NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE SCIENCES

MA CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION + MA Applied Linguistic and TESOL

Module code and name: Sociolinguistic CCC8015

LEVEL M

Title : Osob Kiwalan Malang as a Variant in Malang, East Java, Indonesia

Name of the module leader: Dr. Peter Sercombe

I declare that this submission is wholly my own work: 140328093

Actual date of submission:28/05/2015Word Count:3065 wordsIntroductionLanguage is the foremost means to communicate with each other. Every community has their own language to show their identity and to socialize among their society. A nation can be cosidered as community of speech by having one national language, yet it is possible for a country to have more than one language used in the smaller society within the country. Indonesia is one example of a country which has more than 500 languages besides its own national language.Large number of language variety in Indonesia is due to its diverse culture, ethnic, and regions. Throughout its thousand of islands, each island, even each region in the island has their own distinct languages. Most of people in Indonesia are bilingual, meaning that they master more than one language to communicate. Even based on the survey done by Swiftkey.com in 2015, Indonesia is on the top of the chart of the most trilingual countries. The survey which was done through social media shows that 17.4% of people in Indonesia are trilingual. They mostly speak Bahasa Indonesia (national language), Javanese (vernacular language of Java island), and English. It infers that the domination of the vernacular language is as big as Bahasa Indonesia as national language. Based on the research done by Nababan (1985) vernacular language in Indonesia is used for intra-region communication and it was the first language of most Indonesian meanwhile Bahasa Indonesia is the medium to be used in education and trade between regions. Though there is a shifting that Bahasa Indonesia is now the first language (Nababan, 1985), vernacular language is still used as a daily language among people in one community. The coexistence of Bahasa Indonesia and vernacular language in society can generate another variant of language too, for example bahasa prokem[footnoteRef:1] (Collins & Chambert-Lois, 1984), Jakarta Backwards Youth Slang (Dreyfuss, 1983), bahasa gay[footnoteRef:2] (Boellstorf, 2004; Oetomo, 2003) and bahasa gaul[footnoteRef:3] (Smith-Hefner, 2007). [1: Bahasa Prokem is a register like slang which is used in a certain community, for example a punk community] [2: Bahasa Gay is a variant used by homosexual community] [3: Bahasa Gaul is a variant used among Jakarta teenager]

In Malang, East Java, Indonesia, this non-standard register also exists among its people; the Malangese uses term Osob Kiwalan for this variant. Osob Kiwalan is an averted language which derives by averting vocabulary from both Bahasa Indonesia and Javanese. The term Osob Kiwalan (OK) itself is the implementation of averting words; Osob is formed from Boso which means Language in Javanese while Kiwalan is from Walikan which means averted. The coinage of this variant appeared during the Dutch occupation. Likewise other non-standard variants in Indonesia that happened to be codes and secret languages (Collins & Chambert-Lois, 1984; Dreyfuss, 1983; Boellstorf, 2004; Oetomo, 2003; Smith-Hefner, 2007), Osob Kiwalan also had the same use back then. The shifting of the use of OK itself appears to be means to promote and foster a shared identity (Espree-Conaway, 2012). The objective of this study is to find out the purpose of the user of OK in using it. Further, this study aims to follow up the presumption of the existence of OK that it is now a variant that is used by Malangese to share the same identity. There are also additional aims to conduct this study, firstly is to find out the range of age of OK user and secondly to find out whether this is slang language or a place language. As Espree-Conaway claimed (2012), OK can be classified into place language because most of the people use it, yet it is still a vague notion knowing that place language is similar to vernacular language which most/all people will use to communicate within their speech community regardless the background, age, or education of the speaker. On the other hand, some researchers claim that OK is a slang language (Hoogervorst, 2014; Jason and Rahmat, 2013; Rachmawaty, 2012). Therefore, the last objective of this study is important in order to classify the existence of OK among Malangase.Those study objectives will be explored and evaluated by disseminating questionnaire and interview which will be analyzed quantitatively thereafter. The questionnaire will be given to the native Malangese who resides in Malang. The participant I will have is approximately 30 people from different background and different range of age. I would like to seek only native participants to get a reliable data from the instrument. Meanwhile, the interview is a semi-structured interview which will be conducted through the Internet. There are three people who represent a different range of age. The first range of interviewee age is 14-20 (teenager), 21-29 young adult, and over 30 (adult). After the submission of the data, I will analyze the data quantitatively.To begin with, the study will elaborate the history and structure of OK. Then to follow up the third concern of this study whether OK is a slang language rather than a place language, I would like to give the concise explanation of slang language and place language. The underpinning theory of these two registers will be combined with the data I will have gathered from the questionnaire and interview and then drawing the conclusion after. Osob Kiwalan Variation Style Osob Kiwalan was firstly used by Gerilya Rakyat Kota Malang (Malang People Guerrilla) at post-independence of Indonesia back in 1949. The term Osob Kiwalan is coined from Javanese language which means Averted Language. Osob is from Boso (Javanese) means Language, Kiwalan is from Walikan (Javanese) means avertion. The existence of OK was first initiated due to the military invasion of Dutch after Indonesia independence on March, 1949. Dutch placed a spy within Malang patriot. The Malang patriot had known of this problem and tried to overcome the problem by having a secret code to communicate that only Malangese would now. Then OK was created to keep the confidential report and to communicate among Malang patriots. By the time goes by, the shifting use of OK emerges, OK has widely changed of the use and community which actively uses it. This language shifting appears to be the effect of external side of a language which is social factor (Crystal, 2008).OK adapts most of its vocabulary from the combination of Bahasa and Javanese. It infers that the root of OK is the same of the two languages mentioned previously. Those two languages belong to the Austronesian language family, which is one of the largest language families in the world. Lewis (2009) estimates that there are 1,257 variants of this language root. According to that fact, OK belongs to Austronesian language family. Additionally, OK adapts East Java variant which spread across Malang as the vernacular language. (see figure 1).

Figure 1 (taken from Espree-Conaway, 2012)The Structure of Osob KiwalanThe notion of OK that is assumed to only avert a word directly is not fully right. There are also several words that coin and use only in Malang. Those vocabularies are included in OK as Malangese appoints them as their distinctive language.Looking for its structure, taken form the study conducted by Icuk (2013), OK structure covers abbreviation, naturalization, and averted phoneme position. In brief, those categorizations explained as bellows: A. AbbreviationAn abbreviation is a letter or group of letters that is/are shortened into a word (Kerner et al, 2010). Non-standard register usually is flexible including OK. OK has many variations that distinguishes it to other language variant in Indonesia. Below is the list of some abbreviations are only used in Malang.AbbreviationLong FormMeaning

Suhat => su-hat => Sukarno-Hatta The name of the most crowded street in Malang

Simek => si-mek => sikil mejaSikil=leg, mejo=tableThe leg of a table

Cacat => ca-cat => calon cantikCalon = candidate, cantik = beautiful Girl who will be beautiful if she grown-up

Kotik => ko-tik => kodew mbetikKodew= a girl, mbetik=naughtyNaughty girl

B. Naturalization OK adopts some of the words from other languages besides Indonesia and Javanese. The words then are averted to match which the basic principal of OK for example Okir which is derived from Riko (Banyumas [footnoteRef:4]variant) which means You. OK also adopts foreign language namely Arabic like in the word Ebes which means Father/Dad. Ebes derives from Syebe which is Arabic and means father/dad. [4: Banyumas is a region in Middle Java and it has a Banyumas variant which derives from Javanese]

C. Averted Phoneme PositionThis variation of OK appears more often that other since it is the salient form of OK. This variation of OK is formed by directly avert the word. For example libom which is formed from Mobil as translated Car. The other example as listed below:OKOriginal FormEnglish Meaning

kera Arek (Javanese)Boy/Girl

ketam Matek (Javanese)

Die

nakam Makan (Bahasa)Eat

oges Sego (Javanese)Rice

hamur Rumah (Bahasa)House/Home

(More examples are attached)OK also affects the sound of the vowel whenever a word is averted. It happens in /e/ vowel which has /e/ and //, and /u/ that has /u/ and /U/ for example:Original FormOKMeaning

Dewe [dewe]ewed[wd]Self

edan[edan]nade[nad]Crazy

dulur [dulUr]rulud [rulUd]Relative/sibling

Moreover, if there is two consonant in the middle of a word, the consonants are more likely not averted due to the easier pronunciation. For example:OKOriginal formMeaning

KomparRampok (Bhs)Robbery

LandasSandal (Bhs)Slipper

Kampes Sempak (Jv)Underwear

There is also averted phoneme with erasing a letter to make it simpler, for example in the word oker which comes from rokok meaning cigarette and silup from polisi meaning police. Another variation is the addition in word after being averted such as in Roti becomes sitor meaning bread and Bawa transforms into kawab meaning carry. In addition, there is also a free form of averting phoneme to adjust with Malangese mother tongue namely ngingub and ublem. Ngingub is from bingung which means confused and ublem is from mlebu meaning enter.Slang LanguageAccording to the previous researchers, slang is rather difficult to define. Slang is most likely related to its informal or colloquial tone, its inventiveness, its playfulness, its ephemerality, its association with specific, often marginalized, sub-groups, and its rebellious opposition to formal or dignified discourse (Chapman 1986; Eble 1996; Lighter 2001; Battistella 2005; Allan and Burridge 2006; Adams 2009; Dalzell 2009).Eble (1996) stated that the salient feature of slang is the emphasis of it to generate such bound to promote sociability. By uttering the same slang language as a register to the particular community, people among this community will get along better as a reflection of an egalitarian solidarity. People who talk in the same slang language consider themselves as an equal position. The next typical characteristic of slang is that it tends to stick to the marginalized society. As it is a non-serious and playful register, slang considers as the media of a marginalized society to comfortably communicate each other. This stereotype of slang often misinterpreted as the rebellious language to oppose the authority, yet Bucholtz (2011) shows evidence in his study that rebelliousness is not a paramount reason of slang existence.Another distinguished feature of slang is the playfulness of both of its lexicon and structure. Adams (2009) appoints that playfulness is a prominent characteristic to define slang as it is. People who use slang tend to find a way of communicating in an easier and more comfortable way. The change of the structure, phoneme, or pronunciation often follows the use of slang. Furthermore, the use of vast variety of adapted or even novel vocabulary also shows how playful and flexible a slang language is.

Place LanguageThis term is used by Espree-Conaway (2012) to determine the existence of OK among native Malang. He defines that place language is a language that has a specific social niche that creates a sense of friendly intimacy, social equality, and communal solidarity. He claims that place language is different with slang language although the three features his mentioned in the preceding resemble to the characteristics of slang language. The interesting features that distinguish place language with slang is that place language will be used by everyone in the same place to join together in the society. Unlike place language, slang covers only the particular group of people, usually youth cohort, within a region, meaning that not all of the people in that region use the same slang language to communicate.

Finding and DiscussionAfter distributing the questionnaire and conducting interview, I have found some information to be discussed in order to answer these study objectives. The questionnaire distributed is 30 questionnaires and only 20 of them could I collect. In addition, there were three interviews conducted to the three chosen respondents who are native Malang. The age range of the respondents of questionnaire and interviewees is between 15 to 50 years old. Particularly, three of the interviewees are 16, 24, and 51 years old respectively. And in this chapter, I would like to discuss the finding qualitatively. Firstly is about the existence of the OK, as many as 55% respondents had no clue about the history of OK although they have used it several time. Most of the respondents (13 respondents, or 65%) stated that they often associate OK with football supporter so they assume it is created by football supporter in Malang. Knowing that football is very famous in Malang, this typical answer is not really surprising. From three of my interviewees only the eldest interviewee who knows the history of OK, he could explain that OK is originally a secret code to deceive the Dutch.From 20 respondents, only 15% of them admitted to use OK in daily situation. It is quite surprising that that most of the respondents said that they barely use OK; they only use it once in a while, they choose to communicate in formal Javanese most of the time, it seems backlashing with their statement that all of them (20 respondents) want to preserve OK.70% of the respondents assume that OK is used mostly by adults and teenagers, children and elderly rarely use it. In addition, the community that is spotted to use OK quite often is among the football supporter in Malang. Most of the respondents also limit the use of OK among their same-aged friend. This result shows that intense OK users are not wholly Malang people, but there is only particular age of group or community that will use the language. However, all Malangese recognizes and understand if someone speaks OK to them and they can respond necessarily. Malangeses have a variant answer regarding to the question of the purpose they use OK. However, it can be inferred that 65% of them use it because their neighborhood society uses it. They want to create a bonding that they can share among the OKs users. They feel more intimate when they meet their friend who uses the same variant as them. Secondly, the reason why Malangese speaks this variant is because they feel proud as native of Malang City. This pride for being different and unique from other regions helps to define their identity. Is Osob Kiwalan a slang language?Based on the questionnaire and the interview, the answer given by the respondents addressing that OKs identity is quite vague. Looking for the purpose of why people use it, OK could be considered as a slang language since people use it to be different, and to share the same identity (Moore, 2012). On the other hand, the spread of this language in the entire region of Malang strengthens the existence of OK as the place language like what Espree-Conaway suggested. Most of the respondents in every range of age and different community know OK well, although some of them do not use it every day, yet at least it shows that OK has well-known among Malangese, the same as Geordie as a variant in Newcastle.Looking from the structure of Osob Kiwalan, this language variant has some similarities with slang language characteristic. As I already explained previously that slang tends to be playful, it occurs to its structural form as well. Slang which comes from a certain language then being used in a certain community of speech has been up to create a particular variation in vocabulary mostly, from the main language where it comes then use it within a particular community. Slang has a tendency to generate a free from of variation. It happens in the OK as well.Structurally, OK averts the phoneme in rather free-formed way. Some of the vocabularies are directly avert, but in some cases like in the word ojrit which is from iyo means okay and hewul which is from luwe means starving, it needs creativity to add the world in order to be distinct. Moreover, the choice of the adapted vocabulary is adjusting Malangeses pronunciation and to get an easier access to avert the word; hence OK derives from Bahasa and Javanese in which they can use more word choices instead of sticking to one language only. For example they use nakam to avert makan which means eat. Makan is Bahasa, they choose it rather than Javanese word of makan, which is mangan, because makan is much easier to be averted.ConclusionAccording to the data I have collected and review of the theory, it can be concluded that the speakers purpose in using this language is in order to blend with their surrounding society. 65% of the respondents have the urge to speak OK to be able to feel the sense of belongingness with their society, as it is also can strengthen their bond with one another.Ok has a vast distribution as a variant in Malang. Almost all Malangese recognize this variant. Some of them use it to communicate to their friend and some to their community. The user of OK also varies from the age level. Although commonly the active user is teenager and adult, the elderly people still could comprehend someone who speaks OK.Secondly, OK usage and structure is likely a slang language rather than a place language. However, it is differs from most slang since most slang is only used in particular community and particular length of time. Moore (2004) defines this variant of slang as a basic slang since its longevity endures from more than one generations and there is no significant changes except the shifting of its use.

ReferencesAdams, M. (2009). Slang: The Peoples Poetry. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Allan, K., Burridge, K. (2006). Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Battistella, Edwin L. (2005). Bad Language: Are Some Words Better than Others? Oxford: Oxford University Press.Boellstorf, T. (2004). Gay Language and Indonesia: Registering Belonging. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 14(2), pp. 248-268.Bucholtz, Mary. (2011). White Kids: Language, Race, and Styles of Youth Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Chapman, Robert L., ed. (1986). New Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Harper and Row. Based on the Dictionary of American Slang, compiled and edited by Harold Wentworth and Stuart Berg Flexner (New York: Crowell, 1960).Collins, J. T. & Chambert-Loir, H. (1984). Those Who Speak Prokem. Indonesia, 37, pp. 105-117.Crisytal, David. (2008). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Dalzell, Tom, ed. (2009). The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English. New York: Routledge.Dreyfuss, J. (1983) The backwards language of Jakarta youth (JYBL), a bird of many language feathers. In James Collins (Ed). Studies in Malay Dialects.Eble, Connie. (1996). Slang and Sociability: In-Group Language among College Students. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.Espree-Conaway, D. A. (2012). Language Attitudes, Acquisition, and Usage of Osob Kiwalan Ngalam: An Indo-Javanese Language of Malang. Language.Lighter, J. E . (2001). Slang. In The Cambridge History of the English Language, vol. 6, English in North America, edited by John Algeo, 21952. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Moore, R. L. (2012). On Swearwords and Slang. American Speech, 87(2), 170-189. ISO 690Moore, R. L. (2004). We're cool, mom and dad are swell: Basic slang and generational shifts in values. American Speech, 79(1), 59-86.Nababan, P. W. J. (1985). Bilingualism in Indonesia: ethnic language maintenance and the spread of the national language. Asian Journal of Social Science, 13(1), 1-18.Oetomo, D. (2003). Memberi suara pada yang bisu [Voicing the muted]. Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta: Pustaka Marwa.Smith-Hefner, N. J. (2007). Youth Language, Gaul Sociability, and the New Indonesian Middle Class. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 17(2), pp. 184-203.Swiftkey.com/en/blog/celebrating-international-mother-language-day/ (retrieved on 14th of May, 2015)

AppendicesSemi-structured Interview GuidelineNo Question

1Do you know the history of Osob Kiwalan?

2Do you use Osob Kiwalan?

3Why do you use Osob Kiwalan

4What do you think about Osob Kiwalan?

Questionnaire GuidelineBoso Walikan QuestionnaireName:Age:Sex:1. Are you familiar with Boso Walikan?a. Yesb. NoIf yes,2. When do you use Boso Walikan?a. On a daily basisb. Once in a whilec. Rarely use itd. Never use it

3. Do you know the history of Boso Walikan?a. Yes I dob. No I do not know

4. Since when have you use Boso Walikan?a. Since I was 10 years old or priorb. Since I was 15 years oldc. Since I was 20 years oldd. Since I was 30 years olde. Since I was 40 years old

5. Why do you use Boso Walikan? (you may answer more than one)a. Because my surrounding society uses it b. Because I am a supporter of Arema FCc. Because I am Malangesed. Because my parents use ite. To be different from people from other regionsf. Other ..

6. With whom do you speak Boso Walikan?a. With familyb. With same-aged friendsc. With my communityd. Other

7. What crosses your mind when you hear someone speaks Boso Walikan?a. Football supporterb. Cool teenagerc. Thug d. Studentse. Other .

8. Who used to talk in Boso Walikan in your neighbourhood? a. Childrenb. Teenagerc. Adultd. Elderlye. Other..

9. On a scale of 1-10 (not proud very proud), how proud are you when using Boso walikan? (circle the appropriate number)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

10. On a scale of 1-10 (negative-positive), how do you think the impression of Boso Walikan in a daily communication? (circle the appropriate number)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11. Do you think Boso Walikan should be preserved?a. Yesb. No

12. Will you teach Boso Walikan to your children, later in the future?a. Yesb. NoReason

13. What is your general opinion about Boso Walikan?.....

Example of Questionnaire

5