MARRIAGE RITUAL OBJECT AS CULTURAL SIGNS: CONSTRUCTING IDENTITY AND SOCIAL VALUES IN KANGEAN SOCIETY

Abstract

This study examines marriage ritual objects in Kangean society as cultural signs that construct identity and social values through a qualitative ethnolinguistic approach integrated with semiotic analysis. The data consist of key ritual objects observed across four sequential stages of the wedding ceremony, namely pepentaan, akad, resepsi, and kokocoran. The analysis applies a multi-layered semiotic framework (denotation, connotation, and myth) combined with a processual perspective to capture how meaning is produced across ritual phases. The findings reveal that ritual objects do not function as static symbols but as dynamic semiotic resources whose meanings shift according to their temporal and social positioning. At the denotative level, objects reflect structured functional roles aligned with ritual stages; at the connotative level, they encode values such as responsibility, legitimacy, prestige, and solidarity; and at the mythological level, they naturalize cultural ideologies related to marriage, social recognition, and communal participation. This study contributes to semiotic and ethnolinguistic scholarship by highlighting the role of material culture as an active agent in meaning-making and by introducing temporality as a critical dimension in the analysis of cultural signs.