Large scale endangerment of Javanese? Assessing enthnolinguistic vitality in an East Java village

Jozina Vander Klok University of British Columbia jozina.vander@ubc.ca

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A note on Javanese •  Western Malayo-Polynesian; Austronesian •  ~ 90 million speakers; 10th largest language worldwide •  spoken in Central and East Java, Indonesia

(as well as Madura and Banten, Indonesia; Suriname; New Caledonia; Netherlands)

•  Written tradition from c. 700 CE •  Three main speech levels: Krama, Madya, Ngoko (High, Mid, Low) •  Culturally centred on courtly cities of Surakarta/Solo & Yogyakarta •  Highly divergent dialects (cf. Wolff 1997, 1983)

Acknowledgements Matur suwon sing akeh to my consultants, Mbak Titis, Mbak Fina, Mbak Ulum, Mbak Rohmah, Mbak Nunung, Mbak Haris, Mas Nasrul, Mas Faiz, Pak Farihi, Pak Khoim, and Pak Khoiq and interview participants in Paciran, Indonesia. I also thank SSHRC (756-2012-0648, 752-2010-2594) and the former Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Jakarta Field Station).

Javanese reported as increasingly vulnerable to language endangerment

•  Vulnerability/loss is independent of language size ���(Florey 2005; Ravindranath & Cohn 2014)

•  Language endangerment scenario (Himmelmann 2010) created by:

[1] Effects of globalization and increased use of English •  Government language policy:

•  ‘Love local languages, use the national language, study foreign languages’ (Mencintai bahasa daerah, memakai bahasa nasional, mempelajari bahasa asing) (Undang-Undang 24/2009)

•  Zentz (2012): English in globalization •  Viewed as ‘cool’, associated with sophistication, intelligence,

prestige, wealth •  “a place to expand their identities […] beyond the options available in

Javanese and Indonesian national spaces” (p.149) [2] Increased mobility and changing economic status

•  Goebel (2002, 2005, 2010): •  higher economic neighbourhoods tend to use Indonesian

•  Errington (1998): Krama codified by Dutch ���colonists, but ngoko remains uncodified/standardized ���à lends to the erasure of ngoko

[3] Pressures from Indonesian •  Kurniasih (2006): Differences in class & gender in language choices

•  Women; middle class leading shift towards Indonesian •  57% middle class girls use only Indonesian (vs. 9% mid.cl. boys) •  88% of middle class mothers chose to speak only Indonesian to

their children (compared with 39% of middle class fathers) •  Smith-Hefner (2009): Social attitudes w.r.t. linguistic choices

•  Women gravitate towards Indonesian now & for future: more “participatory” and “relaxed”, allows for closer relationships (akrab)

•  Specific loss of linguistic sub-systems: Javanese speech levels •  Shift away from Krama (Errington 1998; Wohlgemuth & Köpl 2005) •  Poedjosoedarmo 2006; Smith-Hefner 2009; Zentz 2012; Setiawan s2012

•  Self-regulation: increasing insecurity of Javanese speakers’ ability to use krama ‘correctly’

•  Government policy of Indonesian •  Goebel (2002, 2005, 2010) on Semarang Javanese:

•  asymmetric speech level exchange more common; linked to intimacy •  krama used between Javanese speakers who rarely interact;���

Indonesian inter-ethnically

Results •  Difference in age found with languages spoken

•  What language(s) do you use daily? Bendinane, sampeyan gawe boso opo •  Only speakers <35 y.o. state Indonesian as one of their daily languages

•  Can you speak another language other than Javanese? (Iso boso seng lio, sak liane boso Jawa?) •  Eldest speaker (over 60) reports none. •  Middle-aged speakers (35-50 y.o.) all indicated Indonesian.

•  Two speakers initially responded Gak iso ‘I cannot’, but then after a pause or the interviewer’s prompting, responded with Indonesian. à Suggest that some speakers are not aware of the extent that they are bilingual, or use Indonesian in their daily life

•  Asymmetric speech exchange •  nek karo wong-wong tuo, yo boso lah, tapi gak kromo inggil alus... hehehe

“When meeting elderly, yeah, Javanese, but not Krama Inggil haha” [F37]

Conclusions •  The shift towards endangerment also observed in rural areas

[1] Younger speakers identify with both Javanese and Indonesian; Global English effect less pronounced, perhaps due to overall lower economic status [2] Increased mobility leads to higher use of Indonesian [3] Pressure from Indonesian as unmarked alternative; Shift away from Krama à suggests that large-scale endangerment is occurring in Javanese

References Ravindranath, M. & Cohn, A. 2014. Can a language with millions of speakers be endangered JSEALS 7:64-75. | Errington, J. 1998. Shifting Languages: Interaction and Identity in Javanese Indonesia. CUP. | Florey, M. 2005. Language shift and endangerment. In The Austronesian languages of Asia and Madagascar. London: Routledge, 43-64. | Kurniasih, Y. 2006. Class, Gender, and Language Preference: A case study in Yogyakarta. ALS Proceedings. | Poedjosoedarmo, G. 2006. The effect of Bahasa Indonesia as a Lingua Franca on the Javanese Speech Levels and their Functions. IJSL 177: 111- 121. | Setiawan, S. 2012. Children’s language in a bilingual community in East Java, U. of Western Australia: Ph.D. | Smith-Hefner, N. 2009. Language shift, gender, and ideologies of modernity in Central Java, Indonesia. JLA 19:57-77. | Wohlgemuth, J. & Köpl, S. 2005. Endangered Subsystems. In Bedrohte Vielfalt. Aspekte des Sprach(en)tods/ Aspects of language death, Berlin: Weissensee. | Zentz, L. 2012. Global Language Identities and Ideologies in an Indonesian University Context, U of Arizona: Ph.D.

Indonesia

Research Question •  Previous studies have focused in/around Yogyakarta & Surakarta

•  City centres: Vulnerability is most acute in cities, whereas rural areas are less likely to be affected (e.g. Setiawan 2012)

•  Courtly centres: Carries the prestige of the ‘Standard Javanese’ dialect, but language loss of Krama due to changing social structure

Methodology •  Location: Paciran, East Java; pop. ~ 5000

•  fishing village composed of 3 hamlets (Paciran, Jetak, Penanjan) •  Krama not as prevalent, but present (e.g. Smith-Hefner 1989)

•  13 interviews conducted in Javanese in 2011 •  Participants: 5 male, 8 female; age range between 21-70

•  Periods of observation during fieldwork periods throughout 2012-2016

•  Beyond the courtly centres or city centres, is this shift towards language endangerment also observed? •  Rural village: Predict that vulnerability to endangerment is low. •  Non-courtly centre: Predict that because the dialect is not

‘prestigious’, vulnerability to endangerment may be high.

Results •  Shift away from Krama: Difference in age & class •  Can people in Paciran speak Krama?

•  Cuma krama pasaran.. iyo, gak… injih, mboten. [...]Alus temenan, jarang seng iso. Luweh akeh seng umure luweh tuwo. [M31] “Only ‘market’ krama, saying yes/no. For truly refined Javanese, it is rare that people can. More people can who are older. ”

•  wong seng guru-guru, wong tuwo-tuwo, terus wong seng biasa [x] lungo nek daerah liyo. Nek wong kene dewe... jarang iso boso jowo alus. [F26] “Teachers, elderly, and those who travel different places. As for those who live only here, it is rare that they can speak refined Javanese.”

•  Are children in Paciran taught 'kromo' when they are young? •  kebanyakan ora … kebanyakan yo wes pelajaran soko sekolahan…

dadi.... wong nek omah iku hari-hari yo wes boso biasa [F37] “Most not. Most are taught in school, so at home it’s ‘regular’ Javanese”

•  Observed one mother/5 families consistently use Krama with their children •  Shift away from Krama: Indonesian as unmarked alternative •  When do you use those languages?

•  boso jowo alus patek ngerti, dadi kudu ngomong nganggo boso indonesia Nek nganggo boso jowo biasa, menurtku kurang sopan....bedo lek nganggo boso jowo halus. [F26] “High Javanese is not understood, so I have to use Indonesian. If I were to use everyday Javanese, in my opinion it’s less polite; it’s different than using refined Javanese. ”

•  kalau ada tamu bicaranya…cakapnya bahasa Indonesia [F36] ���“When there are guests, [I] speak…use Indonesian.”

•  anak e kan cilik.... cilik-cilik... dik ulangi boso indonesia....ben halus […] nek boso indonesia kan ra ono toh boso kasar [F27]���“Young children are taught Indonesian so that it’s polite. Indonesian doesn’t have ‘coarse’ speech.”���

•  Effect of globalization: English viewed as a pathway to success •  Only higher class can attend university à minority •  Learning English and Indonesian in kindergarten perceived as positive,

but are not necessarily aware of domain shifts in own language use. nek kene bahasa yang digunakan eh miss... wong indonesia.....he eh...... bahasa indonesia, nomer siji. [F27] “Here the language that is used by Indonesians is Indonesian, number one.”