Cover not available

Article published In: Variation and change in the languages of Indonesia
Edited by Maya Ravindranath Abtahian and Abigail C. Cohn
[Asia-Pacific Language Variation 7:2] 2021
► pp. 95–119

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Variation and contact-induced change in Javanese phonology among multilingual children in Indonesia

 | Universitas Negeri Malang
 | National University of Singapore
Published online: 6 October 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/aplv.20005.zen
Abstract
As Indonesian becomes more dominant in Indonesia, regional heritage languages, such as Javanese, may be increasingly influenced by phonological transfer. The extent of these effects may depend upon a speaker’s region and social background, as well as age of acquisition and proficiency in various languages. This study investigates the impact of these factors on the Javanese production among multilingual children in East Java. Specifically, we analyze the distinction between dental and retroflex coronal stops (/t̪/ /d̪̥ /, /ʈ/, /ɖ̥/), which phonemically contrast in Javanese, but not in Indonesian. The data were elicited from 95 children in Malang, a large urban center, and Blitar, a smaller city. The findings indicate that Javanese is shifting to a two-way contrast comparable to that of Indonesian; female and Malang speakers lead in this change. These findings highlight the significance of social factors in children’s language acquisition, and illustrate ongoing changes in Javanese.
Abstract (Indonesian)
Dengan semakin dominannya Bahasa Indonesia di Indonesia, bahasa – bahasa daerah seperti Bahasa Jawa berpotensi mendapat pengaruh fonologis dari bahasa nasional ini. Besar kecilnya pengaruh fonologis tersebut dapat bergantung pada beberapa faktor, diantaranya daerah asal dan latar belakang sosial seorang penutur serta usia pemerolehan bahasa dan tingkat kemahiran berbahasa. Penelitian kami ini mengkaji dampak beberapa faktor tersebut terhadap ujaran lisan Bahasa Jawa pada anak – anak multilingual di Jawa Timur, provinsi dengan jumlah penutur Bahasa Jawa terbanyak kedua setelah Jawa Tengah. Secara spesifik, kami menganalisa produksi fonem dental (/t̪/ /d̪̥ /) dan retroflex (/ʈ/, /ɖ̥/) yang secara fonemis berbeda dalam Bahasa Jawa, tetapi tidak dalam Bahasa Indonesia. Data bahasa dalam penelitian ini kami kumpulkan dari 95 anak usia sekolah dasar di Malang (kota besar) dan Blitar (kota kecil). Penelitian kami menemukan bahwa empat fonem dalam Bahasa Jawa tersebut sedang mengalami perubahan, yaitu dari empat menjadi dua bunyi distingtif, menyerupai Bahasa Indonesia. Temuan penting lain adalah bahwa perubahan fonologis ini utamanya ditunjukkan oleh anak – anak perempuan dan anak – anak yang berasal dari kota besar. Oleh sebab itu, hasil penelitian kami menggarisbawahi betapa pentingnya faktor sosial dalam pemerolehan bahasa pada anak – anak multilingual. Selain itu, temuan kami juga menggambarkan perubahan elemen kebahasaan yang sedang terjadi dalam Bahasa Jawa.
Abstract (Javanese)
Tansaya kathah ingkang angginakaken Basa Indonesia ing tlatah Indonesia, anjalari basa-basa daerah, kadosta Basa Jawi, kénging pengaruh fonologis saking basa nasional punika. Ageng alitipun pengaruh fonologis punika gumantung dhumateng mapinten-pinten perkawis, ing antawisipun daerah asal saha latar belakang sosial sarta yuswa anggènipun pikantuk basa lan tingkat wasis basanipun. Panalitèn kita punika migatosaken dampak mapinten-pinten perkawis menika tumprap ujaran lisan Basa Jawi laré- laré multilingual wonten ing tlatah Jawi Wétan, satunggalipun provinsi ingkang nggadhahi panutur Basa Jawi paling kathah saksampunipun Jawi Tengah. Bab ingkang kita kaji punika mligi babagan angungelaken foném dental (/t̪/ /d̪̥ /) kalian rétroflex (/ʈ/, /ɖ̥/) ingkang wonten ing Basa Jawi bènten, manawi dipun pirsani kanthi adhedasar fonemik, ananging mboten bènten wonten ing Basa Indonesia. Data basa wonten ing panalitèn punika, kita kempalaken saking 95 laré sekolah dasar ing Malang (minangka wakilipun kitha ageng) kaliyan Blitar (kitha alit). Panalitèn kita punika, manggihaken bilih wonten sekawan foném ing Basa Jawi ingkang pinanggih éwah, inggih punika saking sekawan dados kalih suwanten distingtif, mèmper kaliyan Basa Indonesia. Hasil penting sanèsipun inggih punika éwah-éwahan fonologis punika dipun tindakaken kaliyan laré-laré èstri samanten ugi kaliyan laré-laré saking kitha ageng. Kanthi punika, hasil panalitèn kita ngiyataken pentingipun perkawis sosial wonten ing pikatukipun basa tumprapipun laré-laré multilingual. Kejawi saking punika, hasil kita ugi nggambaraken éwah-éwahanipun elemen basa ingkang nembé kedadosan wonten ing Basa Jawi.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical background
    • 2.1Cross-linguistic phonological influence and language acquisition
    • 2.2Children’s acquisition of sociolinguistic variation
  • 3.Javanese coronal stop consonants
  • 4.Field sites
    • 4.1Malang and Blitar
    • 4.2Research setting
  • 5.Participants and method
  • 6.Findings
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Concluding remarks
  • References
References (62)
References
Adelaar, Alexander (1983). Malay consonant-harmony: An internal reconstruction. In James T. Collins (Ed.), Studies in Malay dialects (pp. 57–67). Jakarta: Badan Penyelenggara Seri NUSA Universitas Atma Jaya.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Adisasmito-Smith, Niken (2004). Phonetic and phonological influences of Javanese on Indonesian. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Cornell University.
Bates, Douglas, Maechler, Martin, Bolker, Ben, & Walker, Steve (2015). Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, 67(1), 1–48. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
BPS Kota Blitar (2020). Publikasi statistik [The publication of statistics]. Retrieved March 20, 2020, from [URL]
BPS Kota Malang (2020). Publikasi statistik [The publication of statistics]. Retrieved March 20, 2020, from [URL]
Budianta, Melani (2012). Malang mignon: Cultural expressions of the Chinese, 1940–1960. In Jennifer Lindsay & Maya H. T. Liem (Eds.), Heirs to world culture: Being Indonesian 1950–1965 (pp. 255–282). Leiden: KITLV Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chang, Charles B. (2009). Short-term phonetic drift in an L2 immersion environment. UC Berkeley Phonology Lab Annual Report (2009), 1–12.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chang, Charles B., Yao, Yao, Haynes, Erin F., & Rhodes, Russell (2011). Production of phonetic and phonological contrast by heritage speakers of Mandarin. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 129(6), 3964–3980. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coates, Jennifer (1993). Women, men and language (2nd ed.). Essex, UK: Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dethorne, Laura S., Johnson, Bonnie W., & Loeb, Jane W. (2005). A closer look at MLU: What does it really measure? Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 19(8), 635–648. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dick, Howard W. (1985). The rise of a middle class and the changing concept of equity in Indonesia: An interpretation. Indonesia, 391, 71–92. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eckert, Penelope (2011). Language and power in the preadolescent heterosexual market. American Speech, 86(1), 85–97. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fagan, Joel L. (1988). Javanese intervocalic stop phonemes: The light/heavy distinction. In Richard McGinn (Ed.), Studies in Austronesian linguistics (pp. 173–200). Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Center for International Studies.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fischer, John. L. (1964). Social influences on the choice of a linguistic variant. In Dell Hymes (Ed.), Language in culture and society (pp. 483–489). New York: Harper International.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flege, James. E. (1991). Age of learning affects the authenticity of voice-onset time (VOT) in stop consonants produced in a second language. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 89(1), 395–411. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1995). Second language speech learning: Theory, findings, and problems. In Winifred Strange (Ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience: Issues in cross-language research (pp. 233–272). Timonium, MD: York Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Godson, Linda (2004). Vowel production in the speech of Western Armenian heritage speakers. Heritage Language Journal, 2(1), 45–70. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gumilar, Teija (2015). Regional languages in Indonesian educational system: A comparison study of Javanese, Sundanese and Dayak languages teaching programs. Investigationes Linguisticae, 331, 29–42.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gut, Ulrike (2010). Cross-linguistic influence in L3 phonological acquisition. International Journal of Multilingualism, 7(1), 19–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hadiatmaja, Sarjana, Padmopuspito, Asia, Prawiradisastra, Sandiyo, & Sukimin (1987). Pengajaran bahasa Jawa di sekolah dasar [The teaching of Javanese in primary schools]. Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, Departmen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Handono, Suryo (2004). Tinggal 26,16% warga Semarang yang masih setia menggunakan Bahasa Jawa [Only 26,16% of Semarang residents are still loyal to using Javanese]. In Dendy Sugono, Rustono, & Widada (Eds.), Seranta Bahasa and Sastra 2004 (pp. 1–29). Jakarta: Pusat Bahasa.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Harwati, Neti L. (2018). Javanese language preservation in the global era: Determining effective teaching methods for elementary school students. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 9(4), 37–42. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hayward, Katrina, & Muljono (1991). The dental/alveolar contrast in Javanese. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 54(1), 126–144. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Irvine, Judith T., & Gal, Suzanne (2000). Language ideology and linguistic differentiation. In Paul Kroskrity (Ed.), Regimes of language: Ideologies, polities, and identities (pp. 35–83). Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jarvis, Scott, & Pavlenko, Aneta (2008). Crosslinguistic influence in language and cognition. New York: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jeffries, Ella (2019). Preschool children’s categorization of speakers by regional accent. Language Variation and Change, 31(3), 329–352. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kornhaber, Mila, & Marcos, Haydee (2000). Young children’s communication with mothers and fathers: Functions and contents. Developmental Psychology, 18(2), 187–210. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kurniasih, Yacinta (2005). Gender, class and language preference: A case study in Yogyakarta. Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society, 1–25.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Labov, William (1970). Stages in the acquisition of Standard English. In Harold Hungerford, Jay Robinson, & James Sledd (Eds.), English linguistics (pp. 275–302). Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1972). Sociolinguistic patterns. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ladefoged, Peter, & Johnson, Keith (2011). A course in phonetics (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lapoliwa, Hans (1981). A generative approach to the phonology of Bahasa Indonesia. Canberra: The Australian National University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Litosseliti, Lia (2006). Gender and language: Theory and practice. London, UK: Hodder Arnold.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Major, Roy C. (2008). Transfer in second language phonology: A review. In Jette G. Hansen Edwards & Mary L. Zampini (Eds.), Phonology and second language acquisition (pp. 63–94). New York: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mougeon, Raymond, Nadasdi, Terry, & Rehner, Katherine (2010). The sociolinguistic competence of immersion students. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nababan, P. W. J. (1985). Bilingualism in Indonesia: Ethnic language maintenance and the spread of national language. Asian Journal of Social Science, 13(1), 1–18. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nothofer, Bernd (2006). Javanese. In Keith Brown (Ed). Encyclopedia of language and linguistics, volume 6, (pp. 113–115). Oxford: Elsevier. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nove, Chaya (2020). Bilingual effects on New York Hasidic Yiddish vowels. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Odlin, Terence (1989). Language transfer: Cross-linguistic influence in language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Parker, Matthew. D., & Brorson, Kent (2005). A comparative study between mean length of utterance in morphemes (MLUm) and mean length of utterance in words (MLUw). First Language, 25(3), 365–376. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pemerintah Kota Malang (2020). Sejarah Malang [The history of Malang]. Retrieved July 8, 2020, from [URL]
Poedjosoedarmo, Gloria (1993). Uses of phonation type in Javanese. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications, 241, 123–131.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2006). The effect of Bahasa Indonesia as a lingua franca on the Javanese system of speech levels and their functions. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 177(1), 111–121. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Poedjosoedarmo, Soepomo (1982). Javanese influence on Indonesian. Canberra: The Australian National University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pyata, Ravali, & Banik, Arun (2016). Phonological development profile in typically developing Hindi speaking children. Language in India, 16(3), 149–159.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravindranath, Maya, & Cohn, Abigail. C. (2014). Can a language with millions of speakers be endangered? Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, 7(August), 64–75.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Regan, Vera, Howard, Martin, & Lemée, Isabelle (2009). The Acquisition of sociolinguistic competence in a study abroad context. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Romaine, Suzanne (1984). The language of children and adolescents: The acquisition of communicative competence. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Setiawan, Slamet (2001). Language shift in a bilingual community: The case of Javanese in Surabaya, East Java. Unpublished master’s thesis, The University of Auckland.
(2013). Children’s language in a bilingual community in East Java. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Western Australia.
Seyfarth, Scott, Vander Klok, Jozina, & Garelleck, Marc (2017). Acoustics of the tense-lax stop contrast in Semarang Javanese. Poster presented at the Acoustic Society of America. Retrieved February 12, 2021, from [URL].
Simonet, Miquel (2014). Phonetic consequences of dynamic cross-linguistic interference in proficient bilinguals. Journal of Phonetics, 431, 26–37. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smith-Hefner, Nancy J. (1983). Language and social identity: Speaking Javanese in Tengger. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of Michigan.
(2009). Language shift, gender, and ideologies of modernity in Central Java, Indonesia. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 19(1), 57–77. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smith, Jennifer, Durham, Mercedes, & Fortune, Liane (2007). “Mam, my trousers is fa’in doon!”: Community, caregiver, and child in the acquisition of variation in a Scottish dialect. Language Variation and Change, 19(1), 63–99. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smith, Jennifer, & Durham, Mercedes (2019). Sociolinguistic variation in children’s language: Acquiring community norms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Snodgrass, Joan G., & Vanderwart, Mary (1980). A standardized set of 260 pictures: Norms for name agreement, image agreement, familiarity, and visual complexity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 6(2), 174–215. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Starr, Rebecca L. (2017). Sociolinguistic variation and acquisition in two-way language immersion. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sukamto, Katharina. E., & Purwo, Bambang. K. (2016). Oral narrative and descriptive proficiency in bilingual children: A case study of Javanese-Indonesian children. Linguistik Indonesia, 34(1), 85–100.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sundara, Mega, Polka, Linda, & Baum, Shari (2006). Production of coronal stops by simultaneous bilingual adults. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 9(1), 97–114. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tse, Holman (2017). Contact-induced splits in Toronto Heritage Cantonese mid-vowels. Linguistica Atlantica, 35(2), 133–155.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wahyuni, Siti, Subiyantoro, Slamet, & Fadhilah, Siti S. (2017). Obstacles level of learning Javanese speech: A phenomenology study in elementary school. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 1731(Icei 2017), 298–301. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (5)

Cited by five other publications

Mansfield, John
2025. Linguistic Diversification and Rates of Change: Insights From a Diverse Sample of Sociolinguistic Studies. Language and Linguistics Compass 19:6 DOI logo
Kurniawan, Ferdinan Okki & Maya Ravindranath Abtahian
2024. Variation and change in progress. Asia-Pacific Language Variation 10:2 ► pp. 113 ff. DOI logo
Pepinsky, Thomas B., Maya Ravindranath Abtahian & Abigail C. Cohn
2024. Urbanization, ethnic diversity, and language shift in Indonesia. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 45:7 ► pp. 2503 ff. DOI logo
Abtahian, Maya Ravindranath, Abigail C. Cohn & Yanti
2022. Language labeling and ideology in Indonesia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2022:277 ► pp. 147 ff. DOI logo
Starr, Rebecca Lurie
2022. Production and evaluation of sociolinguistic variation in Mandarin Chinese among children in Singapore. In Variation in Second and Heritage Languages [Studies in Language Variation, 28], ► pp. 43 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 1 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue