Niramon Suwangard
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Regulations, Prohibitions and
Beliefs in Laʋɨəʔ Poems:
the Ləsɔm ˀlɛ
The Ləsɔm ˀlɛ oral poetry of the Laʋɨəʔ
people especially of Ban Papae is now moribund although it used to be an
important oral transmission through which culture has been shared. It
functioned in the Laʋɨəʔ
tradition as norms for social responsibilities. The traditions and customs were
transmitted to young Laʋɨəʔ
through the poems sung in Laʋɨəʔ
funeral rites which were the most important selected ceremony. Thus, the paper
aimed to disseminate its folklore’s value, especially the Laʋɨəʔ
Regulations, Prohibitions and beliefs that can be traced from the contents of
their oral poems; and to stimulate young Laʋɨəʔ
awareness of their ancestors’ wisdom which, at least, may enhance their self-
esteem, identity and ethnicity, and encourage them to revive the Ləsɔm ˀlɛ. The Ləsɔm ˀlɛ contents are courtship words
strewn over ways of life: marriage, death, rituals, folklore and belief.
Beliefs concerned regulations for the Laʋɨəʔ,
prohibitions for a wife and a husband, young couple to practice, beliefs in
ways of cultivation, causes of illness and ways to cure, death and spirits.
These beliefs implied the tricks of having qualified living, holing ritual
ceremonies, and putting measures for agriculture and protecting deforestation.
Bibliography
Freeman, Magaret H. (2003). “Poetry and the scope of
metaphor: Towards a cognitive theory of literature”, in: Antonio Barcelona
(ed.), Metaphor and metonymy at the crossroads: A cognitive Perspective.