'Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM Press)'
Abstract
Address practices in natural conversations are sociolinguistically significant, because they
display speakers’ socio-cultural values as well as the community’s social structure and social
change. Focusing on Bòsò Walikan Malang1 (/bɔsɔ waliʔan malaŋan/, hereafter referred to as
Walikan), a youth language spoken in Malang, this paper examines how address terms and
politeness are practiced in a multilingual setting. Walikan is a colloquial variety of local
Javanese and Indonesian that features word reversing (mlaku > uklam ‘to walk’; makan >
nakam ‘to eat’). The youth language was specifically chosen as the focus of this study
because it is an important symbol of the socio-cultural identity of the Arema (Arek Malang;
the people of Malang). Looking at the underexplored topic of speech levels in youth
language, the current research discusses the value of Walikan’s address terms and how they
are currently used to demonstrate the speakers’ linguistic politeness. The analysis compares
Walikan’s address terms with those of Javanese and Indonesian, two dominant languages
spoken in the area. Data for the current study were drawn from recordings, interviews, and
observations conducted in an extensive fieldwork. The results of this study reveal a speakers’
shift of value that is mainly prompted by a compromised common ground and social distance.
The study argues that address practices in Walikan show different degree of politeness than
that of Javanese and Indonesian