This paper discuses the use of two competing languages, Indonesian and Javanese, in Akad Nikah ritual
held by Javanese Speech community in Yogyakarta. Akad Nikah for Javanese is a unique event through
which the newly-wed couple obtain acknowledgement from both the state and the adat community.
Representing the state to witness and record the marriage, naib (the deputy registrar of marriages) from
the Office of Religious Affairs is obliged to use the National Language. However, as an ―invitee‖ upon
the request from the bride‘s family to not only witness and record the marriage but sometimes also act on
behalf of the bride‘s father to marry the groom to the bride, the naib is obliged to use the language of the
family. The conflict is resolved by negotiating the use of two formal codes: krama and Indonesian. Krama
is used when the naib is addressing the whole audience, while Indonesian is used when he is acting as the
bride‘s father in the wedding vow. The use of Indonesian is restricted only in the exchanges of wedding
vow between the naib and the groom. The rests of the akad nikah ritual, namely the speeches (pasrahtinampi)
by
the
two
families,
maintain
the
use
of
Javanese.
The
paper
concludes
that
the
use
of
two
codes
in
akad nikah is a strategy for Javanese maintenance among Yogyakarta Javanese speech community.
When the use of Indonesian is inevitable, restricting its ―zone‖ is the best strategy
