Yazintha Astin Lali Kura Pengarang SEBASTIANUS FERNANDEZ Dosen Pembimbing 1 SOLEMAN DAPA TAKA Dosen Pembimbing 2 Sebastianus Fernandez Ketua Penguji Santri Emilin Pingsaboi Djahimo Penguji 2 SOLEMAN DAPA TAKA Penguji 1

This research is entitled “A Semiotic Study of Wulla Poddu Traditional Ceremony in Tarung Village in West Sumba Regency”. The aims of this study are to find out signs/symbols in Wulla Poddu traditional ceremony and describe the meanings of signs/symbols found in Wulla Poddu traditional ceremony based on Roland Barthes’ theory. Wulla Poddu means bitter month or holy month where the society of West Sumba especially in Loli sub-district must run a dozen of rituals and obey some prohibitions in November. To mention some instances like people cannot build a house, cannot mourn and grieve for someone dead, cannot celebrate party, etc. There are seven stages in this traditional ceremony. First stage is tobba wanno, which literally means cleaning the village and the villagers. Second stage is deke kawuku/regga kulla, which means taking a calendar or schedule/welcoming a guest. Third stage is kaleisuna, which means an invitation from rato to all the families and clans of the villagers to come and join the next ceremony. Fourth stage is masussara that means a family gathering in each traditional clan’s house. Fifth stage is mana’a, which means a ritual for asking marapu’s blessings by roasting prayed chicken. Sixth stage is kalangngo, which means an almost end ritual of crazy situation where the participants are getting over excited until seem crazy because of wulla poddu ceremony almost reach the end and it was held very well. The last stage is lulli, which means a prohibition that is announced at the end of kalangngo day by rato for all villagers not to enter their fields in a short time of period. This study used descriptive qualitative method. The data were collected by observing the traditional ceremony and interviewing rato (tribal chiefs) from Tarung village. Then, the data were analyzed by identifying and describing. The result of the study showed that there were fourty-nine signs/symbols, and they consist of twenty-nine sign/symbols in all stages of wulla poddu traditional ceremony and twenty sign/symbols of objects, instrument, or utterances used in wulla poddu traditional ceremony. The signs and symbols have denotative and connotative meanings. This study also showed that the signs/symbols found in wulla poddu traditional ceremony have many deepest meanings in order to ask for a blessing for the villagers. People in Tarung village believe that their marapu (ancestors’ spirit) plays an important role for their life in giving and determining what they need. Keywords: Sign, Symbol, Denotative and Connotative Meaning, Wulla Poddu Traditional ceremony.