For the sake of everlasting Javanese literature (for the sake of fun tooJ), the blogger wants to share her piece of small cake to Javanese joke-lovers in this first writing for her newly created blog.
Parikan is poetic lines which are made of two sentences. The first sentence is meant for attraction, the second is the content or message to be delivered. Unlike Indonesian pantun which consist of four lines, parikan has only two lines. The poetic side in parikan is made use alliteration and assonance.
Every lines arrangement can be called as Parikan, if it show characteristics as follow:
* Made of two lines, made use of alliteration and or assonance
* Every line has two clauses, between the two clauses is separated with comma
* First line is to draw attention (purwaka); while the message (wosé) is on the second line.
Based on its syllable, parikan can be categorized in:
- Parikan consist of (4 syllables + 4 syllables) x 2
Example:
Mlaku-mlaku, wayah soré (purwaka) (take a walk, in the evening)
wayah turu, kroso luwé (wosé) (when sleeping time comes, feels hungry in sudden)
Tono supe, marang kowe (Tono forget, about you)
Pomo luwe, mangan wae (If you feel hungry, just eat)
Bojo koproh, lanang pisan (the wive is untidy, the husband is just similar)
Ojo goroh, marang liyan (Don’t tell a lie, to others)
2. Parikan which has (4 syllables + 6 syllables) x 2
Example:
Pitik cilik, mlakune awan (purwaka) (a little chick, walk in daytime)
Adhik cilik, senengane mangan (wosé) (little brother, very eager in eating)
Tuku suri, loro sing gak payu (buying a hair comb, two are left unsold)
Uwis wengi, ayo gek ndang turu (it’s already a late night, let’s get to bed immediately)
3. Parikan which has (4 syllables + 8 syllables) x 2
Example:
Iwak pitik, digoreng ing wajan gedhé (purwaka) (chicken fillet, fried in a big pan)
Mergo cilik, angel dicekel bunthuté (wosé) (since it's too small, it’s hard to catch the tail)
Pomo mulih, dieling-eling jajane (If go home, don’t forget to bring snack)
Mowo sugih, becik akeh sedekahe (Since we’re wealthy enough, it’s better to give others)
4. Parikan with (8 syllables + 8 syllables) x 2
Example:
Nang pasar numpak sekuter, kadong numpak keri roké (purwaka)
(go to the market by scooter, forget to wear skirt when already jumped on)
Wong kang rumangsa keminter, tansah cupet pikirané (wosé)
(one who is being clever, is always narrow-minded)
Amben kayu nang sor pager, digawe turu enake
(wooden bed under the fence, very comfortable for sleeping)
Yen kepengen dadi pinter, sinau iku obate
(If you want to be a genious, you must learn a lot)
Pas ngguyu ketok omponge, wong tuwo entek untune
(If you laugh, can be seen toothlessness, getting old means loosing teeth)
Tinimbang akeh omonge, luwih becik meneng wae
(instead of being talkative, much better to keep silent)
However, there are also parikan consist of some syllables which are not mentioned in above categories. There is no specific rules in creating parikan, especially rules regarding the number of syllable allowed. So we can create parikan as we like by referring to characteristics we’ve discussed.
In Javanese literature, Parikan is used to give sensible advise to people by employing very polite but casual language with intention to make the readers not getting irritated. However, in everyday life it’s often used for fun or as a joke.
