Javanese Language Maintenance in Ahmad Tohari ’ s Bekisar Merah : A Sosiolinguistics Analysis

This study aims to determine the form of Javanese language maintenance and to describe the factors motivating the use of Javanese language in Ahmad Tohari’s Bekisar Merah. This study will also discuss strategies of language maintenance in literature. The research herein applies descriptive qualitative methods. The results of this study show that the maintenance of Javanese language in Ahmad Tohari’s Bekisar Merah occurs in word forms, suluk, and Javanese philosophy. The factors motivating the use of Javanese language as a form of language maintenance in the novel are (1) the background of the author, and (2) the effort to uphold Javanese language. Furthermore, there are two general strategies of Javanese language maintenance, particularly in literature, i.e. (1) literature spreading, and (2) authors’ loyalty to local languages as the manifestation of language maintenance.


INTRODUCTION
Language maintenance and language shift are two phenomena that often appear as two sides of the same coin (Sumarsono, 2011: 231-232). Both language maintenance and language shift are areas of active research which have been explored in several articles and journals. Language shift occurs when a community neglects their local language, such as what can occur when speakers of a language are displaced from their native speech community to another (Chaer, 2004: 142) or when some influence causes a community to adopt a different language. If a speaker or a speech community's ability to communicate effectively using their native language is disrupted by geographic migration to a different speech community or by the imposed hegemony of a new language they will be forced to adopt the new language to function effectively in these circumstances. These can be basic causes of language shift. speakers has drastically decreased so as to be functionally extinct. Ayatrohaedi (Chaer, 2004: 146) gave a sample case of Sundanese language extinction in the village of Legok, Indramayu. Until the 1960s, the villagers of Legok communicated in the Sundanese language. But, currently they only use the Cirebon-Javanese language in daily communication. The cause of this shift is that they were surrounded by Cirebon-Javanese speaking areas that isolated them from other Sundanese-speaking environments.
Moreover, the result of language shift is not only language extinction, but also changes to word structure and vocabulary loss (Bolinger 1975: 33). If this condition is not being controlled and prevented, it can lead to the death of language, as is feared to be happening to the Javanese language.
From the above examples it can be concluded that phenomenon of language shift can happen anywhere, particularly in the modern era where human mobility is tremendous. Therefore, concentrated efforts are required to maintain the native language of a particular area, such as Javanese.
Fishman (1964) quoted nine main social domains theorized by Schmidt-Rohr (1932) which influence language usage: family, playground, school, church, literature, press, military, courts, and government administration (Sumarsono, 1993: 14). These domains are social contexts that determine the choice of language used, and the type and extent of language maintenance that can occur. A domain is said to be literary if the written work displays a character communicating with other characters as a speaker of that language.¬ In accordance with the theory of literary domain, Nurhayati, et al. (2013: 165) revealed that the effort to preserve Javanese language can also be done through journalistic literature. Some examples of Javanese language maintenance in journalistic literature are cerkak (short story), cerbung (serialized story), novel, and traditional and modern Javanese drama scripts.
An example of literary work as literary domain is the novel Bekisar Merah by Ahmad Tohari. The novel was first printed in 1993, and it is written primarily in Bahasa Indonesia. However, the story of Bekisar Merah is set in rural Java, leading to several characters communicating using the Javanese language during their dialogue in the novel. Because of the usage of the Javanese language in Bekisar Merah it is appropriate to conduct further research to determine what contribution, if any, this novel has made to the maintenance of the Javanese language.
We argue that Ahmad Tohari has participated in the maintenance of the Javanese language through his work as an author. Tohari's views on language maintenance, and his efforts towards it, were conveyed in an interview with Susanto & Rosyid (2017), where Tohari appealed that Basa Panginyongan or Banyumasan Javanese language is an important characteristic of Banyumas region. To maintain its existence, Banyumas Javanese language needed to be preserved, used, and protected. One of the efforts that Tohari made to preserve Javanese language was through his novel. Bekisar Merah was chosen as the object of this study because there are various forms of Javanese language maintenance inside, such as the use of different word forms, suluk, and Javanese philosophy.
In this article, the Javanese language maintenance in Ahmad Tohari's Bekisar Merah is analyzed through sociolinguistic analysis. Sociolinguistic is a branch of linguistic and language study which focuses on the function of the language used in a particular speech community (Nababan, 1991: 20). Thus, this research examined the form of Javanese language maintenance to determine the social function and the uses of language in the society in Bekisar Merah, and how these narrative functions also contributed to the phenomenon of Javanese language maintenance. In addition, this study also explored the factors and strategies of Javanese language maintenance through research entitled: Javanese Language Maintenance in Ahmad Tohari's Bekisar Merah (A Sociolinguistic Analysis). This study aimed to contribute to the development of Javanese knowledge, particularly about Javanese culture. This research began with the identification of: (1) the form of Javanese language maintenance in the novel Bekisar Merah, (2) the factors motivating the use of Javanese language as a form of language maintenance in Bekisar Merah, and (3) general strategies of Javanese language maintenance, particularly in literature.
This study used descriptive qualitative methods to comprehensively explain Javanese language maintenance in Bekisar Merah. Data was collected from Bekisar Merah in the form of phrases, and clauses. The research instruments in this study were written documents, in the form of word list and sentences in Javanese language (Sugiyono, 2012: 240).
Data was collected through comprehensive reading and note taking. This data was analyzed using the Miles and Huberman method, i.e. data reduction, data presentation, and continuous conclusions. Furthermore, data was compiled and classified by function and meaning before conclusions were drawn. Research validity was assessed using triangulation, i.e. triangulation of theories, methods, and data through discussions and consultation with experts.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
The results of the research showed that the form of Javanese language maintenance in the novel Bekisar Merah by Ahmad Tohari included the form of words, suluk, and Javanese philosophy. The factors that motivated the use of Javanese language as a form of language maintenance in Ahmad Tohari's Bekisar Merah were as follows: (1) the background of the author, and (2) the efforts to uphold Javanese language. Based on data analysis in this study, two strategies of Javanese language maintenance particularly in the literature domain were found, i.e. (1) literature spreading and (2) authors' loyalty to local languages as the manifestation of language maintenance.

The Forms of Javanese Language Maintenance
The use of Javanese language in literature can serve an aesthetic function, making the work more expressive, irrational and associative. However, the use of Javanese language in literature can also serve social functions. In Bekisar Merah there were several forms of words, suluk, and Javanese philosophy.

Word Forms
The compact nature of Javanese cultural and philosophical expressions means that Javanese words and expressions can be more precise and intense than similar expressions in Bahasa Indonesia, with a particular ability to represent intentions accurately. It is found that certain words and expressions related to Javanese philosophy and culture have no equivalency with any other Bahasa Indonesia (Nurgiyantoro, 2014: 206). Bekisar Merah is set in Karangsoga village, located at the side of a mountain, and the people living there work mostly as nira tappers. Based on this setting, certain Javanese words and phrases are used in Bekisar Merah because only they are able to properly express the activities and the culture of the Karangsoga villagers.
Meanwhile, in priayi class or towards respected people, they used the second-person pronoun eyang for 'grandparents', and empunya for 'owner', as follows.
The use of eyang according to Bintoro (1983: 84) was for people who had prominent social status. In Bekisar Merah, Eyang Mus was a person who is respected by the people of Karangsoga. Therefore, instead of using "kakek" as the form of address for elders, "eyang" was more appropriate. b. "Tangan kanannya memegang sebuah majalah.
Mereka masuk tanpa menunggu si empunya warung keluar" [His right hand held a magazine.  (Purwadarminta, 1939: 121). In the novel, the word empu referred to the owner of the business where Lasi worked. It showed the respect order of an employee to the employer.
Furthermore, the Javanese language contains second-person pronouns for addressing noblesse, for relatives, and limbs (Bintoro, 1983: 77). In Bekisar Merah, the author used this Javanese form of address for social kinship, i.e. mbakyu for older sister and mas for older brother. a. "Mbakyu lupa kita orang Jawa? Di Istana sudah ada Naoko Nemoto" [Mbakyu, did you forget that we are Javanese? In the Palace, there had been Naoko Nemoto already] (2005: 161). The word mbakyu was an addressing form used by Handarbeni to call Bu Lanting since she was older than him.
Mbakyu was more appropriate to use rather than kakak in Indonesian language, in accordance with Javanese culture. Moreover, the word kakak could not specifically express the gender of the intended character. b. "Ya, Pak. Eh. Ya, Mas." Suara Lasi lirih sekali dan terdengar agak terpaksa" [Yes, Sir. Eh. Yes, Mas." Lasi's voice is faint and sounds rather constrained] (2005: 216). The word Mas was used by Lasi to call Handarbeni whose older than her. In accordance with the explanation in point (a), mas was more appropriate to be used in particular Javanese setting.
...As a penderes, nira tapper, Darsa was used to climb dozens of trees in the rain to collect the pongkor that already filled with nira and to install the new one. While Darsa went to the well to flush his whole body, Lasi prepared her husband's tools, sickles, tappers, pongkor and its carrying pole, and bamboo cap (2005: 12).
Pongkor was a noun for bumbung (Purwadarminta, 1939: 507) which used to collect palm sap (nira). Moreover, penderes was a noun which represented the profession of Karangsoga residents. Penderes itself came from the word deres which meant amek legening krambil banjur ditadahi ing bumbung (Purwadarminta, 1939: 66). Meanwhile, nira was a noun which meant water (banyu) (Purwadarminta, 1939: 345). Arit meant piranti kanggo mbebacok (nenegor, golek suket, lsp) [a tool for chopping (chopping down, looking for grass, etc.)] (Purwadarminta, 1939: 19). Arit was used to cut the coconut blossoms to collect its sap (nira). From the definition of word penderes, pongkor, and nira could be concluded that the nouns used in Bekisar Merah were relevant with the social context and circumstances of the characters in the novel as nira tappers. In Indonesian language, the word arit and nira have the same meaning as the Javanese version, while pongkor in Javanese has no synonym with any Indonesian word. Although Indonesian language contains the word bumbung with similar meaning to pongkor, it's not specifically used as the word for the nira sap container, so the word pongkor is more suitable and compact.
As a conclusion, the use of the word kalirong and kali showed the geographical location of Karangsoga village which located at the slope of mountain. Meanwhile, the use of nouns bilik, emper, and dipan reflected the social circumstance of Karangsoga people who were mostly wong cilik (lower class people). Their houses were made of bamboo; hence, the words suitable to describe the social condition of the people of Karangsoga village. The use of these words actually could be translated into Indonesian language, but the meaning would not be as compact as the Javanese words. Therefore, the use of Javanese words indeed necessary to properly depict the exact meaning based on the context. Furthermore, several adjectives appear in the novel, mostly used to praise God. The usage of these adjective suggests that the condition of the society in Karangsoga village was religious. Examples are jembar pangapurane, luhur, and welas asih, as presented in the following explanation.
a. "Gusti Allah jembar pangapurane, sangat luas ampunan-Nya. Kamu akan segera mendapat ampunan bila kamu sungguh-sungguh memintanya. Gusti Allah terlalu luhur untuk dihadapkan kepada kesalahan manusia, sebesar apa pun kesalahan itu" [Gusti Allah jembar pangapurane, the forgiveness is great. You will soon be forgiven if you really ask for it. Gusti Allah is too glorious to face human error, no matter how wrong it is] (2005: 112). Jembar pangapurane was a type of adjective phrase (frasa kahanan) that had function to indicate a specific trait or character (Sasangka, 2001: 134). The phrase jembar pangapurane in the novel served to show the forgiving nature of God. In addition, the word luhur which meant dhuwur 'high' (Purwadarminta, 1939: 277) was also used in this utterance. Welas-asih was a type of adjective phrase (frasa kahanan) that functioned to denote a specific trait or character (Sasangka, 2001: 134). The function of welas-asih in the novel showed the nature of God who has mercy upon human with all their flaws.
The adjectives used in the explanations had the same meaning with their Indonesian counterparts, but the Javanese version are a better and stronger depiction of Javanese culture.

Suluk Forms
Javanese language maintenance in Bekisar Merah was not only by the use of Javanese words, but also in the use of suluk. Suluk is a type of literature that contains the teachings of life perfection in accordance with Islamic teaching tasawuf or Islam-kejawen (Widayat, 2011: 85). In puppet show (wayang), suluk is used as the initial narrative of a scene, the purpose of which is to build the atmosphere, provide a vivid description of a character, maintain a pathet (high and low gamelan sounds), or even move a pathet. Apart from wayang, suluk can also be used in daily life such as delivering message or sermon, communicating with others, so on. Suluk in this novel sung by Eyang Mus. Eyang Mus sang to communicate with others, mainly as the means of delivering sermons or just for celebrating something. One of Javanese society the suluk sung by Eyang Mus is the following:

is only God All his movements became worship His soul-prayer is upright all the time even when his body is in an unholy state The eyes of his heart did not give up on God The reality that exists for him is the unity of being Both when in prayer and outside Human desires are synchronized with the divine will
The suluk sung by Eyang Mus above contains values that state that excellent human beings were considered to be men who had a pure hearts, gave up everything mundane, and always performed dhikr (praising God). Praying and worshipping God were part of their life. Even though not in a pure state, their heart still went toward God. Moreover, humans must have the awareness that all facts of life and destiny which had been performed were Allah SWT will. In addition, Eyang Mus also sang another suluk as in the following. Suluk is a mean to express someone's feelings. In this case, suluk was sung to describe people's moods related to various circumstances, figure characteristics, and certain scenes in interrelated scenes, to form a harmonious cohesiveness between the expression of the puppeteer's feelings and the existing scenes (Hadiprayitno, 2009: 33). For example when Eyang Mus longed for God, his suluk depicted the cry of a wanderer who wanted to reunite with God as the origin and final destination of all that exists.

…Pan karsa manira iki
Aside from describing the feelings of a character, suluk also describes a kind of spiritual experience between a poet and listener where the poet is dissolved into the intended object (Aryani, 2007: 86-90) with the goal of effecting some change therein. The circumstances around suluk and the description of the experience could have been written in Indonesian, but the philosophical aspects of culture and language aestethic might not be interpreted properly. For this reason, the use of suluk in Javanese language needed to be maintained.

Javanese Philosophy Forms
Javanese language is rich philosophically and is used by the author to convey the message and philosophy of how to achieve the perfect life (ngudi kasampurnan). Ciptoprawiro stated that Javanese philosophical exspressions and reflections were the means of attaining perfection. Javanese philosophy is the way for humans to reach their final destination. Knowledge (philosophy) always becomes a means to achieve perfection or the love of perfection (1986: 12).
In Javanese philosophy. e. "Ketika hidup terasa kepenak; tak sia-sia, dan perut terasa aman, mereka punya peluang memikirkan sesuatu yang tak pernah hilang dalam jiwa tetapi sering mereka lupakan ketika lapar: sangkan paraning dumadi" [When life run smoothly; not in vain, and our stomach filled, they had a chance to contemplate about something that would never lost from the soul but often forgot when hungry: sangkan paraning dumadi] (2005: 233). This Javanese philosophy was used as a reflection of Karangsoga people about whether they prefer to work for the sake of their belly or their faith in God. f. "Lasi teringat ada kata-kata yang pernah diucapkan emaknya, aja dumeh, jangan suka merasa diri berlebih" [Lasi remembered there were her mother's words, aja dumeh, never thought that you were superior] (2005: 274). This philosophy was used when Lasi became Handarbeni's wife. Her life completely changed into a rich woman. When Lasi returned to Karangsoga, the people turned to be good and treated her well, and respected her. In this point, Lasi used this philosophy as a reminder for herself to not being arrogant and stay down to earth. g. "Darsa jadi lebih percaya bahwa Gusti Allah memang adil. Sebab ternyata, dengan sikap nrima pandum, seorang istri pincang pun bisa memberi kesejukan" [Darsa finally came to the believing that God is fair. Because with the attitude of nrima pandum, turned out that a limping wife could bring him serenity] (2005: 298). This philosophy was used when the paralyzed Darsa tried to reconcile with his bad luck.
The Javanese expressions above convey precise meaning about the conditions reflected in the novel. This is because Javanese language is rich in expressions that reflect the culture of Javanese people. In many cases, Javanese words and expressions may be translated. But, to precisely understand a word or expression in context, more knowledge is needed than just the definition of the word or phrase being expressed (language codes), as well as literary and cultural codes (Nurgiyantoro, 2014: 211). Therefore, Javanese expressions must be maintained so that the philosophical meaning of the expressions will not be corrupted.
Specific efforts need to be made to maintain the existence of Javanese language today. The use of Javanese words in literature could be one of the best efforts to maintain the language. Using the Javanese language in literature could "force" the reader to disperse the understanding and usage of Javanese language (Nurgiyantoro, 2014: 213). From the data obtained it can be seen to what extent that Javanese language is used in Bekisar Merah, and how it functioned when being used in society. In this case, Tohari used Javanese language as an effort to make the message of the story more impactful to readers, and to maintain the meaning and philosophy of the expressions used.
In table 1 below shown the use of Javanese language in form of words, suluk, and Javanese philosophy. Author's Background Lestari (in Kosasih (2012: 72) described the extrinsic elements of literary works, such as: (1) the author's background, (2) the socio-cultural conditions, (3) the place where the novel is written. Bekisar Merah was influenced by the background of Tohari who came from Banyumas. This region is known as the area which produced nira as its main commodity. Therefore, Tohari knew well how to describe the social conditions of the people who worked as nira tapper, such as the depiction of characters in the story for the way they collected nira from the coconut tree and processed it into sugar. Furthermore, Tohari's background in Banyumas society also resulted in the use of Javanese language in Bekisar Merah. Banyumas is a region in Central Java Province where most people use the Javanese language. This background enabled Tohari to understand the structure of words in Javanese, suluk, and also Javanese philosophy very well. Furthermore, Tohari's background in Banyumas society also resulted in the use of Javanese language in Bekisar Merah. Banyumas is a region in Central Java Province where most people use the Javanese language. This background enabled Tohari to understand the structure of words in Javanese, suluk, and also Javanese philosophy very well.

The Efforts to Uphold Javanese Language
Javanese language is a language that is closely connected to Javanese people, as well as to Tohari. Although Bahasa Indonesia was used in most of the novel, the use of Javanese language was an aesthetic element of the work, for example was the use of suluk which sung by Eyang Mus as follows.

Pan karsa manira iki Sampurnane ing Pangeran
Kaliputan salawase Tan ana ing solahira Pan ora darbe sedya Wuta tuli bisu suwing Solah tingkat saking Allah (2005: 114) In general, suluk has rarely been used in other novels to the same extent. In his other work, Ahmad Tohari often wrote novels that involve the usage of everyday Javanese language, like in his most famous novel Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk (1982). In addition, there was the event called Socialization of Penginyongan Language Congress Results which held in Soedirman Hall of Education and Culture Office of Purbalingga Regency in April 27, 2017. In this event, through an interview conducted by Susanto & Rosyid (2017) it was revealed that Ahmad Tohari invited all speakers of panginyongan language to actively use their mother tongue as the natives in southwest part of Central Java, especially Banyumas and the surrounding areas. It showed that Tohari who was born in Banyumas still upheld his language through literary works as well as by spreading the message to society to continue preserving Javanese language as their mother tongue.

General Strategies of Javanese Language Maintenance, Particularly in Literature
A language is considered to be surviving when its speakers still maintain the language by using it often enough that they are able to use it to defend themselves in any condition, and also coexist with other languages (Kosasih 2012: 72). Therefore, strategies are needed so that speakers can maintain their local languages and ensure the survival of those languages. In this research, there were two strategies of maintaining Javanese language especially in the literature, as follows: (1) literature spreading, and (2) authors' loyalty to local languages as the manifestation of language maintenance.

Literature Spreading
Language maintenance was not enough with just the attempt to describe the language system and its area, but also with other kinds of media that are more common and easier to accept in society. In the literature review discussed previously, one of the models used for language maintenance was literature spreading. Literary works in form of novels, geguritan, cerkak (short story), and others are expected to be spread periodically in printed and non-printed form. The spreading on a regular basis is expected to manifest the maintenance of Javanese language, hence the language will be everlasting. A variety of publishers still contribute to the spreading of literature in Javanese language, such as Djaka Lodhang magazine, Kedaulatan Rakyat newspaper, and also some other bulletins (Nurhayati, et al., 2013: 165).

Authors' Loyalty to Local Languagess as the Manifestation of Language Maintenance
The next method of maintaining Javanese language is the loyalty of literary authors towards the language. A language will live and continue to be inherited if the speakers continue to pass their local language from generation to generation. One method of passing on language is through literary works such as Bekisar Merah. Authors are expected to maintain their loyalty toward local languages through their works and firmly teach their local language to the public using their works.
Loyalty to language is an important factor in language maintenance. Loyalty, as an attitude, is not something that can be easily observed directly, but is able to be concluded from performed behavior (Jannah, A., et.al, 2015: 13). Tohari's loyalty towards Javanese language in Bekisar Merah can be seen from his choice of Javanese words which occurred throughout the novel. The choices are expected to be understood from generation to generation. Therefore, Javanese language will not be extinct and neglected as the time goes by.
As mentioned above, during the Socialization of Penginyongan Language Congress Results in Soedirman Hall of Education and Culture Office of Purbalingga Regency in April 27, 2017, through Susanto & Rosyid (2017), Ahmad Tohari stated that "Basa Jawa Panginyongan" or Banyumas Javanese language was characteristic of Banyumas society. In order to maintain its existence, Banyumas Javanese language needed to be used and protected in order to stay ahead. Ahmad Tohari explained that the ones who are obliged to protect the Panginyongan Javanese language are Banyumas people, in other words, the Banyumas society themselves. Panginyongan people must be proficient in using Panginyongan Javanese language, both spoken and written, so Panginyongan Javanese language should be taught from an early age through family and formal education. If the language went extinct, Banyumas people would lose their identity. Although the interview of Ahmad Tohari was focused more on the context of the Banyumas dialect of Javanese language, he still showed his loyalty towards the local language as a manifestation of Javanese language maintenance.

CONCLUSION
The results of this study showed that the form of Javanese language maintenance in the novel Bekisar Merah by Ahmad Tohari were as follows.
The form of the words in Bekisar Merah are a means of language maintenance. Elements of Javanese society and language appeared in the use of second person addressing, nouns, and adjectives. Additionally, there were three suluk which manifested as tembang. Furthermore, Javanese language maintenance in the form of philosophical concepts appeared as seven Javanese philosophies used to deliver messages and advice to others.
The were two motivating factors behind the use of Javanese language in Bekisar Merah. First, was the background of the author; Ahmad Tohari originated from Banyumas, which is known as an area that mainly produce nira. Therefore, Tohari knows well how to describe the social conditions of the people who work as nira tapper. The second factor was the effort to uphold Javanese language. As stated through an interview, Tohari revealed his opinion that an important way to uphold the Javanese language is through literary works.
The two strategies of maintaining Javanese language through literature are through literature spreading and through the author's loyalty in using local languages in their work. Various forms of literature such as novels, geguritan, cerkak, and others are spread periodically in printed and non-printed media. Periodic literature spreading is expected to contribute to the resilience of the Javanese language. The loyalty of authors to use their local languages in their literary works also contributes to the maintenance of the Javanese language, such as by persistently using Javanese words and expressions. Ultimately, Tohari's usage of Javanese language in Bekisar Merah aligns with his expressed views about local language maintenance: "to maintain its existence, Javanese language need[s] to be preserved, used, and protected in order to stay ahead."