Archaic Vocabulary of Greater Acehnese Dialect

Ramli

, Rajab Bahry

, and T. Muntazar

Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Syiah Kuala University, Indonesia,

Keywords: Archaic vocabulary, Acehnese, Sociolinguistics

Abstract: This study deals with the study of the archaic vocabulary of Greater Acehnese dialect. The purpose of this

study was to find the archaic vocabulary Greater Acehnese dialect, to measure the level of archaicity of

Greater Acehnese dialect and the cause of the archaicity. The methods used in this study were a descriptive-

quantitative approach and a descriptive-qualitative approach (mixed methods). It aims to describe the data

obtained from the inferential statistical analysis. The data for this research was lists of vocabulary in Greater

Acehnese dialect. Data analysis techniques included data selection, data classification, and data display. The

results of this study indicated that the level of the Airtricity for Greater Acehnese dialect based on the age

were 8,028 or 54.24% for young speakers and 5,715 or 33% for adult speakers. Based on the calculation, the

difference in archaicity level between young and older speakers was 21.24%. Based on their profession, the

highest level of archaicity was shown by students (2,258 or 56.45%), followed by civil servants (3,190 or

49.84%), carpenters (2,568 or 42.8%), farmers (2,718 or 39.97%), traders (2,840 or 39, 44%), and

fishermen (169 or 10.56%). The causes of archaicity include the difference of profession, the fact that an

object is no longer in use or has been extinct, and the age factor.

1 INTRODUCTION

The people of Aceh are both bilingual and

monolingual. Bilinguals are generally capable of

mastering two or more languages, in the case of

Acehnese, Indonesian and local languages.

Meanwhile, monolinguals can only speak their

mother tongue, the first language obtained from

birth. The monolingual community is generally

settled in an area and has no contact with people

speaking other languages in the neighboring areas.

The people of Aceh as bilingual and monolingual

people use Acehnese in daily communication.

Languages have always evolved and changed in

accordance with the level of civilization of the

society. The changes in a language are marked by

the difference in the use of vocabulary by speakers

in different generations. This situation also causes

some vocabulary to disfavor or be lost in the in the

language. Acehnese speakers have so far mixed up

the vocabularies of Indonesian and Acehnese in

communication. As a result, some vocabulary in

Acehnese is now rarely used.

A language is categorized as endangered if it is

used less and less in daily conversation because it

loses its social or communicative function. The

decreased domain of language use in the community

affects the language user's perception of the

appropriateness of language use on the broader

function. In addition, Kridalaksana (2009: 42)

reveals that an unusual element of language used for

specific effects sometimes appears in

communication, and it is termed as archaism

(archaism, atavism, revival form). Meanwhile,

according to Lumbantoruan (2005: 53), the

archaicity of a word can occur for linguistic factors

that include aspects of phonology, morphology, and

semantics. In addition, it can also occur due to

sociolinguistic factors.

Some vocabulary of Acehnese which has almost

become archaic, based on the authors' observation,

includes bada, tamca, bulo, ong, canden, kincu,

kakoh, aleue, seuramoe, Aleuhad, thong, bunthok.

The words are Acehnese vocabulary but have rarely

been used in daily communication. The different

functions of Indonesian and Acehnese can be

determined by social class, age, profession, work

environment. This problem resulted in three

questions, i.e. (1) Which words are categorized into

archaic words? (2) What is the level of archaicity for

vocabulary in Greater Acehnese dialect? and (3)

What are the causes of archaicity?

Ramli, ., Bahry, R. and Muntazar, T.

Archaic Vocabulary of Greater Acehnese Dialect.

DOI: 10.5220/0009902700002480

In Proceedings of the International Conference on Natural Resources and Sustainable Development (ICNRSD 2018), pages 351-355

ISBN: 978-989-758-543-2

351

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Archaic comes from the Greek, meaning an earlier

period and no longer user or something with the

characteristics of ancient or antique. Something in

linguistics that is no longer used is often called

"archaism". According to Martinus (2001: 60)

archaic words are words that are outdated, and

archaism is the use of words which are no longer

common. Further, Partanto (2001: 45) defines

archaic is a person who adherent of archaism that is

flexible or understated, but easy to understand.

Meanwhile, archaism is the idea of using obscure or

primitive words or phrases for a particular purpose.

Based on the above opinions, it can be concluded

that archaic words are characterized by the fact that

they are rarely used, and sacred. The archaic words

are not or rarely used in daily communication. The

use of these words is to make readers or listeners

feel reluctant and in order not to them.

Three causes motivate the changes in Acehnese.

First, the changes are caused by contact with other

local languages. This contact does not only occur

between Acehnese and other local languages in

Aceh but it also comes in contact with local

languages from other areas, for example through a

transmigration program presenting Javanese in the

midst of Acehnese speakers. Second, the changes in

Acehnese can be caused by its contact with

Indonesian. Third, globalization has increasingly put

Acehnese in stigmatized position within the

speakers. They began to wonder about the benefits

of learning the language because they the language

is only used for daily oral communication.

According to Kurd (2014: 10) younger

generation is generally more objective, simple, and

critical about what happens in the society because

they do not have emotional attachment to what

happened in the previous generations. Such case has

even occurred in the intergeneration. Young families

who still use Acehnese but teach and communicate

with their children in Indonesian. The most

noticeable language change is the addition of

vocabulary. This lexical change can be interpreted as

(1) certain vocabulary is no longer used, (2) the

meaning of a word is changed, (3) new vocabulary

increases.

A language will lose its vocabulary by various

causes. In Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, "Official

Dictionary of Indonesian" (2009), there are a

number of archaic words such as tetuang "radio

transmitter", lamena "armor", kempang "boat made

from wood", ungkah "unload", tarau "to take yarn

from the spindle and then reattached in the round of

the pellet ", sangep "fend off a blow", sanggah

"place to sell in the house (in Bali)", tinjak "hard

step", timbuk "slap", paya-paya "red saliva after

chewing betel", pedena " crock or big vase",

pejatian "favorite", peluluk "palm tree", penganak "a

type of musical instrument", pengatu "old weapon",

pangeng "very confusing", pengga "deep (for a plate

or bowl)".

Linguists predict that half of the world's

languages will become extinct. In Indonesia,

according to Moseley (2010) in Atlas of World's

Languages in Danger, there are 146 languages which

are endangered and 12 languages that have become

extinct. Those languages were mostly spoken in the

eastern part of Indonesia. Language extinction can

be motivated by several reasons. Austin and

Sallabank (2011: 5-6) state that there are four main

reasons for language extinction, i.e., natural disasters

(earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.), famine, and plaque;

war and genocide; open repression, usually in the

name of "national unity" or assimilation (including

involuntary resettlement); and economic, political or

cultural dominance.

The efforts that have been made by a related

institution by publishing an online dictionary is very

significant to halt language extinction. Therefore, to

prevent local languages from extinction, it is

necessary to revitalize the languages. One of the

forms of language revitalization is language

documentation.

3 RESEARCH METHODS

This research employed descriptive-quantitative

approach and descriptive-qualitative approach

(mixed methods). This research is a descriptive

qualitative research. This type of research was

selected because it could result in descriptive data

(Djajasudarma, 2006: 11). The source of data for

this research was the vocabulary of Greater

Acehnese dialect in Aceh Besar, which includes six

sub-districts, i.e., DarulImarah, Lhoong, Ingin Jaya,

Leupung; Lhoknga, and Baitussalam. The data of

this research were the answer given by 80

respondents about archaic vocabulary. The data were

collected by using two types of instruments, i.e.,

questionnaires and interviews. The data were

analyzed by employing a content analysis technique.

The data analysis steps include data selection, data

classification, and description of the results obtained

from the earlier two steps.

ICNRSD 2018 - International Conference on Natural Resources and Sustainable Development

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4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 The Status of Archaicity

In this study, the respondents were classified based

on age, i.e. teenagers (19 - 25 years old), and adults

(>26 years old). Based on the age classification, the

testing of archaic vocabulary was conducted on six

professions, i.e., farmers, fishermen, traders,

students, carpenters, and civil servants.

4.1.1 Based on Age Category

Of the 400 words presented to the respondents, 37

teenagers (chose the answer C (I have never heard or

used the word), which is as much as 8,028 or

54.24%. Furthermore, the answer B (I have heard

the word but never used it) was selected by the

respondents, which is as much as 4,122 or 27.85%.

Answer A (I still use the word) is selected by

teenage respondents as much as 2,650 or 17.91%.

Similar tests were applied to 43 adult

respondents. The answer C (I have never heard or

used the word) was selected as much as 5,715 or

33%. Furthermore, the answer B (I have heard the

word but never used it) was chosen by the

respondents as many as 5,062 or 29%. Finally, the

answer A (I still use the word) is chosen by the

respondents as much as 6,423 or 37%.

4.1.2 Based on Profession Category

Of the 400 words presented to the respondents who

worked as farmers, 2,718 or 39.97% of the words

were considered archaic based on the answer C (I

have never heard or used the word) selected by the

respondents. In addition, the results of this study

concluded that as many as 1,911 or 28.10% of the

words were semi-archaic, based on the option B (I

have heard the word but never used it). The words

considered by the farmer respondents as active

vocabulary were 2,171 words or 31.93%, based on

the answer A (I still use the word).

For traders, 2,840 or 39.44% of the words were

considered archaic, based on the answer C (I have

never heard or used the word). In addition, the

results of this study concluded that as many as 2,470

or 34.31% of the words were semi-archaic, based on

the option B (I have heard the word but never used

it). The vocabulary considered by respondents as an

active vocabulary of 1,890 words or 26.25%, based

on the option A (I still use the word).

Fisherman considered 169 or 10.56% of the

presented words were archaic, based on their answer

of option C (I have never heard or used the word). In

addition, the results of this study concluded that as

many as 417 or 26.06% of the words were semi-

archaic, based on the option B (I have heard the

word but never used it). The words considered by

the respondent as an active vocabulary were 1,014

words or 63.375%, based on the option A (I still use

the word).

Civil servant and retired civil servant considered

that 3,190 or 49.84% of the words were archaic,

based on option C (I have never heard or used the

word). In addition, the results of this study

concluded that as many as 1,531 or 23.92% of the

words were semi-archaic, based on option B (I have

heard the word but never used it). The words

considered by respondents as active vocabulary was

1,667 words or 26.23%, based on answer A (I still

use the word).

For carpenters, 2,568 or 42.8% of the words

were archaic, based on option C (I have never heard

or used the word). In addition, the results of this

study concluded that as much as 1,934 or 32.23% of

the words were semi-archaic, based on option B (I

have heard the word but never used it). The words

considered by respondents as active vocabulary were

as much as 1,498 words or 24.97%, based on the

option A (I still use the word).

Meanwhile, students assumed that 2,258 or

56.45% of the words were archaic according to the

respondent's answer of option C (I have never heard

or used the word). The results of this study also

show that 921 or 23.025% of the presented words

were semi-archaic, based on option B (I have heard

the word but never used it). The words considered

by the respondents as active vocabulary were 821

words or 20.525% based on respondents' answers of

option A (I still use the word).

4.2 Causes of Archaicity

The causes of the vocabulary archaicity in Greater

Acehnese dialect can be classified into two

categories, archaicity based on linguistic aspect and

sociolinguistic aspect.

4.2.1 Linguistic Aspect

The causes of the archaicity in Greater Acehnese

dialect include phonology, morphology, and

semantics. The phonological aspects include loss of

phonemes, e.g. ieaden "sewer water" which changes

into aden, lapekgaki "doormats" becoming lapekaki,

cawanie "finger bowl" becoming cawan,

neudukgaseu "a part of roof in a house" becoming

Archaic Vocabulary of Greater Acehnese Dialect

353

gaseu, peutoija "wardrobe" becoming peuto,

jaruenggigo "rare teeth" becoming jareuengigo,

sileuweu "trousers" becoming ileuweu, aseutana

"palace" becomes istana. Another phonological

aspect is sound changes, e.g. bentara "soldiers"

changing into bintara, hariapeukan "daily market"

into uroepeukan, makblin "midwife" into mablin,

Seunanyan "Monday" into Inanyan, ijapalikat

"cloth" into plikat, euncien "ring" into incin. Second,

the morphological aspect involves deletion of prefix

{meu-} such as bajeemeukeureuja changing into

bajeekeureuja, the deletion of prefix {keu-} in

bruekkeukarah into bruekkarah, and the elimination

of infix {-eur-} for example, ceureumen becoming

cermen. Third, in the semantic aspect, the

vocabulary of Greater Acehnese dialect becomes

archaic because synonymous words tend to be used

differently, so one word is used more often while the

other is rare. The rarely-used words become archaic

after a certain period of time. For example,

hariapekan is synonymous with uroepekan, go-go is

synonymous with geulanteu, peudena with guci,

purih with reunyeun, bisan with maktuan, pusu with

goegandoe. The archaicity of Acehnese vocabulary

is also influenced by the translation of Acehnese into

Indonesian.

4.2.2 Sociolinguistic Aspect

The Archaicity of vocabulary can be resulted from

sociolinguistic aspects. First, the words can become

archaic because of different professions, such as

between carpenters and farmers. The carpenters call

a supporting pule in a house as indreng, but this

word is not familiar for farmers. Another example is

the difference between the profession of fishermen

and traders. For fishermen, the fishing nets are

known by the word nyap. However, traders are

unfamiliar with the word because it is not related to

their daily life, so the word becomes archaic.

Second, the words become archaic because the

object is no longer found. This is influenced by the

development in society. For example, kri "tool to

weed grass" is no longer used by Acehnese speakers

because the object is extinct and replaced with a new

object. In addition, some of the traditional objects

used by farmers in plowing rice fields are rarely

seen, such as langai "plow", which is no longer

found. It is no longer necessary for farmers to plow

the fields with buffalo or cows because there is a

plowing machine that can do it much quickly.

Third, the words become archaic because of the

age factor. For teenagers, there are many Acehnese

words which are unknown to them because they

never find them again in daily life such as

neudukgase, jeurejak, tameh raja, tamehputro,

peunepi. Teenagers tend to know the vocabulary

associated with the environment, objects that they

have contact with. They have no inner bond with

words commonly-used by previous generation. With

the extinction of an object, Acehnese will be

abandoned by younger generation.

5 CONCLUDING REMARKS ON

PARTICIPANTS' RESPONSE

ABOUT ARCHAIC WORDS

Based on the 400 words of Acehnese presented to

the respondents, only two words were not

categorized archaic. No respondents choose answer

C for these words. Therefore, the word gereupôh

was categorized into semi-archaic word (82.5%),

and it is still used (17.5%), and cawan is still used

with the percentage of 13.75% and considered semi-

archaic with the percentage of 86.25 %. In addition,

the word ernet is in the 87.5% category and the

phrase maènrimuengkamèng is in the category of

86.25%.

Preservation of local languages can be achieved

by making a language planning, from planning the

status of the language to receive vehicularload.

Therefore, the language is not merely used as a

means of communication. The most advanced

planning includes establishing corpora for the local

languages in order to attract more language users,

which can make the languages accommodate more

required meaning and use. Documenting the

language is the first step in revitalizing endangered

languages. The success of revitalization remains on

the language speakers. However, central and local

government, as the language policy maker, is also

responsible for maintaining and preserving the

languages in their territory.

6 CONCLUSION

Based on the results elaborated in the discussion

section, it can be concluded that the status of

vocabulary archaicity in Greater Acehnese dialect

can be analyzed based on age, i.e. teenagers (19-25

years old) and adults (26-70 years old). Further

classification is based on the professions of the

speakers at each age, spread in six sub-districts in

Greater Aceh district. The results of this research

concluded that the level of archaicity for vocabulary

ICNRSD 2018 - International Conference on Natural Resources and Sustainable Development

354

in Greater Acehnese dialect for teenagers was 8,028

or 54.24%, and for adults was 5,715 or 33%. The

result shows that the difference in archaicity level

between teenagers and adult was 21.24%.

Based on profession, the highest level of

archaicity was showed the students (2,258 or

56.45%), civil servants and retired civil servants

(3,190 or 49.84%), carpenters (2,568 or 42,8%),

farmers (2,718 or 39.97%), traders (2,840 or

39.44%), and fishermen (169 or 10.56%). The

highest level of archaicity was showed by the

students at the age of teenager. In addition, the cause

of archaicity experienced by students was the fact

that they rarely speak Acehnese in daily

communication. This is also the case for civil

servants and retired civil servants, i.e. because they

use or used Indonesian dominantly at work.

The archaicity of vocabulary in Greater

Acehnese dialect was motivated by linguistic and

sociolinguistic aspects. Based on the linguistic

aspect, the archaicity of Greater Acehnese dialect

vocabulary can occur in phonological level such as

phoneme deletion and sound change. Furthermore,

in morphological aspect, the archaicity was caused

by affix deletion, infix {-eur-} deletion. In semantic

level, the archaicity was caused by the difference in

frequency of using synonymous words. Based on the

sociolinguistic aspect, the archaicity of words in

Greater Acehnese dialect was caused by the

difference of profession, extinction of an object, age

factor.

7 SUGGESTION

This research is a preliminary study related to the

archaic vocabulary of Greater Acehnese dialect. It is

expected that further research adds more finding to

the results of this study. In addition, the government

is expected to update the Aceh language dictionary

by publishing a latest edition, either in a printed

copy or a digital copy. This effort will delay the

extinction of Acehnese marked by the loss of certain

vocabulary. Finally, the academicians are expected

to establish a local language study program,

especially for Acehnese, to introduce the local

language to the younger generation. In the current

practice, Acehnese is only taught at the elementary

school level, instructed by teachers of Indonesian.

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