The Personality of Langkat Malay among Adolescent Speakers: A Sociolinguistic Review
Abdurahman Adisaputera (a*), Wisman Hadi (b), Yuliana Sari (b), Achmad Yuhdi (b)

a) The Faculty of Language and Art, Universitas Negeri Medan, Jl. William Iskandar Ps. V, Sumatera Utara 20221, Indonesia
*abas_751[at]yahoo.com
b) The Faculty of Language and Art, Universitas Negeri Medan, Jl. William Iskandar Ps. V, Sumatera Utara 20221, Indonesia

Abstract

This research is motivated by the results of previous research which shows that there is a condition in the Malay-speaking community that has reduced the intensity of interaction with its natural environment (Malay ecology). (Adisaputera, Abdurahman. (2010)). Furthermore, the survival of the Langkat Malay language (BML) in Stabat can be seen from the regeneration process of its speakers. In the process of regenerating BML speakers, there are strong indications that young speakers are no longer mastered a number of vocabularies due to the loss of some socio-cultural and socio-ecological elements in the Malay community in Stabat. Specifically, this research aims to explore the phenomenon of shifts in the local character of BML by teenage speakers in Stabat during code-switching and code-mixing events. This research uses extralingual and contextual analysis methods which are aligned with description methods in sociolinguistic studies. The language shift that occurred in the Malay youth community in Stabat was analyzed based on the results of lexical competency tests and lingual forms in their language repertoire. There were 230 teenage respondents who were used as samples for the BML lexical competency test. The research results prove that the lingual forms that appear in teenagers^ verbal communication interactions with various interlocutors show that there are incidents of code switching and code mixing even in familiar domains such as family, neighbors and friendship. In code mixing events, mixed forms of BML and BI emerge. These mixed forms imply a loss of identity in the youth community because the forms that are shifting are typical forms of BML which characterize the character of BML which is different from BI. Linguistically culturally, lingual forms which are markers of identity for BML speakers shift to lingual forms which are markers of identity for BI speakers. The shift in lingual forms implies a shift in the local character of the youth community culturally-lingually.

Keywords: Shifting, Langkat Malay language, adolescence, sociolinguistics

Topic: Linguistics and Foreign Language