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SASAK 661
occupation. In the mountainous and more arid regions, some dry field and shifting
cultivation occurs. The southern part is so dry that no irrigated rice can be grown,
and it is here that recurrent food shortages occur.
The Sasak language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian family and is closely
related to Javanese and Balinese. The language has high, middle and low levels,
the usage of which relates to the ranking system (sometimes called the caste
system) and the relative ages of the persons conversing. A person in the lower
ranking system, or younger in years, will use the higher level when addressing
and speaking about a person higher in caste or older than himself; the older
person, or one of higher rank, will use the lower level of vocabulary when
speaking to or about a younger, or lower-ranking person.
The Sasak are divided into two groups: the more numerous Waktu Lima, who
tend to be located in the plains and near roads and towns; and the Waktu Telu,
located in the more marginal areas. Waktu Lima Sasak are more involved with
production for market and with the cash economy in general than are the Waktu
Telu, who are geographically, economically and culturally more isolated. Both
are Muslim, but the Waktu Lima are more orthodox, while the Waktu Telu are
more syncretistic and traditional.
Waktu Telu villages are physically different from those of the Waktu Lima.
In the former there is greater uniformity of house style as well as the presence
of rice storehouses, which are not present in Waktu Lima villages, because the
latter sell their rice and do not store it. Waktu Lima villages have marketplaces,
orthodox-style mosques and madrasas.
The Sasak have a ranking system of aristocrats and commoners which crosscuts
ethnic and village boundaries. Not all of these ranked levels occur in every
village, some of which may have only commoners; both Waktu Lima and Waktu
Telu villages may have aristocrats. Caste regulates marriage, ritual position and,
in some villages, occupation and acquisition of political office, especially in
villages in which there is an aristocracy.
Kinship systems are bilateral with a tendency to stress certain groups of
kinsmen in the male line in terms of rights and obligations, such as provision
of the brideprice. Marriage regulations differ between Waktu Lima and Waktu
Telu. The Waktu Telu consider cross-generational marriage between kinsmen
(between parent's child and parent's sibling) to be incestuous. Waktu Lima do
not prohibit such marriages. Marriages between first, second or third cousins is
preferred. In some villages, land is inherited by sons only, while in others
daughters may inherit one out of every three shares.
Waktu Telu and Waktu Lima differ in their religious beliefs, practices and
values. For the Waktu Telu, these beliefs and rituals are acquired through the
process of socialization, as a Sasak is a Waktu Telu through community and
family membership and is considered to be related to the ancestors and other
local supernaturals through birth or marriage. Although one cannot become a
Waktu Telu through conversion and study, one may become a Waktu Lima in
this manner. Waktu Telu tend to be traditional and do not rigorously observe