Wolio Proverbs as a Local Knowledge System: A Cultural Linguistic Study of Community Resilience and Sustainable Development
Firman Alamsyah Mansyur

Universitas Muhammadiyah Buton

Abstract

This paper analyzes Wolio proverbs as a local knowledge system that plays a role in shaping community resilience and sustainable development orientation from a cultural linguistics perspective. This study aims to (1) describe how Wolio proverbs related to the hierarchy of values, work, caution, boundaries, and justice represent local knowledge about resilience and sustainability of life- and (2) explain how the ecological metaphors and imagery within them frame the way communities understand risks, environmental disasters, and social challenges. The study uses a qualitative method based on content analysis of the Wolio proverb corpus, with thematic coding and conceptual metaphor studies within a cultural linguistics framework. The findings show that Wolio proverbs establish a hierarchy of values that places religion, custom (sara), and community (lipu) above individual interests and wealth, thus serving as a moral compass when the community faces crises. Proverbs about hard work, managing wealth, and delaying gratification emphasize the importance of economic sustainability, discipline, and long-term planning. Ecological metaphors that utilize water, rain, floods, tides, the sea, mountains, and coral reefs represent how the community interprets uncertainty, risk, and the consequences of decisions. Consequently, Wolio proverbs can be read as a strategic archive of local knowledge for educational development, strengthening community resilience, and formulating sustainable development policies that are sensitive to cultural context

Keywords: Wolio proverbs, community resilience, local knowledge, ecological metaphors, sustainable development

Topic: Social and Cultural Dimensions in Coastal Cities