DOI: https://doi.org/10.14710/parole.v16i1.1-14

The Diachronic Use of the Word ‘Halal’ in Republika.co.id: A Corpus-Based Analysis (2010–2022)

1Universitas Gadjah Mada,, Indonesia

2Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia

Received: 8 Mar 2026; Revised: 26 Mar 2026; Accepted: 27 Mar 2026; Available online: 1 Apr 2026; Published: 1 Apr 2026.
Open Access Copyright (c) 2026 PAROLE: Journal of Linguistics and Education under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.

Citation Format:
Abstract

The expanding use of the word halal in Indonesian has become a prominent phenomenon. Despite this development, empirical diachronic studies that systematically examine the evolution of the word halal in Indonesian public discourse remain limited. This study addresses two research questions: (1) How has the use of the word halal evolved in Republika.co.id from 2010 to 2022? Moreover, (2) What topics were discussed in relation to the use of the word halal during this period? Adopting a corpus-based approach, this study utilises the corpus analysis tool Sketch Engine to examine a corpus of 1,132 news articles on halal published by Republika.co.id between 2010 and 2022. The findings indicate that the use of the word halal increased markedly, particularly during the final four years (2019–2022). This surge coincided with several key policy initiatives introduced by the Indonesian government, including the implementation of mandatory halal certification, the establishment of halal industrial zones, and the promotion of a broader halal ecosystem. Collocation analysis further reveals a notable expansion in the discourse’s thematic scope. While early coverage primarily focused on halal products, discussions gradually shifted toward broader themes related to the halal industry and halal economy. Overall, this study provides an empirical account of the diachronic transformation in the use of the word halal in mass media and demonstrates a correlation between government policy agendas and the dynamics of public discourse.

Note: This article has supplementary file(s).

Fulltext View|Download |  Research Instrument
Collocation analysis table
Subject
Type Research Instrument
  Download (813KB)    Indexing metadata
 Research Instrument
List of halal articles on Republika.co.id
Subject
Type Research Instrument
  Download (561KB)    Indexing metadata
Email colleagues
Keywords: Dynamic Use, Word “halal”, Media, Republika.co.id, Corpus

Article Metrics:

Article Info
Section: Research Article
Language : EN
Most cited articles
KOMPONEN MAKNA UNGKAPAN METAFORIS DALAM PILEG 2009 DALAM WACANA SURAT PEMBACA DI HARIAN SUARA MERDEKA Interruptions and Silences in Conversations: A Turn-Taking Analysis The Effectiveness of TPR (Total Physical Response) Method in English Vocabulary Mastery of Elementary School Children COGNITIVISM AND ITS IMPLICATION IN THE SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING COMPLAINING IN EFL LEARNERS: DIFFERENCES OF REALIZATIONS BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN (A CASE STUDY OF INDONESIAN EFL LEARNERS AT THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF THE INDONESIAN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION) More cited articles
  1. Almarwaey, A. O., & Ahmad, U. K. (2021). Semantic Change of Hijab, Halal and Islamist from Arabic to English. 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 27(2), 161–176. https://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2021-2702-12
  2. Ariffin, A., & Fadzlullah, W. N. F. W. M. (2019). The Promotional Language of the Halal Food Industry: Some Preliminary Findings. Global Journal Al-Thaqafah, November 2019, 103–113. https://doi.org/10.7187/gjatsi112019-10
  3. Awal, N. M., Bakar, K. A., Rahman, A. N. C. A., & Abdullah, I. H. (2021). Representasi Halal dan Haram dalam Wacana Parlimen Malaysia. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 21(November), 186–207. https://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2021-2104-10
  4. Awal, N. M., & Isam, H. (2015). A Semantic Prosody Analysis of the Lexical Halal. E-BANGI Journal, 2(2015), 132–139. https://ejournal.ukm.my/ebangi/article/view/11021/3563
  5. Baker, P. (2008). Using Corpora in Discourse Analysis. In Nucl. Phys. (Vol. 13, Issue 1). Continuum
  6. Baryadi, I. P. (2021). Perubahan Paradigma Dalam Kajian Bahasa. Sintesis, 15(1), 67–79. https://doi.org/10.24071/sin.v15i1.3273
  7. Biber, D., Conrad, S., & Reppen, R. (1998). Corpus linguistics: Investigating language structure and use. Cambridge University Press
  8. Budiono, T., Suhandano, & Masrukhi, M. (2023). Examining the semantic preference of the lexeme “ halal ” in the Indonesian halal tourism guide : A corpus-based analysis. GSRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TOKYO-JAPAN, 58–63. https://worldresearchlibrary.org/proceeding.php?pid=6339
  9. Fairclough, N. (2006). Discourse and Social Change. Polity Press. https://www.academia.edu/49409549/Discourse_and_Social_Change_by_Norman_Fairclough_z_lib_org_?auto=download
  10. Hapsari, T. B. (2019). Indonesian muslim websites picturing Australia. Humanities and Social Sciences Reviews, 7(4), 991–996. https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2019.74135
  11. Hefner, R. W. (2002). Global violence and Indonesian Muslim politics. American Anthropologist, 104(3), 754–765. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.2002.104.3.754
  12. Hidayah, N., & Solihah, U. (2025). Challenges and opportunities in the Indonesian halal industry. In Exploring the Halal Industry and Its Business Ecosystem Prospects (pp. 75–96). IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-8618-7.ch004
  13. Isam, H., Mutalib, M. A., & Ali, R. M. (2021). Halal From Linguistic Perspectives. Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry (TOJQI), 12(6), 5216–5221. https://tojqi.net/index.php/journal/article/view/2290
  14. Isti’anah, A. (2009). Paradigma Fungsional Dalam Ekolinguistik. SINTESIS, 16(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.24071/sin.v16i1.4250
  15. Kaur, M. (2016). The commodification of Islam?: A critical discourse analysis of halal cosmetics brands. Kemanusiaan, 23, 63–80. https://doi.org/10.21315/kajh2016.23.s2.4
  16. Kilgarriff, A., Baisa, V., Bušta, J., Jakubíček, M., Kovář, V., Michelfeit, J., Rychlý, P., & Suchomel, V. (2014). The Sketch Engine. Lexicography, 1(1), 7–36. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s40607-014-0009-9
  17. Majali, B. S., & Thenibat, A. A. (2024). The Pragmatic Functions of Ħalāl and Ħarām in Spoken Jordanian Arabic. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 14(1), 212–223. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1401.2
  18. Mohi-ud-Din Qadri, H. (2024). The Global Halal Industry: A Research Companion. In The Global Halal Industry: a Research Companion. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003441540
  19. Partington, A. (2004). Corpora and Discourse, a Most Congruous Beast. Linguistic Insights - Studies in Language and Communication, 9(C), 11–20
  20. Prameswari, N. M., Susiatiningsih, H., & Windiani, R. (2022). Gastrodiplomasi Korea Selatan dalam Upaya Nation Branding di Indonesia sebagai Negara Muslim Terbesar. Journal of International Relations Universitas Diponegoro, 8(4), 675–689. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.14710/jirud.v8i4.35562
  21. Rachman, T. (2010). Segera Diputuskan, Vaksin Meningitis Halal. Republika.Co.Id. https://khazanah.republika.co.id/berita/124758/segera-diputuskan-vaksin-meningitis-halal
  22. Ramadhan, B. (2010). Banyak Vaksin dan Obat Masih Diragukan Kehalalannya. Republika.Co.Id. https://www.republika.co.id/berita/128343/banyak-vaksin-dan-obat-masih-diragukan-kehalalannya
  23. Reiland, I. (2024). Meaning change. Analytic Philosophy, 65(3), 434–451. https://doi.org/10.1111/phib.12294
  24. Rhazzali, M. K. (2019). Vicissitues of the Halal and the Muslims in Italy: Between institutions and market. Quaderni Di Diritto e Politica Ecclesiastica, 22(1), 175–190. https://doi.org/10.1440/93555
  25. Rychlý, P. (2008). A lexicographer-friendly association score. Recent Advances in Slavonic Natural Language Processing, RASLAN 2008, 6–9. https://is.muni.cz/publication/937193/cs?lang=en
  26. Setiawan, E. C. (2024). Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) KBBI Online. Kemendikbud. https://kbbi.kemdikbud.go.id/entri/halal
  27. Setik, R., Ahmad, R. M. T. R. L., & Marjudi, S. (2021). Exploring Classification For Sentiment Analysis From Halal Based Tweets. 2021 2nd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Data Sciences (AiDAS), November, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1109/AiDAS53897.2021.9574255
  28. Soraya, D. A. (2019). MUI Dukung Penuh Implementasi Sertifkat Halal. Republika.Co.Id. https://khazanah.republika.co.id/berita/pxqd1s423/mui-dukung-penuh-implementasi-sertifkat-halal
  29. Steele, J. (2013). From fashion to the hereafter: Indonesia’s Republika, a modern Islamic newspaper. Media Asia, 40(1), 27–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/01296612.2013.11689948
  30. Syam, H. M., Anisah, N., Saleh, R., & Lingga, M. A. (2021). Ideology and media framing: Stigmatisation of LGBT in media coverage in Indonesia. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 37(1), 59–73. https://doi.org/10.17576/JKMJC-2021-3701-04
  31. Thomas, P. (2015). “Sharia on a Plate?” A critical discourse analysis of halal food in two Norwegian newspapers. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 6(3), 331–353. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIMA-05-2014-0041
  32. Van Bruinessen, M. (2012). Indonesian Muslims and their place in the larger world of Islam. In Indonesia Rising: The repositioning of Asia’s third giant (pp. 117–140). Singapore: ISEAS. https://doi.org/10.1355/9789814380416-013
  33. Widiyani, R. (2012). Alhamdulillah... Standar Halal Indonesia Kini Mendunia. Republika.Co.Id. https://khazanah.republika.co.id/berita/lxzkz7/alhamdulillah-standar-halal-indonesia-kini-mendunia
  34. Yanita, S. R., & Suhardijanto, T. (2020). Corpus-based analysis of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender representations in Republika. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 28(1), 143–160. http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/pjssh/browse/regular-issue?article=JSSH(S)-0988-20
  35. Yassine, R. I. (2016). The eclectic usage of halal and conflicts of authority. In Islam and Public Controversy in Europe (pp. 173–186). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315589930-14
  36. Yusuf, K., Rohmah, Z., & Alomoush, O. I. (2022). The Commodification of Arabic in the Commercial Linguistic Landscape of Leipzig. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 30(4), 1703–1722. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.47836/pjssh.30.4.13

Last update:

No citation recorded.

Last update: 2026-07-14 18:18:45

No citation recorded.