to be found here fails to do justice to the richness of expression of the speech of ordinary people as they go about their daily lives, or of the dalang as he weaves his wonderful tales through the night, not to mention the wealth of the literary classics. It only scratches the surface.
Quite apart from the task of sharpening the definitions of words already listed, there is also a vast amount of work waiting to be done by students in the field and in the libraries, so that in due time a more complete tool can be offered to those who wish to become better acquainted with the civilization of Java in its various aspects.
When the idea of a new dictionary of Modern Javanese was mentioned in the presence of Romo Zoetmulder one day in his library at the Pasturan Kumetiran, he warned that it would be a very difficult project to complete. But his warning went unheeded. The needs of students with little or no Dutch had always impressed themselves, and it seemed not too difficult to use the existing works—reviewed, refined and added to—in order to produce a work sufficiently broad and practical.
Now that this tool is ready, we can only offer it to the public in the hope that it will prove useful and fulfil a need.
Grateful record is made of the contributions of:
• Romo RJ. Zoetmulder, for upholding a high ideal of scholarship in Javanese lexicography;
• Th. Pigeaud, for providing a solid basis with his dictionary that has stood the test of time, and
• Elinor C. Home, for being the first to attempt the task of creating a Javanese-English dictionary;
• The families of Bapak B. Suhardjo in Muntilan, and of the late Bapak S. Kibat Notowihardjo in Sleman, for their loving acceptance of someone interested in all kinds of Javanese words;
• Pak Singgih and Bu Titiek, for being willing to spend three years of their lives in Melbourne on the project;
• The Australian Research Council, for its generous funding, without which nothing would have been possible;
• Raymond Weisling, for showing a sincere interest and giving encouragement to publish;
• Yacinta Kurniasih, whose excellent help has substantially improved the quality of the work and whose feeling for Javanese is quite remarkable;
• Eric Oey, for being willing to take on the publication of a Javanese dictionary;
• And all the others who have assisted with information or advice.
Mugi-mugi wonten kasilipun.
Introduction
1. The Javanese Language
Javanese is the language of the island of Java, located in Southeast Asia within the Republic of Indonesia. It is a member of the Austronesian family of languages, and is thus closely related to, but distinct from, the other languages of its region. It is spoken mainly in the provinces of Central and East Java, including the Special Area of Yogyakarta; its immediate neighbours are Sundanese (spoken in West Java), Madurese (spoken on the island of Madura and adjacent parts of East Java), and Balinese (spoken in Bali and western Lombok).
The exact number of speakers of Javanese is unknown, as census data are not broken down by language, but it is estimated that up to half of the total population of Indonesia are Javanese-speaking; if this is so, then there may be 100 million speakers. In this connection, it should be noted that Javanese is not restricted to the regions mentioned, because the Javanese have moved into many other areas, and have taken their language with them. Historically, the sultanates of Cirebon and Banten (founded in the 16th century and located in West Java) were Javanese, and the process of transmigration in the 20th century has brought Javanese into Lampung in southern Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and other islands. Furthermore, a large proportion of the present population of the capital, Jakarta, is of Javanese origin. Hence, as well as being an Indonesian regional language in the strict sense, Javanese can also be called an ethnic language, that is, one spoken by and defining the ethnic group of the Javanese. For the sake of completeness, one should also note that there has been a Javanese-speaking group in Surinam in South America for more than a century, as well as a smaller one in New Caledonia.
The above description of Javanese will help to define its relation to Indonesian, the national language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a variety of Malay, another important member of the Austronesian language family, originating from the western part of the Indonesian Archipelago. In its function of national language, Indonesian is taught and used over the entire territory of Indonesia. This means that those whose mother tongue is Javanese will also (in greater or smaller measure) become familiar with it and use it, thereby creating a significant interface between the two—in essence the same as that between any other regional-ethnic language and Indonesian, except that Javanese does tend to exert a rather strong influence on Indonesian. There is a mutual influence between the Javanese and Indonesian languages, which deserves further study.
Apart from the sheer weight of numbers, there are social and historical reasons for the dominance of Javanese. These relate to the position of the Javanese in the archipelago over many centuries. An example is the "borrowing" of the system of language levels by the neighbouring languages, Sundanese, Madurese, Sasak (in Lombok) and Balinese. History tells us of a high degree of political and cultural development on the part of the successive kingdoms of Java. The descendants of Javanese royalty are still to be found in four courts in Central Java, namely the Kasunanan and Mangkunegaran in Surakarta (Solo), and the Kasultanan and Pakualaman in Yogyakarta. It is these courts that carry prestige for many Javanese in cultural and social matters. However, there are two more courts, the Kasepuhan and Kanoman in Cirebon, as well as historical traditions of yet another in Blambangan at the extreme eastern end of the island opposite Bali, and finally two more in Madura, at Sumenep and Bangkalan.
Having mentioned courts, however, it is by no means true that at the present time the Javanese language of Surakarta and Yogyakarta is accepted by all Javanese as standard or the most prestigious variety. There exist many regional variants, best termed dialects, as well as socially determined variants across the regions. Roughly speaking, the dialects correspond to former Residencies, broad geographical areas sharing the same cultural and social traditions. However, there also exist variations on a smaller scale, in some cases even down to the village level, which are of interest. Unfortunately, there has never been a complete dialectological description of Javanese.
Javanese is the language of everyday communication for those who call themselves Javanese, or who have been brought up within this speech community It is used for all the functions for which Indonesian is not required or appropriate. Javanese is famous for possessing a system of language levels. It is definitely not the case that it is two languages in one, as some like to assert. Our approach here is that there is one basic "level" of Javanese, termed Ngoko, which is the one that is used when talking to oneself or to intimates. The other main level, termed Krama, is a "ceremonial" variant on this, whereby a number of high-frequency Ngoko words have Krama equivalents, and its use corresponds to speech situations calling for respect, including not only hierarchical differences but also social distance. This is a clear example of how language responds to and expresses the structure of society. The system of language levels found in Javanese is not unique, and that of Balinese is perhaps equally elaborate, also reflecting its social differences.
Having its basis in the nature of social relations, it is true to say that the use of language levels is not optional—one cannot choose to use just one or another. But the correct use of the levels, that is, the selection of the proper variant, does depend on a feeling for the relations that exist within a given speech-situation. To complete the picture, we should add that there is another level, called
