TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results‘If not now, when?’: The survival and revival of the elusive Lampung language
As many people from other regions in Indonesia migrate to Lampung, the local language strives to survive in its homeland.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Signage: Road signs in Lampung, especially Bandar Lampung area, usually feature the native Lampung letters. (Wikimedia Commons/Adiyuza) (Wikimedia Commons/Adiyuza)
A
s many people from other regions in Indonesia migrate to Lampung, the local people strive to help the local language to survive in its homeland.
Lampung is known for its coffee, beaches and heavy Siger crowns, but almost nobody outside Lampung has ever heard of the Lampung language.
"Those who still often use the Lampung language are generally people who live in villages. It also depends on the environment," said Syapril Yamin, a local Lampung traditional-arts expert and musician who prefers to be called Mamak Lil (Uncle Lil in Lampung language).
Lampung was indeed a popular transmigration destination, which explains why Lampung people are a minority in their own land. As time goes by, the use of Lampung language is becoming increasingly limited.
"[There's less] indigenous Lampung people than the Javanese and Bantenese [in Lampung]," said Bagus S. Pribadi, an artist and musician who lives in Bandar Lampung. "Lampung people are practically 'marginalized'. They feel awkward when communicating in their local language in their own land."
Rilda Taneko, a Lampung author who now lives in the United Kingdom, shares the same view as Bagus. According to her, other tribes flocked to the region even before the New Order era because Lampung was the target of Javanese settlement, first initiated by the Dutch in 1905.
"According to the latest data from the statistics bureau, [indigenous] Lampung people only comprise 12 percent of the total population of Lampung," Rilda explained.
More from The Weekender
The price you pay for living in Jakarta
It doesn't really matter where you live, Jakarta is expensive everywhere. The only real choice is what you're willing to pay with: your money, your time or your sanity.
Success isn’t at the top of the corporate ladder anymore
My generation watched our parents give everything to a company. We decided to give it to ourselves instead. But it's more complicated than that.
Our second Instagram account is the real one
In an act of rebellion against overexposure and performative social media, Gen Z are turning to smaller, controlled spaces on social media where they can be their authentic selves.
