Politeness Phenomena in Rempung Language

View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by UMMAT Scientific Journals (Universitas Muhammadiyah Mataram) Linguistics and English Language Teaching Journal Vol. 8, No.1, June 2020 p-ISSN: 2339-2940 e-ISSN: 2614-8633 Politeness Phenomena in Rempung Language Muhammad Hudri a.1, Irwandi b.2 a.b English Education Program, Muhammadiyah University of Mataram 1 Email: [email protected] ARTICLE INFO A B ST R A C T Article history: Received: 12/7/2020 Revised : 16/8/2020 Accepted: 8/9/2020 This study aims at identifying the social structures in Rempung Village, elaborating the reflection of social structure in politeness, elaborating the influence of social structure and politeness phenomena toward the lexical levels particularly at behavioral verbs. The data were gathered through observation and interview. The instruments used in doing observation were note taking and recording. Furthermore, the informants are the speakers of Rempung language who reside at RW.01 Derma Bhakti, Rempung. The study found that there are only two social classes exist in Rempung, they are higher-class and lower-class persons. In addition, there are also two language levels in Rempung namely polite and ordinary forms. The social structures influence the use of language in Rempung. Tau jamaq/tau ba’ (the lower-class person) tend to use basa alis (polite form of language) when speaking to tau reaq/tau bo (the higher-class person). It is also used by tau reaq to speak to other tau reaq who have distant relation. On the contrary, tau reaq commonly uses basa jamaq (ordinary form) in speaking to tau jamaq. Basa jamaq is also used by tau jamaq to speak to other tau jamaq, and among tau reaq who have close relation. Keywords: politeness, social structure, Rempung language I. Introduction Rempung Language is a means of communication of Rempung people, a minority ethnic group that exist among the speakers of Sasak language in the district of Pringgasela, East Lombok. Rempung language has similarity with Sumbawa language with some variation in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. It is a subdialect of Sumbawa Barat Dialect of Sumbawa language. A number of villages speak the similar language like Rempung language such as: Pringgasela, Jantuk, Kembang Kerang, Rumbuk, Kuang, Ganti, and Karang Taliwang (Cakranegara), etc.. Some research works have been conducted about Rempung Language. One of them was done by Muzianti (2004) who observed the personal pronoun in Rempung language. Generally, her study discussed about the forms of pronoun in Rempung language and its correlation to politeness. Unfortunately, she did not connect the pronoun with social structure and their reflection in politeness. As a result, the connection between the social structure and language use has not been fully described. This becomes the focus of this study. Furthermore, social strata influence the language use in the community. The lower-class person has to use honorific words when s/he interacts with the higher class one in order to show his/her respect and politeness. In contrast, the higher-class person uses the ordinary forms of language to speak to the lower class. All those phenomena belong to the tacit rule of politeness in a community. In general, politeness is determined by who, where, and to whom they are addressed. Brown and Levinson (1987:13) formulate three types of scale in determining the degree of politeness i.e. imposition, rank, and social distance. Imposition is associated with the required of expenditure of good service. This scale corresponds the speaker’s interest. Later, rank deals with relative power. This scale is based on the power rating between the speaker and interlocutor. Meanwhile, social distance relates to socio cultural background. 24 Linguistics and English Language Teaching Journal Vol. 8, No.1, June 2020 p-ISSN: 2339-2940 e-ISSN: 2614-8633 In line with this phenomenon, Fraser (1990) notes that politeness is determined by the existence of social and cultural norms respected by the language community. In addition, Holmes (1994:297) distinguishes the politeness into two different types namely positive and negative politeness. Positive politeness is solidarity oriented. It emphasizes shared attitudes and values asides from minimizing the status difference. On the contrary, negative politeness pays people respects and avoids intruding on them. It involves expressing oneself appropriately in terms of social distance and respecting status differences. Due to the illustration above, this study attempts to investigate and to describe the politeness phenomena in relation to social structure in Rempung village. The followings are research questions in this study: 1) how many social structures exist in Rempung Village? 2) how are the social structures reflected in Politeness? 3) are the social structure and politeness phenomena reflected at lexical levels particularly at behavioral verbs? After the research questions were formulated, the writer determined the objectives of the study namely: 1) to identify the social structures in Rempung Village, 2) to elaborate the reflection of social structure in politeness, and 3) to elaborate the influence of social structure and politeness phenomena toward the lexical levels particularly at behavioral verbs. II. Method This study employed qualitative approach that tries to elaborate the social structure and politeness phenomena in Rempung language. The methods used for this study was largely descriptive and ethnography. Furthermore, the population of this study was all speakers of Rempung language who reside in Rempung Village. Meanwhile, for getting the information and data, 12 (twelve) people were selected as informants. In selecting the informants, the writer set the following criteria: a) age up to or more than 50 years old, b) physically and mentally health, c) mastering Rempung language, d) willing to be interviewed, e) minimally s/he has graduated from the elementary school, and f) s/he was born and grown up in Rempung Village (adapted from Mahsun, 1995:106). The writer selected the qualified informants who know much about Rempung language. They are expected to represent the other Rempung language speakers in providing accurate information about Rempung language and other related things. In gathering the data, the writer used two observation and interview. In observation, the writer employed two observation i.e. participants and non-participant. The participant observation is a method of collecting data in which the researcher takes part in the situation s/he is doing. It is assumed that a participant observer can understand a situation more fully than s/he does not. Meanwhile, non-participant observation is observing the activities/situation without being active in the activities. In addition, the techniques in the observation were audio recording and note taking. Audio recorder was used to record the speech event of using politeness form, while note taking was used for documenting the information that were not covered by the audio recorder. Moreover, the writer also used interview namely prospective and retrospective interview. Through prospective interview, the writer attempted to gain general information about Rempung language. On the other hand, the retrospective interview was used to gain information about specific information concerning the reflection of social structure and politeness phenomena at lexical levels particularly at behavioral verbs. After gathering data, the next step was data analysis. Data analysis is important procedure in conducting research because the analysis provides the required meaning to the data collected in the research. So, the technique used in analyzing the social structure and politeness phenomena was descriptive with regards to socio-cultural aspects of the community. The procedures for data analysis are ordered as follows: a. Identification In this procedure the writer identified the social structures and polite forms of language from the result of interview, audio recording, and note-taking. b. Identification 25 Linguistics and English Language Teaching Journal Vol. 8, No.1, June 2020 p-ISSN: 2339-2940 e-ISSN: 2614-8633 In this stage, the writer classified the social structure and language forms into several categories e.g. higher, medium, and lower classes c. Description Following up the classification procedure, the writer described the nature of each category by giving examples and clear description. d. Explanation At last, the writer related his findings to the relevant theories. III. Results and Discussion The data were gathered from April 8th up to 16th 2020. The data were obtained from numerous qualified informants who reside at RW. Derma Bhakti, Rempung Village, District of Pringgasela, East Lombok Regency. Furthermore, the writer would like to identify, classify, and describe the social structures and polite forms of language, and explain the relationship between social structures, polite forms of language, and their reflection toward the lexical levels particularly at behavioral verbs as well. A. Identification of Social Structure and Polite Forms of Language Geographically Rempung belongs to Sasak, but it differs from Sasak in terms of culture and language. The culture and language of Rempung have a great deal of similarities with culture and language of Sumbawa especially the western part of Sumbawa with little influence from Sasak.In relation to that problem, unlike Sasak, there is no ascribed status in Rempung. Rempung people are not classified based on the nobility. So that, there is not any the title of nobility in Rempung such as: Lalu, Raden, Datu, etc. although in the beginning there had been some nobility titles brought by those people who migrated to Rempung e.g. Gusti, Ida Bagus, and other nobility titles from Bali and Dea from Sumbawa. Due to the acculturation and culture transformation, nobility titles were eliminated in Rempung Village. Nonetheless, there are some criteria used to establish the social class of Rempung namely wealth/prosperity, education, and role/function/position of a person in the community. Kyai, datu, tau sugi, tau cerdik pandai/tau alim belong to higher class in Rempung and the rests can be categorized as lower class. In terms of language use, there are two types of language use in Rempung, they are polite and ordinary forms of language. Both polite and ordinary forms of language are used in pronoun forms, address forms, and behavioral verbs. These are the illustration of behavioral verbs for polite and ordinary forms: 1. Ndek su NEG you berenok Mamiq, anak Bapak Tahir bedunu. visit for expressing condolences father child father die Mr. Tahir’s child passed away, don’t you visit him to express your condolences, sir. 26 Linguistics and English Language Teaching Journal Vol. 8, No.1, June 2020 2. Ndek su p-ISSN: 2339-2940 e-ISSN: 2614-8633 berenok NEG you pak, anak Bapak Tahir mate. visit for expressing condolences father, child father Tahir die Mr. Tahir’s child died, don’t you visit him to express your condolences, sir. The examples above show the distinction between polite form and ordinary form in terms of address term and behavioral verbs. Example (1) is the polite form and example (2) is the ordinary one. The example (1) is addressed to tau reaq/tau bo (dea guru), so that, Rempung people say “bedunu”. In contrast, the example (2) is stated to tau jamaq/tau ba’. In this case, Rempung people use “mate” as ordinary form of behavioral verb “die”. Dealing with the behavioral verbs, here is the list of some polite and ordinary forms of behavioral verbs in Rempung. Table 1. Polite and Ordinary Forms of Behavioral Verbs No Behavioral Verbs Ordinary Polite 1 Eat mangan nerima 2 Say beling bemanik 3 Sleep tunuq toloq diriq/begelaq 4 Ask beketoan ngusul 5 Defecate tai selaq gawe/lalo aiq 6 Urinate Memeq bolang aiq 7 take a bath/shower Maniq - 8 Hide beselume isengilang diriqn 9 Request ngeneng Tunas/nunas 10 Die Mate bedunu/bilinan 11 Drink Nginam - 12 Fart/break wind beketit Bolang angin The data above show that some of behavioral verbs have both ordinary and polite forms, but some others do not have any polite forms. It can be inferred that not all behavioral verbs have polite forms, but there is an alternative way to make the ordinary forms become the polite one namely by softening our utterance. B. Classification of Social Structure and Polite Forms of Language In this section, the writer classified the data presented in the identification procedure. First, the writer classified the social structure in Rempung based on the criteria mentioned in the previous section. Besides classifying the social structure, the writer also clustered the language use in Rempung. 1) Social Structure in Rempung Village With regard to the previous section, in general there are two social classes/levels in Rempung Village namely higher class that is called tau reaq or tau bo and the second one is lower class or called tau jamaq or tau ba’. 2) Tau Reaq or Tau Bo Dealing with the criteria in previous section, people who are considered as tau reaq or tau bo are as follows: • Datu: it is honored by Rempung people because s/he is considered as having a power or having a privileged in the community. Datu is group of people who have important function or position in the community. They can be considered as policy makers in the community. The people who can be concluded to this group are Kepala Desa (chief of Village), kliang (chief of sub-village), chief of citizen association, and also the government officers. 27 Linguistics and English Language Teaching Journal Vol. 8, No.1, June 2020 p-ISSN: 2339-2940 e-ISSN: 2614-8633 • Kyai: Kyai or clergymen is also respected by Rempung people because they are recognized as sacred or righteous persons. People who belong to this category are dea guru and ustadz (Islamic clergymen/Islamic figures). • Tau Cerdik Pandai: it refers to an intellectual person. S/he is honored due to his/her knowledge. We can say that the higher the education level someone has, the more respected s/he will be. • Tau Sugi: Tau sugi (rich man/woman) is also classified as tau reaq or tau bo. S/he is also considered has a power in the community because of his/her wealthy. s/he is assumed has significant role in enhancing the economic wheel of community. 3) Tau Jamaq or Tau Ba’ Tau Jamaq refers to ordinary people and do not belong to any people who have been mentioned before. People who belong to tau jamaq or tau ba’ are as follows: • Tau dereq/tau miskin: Tau miskin (poor people) are clustered as lower level in Rempung community and even in other communities. This category is not influenced by the profession of someone. However, commonly this category is dominated by a few professions such as labor, servant, and unemployment. • Tau buta huruf: Tau buta huruf or illiterate or we may say uneducated person is also categorized as lower class in Rempung. Moreover, this category is considered lower or worse than category A (tau miskin). • Tau golongan tengaq: This category cannot be classified as both categories above, but they also cannot be included to higher class. These people lay between higher and lower class, but they tend to be lower ones since there are only two social classes in Rempung. Structurally, they can be categorized as medium class, yet, the existence of medium class is not recognized in Rempung. 28 Linguistics and English Language Teaching Journal Vol. 8, No.1, June 2020 p-ISSN: 2339-2940 e-ISSN: 2614-8633 C. Language Use in Rempung Regarding the result of study, there are two types of language use in Rempung namely polite and ordinary forms. Here, both polite and ordinary forms are related to behavioral verbs in Rempung. 1) Polite Forms of Language A polite form is a type of language that is commonly used by the lower class to the higher one. It is used to show our respect and polite to higher class. Unlike Java or Sasak, not all behavioral verbs have polite forms in Rempung. Table 2. Polite forms of Behavioral Verbs in Rempung Language No Behavioral Verbs Polite 1 Eat Nerima 2 Say Bemanik 3 Sleep toloq diriq/begelaq 4 Ask Ngusul 5 Defecate selaq gawe/lalo aiq 6 Urinate bolang aiq 7 take a bath - 8 Hide isengilang diriqn 9 Request Tunas/nunas 10 Die bedunu/bilinan 11 Drink - 12 Fart/break wind Bolang angin The table shows that some behavioral verbs do not have any polite forms. Therefore, we can use the ordinary forms, but certainly in different way. We have to soften the utterance to transform the ordinary form become the polite one. 2) Ordinary Form of Language Ordinary form is considerably used by Rempung People. It is used by lower class to another lower class, higher class to another higher class, and the higher class to the lower-class person. Here is the list of ordinary forms of behavioral verbs. Table 3. Ordinary Forms of Behavioral Verbs in Rempung Language No Behavioral Verbs Ordinary 1 Eat Mangan 2 say Beling 3 sleep Tunuq 4 ask beketoan 5 defecate Tai 6 urinate Memeq 7 take a bath Maniq 8 hide beselume 9 Request Ngeneng 10 die Mate 11 drink Nginam 12 Fart/break wind Beketit 29 Linguistics and English Language Teaching Journal Vol. 8, No.1, June 2020 p-ISSN: 2339-2940 e-ISSN: 2614-8633 D. Description of Social Structures and Polite Forms of Language In this section, the writer describes the social structures and forms of language use in Rempung. 1) Social Structures in Rempung a) Tau Reaq or Tau Bo As stated in the previous procedures, there are some groups of people who belong to this category e.g. datu, kyai, tau cerdik pandai, and tau sugi. To make them clearer, the writer describes them one by one. • Datu Datu is addressed to people who have important function or position in the community. They also have crucial role in managing government particularly in the village level. For instance, kepala desa (chief of village) is clustered as tau reaq or tau bo since s/he is a leader of village and is considered as an excellent person. Long time ago, kepala desa was called ne mekal. As the time went by, this term has lost in Rempung Village, and so does the term “kliang” (chief of sub-village). Those terms are extremely unfamiliar not only for youngsters or millennials, but also for the most of Rempung People today. • Kyai Kyai is term for religion figures. Dea guru and ustadz are established as part of it. Actually, dea guru and ustadz are identical, but they differ in several things. First, dea guru is an ustadz who has done a pilgrimage to Mecca for hajj. The second one is that, dea guru is believed to have more or deeper knowledge about Islam. The third, dea guru must be over or more than 50 (forty) years old, in other words, the figure of dea guru should be mature, wise, and obeyed by the people in Rempung. Dea guru is equal to Tuan guru in Sasak, Kiyai in Java, Ajengan in West Java, and or Buya in Minangkabau. • Tau Cerdik Pandai It is the term for educated or intellectual person. This term is labelled to teacher, lecturer, scholars, university students, and other educated ones. They are respected due to their knowledge and their education level. The higher the education level, the more respected s/he will be. • Tau Sugi Tau sugi is addressed for rich people. They are honored because of their wealth or prosperity. One is categorized as tau sugi if s/he economically has large amount of income and assets whatever his/her profession is. Furthermore, a person can be included into two or three categories, for instance: a dea guru (kyai) can also belong to tau cerdik pandai and sometimes can be contained within tau sugi. He is an intellectual person in term of religion, so that he is classified as tau cerdik pandai. Besides being intellectual one, sometimes he is rich and has great deal of wealth and properties, therefore he can be clustered as tau sugi. At last, the wives of those people mentioned above are addressed as inaq nyai in Rempung community. b) Tau Jamaq or Tau Ba’ As mentioned in classification section, people who are categorized as tau jamaq are tau miskin/tau dereq (poor people), tau buta huruf (illiterate/uneducated person), and other ordinary people. Actually, there is an alternative way to lift up their status. For instance, tau miskin can be considered as tau reaq/tau bo (higher class) if s/he is educated person or belong to tau cerdik pandai or having a power in the community e.g. as a kliang/kadus (chief of sub-village). Moreover, uneducated person can be in higher status if s/he is rich or has a great deal of wealth. E. Language Use in Rempung, 1) Basa Alis (polite form of language) It is used by a person in lower class to speak to higher one. It is the way to show his/her respect and politeness. It is also used by parents to talk to their little child as the way to teach the norms and politeness earlier. In addition, Basa Alis is used by the host to welcome the guests in certain 30 Linguistics and English Language Teaching Journal Vol. 8, No.1, June 2020 p-ISSN: 2339-2940 e-ISSN: 2614-8633 events/party. These are some examples of politeness of language in Rempung regarding behavioral verbs. Extract 1. The conversation between Haji Olah and Ivan (1) H. Olah : “apa i What PASS. Marker gaweq bapak-mo? do father you POSS “what is your father doing?” (2) Ivan: (3) H. Olah “Mentu itoloq diriqn , mamiq” When PASS. Marker put himself, sir. “He is sleeping, sir. : “Tunuq tunuq doang gaweno, nonyaq len.” : Sleep REP. only do POSS, no other “He just sleeps, no other works. The conversation above occurs in Haji Olah’s house. In this conversation H. Olah used basa jamaq (ordinary form) while Ivan spoke using basa alis (the polite form) of Rempung language. Ivan said “mentu itoloq diriqn, mamiq”. In opposite, H. Olah said “tunuq tunuq doang gaweno, nonyaq len”. Toloq diriq and tunuq have the similar meaning, but toloq diriq as the polite form of tunuq or sleep. Toloq diriq is a phrase that consists of two words that each of them has different meaning. However, after those two words are combined, they have one meaning namely sleep. In another side, Ivan addresses Haji Olah with mamiq. Mamiq in Sasak is an address for nobleman “Lalu or Raden”, but in Rempung, mamiq is the address for a man who has done a pilgrimage for hajj to Mecca or it is addressed to haji. This term is used specially for our father or uncles. Extract 2. The conversation between Ririn and Wajdi Ririn is 5 years old and Wajdi/Ririn’s father is 45 years old (1) Ririn : “Bapak, minya papin ko?” Father where grandfather 1st SG. POSS Where is my grandfather, dad? (2) Wajdi : “Dea papin-mo kaq bedunu bilin dita mentu mu berumir setén Grandfather-you POSS. have go forward leave we when you in age one year. Your grandfather passed away when you were one year old. This conversation was between Ririn and her father. In this conversation, Wajdi used basa alis or polite expression “bedunu”. Literally bedunu means go forward, but connotatively means passing away or die. This is wajdi’s way to teach and to educate the norms and politeness earlier to his daughter. Extract 3. The host please the guest to have a meal (1) Host : “mamiq-mamiq, bapak-bapak, ibu-ibu, inaq-inaq, Father REP Father REP mother REP mother REP sanak sebai, sanak selaki sister brother Silaqmo sia pada Please you all (2) Senior Guest nerima apa rua pembereq kami receive what look PREF-give-AF we : “ga tu mulai, silaq!” Let we start please. Let’s start/begin, please! 31 Linguistics and English Language Teaching Journal Vol. 8, No.1, June 2020 p-ISSN: 2339-2940 e-ISSN: 2614-8633 This conversation is frequently used in begawe (traditional party) such as selamatan (salvation ceremony), bekawin (wedding ceremony), ngekayang (seventh day of a baby’s birth ceremony), nyiwaq (ninth day of someone’s death ceremony). The host used “nerima” as the polite expression of “kakan” or “mangan”. Furthermore, how about behavioral verbs that do not have any polite expression? There is a solution to solve the problem namely by softening the utterance. Extract 4. The conversation between Rahima and Pak Said (Kadus/a chief of sub-village) (1) Rahima (2) Pak Said : “iloq :”silaqmo su inam kupi so, Bapak! Please you drink coffee you-POSS. father Please drink your coffee sir! gering dunu o, kemi na ku inamn. Let cold first next will I drink it-ACC. Let it cold first, I am going to drink it next. In the conversation above, Rahima tried to soften her utterance because she spoke to kadus (a chief of sub-village). In opposite, Pak Said did not soften his utterance as done by Rahima. 2) Basa Jamaq Basa jamaq is used by tau reaq/tau bo (higher class) to speak to tau jamaq (lower class), among tau jamaq, and among tau reaq/tau bo who have close relation. Basa jamaq is frequently used in daily conversation or in informal situation. Here is the example of basa jamaq use. Extract 5 (1) Enal (2) Jaki the conversation between Enal (18 years old) and Jaki (16 years old) : “jam pia mu tunuq raino, ake?” Hour how you sleep last night friend What time did you go to bed last night, mate?” : “Jam empat suda ku manto liga champion o. Hour four after I watch league champion At 4.00 (four) a.m. after I watched the champion league. The conversation shows there is no basa alis in their utterance. Those are the real ordinary expression of language. Enal and Jaki really know one another well and they are intimate and no distance among them. Extract 6. The conversation between Haji Usuf and Haji Amin (1) H. Usuf : “Tuan aji itaq jaga i-bayaq ku Sir hajj just now morning PASS. Tell me Ling Yar o Tau ode-ode majal by Yar person little REP. naughty tai token lenang masjid o defecate PREP. Yard mosque Tuan Aji, I was told by Yar this morning that the naughty boys defecated in the mosque yard. (2) H. Amin (3) H. Usuf : “Anak sai bero gawen so o? Child who that work that Whose child did do that? : “Ba no mo ku utan, laguq santar pekel pada o NEG. I know but very naughty them I don’t know, but how naughty they are. 32 Linguistics and English Language Teaching Journal Vol. 8, No.1, June 2020 p-ISSN: 2339-2940 e-ISSN: 2614-8633 Both Haji Usuf and Haji Amin belong to tau reaq/tau bo because they are ustadz (muslim scholars) in Rempung. H. Usuf used basa jamaq to H. Amin and so did H. Amin. H. Usuf did not say “selaq gawe” as the polite expression of “tai” (defecate). On the other hand, H. Usuf said “ku” or “aku” not “kaji” as the polite pronoun of “I”. It occurred because there is no distance among them. F. Explanation of Social Structure and Polite Forms of Language Use 1) Social structure According to Soekanto (1990:254) there are two types of social status i.e. ascribed and achieved status. Ascribed status is the status obtained by a person since s/he was born, while achieved status reached by a person through conscious efforts. Ascribed status deals with the nobility, for instance raden, datu, lalu, baiq, dende, etc. In opposite, achieved status is related to the distinction between someone and others through some criteria such as: economic/wealth level, occupation/profession, education, power, etc. With regard to the theory, there is only one status in Rempung namely achieved status. Rempung people are clustered into two big classes, they are higher and lower classes. The criteria used in establishing a person’s class are economic, education, power, position, or function in the community. Datu (government figures/officers), kyai (religion figures), tau cerdik pandai (educated persons), tau sugi (wealth/rich persons) are classified as tau reaq/tau bo (higher-class persons). In contrast, tau miskin/dereq (poor persons), tau buta huruf (illiterate or uneducated persons) and other ordinary people are grouped into tau jamaq/tau ba’ (lower-class persons). 2) Language Use Social Structures influence the use of language. Prior to speaking to someone, we have to be able to assess his/her status or social class. In this case, Holmes (1992:271) utters that before deciding which style of Japanese to use, Japanese speakers asses their status in relation to their addresses on the basis of such factors as family background, sex, and age (and even one day age different) can be important, as well as the formality in context. In related to the statement above, there are two types of language use in Rempung Village namely basa alis/basa sopan (polite form of language) and basa jamaq (ordinary form of language). Basa alis or basa sopan is uttered by lower-class persons to speak to higher-class persons. It aims at showing his/her honor, respect, and politeness. Parents also use this form to speak to their children as the way to educate their children. Beside that, rempung people use it in particular ceremonies to show the respect and honor to the guest. On the contrary, basa jamaq is employed by higher-class person to speak to lower-class person, among the lower-class persons, and among the higher-class persons. It is used to show solidarity especially among the persons who really know one another well. In other words, there is not any distance among them. Due to Thomas Theory (1986), when higher-class person speaks to the lower-class person, he uses involvement. In contrast, the lower-class person uses independency strategy. IV. Conclusion Based on the elaboration in the previous section, the writer concludes that there are only two levels of social structure in Rempung Village namely higher and lower classes. Higher-class person is called tau reaq or tau bo, while lower-class person is called tau jamaq or tau ba’. The criteria used in establishing the social class are wealth/richness, education, power, function and position of someone in the community. Kyai (religion figures), datu (governmental figures/officers), tau cerdik pandai (intellectual/educated persons), tau sugi (rich person) are grouped to tau reaq or tau bo (higher-class person). In contrast, tau miskin/tau dereq (poor person), tau buta huruf (illiterate/uneducated person) and tau golongan tengaq belong to tau jamaq or tau ba’ (lower-class person). There is a probability to switch a person’s class from low to high e.g. tau miskin or tau dereq (poor person) can become tau reaq or tau bo (higher-class person) if s/he has a function or position in the community for instance as kadus/kliang (chief of sub-village) or he is an intellectual or well-educated one, and or as ustadz (Islamic clergyman). 33 Linguistics and English Language Teaching Journal Vol. 8, No.1, June 2020 p-ISSN: 2339-2940 e-ISSN: 2614-8633 Furthermore, the social classes influence the use of language. In similar with social structures, there are also two levels of language expression in Rempung namely basa alis or basa sopan (polite form) and basa jamaq (ordinary form). Basa alis or basa sopan is uttered by lower-class persons to speak to higher-class persons and sometimes among tau reaq/tau bo (higher classes) who have a distance. On the other hand, basa jamaq is used by tau reaq/tau bo (higher class) to speak to tau jamaq/tau ba’ (lower class), among tau jamaq (lower classes), and among tau reaq/tau bo (higher classes) who have close relation. It can be said, tau reaq/tau bo uses involvement in speaking to tau jamaq/tau ba’. In opposite, tau jamaq/tau ba’ uses independence to speak to tau reaq. Dealing with behavioral verbs, there are two types of this term in Rempung language. First is behavioral verbs that have ordinary and polite forms, and the second one is that the behavioral verbs that only have the ordinary forms. The way to make the second type becoming more polite is through softening the utterance. References [1] Al-Rawi, S.S., Al-Assam D.A.A, 2018. A Pragmatic Study of English Honorific Forms. Journal of the Collage of Language. Accessed on March 25th, 2020 on https://iasj.net [2] Braun, F., 1986. Terms of Address: Problem of Patterns and Usage in Various Languages and Cultures. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter [3] Brown, P., Levinson, S.C., 1987. Politeness: Some Universal in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [4] Eelen, G., 1995. A Critique of Politeness Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [5] Fraser, B. 1990. Perspective on Politeness Theories. Journal of Pragmatics 14:219 – 36. http://www.jstor.org [6] Habibi, H., 2005. The Use of Honorific Words in Kuto Kute Dialect; Style, Varieties, and Setting. Unpublished thesis of Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, the University of Mataram [7] Holmes, J., 2001. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics: Second Edition. London: Longman Group [8] Mahsun, 1995. Dialektika Diakronis: Sebuah Pengantar. Yogyakarta: UGM Press [9] Morand, D. 2000. Language and Power: An Empirical Analysis of Linguistics Strategies Used in Superior-Subordinate Communication. Journal of Organizational Behavior Vol.21. Accessed on March 25th, 2020 [10] Muzianti, Y., 2004. Sistem Pronomina Persona Bahasa Rempung. Unpublished thesis of Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Mataram University [11] Soekanto, 1990. Sosiologi Sebuah Pengantar. Jakarta: Raja Grafindo Persada [12] Thomas, J.A., 1986. The Language of Power. Journal of Pragmatics, http://www.jstor.org [13] Udin, 1996. Maintaining the Existence of Local Language. Research Report of FKIP Mataram University [14] Wardaugh, R., Fuller, J.M., 2015. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics: Seventh Edition. West Sussex: Blackwell Publishing 34