quiz 5 sociolinguistics_chika

7/25/2019 Quiz 5 Sociolinguistics_chika

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Javanese in the eyes of its speakers 2014

PERCEPTIONS OF FUNCTION ANDIDENTITY

The first three sections of this chapter will examine further the

functions of Javanese in relation to the local identity of its

speakers. The discussion will take advantage of the findings

made in previous chapters and relate these findings to the

general mode of social and cultural development surrounding

the Javanese community. The exploration will include peoples

attitudes to choices etween the variety of Javanese spoken in

!ast Java in relation to that spoken in "entral Java. #n this

regard$ the focus is to indicate the extent to which people in !ast

Java have developed their own linguistic identity$ separate fromthe identity of those living in "entral Java$ and to provide some

clarification of why they have done so.

%revious chapters have revealed that contemporary

Javanese has een under heavy pressure from the development

of nationalism and the #ndonesian language. &iven this fact$ the

last section of this chapter will examine the extent that such

pressure has affected childrens Javanese communicative

repertoire. 'ince people in !ast Java possess their own local

linguistic identity$ the section will also consider the extent to

which this repertoire may affect local linguistic identity. (inally$

with these two considerations$ the section will examine the

extent to which #ndonesian is the likely candidate for peoples

Chapter 9: Perceptions of function and identity 2)


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future linguistic identity. To egin with$ the following section

deals with peoples Javanese communicative repertoire and itsimplications for their perceptions of the language.

9.1. Beyond Communicative Re e!toi!e

#n one of his studies$ !rrington *1++,-) / 0 found that

Javanese people in "entral Java$ when o serving their ownnative communicative repertoire$ would generally comment with

a saying Negara mawa tata, desa mawa cara * The exemplary

is ordered$ villages have their ways . #n this investigation$ # also

encountered the same comment presented y a retired man

from 3ogyakarta$ %ak ardoyo$ who had moved to stay in

Jem atan when he was young to work at the central post office

in 5ang6o. The saying asically reveals common peoples

understanding that the practice of speaking neatly differentiated

and socially hierarchical Javanese speech varieties exists in

most ideal form only at the two Javanese courts of 'olo and

3ogyakarta$ "entral Java. #n contrast$ those living around and

some distance from the centres$ though trying to emulate the

practice of such differentiation$ have their own ways of expressing the speech varieties.

#n this regard$ !rrington *1++,-4 illustrates that common

people$ such as those in &udangan and 7ulih$ his two fieldwork

sites not far from 'olo$ do not finely differentiate and mark status

differences in their use of Javanese instead$ they key more to

samenesses and differences in relative age and kin status than

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to ranks in official or descent hierarchies. These people are

aware of the aesthetic value of the high speech variety of Javanese modelled from the exemplary centre$ ut they do not

use this type of speech in their daily routine ecause it is simply

eyond the communicative repertoire of the ma6ority.

Javanese people in Jem atan$ however$ do not share the

archetypal aphorism a ove. They have their own maxim that

says Seje desa mawa cara * 8ifferent villages have their own

ways . 5y this saying$ they mean that every village has its own

traditions and ways of expressing things$ including$ in this

regard$ the way villagers perceive$ understand$ and use their

ethnic language$ Javanese. 9nderstanda ly$ when they evaluate

their own Javanese$ they do not compare it with the practice of

speaking Javanese existing in the two exemplary centres$

although they may e well aware of the existence of these waysof speaking. :ather$ as revealed in 'ection .4 and indirectly in

different parts of the succeeding chapters$ they stereotypically

indicate that people in different areas of !ast and "entral Java

speak Javanese with different levels of politeness$ and consider

that their own Javanese is kasar *rough compared to the a!us

*refined Javanese spoken y people living closer to the centres

of authority of Javanese culture.

hen such a different way of perceiving Javanese is

examined further$ there is a strong indication that so far

Javanese people in !ast Java have developed their own

linguistic identity separate from the way people in "entral Java

have uilt up their identity. #n this regard$ it would e interesting

Chapter 9: Perceptions of function and identity 2


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to examine what %ak 'yai said to the audience during the

procession of ngundhuh mantu discussed in 'ection ;.2.


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the t!atah (andura ?group of unsophisticated Javanesepuppet show characters@. Their linguistic eti>uette is likethat$ literally rough. uested forgiveness from theaudience.

"ertainly$ it is understanda le why %ak 'yai should

express that concern. (or people in 5ang6o$ speaking pu licly

using graceful high Javanese is eyond their communicative

repertoire. 3et$ for people from "entral Java$ speaking pu licly

using courtly high Javanese is a privilege. #n fact$ not many

Chapter 9: Perceptions of function and identity 2;


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people can do this$ ut efforts to ena le oneself to speak

pu licly using such a high level of Javanese speech could payoff *see %em erton 1++4-1+;/2) . This is what %ak Jamiun$ as

a Javanese person from "entral Java$ has done he got paid for

his represention of 7 ak &enits family during her wedding

ceremony in %an6atan$ =ulonprogo$ "entral Java *see 'ection

;.2 . #n such a case$ !rrington *1++,-A, would consider that

%ak Jamiuns 6o constitutes the ritual commodification of high

'asa y "entral Javanese people. The following is part of %ak

Jamiuns Javanese speech that # recorded during the wedding

procession of 7 ak &enit.

SAGUNG para LENGGAH INGKANG SATUHU KINURMATAN , M"OK "ILIH KAWULA MATUR dangkik dangkik WONTEN NGERSA PANJENENGAN

SAGET NGIRANGI kawicaksanan, KEPARENGAKAWULA PINUNGGAL SEMANTEN " PRAMILA ,NAMUNG SEMANTEN ATUR sapa!a PINONGKO TALANGING 'asa SAKING "APA %aryo" an SAKING KAWULA , ing M"OK "ILIH KAWULA MATUR WIWIT KOLO WAU , MANGGIH 'a'akan INGKANG na!isir DHUMATENG PAUGERING KASUSILAN , SEPINDAH MALIH KAWULA NYUWUN GUNGE SIH SAMUDRAPANGAKSAMI "

To all the seated who are dearly respected$ as when # saya lot and in great detail in front of you ?#@ may reduce ?my@prudence$ ?so@ permit me to end ?the speech@ up here.Thus$ only these are the words as the representation of the language from 7r =aryo.


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The attitude of %ak Jamiun toward Javanese$ clearly$ is

different from the attitude of %ak 'yai toward the language. #nthis case$ %ak Jamiun tries to demonstrate to the audience the

linguistic excellence that he has learned and ac>uired. !ven so$

he still asks for forgiveness from the audience$ as he is aware

that while making the speech$ he may unintentionally reak the

rules of linguistic politeness. Therefore$ # consider that this act of

making an apology is a sign of his effort to maintain in

socioculturally appropriate manner the >uality of his high

Javanese speech. uote$

%ak 'yai acknowledges the eauty of high Javanese. Cowever$

as a Javanese person living in !ast Java$ he seems to consider

that socioculturally he has less or no o ligation to master such a

variety of Javanese.


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way they address the audience. hen %ak Jamiun says

SAGUNG para LENGGAH INGKANG SATUHU KINURMATAN $ %ak 'yai says Para RAWUH SEDAYA

INGKANG kula hurmati .


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%ak 'yai$ # had an impression that when he started his speech$

he tried to deliver the speech carefully and politely. Cowever$soon after he said the first two sentences in the >uote a ove$ he

egan to speak less carefully and less politely. #n fact$ in the

third sentence Nek ngomong, ketok rada kodo $ he used no

polite words " This is a typical expression of Javanese

unreflectively spoken y people in !ast Java.


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student. Ce is aware that there are two exemplary centres of

Javanese culture- one in 'olo and the other in 3ogyakarta. Thisawareness has led him to develop his skill ased on the

traditions and customs deriving from the two examplary centres.

#n this way$ the variety of Javanese of his speech is actually his

identification with the linguistic tradition availa le in the two

centres.

5ecause of this$ it is worth exploring further the way

people in !ast Java have identified themselves linguistically. #n

#ndonesia$ it is common practice that the script for a speech y a

high ranking official$ such as a governor$ is prepared y

some ody else other than the official*s themselves. This is

what happened to %ak 5asofi 'oedirman$ the governor of the

province of !ast Java$ when he was given the honour to open

the 'econd Javanese Eanguage "ongress * %ongres *ahasaJawa -- in 7alang$ a city a out 100 kilometres southwest of

'ura aya$ in 1++A. # was fortunate to have an opportunity to

participate in the congress$ so # could take note of his reaction

when he was reading the script of his speech on the opening

ceremony of the congress.

The congress was sponsored y the local governments of

!ast and "entral Java and the organising committee included

mem ers from oth provinces. 3et$ the sym olic presence of the

authority of the Javanese cultural exemplary centres was

undenia ly >uite dominant. < few minutes efore the opening

ceremony egan$ for instance$ a parade of horse/drawn

traditional carriages was arriving$ full of people wearing

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Javanese traditional costumes. 7eanwhile$ inside the large hall

of %urnama Cotel in 5atu$ 7alang$ many people were ready withtheir Javanese traditional costumes as well. 'oon after that$ a

group of people inside the uilding$ in their traditional costumes

too$ were playing their Javanese game!an ensem le. This was

the sign that the opening ceremony was a out to egin. ith all

these circumstances$ every message was transmitted in courtly

high Javanese. #ndonesian at that moment was seemingly a

for idden language. The script for the speech of %ak 5asofi was

also prepared in courtly high Javanese.


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!ven if it is only one sentence$ the comment y %ak

5asofi is meaningful in terms of the linguistic identity of !astJavanese people. (irstly$ the comment strongly suggests that

%ak 5asofi has an indifferent attitude toward the use of high

Javanese. #n this regard$ his attitude complements the attitude

of %ak 'yai in that they oth seem to consider that it is not their

usiness to master such a variety of Javanese. 'econdly$ the

comment is completely in low Javanese. #n this case$ the high

Javanese for wis is SAMPUN * already$ all right$ well $ for

em'uh is kula M"OTEN NGERTOS * # dont understand $ for

rek is para kadang * fellow mem ers $ and for sak karepmu

is SUMANGGA KEMAWON KERSA PENJENENGAN# * it is

fully up to your intention . ith all these ela orate e>uivalents$ it

is possi le to transform the low Javanese comment of %ak

5asofi into the high Javanese variety as follows- SAMPUN ,kula M"OTEN NGERTOS para kadang , SUMANGGA

KEMAWON KERSA PENJENENGAN . !ven so$ %ak 5asofi did

not express his comment in this way ecause high Javanese is

eyond his communicative repertoire.

Thirdly$ the overall atmosphere surrounding the comment

suggests that courtly high Javanese$ though it is spoken in a

formal traditional context$ does not create much authority in !ast

Java. Formally$ one would not regard a flaw in a formal speech

as a humorous stuff. 3et$ %ak 5asofi did and smiled at the

audience due to the mistake he made.


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in "entral Java. !rrington *1++,-A $ for instance$ has noted that

in this region$ its function can im ue the reinvention of itsformal traditional context with an aura of exemplary dignity. #n

this regard$ %ak Jamiun admitted to me that$ to indicate oth his

respect to the audience and his commitment to maintain

politeness to them$ he had crafted his Javanese speech in

accordance with the formal linguistic tradition availa le in the

two Javanese exemplary centres of 'olo and 3ogyakarta. ith

these contradictory facts$ therefore$ it ecomes o vious that the

ostensi ly superficial and funny circumstances surrounding %ak

5asofis speech are actually an indication that refined high

Javanese is not >uite a suita le medium of communication in

!ast Java.

#n fact$ as reflected in 'ections A.1 and ;.2$ high Javanese

is now no longer a significant part of the communicativerepertoire of people in !ast Java$ and$ as discussed in 'ection

.4$ people in Jem atan claim that the Javanese of people in

!ast Java is kasar *rough$ unpolished . This local term$ when

related to the low Javanese comment of %ak 5asofi$ suggests

that although the comment can e transformed into high

Javanese$ it does not mean that the low variety of Javanese in

!ast Java is the same as the low variety of Javanese generally

found in "entral Java. < striking difference$ in this regard$ is the

use of rek in the a ove comment$ a word which does not exist

in the variety of Javanese spoken in "entral Java$ ut ecomes

part of the egalitarian view of people in !ast Java.

Chapter 9: Perceptions of function and identity )


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Fonetheless$ the discussion of this typical word is not the

focus of this section. The word will e dealt with in the nextsection. 'uffice it to say here that there are significant

differences etween the variety of Javanese spoken in !ast

Java and the variety of the language spoken in "entral Java.

hile such differences have motivated Javanese people in !ast

Java to recognise the relative eauty and authority of high

Javanese$ the differences have also caused them to realise that

high Javanese is simply eyond their communicative repertoire.

Justifia ly$ instead of attempting to ac>uire the skill of speaking

high Javanese$ which is not sensi ly demanded in !ast Java$

they prefer to identify themselves linguistically as a distinct

group of Javanese speakers$ separate from those in "entral

Java. #n other words$ instead of identifying themselves

linguistically with the "entral Javanese aphorism Negara mawatata, desa mawa cara $ they have created their own maxim

simply y saying Seje desa mawa cara .

9.#. )Rek A * Rek# $%&uy'( Come on( &uy')"

.ek *guys is native to !ast Java. #t is the short form of arek . #tis not known when the word first appeared$ ut historically$ it

was popular during the #ndonesian revolution. (rederick

*1+,+-1/)2 $ for instance$ has noted that the word was used to

characterise the ravery and egalitarian view of people in

'ura aya to challenge 8utch colonial forces and to retain their

independence from 7adurese and "entral Javanese. ith this

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struggle$ they call themselves arek Sura'aya *native or real

'ura ayans . The spirit of the struggle$ however$ was not limitedto people in 'ura aya. #t widened to em race those in other

regions of !ast Java$ such as 7o6okerto$ =ediri$ 7alang$

Eamongan$ and 7adiun *< dulgani 1+A4- )/ 4 . #n terms of

space$ 5ang6o is 6ust in the middle among these regions.

8ue to the spreading spirit of the a ove struggle$ perhaps$

the word rek has nowadays gained its prominence as the

linguistic identity of people in !ast Java. &rek itself has een

part of such expressions as arek (ojokerto $ arek %ediri $ arek

amongan $ arek (a!ang $ arek (adiun $ and arek *angjo .

!ven in 7alang$ there has emerged a strong soccer group

*ke!ompok sepak 'o!a representing the region with the name

&rema $ which stands for &rek (a!ang *Fative or :eal people

of 7alang . 9sed rather differently$ rek has een popular withexpressions$ such as .ek, kate nangdi awakmu+ * &uys$ where

are you goingB $ .ek, aku tak mu!ih mangan sik ya+ * &uys$ #

am going home to have dinner first D=B $ &ku dhewe ya

kepingin urip enak rek, gak awakmu thok" * # myself also want to

live decently guys$ not only you $ and .ek/rek, ge!em tah

awakmu ngrewangi aku+ * &uys$ are you willing to help meB .


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respectively$ ut also to speak to any young male or female

person regardless of the age. Thus$ one might use cak or ning to address a friend with or without the name of the addressee.

This principle may apply as well to mas and m'ak .

'ocioculturally$ however$ the two pairs have rather

different connotations.


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!ven so$ cak and ning remain sym olic of !ast Java.

The words have een part of the linguistic ehaviour of thema6ority of Javanese people in the province$ particularly those

living in rural areas. The words gained significance due to the

development of the !ast Javanese proletarian drama called

!udruk *%eacock 1+A,- $ which originated from 5ang6o

sometime in the 1+20s and spread over different parts of !ast

Java *'upriyanto 1++2-11 . "onse>uently$ to honour the past

glory of !udruk and to pay tri ute to the career of one of its

performers$ &ondo 8urasim$ the uilding of #aman *udaya

Jatim *!ast Java "ultural "entre in 'ura aya is named after

Cak 0urasim *5rother 8urasim . To further recognise the

significance of cak and ning $ the words are now used as the

em lematic nomination of the rother and sister of 'ura aya

* pemi!ihan Cak dan Ning Sura'aya every year.'ura aya$ in fact$ is the capital city of the province of !ast

Java.


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word cak remains part of the repertoire of people in !ast Java.

hat this means is that since !udruk emerged in 1+20s andspread over different parts of !ast Java$ the moral fi re of its

staging was not separate from peoples struggle against 8utch

forces. This is reflected in one of "ak 8urasims popular

kidungan *epigrams $ when he was on stage$ which says

*ekupon omahe doro, me!ok Nippon urip tam'ah soro .

5asically$ the first part of the epigram tells that 'ekupon is the

house of pigeons * omahe doro and the second part informs that

following Nippon $ a word representing Japanese occupation$ life

is even worse * tam'ah soro . The meaning of the first part$

clearly$ is not related to that of the second. hat relates the two

is the rhyming of the words 'ekupon and Nippon and the words

doro and soro . 9sing such rhyming words$ the first part of the

epigram functions as the introduction and the second partcontains the message. #n rief$ therefore$ the epigram conveys

that under 8utch forces$ life is misera le$ ut under Japanese

occupation$ life is even worse.

This is the sort of understanding that people in !ast Java

hold with regard to the emergence of !udruk in relation to the

history of #ndonesia. The phenomenon of "ak 8urasim$ in fact$

is monumental in their mind$ not only ecause of his strong

satirical social criticisms ut also ecause of his courage. #n this

case$ (rederick *1+,+-110 has noted-

Dne evening after a show in the town of 5ang6o*pseudonym of original place in text $ 8urasim was forcedoff stage y police ?of the colonial regime@ and asked to



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report the next day to head>uarters in 'ura aya. Therehe was detained and apparently tortured. 8urasim diednot long after returning to his home G.

This incident made "ak 8urasim even more popular.

#mmediately after his death$ he egan receiving praise as a hero

in the peoples fight against in6ustice. The implication is that the

word cak $ which gained its sym olic significance through the

involvement of !udruk performers as social critics efore and

after #ndonesia rose to its independence$ does not simply signify

a common ond among the weak and poor people in the social

strata$ ut also denotes an egalitarian view among those

involved in the act of speaking. Thus$ y comparison$ although

cak and mas literally can mean rother or elder rother$ they

are different in a significant way. The use of cak nowadays

often denotes speaking to *a comrade*s $ ut the use of mas suggests addressing someone superior.

The egalitarian perspective of cak ecomes more

conspicuous when it is related to the em lematic sense of rek .


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have chosen their own way of identifying themselves

linguistically.#n this case$ !mha


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kurang pedas, Cak1 *the social criticisms ?in autan Ji!'a' @ are

not hot ?i.e. sharp@ enough$ "omrade .


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expressed in enake nemui kanca/kanca * its etter to meet

friends .Thirdly$ all the words used in the opening of the song are

in low Javanese. uote contains other

words that are typical of the province. $ak ga'!eg $ for instance$

which may mean very poor or completely penniless$ elongs to

the !ast Javanese people. To the "entral Javanese people$ this

is considered an instance of the kasar *rough elements of the

Javanese variety spoken y people in !ast Java. #n "entral

Java$ people would say ora duwe $ ut not gak ga'!eg . hen #

discussed these words with people in Jem atan$ they regard

gak ga'!eg as more expressive than ora duwe . They consider

that gak ga'!eg emphasises spontaneity and frankness a out a

life condition whereas ora duwe is too soft * ka!usen for thispurpose. !ven without such emphasis$ ora duwe is still soft to

their ears. They would not normally say ora duwe in their daily

communicative activities instead$ they would say gak duwe .

Thus$ the word gak * no or not itself is typical of the

Javanese in !ast Java. Dther words in the >uote that are part of

the Javanese spoken in !ast Java are sir/siran *sweetheart $

enake *?its@ etter $ and nang nggone *at or around the place

of . There are other words that are typical of the Javanese

variety spoken in !ast Java. uote from the lyrics of .ek &yo .ek .

The following are several lines after the introductory part of the

song.



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.ek ayo rek, m!aku/m!aku nang #unjungan" &yo ngan"

.ek ayo rek, rame/rame'e'arengan" &yo ngan"

Cak ayo cak, sapa ge!em me!uaku+ %u ku"

Cak ayo cak, go!ek kena!an sing ayu"

&uys come on guys$ ?lets@ take awalk to Tun6ungan. :hymingsounds.&uys come on guys$ lets havefun walking together. :hymingsounds."omrades come on comrades$any of you want to come alongwith meB :hyming sounds."omrades come on comrades$?we@ gonna ac>uaint ?ourselves@

with eautiful girls.

uote

of the lyrics$ in fact$ does not contain the word 'ura aya$ ut the

word Tun6ungan$ as the focused reference of the setting is avery popular shopping plaIa. The plaIa is in the heartland of

'ura aya. %recisely$ it is now 6ust across the road from the

historic 'impang Cotel$ formerly randed Dran6e Cotel during

the 1+4 revolution in 'ura aya *see (rederick 1+,+-200$ 2,0 .

'ince the capital city of !ast Java is a magnet that attracts

people from different parts of the province *see 'ection 4.1 $ the

popularity of the song has displayed a nuance that may remind

its listeners of the struggle y arek/arek *folks and cak/cak

*comrades for freedom and e>uality. 9nderstanda ly$ the use of

rek and cak as part of the lyrics of the song further enhances

the significance of the words as sym ols of the linguistic identity

of people in !ast Java.



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!arlier in this section$ # indicate that rek and arek are

already part of peoples daily communicative acitivities in !astJava. Their mundane function is also recognised y people in

"entral Java. Dne day in %erth$


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humour y invoking sym ols of the linguistic identity of the !ast

Javanese.Cence$ the use of rek in the >uestion suggests that apart

from its mundane function in !ast Java$ its reputation has een

reinforced y the popularity of the song .ek &yo .ek . #ndeed$ its

reputation should go ack to the #ndonesian revolution # mention

at the eginning of this section. This assertion is supported y

the fact that when # first met a man from 3ogyakarta$ "entral

Java$ who had stayed in uestion .ek, yek apa ka'are+ *(riend$ how are

youB . 3et$ when # started talking to him in high Javanese$ he

declined to respond in his native language. #nstead$ he replied to

me in #ndonesian indicating that he had forgotten toto kromo

*way of speaking Javanese properly .8ue to the unfavoura le political practices among the

elites of 'uhartos regime and the distri ution of the economy

that did not trickle down much to the ma6ority of the #ndonesian

people$ there have een significant gaps etween the poor

segments of the society and the rich groups. This fact has

triggered the social significance of cak even further. Fowadays$

the word ecomes attached to those from !ast Java who$ in the

pu lic eyes$ have een concerned a out the disadvantaged

groups of the #ndonesian society or have een voicing claims on

their ehalf. "ak Farto$ for instance$ is the name given y the

pu lic to a 7ayor of 'ura aya$ 'unarto 'umoprawiro$ due to his

involvement in the social and environmental pro lems of people

Chapter 9: Perceptions of function and identity 4;


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in the city. !mha


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conspicuously emergeB hat has happened to the central

authority of the Javanese cultureB The following section willprovide some clarification.

9.*. +,e!e -ave t,e P&i a i &one

hen # mentioned that the 1+A, curriculum formally confined

the use of Javanese for classroom instruction up to the first to

third years of childrens schooling *see 'ection ,.1 $ # impliedthat Javanese was still an authoritative language around that

year. #ndonesian was not yet the common language of the

people. This fact$ in turn$ implies that around 1+A,$ the cultural

authority of "entral Java was still influencing the functions of

Javanese in !ast Java. This was due to the fact that around that

time Javanese priyayi were still flourishing *see (rederick 1+,+

&eertI 1+A0 'utherland 1+;+ .

Priyayi were considered the elite of Javanese people.

They were ound together y a shared culture and occupation

G differentiated themselves on the ground of irth$ family

connections$ rank$ a ility$ relations with !uropeans and mastery

of highly respected cultural skills *'utherland 1+;+-2 . They

conserved and cultivated a highly refined court eti>uette andtheir style of life was the model not only for the elite ut in

many ways for the entire society in which they lived *&eertI

1+A0-A . Thus$ in terms of linguistic eti>uette$ the way a priyayi

spoke Javanese was the model that many ordinary people might

aspire to imitate. This is the ideal of the Javanese language$ as

discussed in 'ection ,.)$ that is indirectly claimed as their model

Chapter 9: Perceptions of function and identity 4+


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y older people in Jem atan who consider themselves more

educated than others ecause of their a ility to speak thelanguage in accordance with the relative standard imposed from

"entral Java.

Fow$ however$ the development of nationalism and

modernity have su stantially weakened the authority of the

"entral Javanese courts as the centres of the Javanese culture

*see !rrington 1+, .


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ut sturdy ig uilding standing on a relatively very large lock of

land ad6acent to the site where 7uhammadiyah 'enior Cigh'chool 1 exists. %eople call the uilding %asepuhan $ meaning

the house of the Javanese elders. They say that this is the

house of the first leader *now called 5upati of 5ang6o regency$

and the priyayi used to gather in this house. Cowever$ # could

not o tain further information a out the existence of priyayi in

Jem atan ecause family descendants in %asepuhan have

migrated to Jakarta$ the capital city of #ndonesia. The uilding

was sold to the 7uhammadiyah organisation early 1+,0s and

the last servant working in %asepuhan $ who was supposed to e

a le to shed some light$ had already died. This limited

information$ certainly$ is understanda le ecause as late as

1+,0$ 'chiller *1+,4 witnessed the last presence of a priyayi

with a pseudonym %ak 5udi in Jepara$ a town a out +0kilometres northeast of 'emarang$ "entral Java.

5efore the revolution$ the priyayi served their king$ ut

after #ndonesia declared its independence$ they shifted their

orientation. Their attention was no longer focused fully on the

courts$ ut on the central government of #ndonesia in Jakarta.

They found new roles in the ongoing process of nation uilding

and their successors have ecome part of the ureaucratic elite

of the #ndonesian government. #n reality$ they had lost sym olic

supremacy in the Javanese community$ ut gained political

power at the panethnic$ national level *!rrington 1+, - A .

Faturally$ their feudal image has coloured the #ndonesian

ureaucracy *see 'utherland 1+;+ .



30/53


Fonetheless$ since the priyayi have had to ad6ust

themselves to the modernisation of the #ndonesian society$ theyhave also had to discontinue their traditional court related

practices. 7ost of them have dropped their no le initials in front

of their names. Javanese is no longer a significant language in

their daily social relations ecause their role now is not so much

to retain the hierarchical authority of the courts of "entral Java$

ut to strengthen the central authority of the #ndonesian

government in Jakarta. #n this case$ !rrington *1+, - A/ ; has

found that almost half of one extended priyayi family$ comprising

)00 mem ers$ of the court of 'urakarta has gone to Jakarta.

7any others have stayed in ig cities$ such as 5andung$

'emarang$ and 'ura aya. Dnly less than one in eight lives in

'urakarta *also called 'olo . "onse>uently$ there is no

compulsion to retain the use of Javanese. Dn the contrary$ theyare urged to promote the use of their national language$

#ndonesian.

Thus$ somehow$ Javanese has een left stranded y the

priyayi . This can e deduced from the discussion in 'ection ,.)$

in which some Javanese people in Jem atan feel that they have

lost their elders who used to provide exemplary models of their

native language and maintain the control of its appropriate use.

9nderstanda ly$ as the demands of modernity and peoples

accommodation of social and religious differences have

increased *see 'ection 4.) and .2 $ the influence of the "entral

Java courts upon the function of Javanese in !ast Java has at

the same time decreased. This can e o served from the



31/53


testimony of 5u 5ani$ at the end of 'ection A.)$ who says that in

the past people would feel very uncomforta le when they couldnot speak Javanese appropriately. Fow the reality is different.

%eople do not have to worry a out the >uality of their Javanese

ecause they can mix it with #ndonesian.


32/53


.4$ for instance$ people in Jem atan have claimed that despite

vaguely distinct varieties of Javanese availa le in different partsof !ast Java$ the overall variety of Javanese in the province is

different from the variety availa le to people in "entral Java.

!arlier in this chapter$ %ak 'yai has demonstrated that as an

!ast Javanese speaker$ his communicative repertoire is

different from %ak Jamiuns. %ak 5asofi has also demonstrated

that refined high Javanese is simply eyond his communicative

repertoire. 'ection +.2 has as well revealed that sym olically$

rek has emerged as the linguistic identity of the !ast Javanese$

well recognised eyond the confines of the province. Cak too

has appeared as the egalitarian sym ol of the !ast Javanese.


33/53


imposed through their employment. This was not only due to the

*legal practice of employment that had the tendency to put themin a disadvantaged position$ ut more importantly also due to

the system of culture of the *Javanese families in which they

had een nurtured. 8espite their strong desire to fight against

the in6ustice of the usiness industry$ their parents had

discouraged them from continuing their protest. They considered

that this act$ ver al or physical$ would only result in a reach of

social sta ility and order.


34/53


often used y the uyers ecause they were in the position of

having more power in terms of money and perhaps socialstatus. 7eanwhile$ the sellers tended to speak in the kromo

variety of Javanese ecause they were in the weak position.

They were the ones who showed more respect to the uyers

ecause they needed money from them.

'ince expressing a protest means exposing anger$

resentment$ or opposition to some ody else$ it ecomes very

difficult for those having no power. The reason is that when the

powerless launched the protest to the powerful$ the former

would have to disregard respect to the latter. #n other words$ the

powerless might speak non/honorific Javanese to those with

power. #f this is the case$ a reach of social order has taken

place. "onventionally$ this should e avoided. This kind of order

also applies to nonver al ehaviour and$ therefore$ 6ustifies thefailure of the womens desire to protest in the a ove scenario.

This event is in stark contrast to a similar incident in !ast

Java. #n 7ay 1++)$ young women workers of a watch factory in

%orong$ 'idoar6o$ !ast Java$ were raising a protest demanding

rises to meet the new official minimum wage.


35/53


9nfortunately$ some time after she met another la our activist

on the evening of the third day of the protest$ dark forces tookher and she was found dead in a village of her own hometown$

Fgan6uk.

hen related to the ravery of arek/arek *the common

people and cak/cak *the comrades in !ast Java to challenge

8utch colonial forces discussed in 'ection +.2 a ove$ the spirit

of 7arsinah supports my claim of the egalitarian culture of

people in the province. #t reflects the spirit of "ak 8urasim$ the

spirit of eing open and speaking freely. hile this has een

due to their specific set of Javanese communicative repertoire$ it

has also een due to the su stantial decline of the priyayi life

style in the region. Dn the contrary$ the failure of young women

workers in "entral Java to proceed with their protest indicates

that residue of the priyayi life style still hinders freedom of expression among people in the region.

To end this section$ therefore$ we can conclude that now

there has een a significant change of attitudes toward the

functions of Javanese in !ast Java. #n the past$ communicative

ehaviour in this province was under the shadow of authority of

the Javanese culture of "entral Java. Fow$ however$ people in

!ast Java have ecome reasona ly free from such influence$

and they have had more opportunity to express themselves

using their own word choices$ not the words chosen or imposed

y priyayi . 9nderstood in this way$ their own regional Javanese

linguistic identity has emerged more conspicuously than it used

Chapter 9: Perceptions of function and identity ;


36/53


to e$ separate from the Javanese linguistic identity of people in

"entral Java.

9./. C,i0d!en)' ac2 o3 Cont!o0 o3 4avane'e

'ocioculturally$ linguistic diversity is an asset. #t reflects

freedom. 3et$ for the !ast Javanese$ such convenience appears

rather hollow ecause even if now they are fairly free from theinfluence of the priyayi life style$ they are not free from the

powers of nationalism$ modernisation$ and glo alisation. Fot

only that$ the real impact of these phenomena already exists

and can e o served in the following ta le.

Tale +.1- "hildrens a ility to translate the #ndonesiansentence -'u sedang mendengarkan radio intoJavanese.

Fo. Harieties of translation Fum er of :espondents

01020)

0400A0;0,0+1011121)

-'u !agi mi&engake radio"-'u !agi mi&engaken radio"-'u !agi ngrungokna radio"

-'u !agi ngrungokake radio"-'u !agi mengrungokna radio"-'u !agi merungokna radio"-'u !agi engrungokna radio"-'u !agi ngirengna radio"-'u tasih mirengna radio"-'u tasih ngrukna radio"-'u arep ngrungokna radio"-'u ngrungokna radio"-'u mirengaken radio"

10

10

1111111)1

, Chapter 9: Perceptions of function and identity


37/53


Total num er of respondents 41

Fote- :espondents were year/six students of a primary schoolin Jem atan.

#n rief$ none of the sentences in the ta le achieves the proper

translation of the #ndonesian sentence -'u sedang

mendengarkan radio * 7other is listening to the radio . hen #

discussed this issue with elder mem ers of the community in

Jem atan$ they indicated that the key to a proper translation isthe word i'u *mother . #n this case$ any young person$ such as a

child$ should use proper honorific words when descri ing the

activity of an older person$ such as i'u .


38/53


expressed it in their own way * mengrungokna $ merungokna $

engrungokna $ and ngrukna . Ngrungokna itself is a transitivever $ ut >uite possi ly the use of the prefix me/ in

mengrungokna and merungokna is an interference from the

#ndonesian word mendengarkan $ which is the com ination of

the prefix me/ , root dengar and transitive suffix /kan . !ither

mi&engaken or mi&engake *no. 01 and 02 is an accepta le

ngoko a!us translation of mendengarkan $ ut mirengna *no.

0+ is not >uite appropriate. 'urprisingly$ ngirengna *no. 0,

has nothing to do with listening. Ngirengna means making

something look lacker or dying something with lack colour.

Ta+ih *no. 0+ and 10 is accepta le$ as it is a variation of

tak+ih $ the ngoko a!us translation of sedang $ ut !agi *no. 01 /

0, $ though it is the literal e>uivalent of sedang $ is not

accepta le ecause culturally it is ngoko !ugu . Eike ngirengna $arep *no.11 has nothing to do with sedang . #t denotes a future

activity. #t means will *i.e. #ndonesian akan .

Thus$ it is o vious that the lack of translation a ility a ove

is the product of marginalisation of the Javanese language. The

childrens confusion stems not only from their scanty knowledge

of kromo varieties$ ut it is also due to the improper treatment of

the language at school *see 'ections ,.) and ,.4 . #n this case$

'ection ,.) has succinctly concluded that at school #ndonesian

has een given far more dominance and privilege meanwhile$

Javanese has een systematically disadvantaged. 7oreover$

nowadays many !ast Javanese parents do not really care a out

the Javanese of their children ecause they can mix it with

A0 Chapter 9: Perceptions of function and identity


39/53


#ndonesian or even train them to speak the latter language *see

'ections A.2 and A.) .The impact of the marginalisation of the Javanese

language can also e examined through information a out

students a ility to translate #ndonesian words into Javanese. #t

is worth noting here that # collected this information y giving a

list of #ndonesian words$ which have oth ngoko and kromo

Javanese e>uivalents$ to year/three up to year/six students of a

primary school in Jem atan. # told them that an #ndonesian word

might have only one e>uivalent in Javanese$ ut another might

have more than one. Their 6o was to provide the Javanese

e>uivalent*s they knew for each word in the list and to write

them in the space provided next to each word.

This strategy was meant to reveal their knowledge of

ngoko words in relation to their kromo e>uivalents. The termngoko here includes simple or low ngoko *ngoko !ugu and

polished ngoko * ngoko a!us $ as differentiated in Javanese

school text ooks. #n addition$ the list of ngoko words covers not

only the ones commonly found in school text ooks$ ut also

includes the words typical of *angjoan Javanese$ the local

variety reflecting the kasar or unrefined Javanese spoken in

!ast Java *see 'ections .4$ +.1$ and +.2 . #n consultation with

Javanese teachers and several older mem ers of the

community in Jem atan$ # managed to prepare a list of eighty/

one #ndonesian words for this purpose. The complete list of the

words and their possi le Javanese e>uivalents can e seen in


40/53


41/53


The graph shows that with an average of percentages

around ,0 percent of respondents who provided accepta letranslation of #ndonesian words into ngoko Javanese

e>uivalents$ it indicates that Javanese is still a dominant means

of communication among mem ers of the community in

Jem atan. Cowever$ that average of percentages also indicates

that nowadays children in this su ur an area are lacking in the

proper ngoko communicative repertoire$ the asic capital

needed for them to e a le to communicate in their native

language. This is due to the power of #ndonesian as the

language of the ideology of the nation/state$ which has

dominated the media and education$ and the demands of

modernity$ which have accelerated ac>uisition of #ndonesian y

children and which have driven parents to recogise the

importance of mastering !nglish for their children in order tocompete in the ever/increasing process of glo alisation. This

interpretation is in line with the previous finding which reveals

the lack of childrens a ility to express the ngoko e>uivalent of

the #ndonesian word mendengarkan *see Ta le +.1 .


42/53


#ndonesian words listed. #n fact$ the graph shows that$ as

respondents reach a higher level of schooling$ there is aprogressive increase of the average num ers of them$ from 1)K

to )0K$ who are a le to find kromo e>uivalents for the

#ndonesian words listed. This$ however$ is not so much due to

the function of the words in childrens daily communicative

interaction$ ut ecause they have learned them at school. This

finding$ therefore$ reflects the lack of childrens communicative

control of the Javanese language.

9.5. Ste!eoty ica0 Pe!ce tion' o34avane'e S ea2e!'

ue.


43/53


nineteen traits fall into three categories- six solidarity traits$ six

status traits$ and seven identity traits. uals .0 or less.(or the purpose of administering the matched/language

guise techni>ue$ # managed to organise 4,0 su 6ects$ ranging

from year/four up to year/six primary school children. The

following ta le is a summary of t/values of their perceptions of

the solidarity traits of speakers in their Javanese and #ndonesian

guises.

Ta le +.2- T/values for significance of mean differences ofperceptions of the solidarity traits of speakersspeaking kromo and ngoko varieties and their corresponding #ndonesian guises.

Fo. 'olidarity Traits %romo Ngoko &!us

Ngokougu

*angjoan

Chapter 9: Perceptions of function and identity A


44/53


1 (riendly //unfriendly

A.00+MMMM 4.;)AMMMM 0.;4) /4.01)MMMM

2 %olite // impolite ;.24,MMMM 4.; ,MMMM 1.02 /4.4,AMMMM

) &enerous // notgenerous

)., +MMMM ).,24MMMM 1.4 + /).224MMMM

4 Celpful // nothelpful

2.0+2M 2.,)AMMM 1.+A2M /).)AAMMMM

"ooperative // notcooperative

2. AMM ).+A4MMMM 1. 10 /2.11)M

A Trustworthy // not

trustworthy

).412MMMM ).0;,MMM /0.12) /).2)1MMMM

Fotes-1. %ositive entries indicate that Javanese guises are evaluated

more favoura ly than #ndonesian guises$ and negative entriesindicate a more favoura le evaluation for #ndonesian guises.

2. 'ignificance levels with two/tailed tests- M e>uals .0 or less MM e>uals .01 or less MMM e>uals .00 or less MMMM e>uals .001 or less). 8egrees of freedom 4;+


45/53


different from their daily communicative repertoire. These are

the types of Javanese imposed from "entral Java thatcomplicate the teaching and learning of the language at school

nowadays *see 'ection ,.4 .

'urprisingly$ as can e o served in the ta le$ this fact is

related to childrens perceptions of Javanese. They regard their

*angjoan Javanese as somehow an unaccepta le variety. #n

contrast$ the imposed varieties of Javanese are considered

desira le. #n this case$ the ta le shows that$ except for the

negative t/value for ngoko !ugu in line A */0.12) $ all other t/

values for the imposed varieties are positive. 7oreover$ except

lines 4 and $ there is a gradual ut significant increase of

positive t/values along other lines from ngoko !ugu to kromo

varieties.

#t is understanda le why all the solidarity traits for ngokoa!us and kromo receive more favoura le evaluation than ngoko

!ugu . The function of these two speech varieties suggests that

the speakers are refined and caring. #n contrast$ ngoko !ugu is

the type of Javanese without honorific words$ thus lacking the

>ualities that ngoko a!us and kromo have. 'ince the function of

*angjoan variety does not reflect any of the desired varieties of

Javanese taught at school$ the solidarity traits of its speakers

are rated the least favoura le$ suggesting that the speakers are

rough$ uneducated$ and uncaring *see 'ection .4 .

"ertainly$ one might expect a positive evaluation of the

local *i.e. *angjoan variety ecause sym olically the variety

carries the egalitarian values espoused y its speakers$ as

Chapter 9: Perceptions of function and identity A;


46/53


reflected in the use of cak and rek discussed in 'ection +.2

a ove. 'uch expectation is understanda le$ ut it should enoted that the su 6ects who rated the speakers in the matched/

language guises were children. They were not adults$ so their

perceptions of Javanese should not reflect the adults attitudes

to the language.

&rown/up Javanese represent a separate generation.

They have their own ackground experience for appreciating the

value of the different varieties of their ethnic language.


47/53


corresponding #ndonesian guises. #ndirectly$ in fact$ the overall

significant t/values in Ta le +.2 strongly suggest that childrenconsider *angjoan Javanese as the least favoura le variety.

Fevertheless$ this finding does not mean that children

would aspire to ac>uire the imposed varieties of Javanese

taught at school.


48/53


49/53


Ta le +.4- T/values for significance of mean differences ofperceptions of the identity traits of speakersspeaking kromo and ngoko varieties and their corresponding #ndonesian guises.

Fo. #dentity Traits %romo Ngoko &!us

Ngokougu

*angjoan

1 Eike // dislikeway of speaking

.0);MMMM 4.1;)MMMM /0.10 /A.2+ MMMM

2 !asy // difficultto understand

/1. 1; /2. A;MM /4.4,;MMMM /A.,4 MMMM

) Hery Javanese N not veryJavanese

).A)+MMMM10.40 MMMM

;.+2)MMMM 12.2+;MMMM

4 Hery#ndonesianNnot very#ndonesian

0.+4 /0.+,) /1.A20 /4.11 MMMM

'imilar N notsimilar to parenttraits

4.);0MMMM ).44)MMMM 0. 2, 0.)1A

A 'imilar N notsimilar to yourtraits

0.2,1 0.,+) 0.2A+ /1.+; M

; ant to e likethe speakers

/).)00MMMM 2.21AM /1.1+, .0+4MMMM

3our interpretation is here ... as stated earlier that primary

school children have serious difficulties in translating indonesian

words into kromo Javanese e>uivalents. #f they like the way of

speaking y speakers in kromo and ngoko alus guises * see.

Eine 1 $ it doesnt mean that they really tried to master these two

speech levels of Javanese. #n practical terms$ it is hardly

Chapter 9: Perceptions of function and identity ;1


50/53


possi le. #f they express that they like the way of speaking y

the speakers in these two guises. #t is simply ecause at schoolthey are taught to elieve that the use of these two speech

levels reflects the politeness and refinement of the speakers.

Dn the other side$ if they evaluate negativelly the style of

the speakers in 5ang6oan 6avanese guises * see. Eines 1$2$4

and A it means that they ac>uire indonesian as the language

that gives the promise for future status in their life. This

interpretation is supported y the fact that they perceive all of

speakersin indonesia guises as more modern$ more

educated$more intelligent$more cosmopolitant$ richer and higher

in social class than the same speakers in 5ang6oan guises

* see. Ta le +.2 . #n addition$ there is a suggestion that they

regard indonesian as the language that promise more solidarity

than 5ang6oan Javanese * Ta le +.1 . This interpretation issupported y the fact that altough they speak 6avanese$ their

6avanese lack coherence may easily motivate them to shift from

speaking 6avanese to speaking indonesian.

#ts clear that linguistically children in su ur an areas of

east 6ava$ such as in 6em atan$view themselves as more

indonesian than Javanese. #n this case$ the t/values in line 2 in

ta le +.) shows that they find speakers in #ndonesia guises

easier to understand than the same speaker in Javanese

guises. This implies that$ even if they regard speakers in

6avanese guises as more 6avanese than indonesian. This

interpretation is supported y the evidence that altough the

children regard their parents as similar to the speaker in =romo

;2 Chapter 9: Perceptions of function and identity


51/53


and Fgoko alus guises * line $they do not consider themselves

as such * line A . 9nderstand ly$ even if they express that theywant to e the speaker in these two guises *line ; $ it doesnot

mean that they will pursue the linguistic identity. #nstead$ they

will likely follow the modern trend that gives them opportunities

to ac>uire indonesian. #n fact$ they regard the speaker in

#ndonesian guises as more indonesian * line 4 $ and consider

themselves similar to these speaker *line + .

59T 3D9 Cuette. 'ince priyayi have had to ad6ustthemselves to their new role in the modernisation of #ndonesian

society$ they have had to discontinue orientation to their "entral

Javanese traditional court/related practices. "onse>uently$

people in !ast Java have ecome reasona ly free from the

influence of priyayi linguistic mannerism$ and they have had

more opportunity to express themselves using their own word

choices$ such as the sym olic words cak and rek $ not the

words chosen or imposed y priyayi .

#n fact$ there are significant differences etween the

variety of Javanese spoken in !ast Java and the variety of the

language spoken in "entral Java. hile such differences have

motivated Javanese people in !ast Java to recognise the

Chapter 9: Perceptions of function and identity ;)


52/53


relative eauty and authority of high Javanese$ the differences

have also caused them to realise that high Javanese is simplyeyond their communicative repertoire. uire the skill of speaking high Javanese$ which

is not sensi ly demanded in !ast Java$ they prefer to identify

themselves linguistically as a distinct group of Javanese

speakers$ separate from those in "entral Java.

Fonetheless$ for the !ast Javanese$ such linguistic

identification appears rather hollow nowadays ecause even if

they are fairly free from the influence of priyayi life style$ they are

not free from the powers of nationalism$ modernisation$ and

glo alisation. #n fact$ childrens attitudes to and perceptions of

Javanese in relation to #ndonesian provide some ela oration to

this effect.


53/53


even their own local variety of Javanese as the roots of their

culture.

To change the way

To analyIe everything ased on the data

East two ta le are different analyIe

2. (ocus in on cultural values$ norm. 'peaking is cultural

practices

hat is the sig of the calculation in function of the lang.

quiz 5 sociolinguistics_chika

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