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. 120–141

Variation in Ampenan Sasak pronominal forms

| University of Hawai’i at Manoa
This study investigates the variation of pronominal forms in Sasak, an Austronesian language spoken in eastern Indonesia. The study marks the first variationist sociolinguistic work on Sasak. Using data from eight conversations between 15 non-noble speakers, pronominal forms were coded for whether they were realized as a free pronoun or a clitic. Further, the discourse was examined to identify the referents and to observe the pragmatic effect of the forms used. The results show clitics dominate the distribution. Further, the results demonstrate that a higher percentage of clitics are preferred with the basic form for first person referents, but speakers apply a different strategy for second person referents; speakers use first person plural and third person singular forms to address their interlocutor when triggered by a Face Threatening Act (see Brown & Levinson, 1987).
Keywords: Sasak, free pronouns, clitics, language variation, politeness
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Pronouns in Indonesian languages
  • 3.Sasak
    • 3.1Social caste and language
    • 3.2Pronominal forms in Sasak
      • 3.2.1Pronominal forms in Ampenan Sasak
  • 4.Methods
    • 4.1Speakers
    • 4.2Data collection
    • 4.3Coding
    • 4.4Data analysis
  • 5.Results
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 6 October 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aplv.20006.kha
References (38)
References
Adger, David, & Trousdale, Graeme (2007). Variation in English syntax: Theoretical implications. English Language and Linguistics, 11(2), 261–278. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Asikin-Garmager, Eli Scott (2017). Sasak voice. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Iowa. DOI logo
Austin, Peter. K. (2004). Clitics in Sasak, Eastern Indonesia. Paper presented at Linguistics Association of Great Britain Annual Conference, Sheffield: SOAS Research Online.
(2013). Too many nasal verbs: Dialect variation in the voice system of Sasak. In Alexander Adelaar (Eds.), Voice variation in Austronesian languages of Indonesia, 541, 29–46. Jakarta: NUSA.Google Scholar
(2014). Aksara Sasak, an endangered script and scribal practice. Paper presented at the International Workshop on Endangered Scripts of Island Southeast Asia, Tokyo, Japan. Retrieved August 30, 2016, from [URL]
Bassiouney, Reem (2009). Arabic sociolinguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Blust, Robert (2013). The Austronesian languages. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.Google Scholar
Brown, Penelope, & Levinson, Stephen C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chen, Victoria, & McDonnell, Bradley (2019). Western Austronesian voice. Annual Review of Linguistics, 5(1), 173–195. Retrieved February 2, 2020, from DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Djenar, Dwi Noverini (2006). Patterns and variation of address terms in colloquial Indonesian. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 29(2), 22.11–22.16. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2007). Self-reference and its variation in Indonesian. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 4(1), 23–40. Retrieved February 2, 2019, from [URL]
Djenar, Dwi Noverini, & Ewing, Michael (2015). Language varieties and youthful involvement in Indonesian fiction. Language and Literature: International Journal of Stylistics, 24(2), 108–128. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Djenar, Dwi Noverini, Ewing, Michael, & Manns, Howard (2018). Style and intersubjectivity in youth interaction. Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eberhard, David M., Simons, Gary F., & Fennig, Charles D. (Eds). (2019). Ethnologue: Languages of the world (22nd ed.). Retrieved January 3, 2019, from [URL]
Enbe, Claudia Ruth, & Tobin, Yishai (2008). Sociolinguistic variation in the intonation of Buenos Aires Spanish. Sociolinguistic Studies, 1(3), 347–382.Google Scholar
Errington, J. Joseph (1986). Continuity and change in Indonesian language development. The Journal of Asian Studies, 45(2), 329–353. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ewing, Michael (2001). Reference and recovery in Cirebon Javanese. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 21(1), 25–47. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2014). Motivations for first and second person subject expression and ellipsis in Javanese conversation. Journal of Pragmatics, 631, 48–62. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Grafmiller, Jason (2014). Variation in English genitives across modality and genres. English Language and Linguistics, 18(3), 471–496. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jacq, Pascale (1998). How many dialects are there? Working Paper in Sasak, 11, 67–90.Google Scholar
Khalik, Abdul (2013). The pattern of Sasak word choice. Paper presented at International Conference on Education and Language, Bandar Lampung, Indonesia. Retrieved May 13, 2019, from [URL]
Kortmann, Bernd (2006). Syntactic variation in English: A global perspective. In Bas Aarts & April McMahon (Eds.), The handbook of English linguistics (pp. 603–624). Berlin: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Labov, William (1966). Social stratification of English in New York City. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.Google Scholar
Lambrecht, Knud (1994). Information structure and sentence form: Topic, focus, and the mental representations of discourse referents. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Li, Xiaoshi (2010). Sociolinguistic variation in the speech of learners of Chinese as a Second Language: CSL sociolinguistic variation. Language Learning, 60(2), 366–408. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mahyuni (2006). Speech styles and cultural consciousness in Sasak community. Mataram: Yayasan Cerdas.Google Scholar
(2007). Valuing language and culture: An example from Sasak. Makara, Social Humaniora, 11(2), 79–86.Google Scholar
Manns, Howard (2012). First-person pronominal variation, stance and identity in Indonesia. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 32(4), 435–456. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nothofer, Bernd (2000). A preliminary analysis of the history of Sasak language levels. Working Paper in Sasak, 21, 57–84.Google Scholar
Poedjosoedarmo, Soepomo (1968). Javanese speech levels. Indonesia, 61, 54–81. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Purwo, Bambang Kaswanti (1984). The categorial system in contemporary Indonesian: Pronouns. NUSA, Linguistics Studies in Indonesian and Languages of Indonesia, 191, 55–74.Google Scholar
Sneddon, James N. (2003). Diglossia in Indonesian. Bijdragen Tot de Taal & Land En Volkenkunde, 159(4), 519–549. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Syahdan (2000). Code-witching in the speech of elite Sasaks. Working Paper in Sasak, 21, 99–109.Google Scholar
Thomason, Sarah G., & Everett, Daniel L. (2001). Pronoun borrowing. Berkeley Linguistics Society, 271, 301–315. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wolff, John U., & Poedjosoedarmo, Soepomo (1982). Communicative codes in central Java. New York: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Wouk, Fay (1999). Sasak is different: A discourse perspective on voice. Oceanic Linguistics, 38(1), 91–114. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2002). Voice in languages of Nusa Tenggara Barat. In Fay Wouk & Malcom Ross (Eds.), Pacific linguistics (pp. 285–309). Canberra: The Australian National University.Google Scholar
(2008). The syntax of intonation units in Sasak. Studies in Language, 32(1),137–162. DOI logoGoogle Scholar