THE SEMIOTIC MEANING OF ANGKA IN THE DEATH CEREMONY OF THE TO LIMOLA SOCIETY IN NORTH LUWU REGENCY
The To Limola society in Sassa Village, Baebunta District, North Luwu Regency has a unique tradition of death ceremonies for their community. This uniqueness can be seen from the provision of special food for traditional leaders named Angka. The traditional food is given as a form of respect to the traditional leaders who have carried out a series of death ceremony activities. In this regard, this study seeks to identify the semiotic meaning of numbers in death ceremonies. This research aims to preserve the traditional identity of the To Limola society so that the younger generation knows the meanings and messages contained in these traditional foods. The research method uses qualitative methods with a semiotic approach from Hjelmslev. Data collection was carried out by interviewing traditional leaders of To Limola society. As a result, Angka as the traditional food of the To Limola society have substance in expression and content aspect. Substances of the expression include chicken eggs (tulu manu), rice cake (walundaka), local chicken (paja), and curved cork fish (tekko). In addition, the substance of the content is in the form of a social context about leadership personality and the realm of thought about openness and confidence. All of these things become one of the identify markers of the To Limola society which is different from other societies.
Semiotic Meaning; Traditional Food; Death Ceremony; the To Limola Society; Language and Culture.