Sundanese, a vanishing language

Sundanese, a vanishing language

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Three-and-a-half-year-old Rinda Nurliyanti, the only daughter of
a native Sundanese couple living in Sindangjaya subdistrict,
Arcamanik, Bandung, speaks fluent Sundanese, but this has not
exactly endeared her to her neighbors.

"Kumaha aing siah. Anjing teh, goblok," (a curse in Sundanese
that means "I do as I wish, you stupid dog"), has often come out
of little Rinda's mouth whenever her parents or neighbors remind
her not to spend too much money on jajan (sweets or snacks low in
nutritional content).

A neighbor, Mamah Dodong, 50, can only shake her head in
disbelief on hearing such a small girl speaking as rudely as the
teenagers who hang out at the end of the lane where Rinda often
plays. "Nyarios teh sing sae atuh, geulis (speak nicely, sweet
girl)," replied Mamah Dodong.

Mamah disclosed that when she was young living in a village
situated about eight kilometers from Bandung city center, none of
the children would ever dare to use such profane language like
Rinda.

"Children were afraid of being sinful if they spoke
impolitely. Parents taught their children to speak good and
proper Sundanese from a very young age," she said.

As a native Sundanese, she said that she worried about the use
of coarse Sundanese among the young generation that tended to
belittle the identity of Sundanese people who are known for their
politeness. Most young Sundanese parents are now reluctant to use
the language at home.

"For instance, when addressing parents, we call our parents
emak (mother) and bapak (father), but most younger parents have
taken on misplaced pride using addresses such as mama-papa, mami-
papi like the Dutch, or bunda-ayah," said Mamah.

Head of the Sunda Study Center in Bandung, Professor Edi S.
Ekadjati, disclosed that the use of Sundanese among the younger
generation was declining in terms of quantity and quality. He
estimated that only around 50 percent of children and youth of
major cities in West Java were still using Sundanese as an
everyday language.

"Unfortunately, the quality of language that they use is very
poor, and they are definitely not aware of grammar or the
formality of the various levels of speech to elders, friends of
the same age or to younger children," Edi said.

Edi said that scholars and Sundanese cultural observers were
concerned over bad and improper usage of Sundanese because a
language reflects the identity of its users, says Edi. If it is
used improperly, then the identity of the user is bought into
question.

"Sundanese, like any other ethnic language in Indonesia,
contains the philosophy and cultural identity of an ethnic group.
If the language is used inappropriately, the identity of the user
will also be so, and the person will not be strong in facing the
multi-ethnic culture developing in the cities," said Edi.

Concern over declining use of the language among youngsters
has actually been expressed over quite a long time.

Reports at the West Java chapter of the National Development
Planning Board (Bappeda) indicate that the problem has been going
on since the 1950s, with the language progressively being mixed
up with Indonesian language, especially by Sundanese living in
major cities, like Jakarta, or even Bandung.

Many Sundanese living in cities have given up using their
language in their everyday lives.

Edi viewed this as evidence of the lackadaisical attitude of
the Sundanese themselves in not exercising the hierarchical
language. Sundanese words for things change in accordance to an
age group, making in particularly difficult to learn in an age
when most people demand practicality.

For example, the word eat: in Sundanese tuang is used when
speaking to an elder person, dahar to a younger person and neda
to those who are of a similar age.

The relaxed attitude of most Sundanese in using their mother
tongue has been severely criticized by an internationally-
acclaimed Sundanese cultural observer, Ajip Rosidi.

He noted that the Sundanese was in the lineup of languages
about to vanish from the earth, because the Sundanese people were
reluctant to speak their own language.

"According to linguists, there are about 6,000 languages in
the world right now. By the end of the century, only about half
will remain.

"So, about 3,000 languages will become extinct by the end of
the 21st century, which means that (on average) 30 languages will
vanish every year, two-and-a-half every month, or approximately
one language every ten days, and the Sundanese language is (going
to be) among them," wrote Ajip in the June edition of Cupumanik
magazine.