THE SHRINKAGE OF JAVANESE VOCABULARY

Abstract

Previous studies show that Javanese shrinks in terms of its form, function and accuracy due to Indonesian and the attitude of the Javanese speakers towards Indonesian and Javanese(Poedjosoedarmo,1991; Gunarwan, 2006). In regard to the causes of the shrinkage of Javanese, there isat least one more thing that leads to the shrinkage. This paper presents the results of an observation to the Javanese vocabulary items used in the daily life of Javanese speakers. The study aims at describingsome Javanese words which are likely to fade away due to a technological advance, and explaining theimpact to the existence of the local virtues. The description is based on the observation toward the things around the Javanese people in an area of Jawa Tengah to fulfill their daily needs and the words toexpress them at present, and then compared them with those noticed in 1970s and recalled by the writer.The results showed that though the vocabulary items of the Javanese language were enriched by thevocabulary items of other languages, at the same time some Javanese words commonly used in the daily life are likely to disappear from the daily use. The disappearance of the Javanese words also means the vanishing of the things associated with the words and the related local virtues.