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The Indonesian language at 83: Looking back to look forward

The tremendous speed of the modernization of the Indonesian language, especially its lexicon, cannot be separated from the exhaustive work of past Indonesian scholars from two radically different camps: the conservatives and the modernists

Setiono Sugiharto (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, October 29, 2011

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The Indonesian language at 83: Looking back to look forward

T

he tremendous speed of the modernization of the Indonesian language, especially its lexicon, cannot be separated from the exhaustive work of past Indonesian scholars from two radically different camps: the conservatives and the modernists.

The conservatives’ central figure was the late Anton M. Moeliono, who contributed significantly to the modernization of the Indonesian lexicon. In an attempt to seek Indonesian counterparts to foreign terminology that dominated almost all domains, Moeliono, known as the guardian of the Indonesian language, was consistent in resorting either to the Malay language or indigenous Indonesian languages for reference.

He strongly believed that using Indonesian and its indigenous languages was one of the most effective ways to safeguard it from outside threats, such that Indonesian language users could take pride in their national language.

Moeliono’s legacy is now widely adopted by the Indonesian language users, including such words as rekayasa (engineering), penyelia (supervisor), tenggat (deadline), kudapan (snack), pantau (monitor), suku cadang (spare parts), and penyibak aib (whistle blowers).

However, not all the terminology he unveiled gained acceptance and became part of our daily communication. Words such as jasa boga (catering), warta merta (obituary), sengkuap (canopy), umpan tekak (appetizer), and pranata (institution) are hardly used in either spoken or written communication.

In contrast, the modernists, represented mainly by the late Alisjahbana, preferred Western words to be adopted and nativized into the Indonesian language.

For Alisjahbana, terminology from Malay and local language was not always able to precisely express concepts, ideas, and referents related to modernity. He also contended that replacing Western words with local languages (especially Javanese) equivalents was an indication of purism.

The overwhelming use of foreign terminology hitherto by educators, writers, politicians, government officials, media commentators, entertainers and journalists, has indeed been motivated by the spirit of these modernists.

These people often employ English words and phrases in their speech and writing either via borrowing or code-switching in order to mark themselves as belonging to a modern society, to reveal their knowledge (albeit very limited) of a foreign knowledge, to appear educated, or to deliberately make a concept sounds more sophisticated to the ears of their interlocutors.

It is not surprising that in many occasions, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other government officials, most notably, have often saturated their speeches with English terminology.

Paradoxically, however, the significant number of foreign terms in the Indonesian language used in public places was not welcomed by conservatives (particularly by those working in the Language Center). The excessive usage of these terms was seen a lack of nationalism.

The “nationalist” spirit of maintaining the use of Indonesian language, especially in the business and entertainment domains, was then proposed to be legally bound by law under the language bill. However, the bill sparked controversy and was never endorsed by the House of Representatives or realized as a law.

The movement was basically aimed at reminding the public of the infamous slogan Bahasa Indonesia yang “baik dan benar” (correct and appropriate Indonesian) among the public.

While in the past the use of the correct and appropriate Indonesian was controlled, if not indoctrinated, by language experts or linguists affiliated in the Language Center through various means of communication, the use of Indonesian by modern society is now fully determined by the attitudes of the users toward the language they want and don’t want to use.

There are strongs indications at present that language users (both youths and adults) have positive attitudes toward a colloquial Indonesian language known as Jakartan Indonesian.

Jakarta, as the metropolis, evokes something associated with prestige and modern life, which in turns affects people’s attitudes toward the language used in this capital. James Sneddon, an Australian linguist, once predicted that the colloquial Jakartan variety of Indonesian would continue to influence other regional varieties and would gradually be accepted as a colloquial standard.

This prediction seems to have turned into reality. It is increasingly common to find this emerging language variety being spoken and written in domains including entertainment, journalism, politics and various others.

Unlike in the past when the correct and appropriate Indonesian was associated with formal Indonesian, colloquialism has now become widespread, with the mass media playing a central role in its dissemination.

This phenomenon is indicative that with the informal Jakartan Indonesian now becoming a colloquial standard, the “intellectualization of formal language” (to borrow Sneddon’s phrase), which was common in the past, is no longer effective as a society-based language education.

Users’ full control over the language has also fascinatingly created a phenomenon known as informal lexical innovation. Innovative word-blending, as created by journalists, is a case in point and is most notorious hitherto in the political domain.

These terms include banggar for badan anggaran (budgetary board), panja for panitia kerja (working committee), pansel for panitia seleksi (selecting committee), balon for bakal calon (would-be candidate), and satgas for satuan tugas (taskforce) members.

It is apparent that the influence exerted by the media in the contribution to the development of the Indonesian lexicon and in the emergence of colloquial Jakartan Indonesian showcases the fact that both the development of a language and language shift or change is bound to the attitudes of its users.

The more the speakers value certain languages (e.g. English) and consider them more prestigious, the more positive their attitudes toward them become, and the more likely they will use them in daily communication.

In our present situation, this hypothesis suffices in explaining why most people prefer to use English-sounding words at the expense of their Indonesian equivalents and why a vast number of local languages are in a moribund state and in danger of extinction.

The writer is an associate professor at Atma Jaya Catholic University. He is also chief-editor of Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching.

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