Translations of this proverb appear in multiple versions. The modern version (Figure 2) is a Batak-English rendering, allowing the wisdom to reach international readers. The proverb is also written with a Batak interpretation (lapatanna in Batak): “Respectful behaviour (pantun) brings goodness in society; but arrogance brings misery” (Figure 3), which is easier to understand. Each version reframes the same ethical core for different audiences.

 

Figure 2. Umpama with English rendering (Siahaan & Barus, 2022)

 

Historically, this proverb appears in a nineteenth-century manuscript held at Leiden University Library, the Netherlands (Or. 5989), recorded during the colonial-era teaching activities of C. A. van Ophuijsen (1881-1890) in Padang Sidempuan, South Tapanuli, Sumatra (Voorhoeve, 1927). The order is reversed: Tois hamatean, pantun hangoluan. This reversal is not an error, but a meaningful stylistic feature of Batak proverbial discourse. In umpama, reversal does not alter meaning; instead, it reinforces contrast and rhetorical balance. Whether politeness is placed first or pride is foregrounded, the moral relationship between the two poles remains unmistakable. For translation studies, this demonstrates how meaning in Batak proverbs is carried not only by-word order but by parallelism and paired opposition.

 

Figure 3. Umpama with Batak interpretation (Sibarani, 1979)

 

Figure 4. Umpama in Or. 5989, Leiden University Libraries Collection

 

This proverb continues to appear in many social settings. At weddings (pesta unjuk), elders cite it in advice (poda) to remind newlyweds that household harmony depends on mutual respect. In funeral-related gatherings and condolence visits (mangapuli), it reminds those present that good manners outlive material success. In church sermons and public meetings, it reinforces ethical teaching. It is often linked to Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (New International Version). In everyday life, parents instruct children through its recitation.

Translating the word  pantun poses a particular challenge as it does not correspond to the Malay poetic quatrain known as pantun. Kamus Batak Toba defines it as sopan santun, berperangai baik, beradab, beradat, hormat, berbudi bahasa, a complex blend of politeness, ethical conduct, civility, and behaviour grounded in adat (customary law). Rendering pantun simply as “manners” or “politeness” risks reducing it to surface etiquette. In Batak society, pantun is not merely how one behaves, but how one positions oneself ethically within the kinship obligations structured by Dalihan Na Tolu. This system governs interaction through three relational duties: honouring the wife-giver line (somba marhula-hula), cooperating with one’s own clan (manat mardongan tubu), and protecting the wife-taker line (elek marboru). To be pantun is to embody these obligations in speech, posture, and action.

Politeness is not universal. Rather, it varies considerably across cultures in both expression and strategy. Batak directness may sound blunt or confrontational to outsiders, but within Batak norms it often indexes sincerity, honesty, and moral clarity.

The opposite of politeness is tois, commonly translated as pride, arrogance, or haughtiness. Early ethnographic and linguistic work by the Dutch district officer (controleur) Herm. W. Stap (1912) equated tois with na so maradat, behaviour that violates customary norms. Stap’s dictionary documented Batak moral vocabulary and provides early evidence that arrogance was already conceptualized as a social and ethical failure. This highlights the centrality of adat in Malay–Batak culture, exemplified by the maxim Biar mati anak jangan mati adat (let the children lie lifeless, but do not let your customs die) (Hamilton, 1982).

The consequences of tois are not always experienced as literal death (hamatean, from mate, Figure 1). More often they appear as loss/ruin or weakness (hamagoan, from mago, Figure 2), including diminished esteem, weakened communal ties, and reduced social reputation/support which can feel as devastating as physical death.

The repeated melody of ha-…-an (a nominalizing pattern) reflects the parallelism and poetic form which is not always found in Batak proverbs. Thus, following Figure 2 it literally reads:

Pantun hangoluan…“Manner is life.”

Tois hamagoan…“Arrogance is ruin.”

The interlinear translation also reveals the Batak grammar that often omits the verb “is”. Thus, Pantun hangoluan literally reads “Courtesy life”. The relation is understood through juxtaposition, two nouns standing side by side form an equation of meaning. In modern Batak, influenced by Indonesian syntax, speakers often insert the particle do, reflecting a subtle linguistic evolution: a shift from poetic ellipsis to analytic clarity. So, one may hear: Pantun do hangoluan, tois do hamatean. This marks the clarity, illustrating how grammatical change accompanies cultural change.

The ethical nuances encoded in the Batak pantun, shaped by the Dalihan Na Tolu kinship system, are so layered that no single English or Indonesian word can fully represent them in interlinear translation. Likewise, hangoluan encompasses not only biological life but prosperity, generational continuity, and honour, what Batak philosophy often frames as hamoraon, hagabeon, and hasangapon. Translation necessarily selects, narrows, and reformats.

In conclusion, Pantun hangoluan, tois hamagoan is not simply advice about individual behavior but a compact ethical statement about how life is sustained within Batak social relations across generations. Interlinear translation helps make visible how this meaning is organized in language—through pairing, contrast, and compression—while also showing that some dimensions of the proverb remain bound to context, performance, and lived experience. Rather than aiming for final completeness, translation here works as an ongoing interpretive practice that allows Batak wisdom to be read, heard, and re-engaged in new linguistic and cultural settings without losing its orientation toward respect, balance, and social responsibility.

 

References:

Hamilton, A.W. 1982. Malay proverbs. Bidal Melayu. Malaysia: Eastern Universities Press SDN. BHD.

Ophuijsen, van C.A. Between 1881. to 1890. Or. 5989. Netherlands: Leiden University Libraries.

Sibarani, AN Parda. 1979. Umpama Batak dohot lapatanna. Jakarta: Proyek Penerbitan Buku Sastra Indonesia dan Daerah, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.

Simbolon, Apul, Sirait, Bistok, Silitonga, & Mangasa. 1986. Peranan umpasa dalam masyarakat Batak Toba. Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.

Siahaan, Jamorlan & Barus, Asni. 2022. Form, content of umpama and umpasa in Batak Toba language: Study of local wisdom.” TALENTA Conference Series. LWSA Conference Series 05: 51-61

Stap, Herm. W. 1912. Nederlandch-Tobasche Woordenlijst. Uitgaven van het Bataksch Instituut no 8. Netherlands: S. C. Van Doesburgh.

Voorhoeve, Petrus. 1927. Overzicht van de volksherhalen der Bataks. Doctoral thesis. Leiden University. Netherlands: Reproduction from Vlisingen Publisher.