Sanjak (Aceh)

Sanjak is derived from the Arabic word *sajʿ*, meaning rhymed prose (Djajadiningrat (II) 1932:664; Drewes 1979:4). In Acehnese, however, it refers to a type of narrative poetry regarded as an indigenous Acehnese poetic form.

A sanjak has no stanzas and does not belong to the category of metrical verse. It is an iambic poem, with stress placed on the final syllable of each metrical foot in a line (Hurgronje 1906 (II):74). A line is called an ayat because, in manuscripts, the text is usually written continuously, in the same manner as the verses of the Qur'an. In later developments, however, some texts were written by separating the two half-lines.

Each line consists of eight metrical feet, with four feet in each half-line. Each foot contains two or three syllables.

Rhyme, or sound correspondence (Acehnese: pakhôk), occurs within the half-line, where the final syllable of the fourth foot rhymes with the final syllable of the sixth foot. In addition, the final syllable of each line (the eighth foot) rhymes with that of the following line. Typically, the endings of all lines share the same rhyme.

The number of syllables in a line generally ranges from 16 to 20 syllables, most commonly 16, 18, or 20.