The Use of Language by Myself and My Family

Introduction

Indonesia is a developing country located on the Southeast Asia. Indonesia has many tribes that spread on all of the country. Each tribe usually has their own language to communication as their first language. Therefore, there are around 700 local languages exist depend on the tribe. Each local language usually has different vocabulary and accent. Because of this difference, Indonesian people use Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) as the national and official language to interact with another tribe. So, every Indonesian people should understand local language and Bahasa Indonesia.

Bahasa Indonesia is from Malay language which have changed and adapted with Indonesian people. It started to be national and official language at 1928. Bahasa Indonesia usually is learned in formal school and it start from 6 or 7 years old. It commonly used in formal situation like commerce, especially for business in middle and upper level, administration, education, and the mass media (Wikipedia, 2017). Meanwhile, the people prefer to use local language as their daily conversation with another and rural market.

Quinn (2001) said that “Indonesians are overwhelmingly bilingual, indeed many people have a good command of three of four languages”. Indonesian people who get education and around big city usually speak 3 language. There are local languages, Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia), and foreign language (usually in English). People speak Bahasa Indonesia depend on the function. They can speak Bahasa Indonesia and mix it with Javanese accent in the daily life, but they can’t use it for writing legal letter to government institute. People have to write standard Bahasa Indonesia as written in KBBI (Indonesian Legal Dictionary) for formal and official circumstance. The condition that makes different way to use language named diglossia (Deterding, 1998).

One of the local language which have the biggest user is Javanese. In Javanese, there is system of honorific speech levels (Quinn, 2001). Carita (2005) said that Javanese divide to 3 level, there are Ngoko (lowest level), Madya (middle level), and Krama (highest level). I use Ngoko for talking to friends who has same age with me, close people, and younger. The example of Ngoko is “Kowe aja mangan dhisik! Entenono aku” (“Don’t eat first! Wait for me!”). I use Madya for talking with people who work in the street area and traditional market (for transaction). The example of Madya is “Nek wani nggih ngriku, nanging regane mboten kirang saking Rp 50.000.” (“If you want, but the price is not more than 50.000 Rupiahs.”). I use Krama for talking with elder people, rural, or someone who I respect to, like teacher, boss, or parents. The example of Krama is “Bapak sampun dhahar nopo?” (Have you eaten, Dad?”).

My Family

My main family consists of father, mother, and a little brother. My father’s name is Masno and he is 56 years old. My mother’s name is Aisyah and she is 51 years old. Both of my parents are tailor. They made and sew clothes almost every day. But, besides being a tailor, my father also sell sewing machine as a business. We live in a small village near Bahrul Ulum Muslim Boarding School. My parents always stay at home every day. So, fortunately I can meet them, interact with them, and I can get more affection from them anytime. They always say to me to keep my attitude and my language wherever I am.  I have to try use Krama especially when I am interacting with older people.

Language Use by my Family

In our daily live, we always use Javanese. There is a different way when I talk to my parents and my younger brother. I use Krama to talk with my parents, but, I use Ngoko to talk with my younger brother. I rarely use both Indonesian and English in my family. Sometimes when I want to say amount of something or want to express my affection, I mix my sentence both Indonesian and English. But, if my parents don’t understand what I said, I should translate it to Javanese. I usually send Text Message also in Javanese language to my family. My family have no social media, so, our communication only by text, by phone, and face to face. This statement below shows how I mix my Krama and Indonesian language. Those underlined words are Krama, and the other are Indonesian.

1^st example:

“Aku sampun maem, Buk. Mantun saking kampus, aku tumbas dua bungkus nasi ten sekitar toko niku. Murah kok Buk, mboten mahal. Lauk e ayam, tempe, sayur. Hehe” (“I have eaten, Mom. When I went home after class, I bought 2 boxes of food around that shop. They are cheap, not expensive. I got chicken, tempe, and vegetables. Hihi”)

2^nd example:

      “Aku sakniki belajar. Besok enten tes mata kuliah Psikologi Umum. Buk, pangestune nggih.” (I am studying now. Tomorrow I will have test for Introduction to Psychology module. Wish me luck, Mom)”

And the statement below show how I mix Krama and English. The underlined words are Krama, and the other are English.

“Inggih, Sabtu aku mantuk numpak kereta, Buk. I love you, Buk.” (Yes, I will go home this Saturday by train, Mom. I love you, Mom.”)

My big family live in the other district. I talk to them use Javanese language also. But, when we are discussing some specific topic, we use Bahasa Indonesia. All of my big family live in rural area, so, it will be polite to speak in Javanese.

My Attitudes towards Language Use

I try to respect every people who talk with me. I have to adapt with whom I speak, so I can use the right language. I like to use Javanese when I am talking with the people around me, my family, and also my Javanese friends. When I use Javanese language, I feel that I am closer with them, and we can talk any kind of topics. And especially when I am talking to older people, I use Krama. It makes me increase my respect to them. Sometimes, I feel happy when some older people appreciating my Krama. They said that there were few young people could speak Javanese as well as me.

When I talking to my friends from another tribes and my lecturer, usually I use Bahasa Indonesia. The language that used in class for explanation is Bahasa Indonesia. Rini (2014) said that “English is the issue of urban dwellers, in big cities or capital cities only in Java. In smaller cities, English does not really play an important role”. We never speak in English, except on the special circumstance (e.g. English Module, English day, and English Club). If I try to speak in English, most of my friends will stare at me and they think that I am pretending as excellence person at that time. I want to learn to speak English, but I don’t like this kind of judgement. It makes people unwilling to practice English. So, I just continue to speak in Bahasa Indonesia.

Conclusion

Language is important in our daily life, because it is the key to speak each other. Everyone can speak more than 2 languages and accents. But, people have to use right language on every circumstance they have. Me and my family always use our local language for communication. And I usually use Bahasa Indonesia and Javanese language to speak with my friends. I am happy to speak Javanese language, because it makes me feel that I am closer with the person I talk to. And I enjoy use Indonesian in my education circumstance, because it makes me easily to interact each other. I believe that the language we use can define who we are and how is our type.

References

Carita, W.P. (2005). Sarwa-Sarwi Kawruh Basa Jawa. Sukoharjo: CV.Cendrawasih.

Deterding, D. (1998). Aproaches to diglossia in the classroom: The middle way. REACT, 2, 18-23

Quinn, G. (2001). The Learner's Dictionary of Today's Indonesian. Sydney: Allen & Unwin

Rini, E.J. (2014). The position of English in Indonesia. Beyond Words, Vol.2, No.2, 19-40

Wikipedia. (2017). Indonesia. Retrieved at 4 March, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia