T

he inexorable influx of foreign terminology ubiquitous in many fields such as entertainment, politics, journalism, economics and education implies two fundamental things.

First, the anachronistic national language-coining policy, which has long been established since the first language congress in Solo, Central Java, is no longer germane to current conditions.

Both print and electronic media exert considerable influence on exemplifying “models” of language use to the community at large. The policy stipulates that in coining words for the national language, the country’s local and indigenous languages must be the first resource to be used. Provided that no lexical items are available in these languages, borrowing words from foreign languages should become the last resort.

Second, language users are showing recalcitrant attitudes towards a proposed language law proscribing the use of foreign terminology the public sphere. This further implies that the Language Center — the purportedly non-governmental agency that proposed the law — has failed in an attempt to control people’s language use.

Now under the dominion of advanced sciences and technologies, the influence of language use by the media and public figures such as politicians, entertainers, advertisers and businessman in disseminating a so-called de facto language policy cannot be overlooked.

There is fear, however, voiced by conservative language custodians that these figures often employ a massive amount of loan words, particularly from English, in daily communication acts, giving the impression that English terminology is often given precedence over the use of Indonesian and local languages.

There is no need to worry about this natural phenomenon. If two languages come in contact, the dominant one tends to be preferred and used by the language community. On a positive note, if English terminology is used properly in the sense that the loan words serve as synonyms for existing Indonesian and local words, they can certainly enrich the lexicon of the Indonesian language.

In the process of language development, we have witnessed a rapid growth of the language, especially in its lexicon. We cannot therefore simply dismiss the fact that throughout its history Indonesia has owed much of its lexical enrichment to foreign borrowings.

The process of these borrowings have been taken the form of loanwords such as eksis (exist), kandidat (candidate), and presisi (precision); loan blends such as anti-rayap (termites) and polusi udara (air pollution); and loan shifts or loan translations such as pencakar-langit (skyscraper), tendangan pojok (corner kick) and peluru kendali (guided missile).

The late Indonesian linguistic professor Soenjono Dardjowidjojo estimated that the language’s lexicon reached approximately 70,000 lemmas, not to mention the tremendous development in its phonology and syntax.

Though Soenjono never explicitly mentioned where the sources of the lexicon came from, it is plausible to surmise that both the country’s indigenous languages and foreign terminology have historically significantly contributed to the Indonesian language. The tremendous development of the Indonesian lexicon is evidenced in the latest publication of the Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language (KBBI) by Balai Pustaka.

For reasons briefly alluded to above, what has become an issue of concern is not whether massive foreign borrowings can discourage the use of local languages, but rather how we can promote the logical use of our national language as well as a sense of cultivating pride of using local languages via education.

It is intriguing to observe that concomitant with the rapid development of the language, the use of illogical language is now prevalent not only among the uneducated, but also the educated. Such a fallacious use is also common in colloquial and even formal registers.

We can find numerous instances of anomalous language used, for instance, in giving warnings, such as in yang membawa HP harap di matikan, which literally means those who bring cell phones will be killed. The intended meaning, however, is please turn off your cell phone. Another infamous illogical phrase — kawasan dilarang merokok — is ubiquitously found in many areas in Greater Jakarta where people are advised not to smoke.

Observe also the following nonsense uttered by a TV reporter: Genangan air menggenangi hampir seluruh kawasan Jakarta, or water stagnated almost Greater Jakarta.

Local language cultivation also needs reinvigorating in the face of tough competition from the English predominantly used by people of all ages. While issuing a policy banning the use of English terminology is counterproductive, the viable options are to encourage the use of local language as a language of instruction and for publications (e.g., books, magazines, and newspaper) to be written in local languages.

The daily use of spoken language between students and students; and students and teachers stimulates a sense of pride in consistently using their home languages. In addition, written documentation helps to preserve local languages from the threat of language extinction and language death. These documentations are, in fact, “treasures” which can be passed into young generations so that they can appreciate the precious value of their ancestor’s language.

The writer is an associate professor at Atma Jaya University  in Jakarta and chief editor of the Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching.