An Ethnographic Study of Blessing Chants in the Wrist-tying Ritual among the Yor Ethnic Group in Ban Kok Kok

Abstract

This research article aimed to examine the characteristics of communication situations in the wrist-tying ritual of the Yor ethnic group at Ban Kok Kok and to analyze the meanings and roles of arm-tying expressions as oral literary texts of the Yor ethnic group in Ban Kok Kok. This qualitative study collected data from documentary research, ritual observation, and in-depth interviews with 15 key informants, including local scholars, elders, community leaders, and ritual specialists. The data were analyzed based on Dell Hymes’ ethnography of speaking framework using the eight components of the SPEAKING model, together with an analysis of the meanings of the texts from linguistic and cultural perspectives. The findings revealed that the arm-tying ritual is a cultural communication event in which setting, participants, purposes, sequence of acts, tone, channel, norms, and genre are systematically interrelated. The ritual is performed in the host’s home on important occasions, including Bun Samha, which is associated with cleansing the household and promoting auspiciousness. The arm-tying expressions are Yor dialectal texts with semi-poetic characteristics, featuring repetition, rhyme, soul-calling expressions, and blessings. They reflect beliefs about the soul, provide encouragement, express wishes for prosperity, and convey love, social bonds, and unity among community members. Therefore, arm-tying expressions are not merely words accompanying a ritual but cultural texts that transmit the language, beliefs, local wisdom, and ethnic identity of the Yor community.