By Lindsay Wong
Javanese is one of the most prominent mother tongue languages in Indonesia, with around 100 million speakers. Most speakers of Javanese can also speak the national language of Bahasa Indonesian and a language shift has occurred in recent years. Each language symbolizes different values – as the mother tongue of many Indonesians, cultural and traditional values are tied to Javanese, while Bahasa Indonesian is connected to relatively new ideologies like modernity and progress. Language also plays an important role in Indonesia in determining one’s social standing. This is evident through the use of Javanese, as the various types of speech reflect social and hierarchical differences.
Indonesia has a long history of colonialism by foreign powers, leading to nationalistic tendencies among Indonesians. The rise of nationalism among the indigenous population led to the desire for one language that could unify Indonesia as a nation and enable all ethnic groups to communicate more effectively -- Bahasa Indonesian. It evolved from a mix of different varieties of Malay that were already present in the country. Despite this, Javanese still maintained its prominence as a regional and mother tongue language for many.
Historically, the Javanese language has been associated with complex speech styles which indicate the social relationship between the interlocutors. When speaking Javanese, the social statuses of the speakers involved have to be assessed so that the appropriate speech styles could be used. There are different types of Javanese: ngoko and basa. Ngoko is the type of speech that is used informally in a basic and familiar context with family and friends. Individuals think and feel in ngoko. On the other hand, basa is the type of speech level that is more formal and respectful, so speakers should be more conscious with it. Basa can be further characterized into madya and krama. Madya is the middle respect level and krama is the higher one. An incapability of using krama efficiently demonstrates that the speaker may be from a lower social class. Speaking properly and in the correct manner demonstrates having good behavior on the part of the speaker.
There has been a language shift from the use of Javanese to Bahasa Indonesian due to the values tied to each language, especially by the younger generation. Since the establishment of President Suharto’s New Order government from the mid-1960s until the end of the 20th century, more educational and employment opportunities have been made available to the population. Young people have been employing the use of Indonesian instead of regional languages to take hold of these new opportunities. As such, daily use of Javanese among the youth dropped 16.3% from 1980 to 1990 and the daily use of Indonesian instead increased by 38.9%, according to Smith-Hefner. Indonesian started to be spoken more in domains that previously spoke Javanese. Indonesian is seen as being more communicative and participatory, which young people strive to be perceived as. Javanese’s politeness practices began to be confined to interactions with elder Javanese speakers, traditional arts or formal ritual activities. The language shift from Javanese to Indonesian indicates a nationwide acceptance of moving towards modernity as a nation.
Despite widespread use of Bahasa Indonesian now, Javanese still remains as a prominent mother tongue that is mostly used in the home setting and in the traditional arts. The language shift from Javanese to Bahasa Indonesian in the 20th century resulted from regional Indonesians yearning for more educational and employment opportunities. While the national language is associated with modernity and progress, Javanese allows speakers to reconnect with tradition, culture and the arts.
Sources:
Errington, J. J. (1998). Speech Styles, Hierarchy, and Community. Shifting Languages:
Interaction and Identity in Javanese Indonesia. (pp. 35-50). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Goebel, Z. (2008). Language, Class and Ethnicity in Indonesia. Bijdragen tot de Taal,
Landen Volkenkunde, 164(1), 69-101. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27868452
Siegel, J.T. (1986). Solo in the New Order: Language and Hierarchy in an Indonesian
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Smith-Hefner, N.J., (2009). Language Shift, Gender, and Ideologies of Modernity in
CentralJava, Indonesia. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 19(1), 57-77. DOI: 10.1111/j.1548-1395.2009.01019.x.
Cover Image from The Wanderlust Herald
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