Proverbs are created when people started to observe and understand the nature around them. Proverbs consist of literal meanings and implicated meanings. The way these proverbs have been said, portrays the beauty and smoothness of the language to which the proverbs belong. This research is mainly conducted to distinguish Indian community's intellectual and philosophical abilities in conveying direct and indirect meanings. The theoretical framework used in this research is inquisitive semantics by Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin (2014). This is a qualitative research. The researcher attained 25 datas by interviewing four (4) Indian informants. However, this research acquired only three 3 data in which the image of sugarcane has been used. Finding shows that the Indian community's proverbs are established from their observation towards nature and the Indian community has their own philosophical understanding and also intellectual standards in the creation of proverbs. Actual meanings behind the data used in this research have been successfully decoded using the theory of inquisitive semantics. In a nutshell, this study is highly justifiable as the theory used in this research is a renowned and authoritative theory.
Language is a medium of delivering variety of effective desires. This study examines the Punjabi language used by the Sikhs in Malaysia. The objective of the study is to identify animal elements in the Punjabi figurative language. This study is qualitative. The five animal figurative languages cited by the interview method were analyzed based on the inquisitive semantic approach Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin (2014). The findings suggest that there are some advice through figurative language that incorporates animal elements in his speech. The meanings of the semantic surface mean that it only shows the meaning of a layer. With the inquisitive semantic approach, the findings of the study show the mention of animal elements in the speech of the folklore language of the societal society mixed with irony and have the philosophy of the life of this society. Each figurative language analyzed illustrates the layered meaning that needs to be peered by linking the meanings of the society to the whole of society as well as aspects of their norms and thoughts as well as the actions of their daily life. Studies have also found that these metaphysical utterances are based on observations of their abstract-shaped environment and nature and require careful observation. Finally, it is found that the inquisitive semantic approach that combines the data, theories, the cognition and the philosophy and the minds of a society can reveal the true meaning to be conveyed through this metaphorical language. With the semantics of the script, the meaning of the simplest is known. Then with the semantics of resonance, the mapping of the meaning of this layer is associated with the cognitive of the speaker and ultimately with the inquisitive semantic analysis, a more descriptive meaning can be manifested. The connotation of the meaning can be constructed one by one with three levels of analysis in semantic incuity. The meanings obtained are higher in legality.
In the Chinese community, patriotism had been a strong sentiment, but this sentiment had not been shown openly among the Chinese. Thus, this article aimed to identify the patrotic sentiments of the Chinese community in the Malay poems by applying relevance theory pioneered by Sperber and Wilson (1986). This is a qualitative study. Three poems written by Lim Swee Tin (LST), a famous Malaysian poet were analysed. Poetic lines in the poems that manifested the patriotic sentiments were identified from corpora and they were further analysed with relevance theory. Findings of the study showed that data consisting the patriotic sentiments practised by the Chinese were identified in LST’s poems. The results also showed that there were implicit meanings behind the data analysed and the implied meanings and messages had been found to be in relevance with the values and cultures practised in the Chinese community. Not only that, the study also highlighted the importance of relevance theory in analysing the data as results obtained were more theoretical, academic and of high validity. Thus, the results obtained were not only undisputed, but it also an add-on to the existing facts, understanding and knowledge to the Chinese community particularly on the culture of Chinese community.
The use of proverbs in Iban community illustrates that the community exercise language politeness in giving reproach, advice or insinuation to others. The elements used in the proverbs also reflect and describe the culture of this community by applying their experiences and observations to the environment. This study is conducted to analyze the natural elements in Ibans’ proverbs using inquisitive semantic analysis. This research is based on two objectives, namely listing and identifying Ibans’ proverbs (jaku' sempama) which contain elements of nature in the creation and to analyzing the mind and philosophy of Iban community in the creation of proverbs (jaku' sempama) by using inquisitive semantics as the theoretical framework. The natural elements identified are divided into 4 domains, namely animals, plants, resources or energy, and the universe. This is a qualitative research. Corpus data is gathered and two informants were interviewed. The meanings of the proverbs, the cognitive and the philosophy behind the creation of the proverbs plus the intellects of the Iban community are incorporated to reveal the Iban ingenuity behind the creation of a particular proverb. This study also incorporated knowledge from other areas in giving answers on the use of the natural elements identified in the Iban proverbs. Findings show that there are hidden philosophy behind the creations of the proverbs and this philosophy can be attributed to the culture of the community that behold the proverbs.