JAVANESE CULTURE DEPICTED IN THE USE OF KINSHIP ADDRESS TERMS

Abstract

The Javanese system of kinship terms of address relies tightly on its social construction mirroring not only culture but also point of view of the Javanese people. It is undeniable that the society has long been structured vertically hierarchical. There is always upper to lower social relationship among social practices. Hence it is manifested in the form of Javanese speech levels illustrating that a speaker should consider both role and circumstance. The levels of speech presumably fall into some smaller linguistic features, one of which is address term particularly maintaining kinship relationship. Javanese culture considers ascending generation as the polar asserting that father’s/mother’s big brothers/sisters, father’s/mother’s big brother’s/sister’s sons/daughters, father’s/mother’s big brother’s/sister’s son’s/daughter’s sons/daughters would be addressed as all terms equivalent to big or older sibling.