The present study investigates old words which have become archaic or obsolete in
Mandailingnese. The purpose of the study is to find out how a number of words have
disappeared (no longer used in daily communication) due to the loss of the referents to
which the words refer.Some are replaced by synonyms and some others are replaced by
loanwords. The data are collected from field source, by collecting the data from some
informants and from printed sources: texts about Mandailingnese traditions like weddings,
folklores, proverbs, verses etc. The eighty archaic words are then grouped into three groups:
words which are no longer used whose referents do not exist any more, words which are no
longer used but they are replaced by synonyms and words which are no longer used but they
are replaced by loanwords. The result of the study shows that in the course of relatively long
time the vocabulary of Mandailingnese has undergone changes. The fact suggests that the
speakers of the language should make at least one effort that is to record all the archaic
words in order to maintain the vocabulary of the language so that the future speakers of the
language will know that such obsolete words were once used in their language.
