the affair.

Motif

:: Love

:: Craze

:: Enthusiasm

:: Belief and tradition

Tone & Mood

:: Sad and gloomy.

Structure & Style

:: This ariya is a symbolic poem.

:: Rhyme scheme:

(1) ab, bc, cd, de, ef....

Ni ariya sa-ai ngap (a)

Panâh ba tabiak, piéh ka ra peng,, (b)

Mayut dreh yau ni aey haleng (c)

Kau ngap blaoh padeng, dom ayamân,, (d)

Anit saong ranam klaoh prân (e)

Haké hu damân mbeng saong anguei,, (f)

Kau huec kanda pacei puec suei (g)

Klak kau matuei luai pacalah,, (h)

Kau o klak nai ah (i)

Kau huec calah yua amaik amâ,, (j)

Haley tian kau praong lo ka hâ (k)

Amaik saong amâ kau ndua sa gah (l)

(2) Parallelism (?)

Ni ariya sa-ai ngap,

Panâh ba tabiak piéh ka ra peng,,

Mayut dreh yau ni aey haleng,

Kau ngap blaoh padeng dom ayamân,,

:: Poetic Devices:

(1) Antagonist characteristic showed by the girl’s family.

“Inâ pacalah kau di pacei"

(2) Dialogue

“Cei ley kau biai yau ni baik ah, than drei rambah o bik payau” – She talked to him.

“Adei ley amaik amâ ké thau, kau ciip ndua maluw gep gan ra klao” – He talked to her.

(3) Monologue

“Aey juk gila o dreh yau urang”

(4) Hyperbole

“Raiy rup dahlak yaom ndae candiéng”

(5) Object Imagery – ciéw, kajang, ba-ar, hahuei; Color Imagery – Mâriah.

(6) Anthropomorphism

“Tamia di mblang sa drei pabaiy”

(7) Metaphor

“Huak oh tamâ ndih jang oh wer”

(8) Foreshadow

“Mâyah lac mâtai, ndih sa lubang”

(9) Simile

“Pajaih nai pajaih ciim heng”

(10) Repetition

“Anit saong ranam praong lo, likau dher di Po taom sa anih” ... “Anit saong ranam praong lo, likau dhar di Po drep o salih”

(11) Symbolism

“Sang suer inâgaray kaong dar” – Huge house symbolizes wealth and riches.

(12) Assonance

“Cakaong baong kanai ba nao” …”amaik amâ batuk éw mai tanyi”

(13) Alliteration

“Dahlak daok gandeng blaoh lua tamâ” …”sa-ai sait paga blaoh nao talaih”

(14) Anaphora

“Cuh aem kanai biak ligaih"…“Cuh aem amaik amâ o laow” …”Cuh aem kanai biak ndang”

(15) Responsi

“Cakong mai pajaik nyaom aia mariak” …”Cakong mai pajaik blaoh buh limaow"

* Dahlak copy mângaok copy min ariya ni..biak dahlak hawing saong hadom abaoh panuec dalam ni wak oh sa jalan wak. Pagep : “ra”, “hâ”, “o” wak saong “balau” ngan oh hu “balau”...”ranem” ngan “dher”...mâda kanain wak hu “paoh thek”, kanain krei wek oh hu. Akhar “Mâk” “Mak” ngan..“rambah” “rimbah”....?

:: Cam Scripts

“If U don’t know your past, U will be like a leaf that doesn’t know it is a part of a tree” – quoted from The Little Nyonya drama series. U are standing alone outside there, U know U were from “some” families with some meticulous tradition inherited by your great ancestors. U were forced, or perhaps U forced yourself to accept a set of laws from the ancestors, without any doubts or uncertainties. Let me give one simple example; U know that babies are not able to pronounce clearly like the adults do. I have a cousin, she’s so close to our family and she usually spends her time with us, she is nearly four years old. She likes to eat “xôi” but she pronounces it “hoi”, she wants to “ma-ik” but she pronounces it “njâk”, she wants me to “ngak” some cake but she pronounces it “nyak”. When she wanted to say “pandik tangin” she pronounced “ndik ngin”. Wht were the consequences resulted in our families’ communication since she started to pronounce? Even she is not living with me, my mother prefers “hoi” than “xoi”. Her mother prefers “manjâk” than “ma-iuk”. Even “ma-iuk” was the first phase of mispronounce. We like to mimic her because she’s so adorable and cute when she pronounces the words that way. I believe this situation happens all along the ages, since the prehistoric era. As time passes by; days by days, years by years, the “mispronounce” terminologies become familiar and be a heritage from generation to generation, time to time. Because U don’t know your past, that makes U think that what U’re doing at the moment is THE RIGHT ONE. That's for the pronunciation. The same thing happened to the writing. The peoples of Campa became separated due to the chaotic commotion of the war in Campa Kingdom, plus, we left our past behind. Yet, this situation made us to do whatever we thought right, including the forms of writing. Nowadays we are living without leaders. That explains why there are so many kinds of writing; everybody claims he's right, he learns Cam language so many years, and nobody listen to each other. Study showed that the Barbarian people developed Lin-Yi. We know that Barbarians are egoistic, rough and stubborn. We inherited that kind of genes. Did U ever thought why Campa was an Indianize kingdom while it was located near to China? Keep brainstorming your minds.

I would like to quote some words from my teacher, he said “Cam language is contaminated. The usage, whether, in speaking or writing, is baseless. We get the language from our parents instead of having a class. It is bad when we set a class with confidence but lack of information. This situation getting even worse when the Cams mingle with other races, creating a mix-language scenario, which this matter leads us to the worst position that is we can no more recognize who we are”. He said it that way because he is a Muslim; he saw that the Muslim communities “learning Cam language” wrongly. Ooopss, do U have any better word to be used instead of that “wrongly” terminology? Perhaps "not really correct" ...? I know many of us are inconvenient with this accusation. I beg for your forgiveness, but please do open the eyes widely, and plz do have a bit of interest to think what I’ve written in this blog. I have no other intentions, it's juz because I love my nation so much, even more I am a Muslim(ah). I hope that the Muslim Cams are well-educated. And the first thing to be educated is that our own mother-tongue language.

I have nor mean neither right to force all the Cams to shift their native language pronunciations. U can pronounce as please as U want because dialects create a very unique state of communication. Undeniably, dialects also form a situation we can’t understand each other even we use the same language. Some of us are “smart" enough saying that communicate in English is a way for us to comprehend each other globally. What a funny statement!

Let's head to the main content of the post:

:: Arabian Language ::

:: Malay Language ::

1) Rumi Malay:

B C D F G H J K L M N P Q R S T V W X Y Z :: A E I O U

2) Jawi Malay:

:: Cam Language ::

1) Rumi Cam:

K Kh G Gh Ngâ Ng C Ch J Jh Nyâ Ny Nj T Th D Dh Nâ N Nd P Ph B Bh Mâ M Mb Y R L W S H :: a ao ai ia i o e u ua ue au â é ei:: A I U É Ai O.......errrkk..I dun think I’ve listed all of them...

2) Huruf Cam (some of 'em):

What I’m tryin to say here is that we cannot Latinized the Cam Language by refer to English/ Malay Language. So, start to learn the Akhar Thrah ok! U will never find the way to the best Rumi Cam if U dun learn Akhar Thrah (actually it’s Akhar Srah in my tounge..).... ^_^ .. So do the Huruf Cam, yes it is Arabic style but not like the Arabian Language, or the Jawanese Language. That’s why it’s not called Jawi Cam, but Huruf Cam instead!

How did these tables come out? Sure it’s not my theory. I used the Etienne Aymonier Dictionary, referred to my teacher’s paper work, and also asked help from brother for Huruf Cam font. I’ve checked the entries, but maybe there will be some mistakes I’ve missed. If I’m right do follow me, but if I’m wrong do correct me... hmm... if U dun know whether I'm right or wrong do email me at abidahmajid@yahoo.com.my.. ^_^ ..

1) The Rumi and Huruf Cam transcription may a bit different from the Akhar Cam. Dun ask me why, I dun have the answer. Try to ask the experts if U want to get a piece of their minds.

For example:

:: Nduec – if it is directly transcript into Rumi Cam, it will be nduaec.

:: Dhan – had been added the letter “alif” in Huruf Cam while there is no “balau” in Akhar Cam...both alif and balau resemble the sound “aaa”.

Nduec, taluic, prac, krac...all these words are pronounced with the letter “k” at the end..like taluic = taluik. BUT, never ever make a conclusion that C = K in Cam language ok! "Njep" and "hagait" is also pronounced with the letter 'k' at the end.

2) Learning languages is not like learning Mathematics or Physics. Language is an art, it is beauty and unique the way it is. I dun think language exists with formulaes. Perhaps it does but the rules aren’t applied to every word.

For instance :

~English Language~

:: C = prounounced as K – crisis, close, cancer

..But...some of...

C = pronounced as “S” – certificate, cancer

:: Ch = pronounced as “Chhh” – change, chapter, chill

..But...some of...

Ch = pronounced as K – cholesterol, chrysanthemum, character

Ch = also pronounced as “Shh” – Chalet, chandelier

So do the alphabet “a” ...sometimes it will be pronounced as “é” like in “character = kérékter”,,,but the “a” is pronounce as “aaa” in “ultra”.

That is why I dun really agree when we spell it "Champa", while in Cam language it is spelled with the letter "C" not "Ch". Emm...I know that we try to make the Whiteman pronounce it as "Campa" instead of "camp-a/kampa" but the question is "are the Cams know the spelling of their own country yet?". We should think of our people first, after then the others. Dun busy yourself about thinking of the others' pronunciation, while your own people get the false facts. I dun think the word "Champa" exists in Cam language (is it..?). Either, plz dun forget to consider the examples I've juz given up.

So what is our past actually? Although some of us are Muslim for hundred years already, admit that our past was a framework of the Hinduism influence. We ended up to be the Hindus and got the Akhar Thrah then. Our language had been put in progress through that kind of script, we pronounced and then we wrote in Indian-base script. Some of us converted into Islam and using the Arabian-base script, note that using this kind of script isn’t a mistake, only if U refer to the Akhar Thrah. Only after we accept our past, we will stop inflaming each other by then. Believe me, there’s no other way out...

...except if U are willing to examine ALL of the Cam scripts; the Huruf Cam forms in Angiang, the Huruf Cam form(s) in Cambodia, the Akhar Cam forms in Panduranga, the Akhar Cam the Jaheds use..and don't forget the Cam-France Dictionary..and many more that beyond my knowledge. Try to examine, if U are bold enough (yes, this is a challenge), afterwards make your own conclusion. I bet U will change what had put U into habit. That was what happened to my teacher. He is a Muslim from Chau Doc, but he's good in Akhar Thrah. At then he detected how chaotic the Huruf Cam the Muslim Cams use. Now he is trying to apply the Akhar Thrah system into the Huruf Cam's. But the major obstacle he will face is that the Cams do not know their past.

* Out of topic

For the people who are out of Malaysia, it’s so EASY to learn Malay language if U understand the EFEO Rumi well. Each Malay word is pronounced JUST THE SAME like we pronounce Cam words. Eg: Lapei – Mimpi – Dream. “Mimpi” is pronounced as mim-pi ....jeh wak yau ni: Mak + takai Kik tut mâk + Pak + takai Kik matai.

Conclusion:

1) Learn Cam language in Cam SCOPE, not in English or any other languages..include the Malay's.

2) Language can’t be learnt like U do in numerical subjects because it is an art. Thus, do examine the artistic values in the languages U learn, only then U’ll find the formulae – it is THE UNDERSTANDING.

3) Find a way to trace your past.

4) Cam: “Parandap hagait kung njep, panjep hagait kung randap”

Malay: “Biasakan yang betul, betulkan yang biasa”

English: “Habituate right things, do rightly habitual things”.

Vocabulary:

xôi (VN) = search google

ma-ik = kencing, pee

ngap = buat, do

pandik = sakit, hurt

tangin = tangan, hand