THE JAVANESE LANGUAGE PRESERVATION STRATEGIES

Language preservation is the effort to prevent languages from becoming extinct. A

This makes language a vulnerable aspect of cultural heritage, and it becomes especially
important to preserve it. There are different factors that can put a language in danger of
becoming extinct. When a language dies, the knowledge of and ability to understand the
culture who spoke it is threatened because the teachings, customs, oral traditions and other
inherited knowledge are no longer transmitted among native speakers.

Based on UCLA’s (University of California, Los Angeles) data, being the second most
spoken austronesian language, only after Indonesian, Javanese language is spoken by 75
million people. In these current times of globalization, millions of people still speak Javanese.
But these days, with the urbanization, rapid development of society, and even the unification
of Indonesia, make the way teenagers learn the language in the past obsolete.

The language maintenance has been stated by Mesthrie (2009:245). He remarks that language
maintenance denotes the continuing use of language in the face of competition from a regionally
and social more powerful language. Language shift connects language maintenance. People may not
realize that it is and danger of disappearing. Coulumas (2005:157) says that language maintenance
refers to a situation where a speech community, under sircumstances that would seem to favor
language shift, holds on to this language. Moreover, it can be concluded above the perspectives that
language maintenance can be maintained, and it depends on the speakers and the situation. Thus
the speakers as the community, minority group’s, and the situations in the face of competition from
socially more powerful language. In the same line, Fishman ( 1964: 172) defines a term of language
maintenance as the perservation of a language variety in such context where there is considerable
pressure for speakers to shift towards the more dominant language.

Various efforts have been made by the government and the community as an effort to preserve and
maintain the existence of Javanese language. Alongside with those efforts, sustainable strategies are
needed in the effort Javanese language preservation.

It is important to remember that languages die when people stop using and speaking them.
Therefore, the very first strategy is to strengthen the Javanese language itself as a
communication tool that should be used intensively in daily life. For example, using it in
the daily conversation with family and friends could be the most simple yet effective way to
keep Javanese language alive. Kurniati ( 2007) stated that one important factor is the
maintenance of a language which support community loyalty. The loyalty of the supporters of a
language still transmit the language from generation to generationIt is important to keep in mind
that children learn to speak a language by hearing it every day so they get accustomed to it.
And within the family, parents play the important role as a foundation and the front guard
in preserving Javanese language because language is transmitted first to the children
through the surrounding and teaching from their parents.

Secondly, maintaining the existence of traditional rituals, rites and traditional art
performance in the society also becoming an important part of the Javanese language’s
preservation strategy in cultural context. They are so many rites and traditional rituals in the
Javanese society such as Merti Desa, Nyadran, Selametan Midodareni, and Mitoni. Also
there are traditional art performance such as Wayang Purwa, Ketoprak and Karawitan that
exist in the society. Their existence are very important as the cultural heritage for
generations to support the Javanese language’s preservation because in those traditional
rituals, rites and traditional art performance people will use the Javanese language
intensively as the part of their culture.

The government also plays a big role in Javanese language’s preservation because its
position as the society ruler and has the rights to make a policy that has a strong and legal
law foundation. The government should be aware that Javanese language is one of a
hundred mother language in Indonesia that its existence is threatened. They could make a
cultural based policy that will secure, protect and prevent Javanese language from dying.
For example, the local government could make a policy to use Javanese language on a
certain day once a week in the office, local institutes and educational institutions. Festival,
contest and many competitions related to Javanese culture and language can also be held by the
government to support Javanese language’s preservation.

Alongside with the government, school as the educational institution also has
responsibility and duty to preserve Javanese language. In Indonesia, the children have to
attend school for 9 years from elementary school until senior high. The government
especially the education authorities made a policy about Javanese language to become a
subject that should be taught at school. On East Java, the governor already made those
policy that stated in the Peraturan Gubernur Jawa Timur number 19 of 2014 .
Another school from east and central Java joined the move by hold many events
and agreed that once a week in a certain day to talk only in Javanese language.
Then they called it Dinten Basa Jawi (Javanese language day). The education
authorities also has been active to hold many events, festival and competition relate to
Javanese language to attract the student’s interest and grow the love for their own mother
language. For example, hold narate a tale in Javanese competition, make and recite
geguritan (Javanese traditional poem) , singing macapat, Javanese language debate, writing
essays in Javanese language, training the teacher so they could master and able to perform
better in teaching Javanese language subject.

The next strategy is to collaborate and gain support from the non non-governmental
organization. Together with the government and educational institution’s efforts, there are
many of the non-governmental organization also give their best support to help the Javanese
language preservation. There are many non-governmental organization that exist in Java, such as
Rumah Budaya Tembi, Bebana, Sanggar Sastra Jawa Yogyakarta , Lembaga Kursus Pranatacara,
Yayasan Suryasumirat, Yayasan Sastra Lestari and many more. They work and do many programs that
related with Javanese language and culture preservation. They give fasilitation and help the people who
have interest in learning about Javanese language and culture.

The last strategy is to preserve Javanese language through journalism activity. Empowering Javanese
through the world journalism continues to develop stably and steadily. There are magazine in Javanese
language such as Kajawen, Jayabaya, Panyebar Semangat, Djaka Lodang, Mekarsari and
Sempulur. Local newspaper in Surakarta called Solopos also dedicated a weekly section fully
written in Javanese language that published every Thursday. On television, there is a channel
called TATV that airing the news segment in Javanese language and TVRI who airing a music
program in Javanese language and often airing kethoprak and wayang purwa performance. On
the radio, there are RRI radio also often broadcasting in Javanese language.

Furthermore

will be sooner threatened to be extinct if there is no serious efforts from its society to maintain
this krama.

Reference

Kurniati ( 2007) "Shifting Language Dayak in Palangkaraya"

Javanese: Will It Survive?