ETHNOLINGUISTIC AND ETHNOBOTANICAL DOCUMENTATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS AMONG MALAY COMMUNITIES IN ACEH TAMIANG REGENCY

Abstract

This study aims to document ethnolinguistic lexicons and ethnobotanical knowledge of medicinal plants among Malay communities in Aceh Tamiang Regency, Indonesia, and to examine their significance for cultural sustainability and biodiversity conservation. Employing a qualitative ethnographic approach integrated with quantitative ethnobotanical analysis, data were collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, ethnolinguistic documentation, and botanical identification involving traditional healers, elders, and knowledgeable community members. Ethnolinguistic data were analyzed thematically to identify naming patterns and semantic categories, while ethnobotanical importance was assessed using Use Value (UV) and Informant Consensus Factor (ICF). The findings reveal that the findings indicate that Malay communities in Aceh Tamiang Regency utilize a wide range of plant species for traditional medicinal purposes. These plants are commonly sourced from home gardens, agricultural fields, forest edges, and riverine environments. From an ethnolinguistic and phonological perspective, the articulation of medicinal plant lexicons in the Malay language is largely dominated by consonantal phonemes, notably /l/, /k/, /p/, /b/, /s/, /c/, /n/, /t/, and /d/. From an ethnolinguistic perspective, medicinal plant nomenclature is dominated by polymorphemic lexical structures (27 taxa), followed by monomorphemic forms (13 taxa) and a single phrasal category. It was concluded that the study provides a comprehensive ethnolinguistic and ethnobotanical documentation of medicinal plants among Malay communities in Aceh Tamiang Regency. The integration of linguistic analysis and ethnobotanical indices reveals the richness of traditional medicinal knowledge and its significance for cultural sustainability and biodiversity conservation.