Kalau ada jarum yang patah, Jangan disimpan di dalam peti; Kalau ada silap dan salah, Jangan disimpan di dalam hati.
We’ve talked about rhyme. Pantun has this structure that require the end-rhyme to behave in a certain way. If it’s made up of 2 lines, it’s aa, if it’s made up of 4 lines, it’s abab. But, is that all?
Is rhyme the only thing one should consider when constructing pantun?
Obviously the answer is NO. There’s a lot going on in the construction of a pantun. A lot of elements need to be considered and put together in order to produce a pantun worthy of its name.
We’re not gonna talk about all of it now in one shot. So, for now let’s focus on the hidden almost unsaid rules in pantun construction: syllables count.
Syllables ni suku kata. What is suku kata?
Suku kata – satuan (unit) bunyi yang terdiri daripada satu vokal yang (i) didahului atau (ii) diikuti oleh konsonan (atau (iii) didahului serta diikuti oleh konsonan) dan merupakan bahagian daripada sesuatu kata. Syllable – Unit of sound made up of a vowel (i) preceded or (ii) followed by a consonant sound, (or (iii) preceded and followed by consonant sound) and is a part of a word.
The type is summarized below
i. Vokal yang didahului oleh konsonan, KV – ma in ‘makan’
ii. Vokal yang diikuti oleh konsonan, VK – ak in ‘akta’
iii. Vokal yang didahului serta diikuti oleh konsonan, KVK – kan in ‘makan’
If the word is ‘makan’, then it’s made up of 2 syllables, ma + kan that is combination of type i and followed by iii.
But if the word 'makan' received the suffix (imbuhan akhiran) –an, and becomes ‘makanan’, it won’t simply be ma + kan + an. Because that’s not the way we pronounce it (the keyword in the definition is bunyi i.e. sound, not spelling) we will pronounce it as ma/ka/nan therefore it is made up of 3 syllables ma + ka + nan, (i+i+iii) instead of ma + kan + an (i+iii+ii).
Let’s look at the first line of the pantun given earlier.
Ka/lau / a/da / ja/rum / yang / pa/tah = 9 syllables.
But wait. ‘Yang’ is counted as 1 syllable? Yes, because ‘ng’ produced 1 consonant sound, therefore the structure will be that of iii i.e. KVK (y – a – ng)
And ‘kalau’ is counted as 2 syllables ka + lau. Because that’s the way we say it. The a and u in 'kalau' is pronounced continuously in what we called a diphthong. It’s not treated separately. Therefore, they act as a vowel sound ‘au’. Thus the ‘lau’ in ‘kalau’ is of type i i.e. KV (l – au).
*but ‘bau’ (smell) is not counted as 1 syllable. We pronounce the a and u quite separately, i.e. ba/u. therefore it is made up of 2 syllables. But if you pronounce it as bau (bow) then it’s 1 syllable. In this case the combination of a and u is not diphthong, it is just vokal berganding. Again, this thing is based on sound, not spelling. Therefore, you have to try to say the word, in order to count the syllables. The same goes with 'buat' (do) and 'kuat' (strong).
Let’s go to the next line
Ja/ngan / di/sim/pan / di / da/lam / pe/ti = 10 syllables
‘jangan’ is ja/ngan, not jan/gan. Both has 2 syllables, but the latter is incorrectly identified. It will affect the pantun structure if you mismatch the syllables especially when you want to play around with rhyme for example. ‘ng’ in ‘jangan’ works as a consonant sound, thus the ‘ngan’ in ‘jangan’ is of type iii i.e. KVK (ng – a – n)
The thing about pantun is, again, and I can’t emphasize this enough. Pantun begun as an oral tradition. Everything that has to do with pantun structure will be tied to this reason.
Rhyme of the final syllables is important because pantun must be catchy enough, easy to be captured by those who hear it. Because pantun wasn’t written down, this must be done in order to preserve the pantun as much as possible when passed from a person to a person.
But rhyme is not the only thing considered when trying to make pantun more memorable and easier to be passed around orally. Here is where syllables count come into play. For it to be easier to be captured, the pantun should not be too long. Mana ada orang mudah untuk hafal karangan panjang dalam sekali lalu, bukan?
Therefore, observed in the pantun construction is the ‘ideal’ syllables count for each line in the rangkap. There’s minimum and maximum of it. The golden number of syllables will be between 8 – 12. Usually it will be best not to go beyond 10.
Why is this so?
Because if it's too short, it won’t be giving much impact.
But if it’s too long, it will lose its lyrical quality and the reciter will become super-canggung (awkward) when trying to finish a line.
It will also be a good practice to keep the syllables count of the line in pembayang to be equal or at least not too vast a different with its counterpart in the maksud.
Let’s have an example. The number in the parentheses at the end of the line is the syllables count of the line in the rangkap.
Kalau ada jarum yang patah, (9) Jangan disimpan di dalam peti; (10) Kalau ada silap dan salah, (9) Jangan disimpan di dalam hati. (10)
Observe how the first line and the third line has the same syllables count, and the same goes with the second line and the fourth line. These are the lines that should correspond to the same end-rhyme too.
Is it compulsory for the line in the pembayang and its counterpart in the maksud to have the same syllable count?
Tak wajib. No, it’s not compulsory, but it will sound nicer and more balanced and coherent and less canggung if it is made to be that way. The flow of the words will be better. Just imagine if the syllables count of the first 3 lines is 10 syllables, tiba-tiba the fourth line is made up of 16 syllables. Just imagine.
And remember, pantun is not haiku – the syllables per line is not strictly fixed. You can vary the count based on how you want to deliver the pantun.
Pantun with lower syllables count is like more concise and precise blow, an intent to simply make a statement, direct one. Higher syllables count gives an ambiance of persuasion, not in rush to deliver the meaning, and perhaps an intent in explaining.
Here’s two takes of the same pantun with varied syllables count.
Kalau ada jarum patah, (8) Jangan simpan dalam peti; (8) Kalau ada silap salah, (8) Jangan simpan dalam hati. (8)
Kalau ada jarum yang patah, (9) Janganlah disimpan di dalam peti; (11) Kalau ada silap dan salah, (9) Janganlah disimpan di dalam hati. (11)
In the first example, the syllables count for each line is reduced. And each line is made to have the same syllables count. Try to recite the original one and this, what difference could you notice in the manner of delivering the pantun?
Whereas for the second take, it is getting more awkward here, but a pantun nonetheless, and as you can feel when trying to recite this, it has softer tone.
Now, how about this,
Kalau ada jarum yang patah, (9) Jangan disimpan di dalam peti; (10) Kalaulah saya ada sebarang silap dan salah, (15) Jangan disimpan di dalam hati. (10)
Well, it’s still a pantun nonetheless. A different intonation and emphasis must be given to make the previous one works, but it’s valid. Having more the 12 syllables in any line of a pantun won’t be a sin, it just that the number 12 is set to be the max because that’s the range one could recite it with no difficulty and without making the pantun sounds like a common speech.
Because honestly, I technically am allowed to do the following,
Kalau ada jarum yang patah, (9) Jangan disimpan di dalam peti; (10) Kalaulah saya dan ahli keluarga ada sebarang silap dan mana-mana terbuat salah, (29) Jangan disimpan di dalam hati. (10)
ANEH!!!! Baik buat esei je, kan mudah. Tapi boleh sahaja, try hard sikit la kalau berpantun seperti ini. Pantun tu jadi istimewa kerana dapat menyampaikan makna-makna yang ingin dimaksudkan dalam bentuk yang terhad, ringkas, padat dan masih berbunyi padan, cantik dan sesuai. Kalau buat seperti di atas, macam hilang objektif berpantun tu.
So here's the lesson of this story: be sure that you consider the number of syllables per line when constructing pantun. You know it's best when you try to recite it, you feel comfortable.
That's all for now. In summary,
Rhyme in pantun is strictly important.
Syllables count for each line is pretty much important too.
You can vary the number, but preferably keep it in 8 - 12. Nak banyak-banyak kenapa?
To know how many syllables in a word, you have to pronounce it. It's not based on the alphabet (spelling).
In our Facebook page and Instagram account (click the link and follow!!!), we posted a #pantunpopquiz
Well, at a glance (and obviously this post is pretty much jawapan bocor to begin with) the correct answer should be B right? Or is it? Much of the choice must be made based on syllables count (jawapan bocor banyak dah kat atas) but how about the difference in diction? 'kalau' or 'jika'? Interchanging one with the other won't affect the syllables count. So, will it really matter? Will it change anything if the answer to be D?
We will discuss this further in our section Pantun Pop Quiz later. Therefore, stay tuned.