The Hybrid Language of the Chinese Indonesian in
Surabaya
Esther Kuntjara
Petra Christian University, Surabaya, Indonesia,
estherk@peter.petra.ac.id
Abstract:
Chinese Indonesians who live in Java have been using Indonesian language, often mixed with
the local dialect for their daily means of communication. Such language has been termed as
the hybrid language (Rafferty, 1984). Other varieties of this hybrid language of Chinese
Indonesians can also be differentiated among Chinese Indonesians who are still Chinese
oriented, those who are more western oriented, and those who are more integrated to the
local culture. Such varieties have not only differentiated this ethnic group based on their
historical educational background, but they have also differentiated Chinese Indonesians in
their perception of their identity. In this paper I will discuss the development of such hybrid
language, factors that affect the use of such language, and their perception of being Chinese
Indonesians.
Keywords: hybrid, totok, peranakan
During my research project for my
dissertation I was fortunate enough to be
able to conduct an ethnographic
sociolinguistic study of the lives of two
Chinese Indonesian mother-daughter pairs
in Surabaya. That was in the year 2000
when the lives of many Chinese
Indonesians have regained its public
acknowledgement to carry out their
Chinese cultural activities. The revival of
Chinese cultural activities was due to the
policy issued by Indonesian President at
that time (Abdurahman Wahid or known as
GusDur) who abolished the law that
restricted the activities of Chinese
Indonesians issued during President
Suharto in 1966, which also includes the
use of Chinese names and language as the
daily communication. Since then, the lives
of many Chinese in Indonesia have
undergone considerable changes. These
include their lifestyle and language. In this
paper I shall pay more attention to the
language used by today’s Chinese in
Surabaya, East Java, which can be termed
as the hybrid language of the Surabayanese
Chinese; factors that affect the use of such
language, and the perception they have for
being Chinese Indonesians.
To understand the language of the present
Surabayanese Chinese, we need to trace a
little bit of the history of Chinese in
Indonesia. The migration of Chinese to
Indonesia can be traced long before the
arrival of the Dutch who colonized the
archipelago that was then called the Indies.
Several notes suggest it was as far back as
the 5th century. Most of them came to do
trading with the indigenous people. They
then married native women who were
usually nominal Muslims. The community
come from the inter-marriage was known
as peranakan Chinese (Suryadinata, 1978).
At present there are two distinct
classifications among the Chinese: the
peranakan Chinese and the totok Chinese.
The peranakans speak Bahasa Indonesia or
one of the local dialects. The majority have
lost command of the Chinese language.
Some learn Chinese in the Chinese schools
before all Chinese schools were closed in
1966. The totok Chinese are still culturally
Chinese in the sense that they still speak
Chinese and /or one of the Chinese
dialects. The totoks who were born in
Indonesia before World War II, are likely
to stay totok culturally, while those who
were born in the 60s have become
peranakanized and follow the general
peranakan patterns (Suryadinata, 1997).
Another scholar, a Chinese Indonesian
woman, Myra Sidharta (1992) classifies
Chinese in Indonesia based on their
educational background. The Dutch
educated were the most progressive group.
They adopted western lifestyles and
established close relationships with their
Dutch friends. The second group was the
Malay/Indonesian educated group. They
criticized the Dutch educated Chinese and
were resistant to change. They assimilated
more to the native way of life. The third
group was the Chinese educated group.
They looked to models from their
homeland in their attempts to achieve
progress. They criticized the two other
groups for being “un-Chinese” since they
did not speak Chinese and did not know
much about Chinese history (p. 60).
Several studies, including my own,
(Dreyfuss and Oka, 1979; Wolff, 1983;
Rafferty, 1984; Oetomo, 1987; Kuntjara,
2001) on the language spoken by the
Chinese in most Central and East Java
show that the Chinese speak a hybrid
language at home and among friends that
combined Indonesian and ngoko (the low
level Javanese) mixed with the local
language accent, where the majority of the
content words are Indonesian, while
grammatical affixes are Javanese or the
local dialect. In Western Java and Jakarta,
their language is a mixture of Indonesian
and the local language, such as Sundanese
or Jakartanese. This hybrid language has
somehow related mostly to their
educational and social backgrounds. Those
who are now in their 70s and older, who
had some Dutch education, speak a
mixture of Indonesian, Javanese, and
Dutch, especially when talking with their
peers; those who are in the 50s who had
their Chinese education, could be totok
Chinese. They are very Chinese oriented
and they may still speak Chinese or a
mixture of Mandarin and Indonesian
Javanese among their peers and to their
children; those who are younger than those
two groups mostly have their education in
Indonesian schools where they also learn
English, and they speak a mixture of
Indonesian, Javanese, sometimes English,
with some local language accent. The
Dutch, Mandarin, Indonesian, and English
they use are obtained from their education,
while the local language comes from their
social surrounding although in elementary
schools students also learn Javanese. Now
that many Chinese have begun to relearn
Chinese, the languages used by the
Chinese in Java have become more
numerous which compile an even richer
hybrid language which any other ethnic
groups in Indonesia may not have. The
division of Chinese groups in Indonesia
such as proposed by Suryadinata and
Sidharta is therefore getting less distinct.
Hence, their perception of being Chinese
Indonesian is also varied.
In my own study, I found that the older
generation, who had their Chinese
education before, often conversed in
Mandarin, especially with their family at
home. The children are sent to study
Mandarin in private courses or sent to
China to get more intensive Chinese
courses. They admit that as Chinese, they
have to be proud of their own language
heritage. Nevertheless, their children
mostly speak in a mixture of Mandarin and
local Eastern Javanese to their family and
in Indonesian with local Eastern Javanese
accent to their peers, or in Indonesian to
others in a more formal situation. The
older generation who had their Dutch
education before often speak in Dutch
mixed with Indonesian to their other old
friends from the same education
background. Their children usually speak
Indonesian at home or outside. They feel
there is not any obligation for them to be
able to speak Chinese, the language of
their ancestors, nor Dutch, which is no
longer used and is not as popular as
English. Their ‘Chineseness’ has also been
fading. Many of them even think that they
would rather be considered as Javanese
than Chinese. The only Chinese terms they
may still use are in their address terms
used among their family members and
relatives, or other Chinese.
The common way of mixing several
languages among the Chinese can be seen
among other things in the practice of
giving names to their offspring, in
addressing people, and in their daily casual
communication.
Lately the
hybrid
language of the Chinese is also used by the
presenter of a local TV station in the
pecinan [literally means a Chinese area]
news program.
The practice
offspring
of
naming
their
For many Chinese, names are believed to
contain meaningful symbol for the person
who bears the name. Names are often
taken from words that have human values
and are related to nature. One’s family
name (shé) is important in most totok
Chinese families to trace their clan, while
the middle name will show the generation
the person belongs to.
When the Chinese in Indonesia were urged
by the Indonesian government to change
their Chinese names to Indonesian names
in 1966 after the coup d’etat that happened
in Indonesia, many of them (including
myself) changed our Chinese names into
Indonesian names taken from the local
Indonesian names we were more familiar
with. Those who live in Java may use such
names as ‘Gunawan’, ‘Susilo’, ‘Susanti’ or
‘Haryanti’; those who live in North
Sumatra will use such name as ‘Silalahi’ or
‘Sihombing’; from Bali will change their
names to ‘I Made …’ or ‘I Ketut …’; from
Menado one may change his/her name to
‘Ratulangi’ etc. It is obvious that such
practice of naming themselves and their
offspring using local indigenous names
shows that the Chinese have indeed felt
their relatedness to the local custom which
makes them easily adjusted to the local
habit.
It is true that among the Chinese, there are
still many who want to maintain their
identity as Chinese. They usually insert
part of their Chinese names in the new
name. For instance, a person whose family
name is ‘Ong’ will choose their new
Indonesian name as ‘Ongkowijoyo’, or
‘Liem’ as ‘Limanta.’ Thus other people
will be able to identify him/her as a
Chinese from the clan of ‘Ong’ or ‘Liem’.
Recently many Chinese who intent to
change their names into Indonesian names
have in fact been compelled to maintain
their family name in their new Indonesian
names. Thus, a person whose family name
is ‘Liem’, his new Indonesian name will be
‘Liem Satya Limanta.’
However, such practice in naming may
show double connotations as relating to the
way the Chinese Indonesians see about
themselves. In one sense, it is true that
some Chinese Indonesians still want to
show their identity of their Chineseness in
their new names. The insertion of the
family name in their new names could
make their clan easily identifiable as they
feel that family name is still important in
tracing their descendents. However, some
others who may want to conceal their
Chinese identity in their new names may
want to have full Indonesian names, just
like other indigenous names. In this case
they may feel that the acculturation and
assimilation intended by the Chinese
Indonesians to become fully Indonesians
are in fact not wholeheartedly welcome
and accepted by the Indonesian
government / people. The insertion of their
Chinese family name is no way for them to
escape from being identified as Chinese
even if their physical features may not
reveal their oriental look. Many younger
generation Chinese Indonesians have been
named by their parents in western or /and
Indonesian names since they were born.
Some parents give them informal Chinese
names, which are not registered in the birth
certificate, but are used to address them
among the family and close relatives. Now
that Chinese cultural activities have
regained their acknowledgment, many
Chinese who still maintain their strong
connection with their ancestors’ culture
may think of reusing their Chinese names
in naming their offspring.
Hence, naming in the Chinese Indonesian
community has been perceived in different
perceptions by the Chinese in Indonesia.
Those who have been accustomed to the
use of western and / or Indonesian names
(since 1966) might have abandoned the
need of remembering their Chinese
ancestors as shown in their names. Such
feeling could also be caused by the fact
that Chinese names for some time after
1966 have often been used as a term to
mock them by the indigenous. Many of
them thought that the use of Indonesian
names were easier to remember and would
not sound strange when pronounced by the
indigenous. So they can easily blend into
the local community without being noticed
as Chinese when names only are known.
Yet, for those who think that their identity
of being Chinese should not be entirely
abandoned, still feel the need of mixing
part of their Chinese names into the new
Indonesian names. Many of such names
are usually easily notified, not only by the
Chinese particle in the name chosen, but
also in choosing Indonesian names, which
are commonly used by most middle class
and upper middle class Indonesian
community. An Indonesian Javanese name
like ‘Hartono’ is likely to be chosen than
‘Slamet’, a name more often used by the
low class Javanese. Western cultures that
come to Indonesia have also affected the
names many Chinese Indonesians choose.
Western names are considered as better
and perhaps more prestigious than Chinese
or Indonesian names. The change in the
socio-political climate of the life of
Chinese Indonesians is quite conducive
nowadays, young Chinese Indonesian
people may take a different stand from that
of their predecessors. From Lie’s (2001)
study on the relearning of Chinese in
Indonesia shows that many of them feel
that their identities as Chinese descendents
are more confirmed after they started their
Chinese language and cultures learning.
However, such condition cannot yet be
seen as affecting them in naming their
offspring with Chinese names as their
elders did.
Terms of address used by the
Chinese
Chinese people are basically family
oriented (Haryono, 1993). This can be seen
in the address terms they use. Among the
totok Chinese especially, the correct terms
of address have to be used appropriately.
Chinese children need to learn from their
elders the correct terms of address based
on the family relationships. Since Chinese
kinship terms are quite complicated, the
younger generation of Chinese often feel
reluctant to keep track on their relationship
with their relatives and follow the right
address terms when conversing with them.
The younger generation Chinese who have
their education in Indonesia or abroad,
tend to be more flexible in addressing their
family members, relatives, friends and
strangers. They no longer feel the
obligation to always follow the
complicated Chinese address terms. The
address terms they use can vary from
Indonesian, Javanese, Dutch, English,
Mandarin, or any local dialect of Chinese
or Javanese. Hence, to their parents for
instance, the address terms vary from
Mama, Papa, Mami, Papi, Daddy; to their
grandparents can be Emak, Engkong,
Bobo, Akung, Oma, Opa, Grandma,
Grandpa; to their siblings Cécé, Koko,
Didi, Mémé, Sis, or just by names, (which
for some totok Chinese is considered
impolite); to their one generation older
relatives the address terms may follow
their local dialect or just A’ik, Susu’, Tante,
Oom; while to strangers the address terms
can be Mbak, Mas, Cé, Ko, or A’ik, Susu’,
Tante, Oom, Bu, Pak, Mam, Sir. Hence the
use of kinship terms of address is quite
common even to strangers. They may not
need to know the name of the addressee in
using the terms.
The choice of which address term to use is
interesting to note. A Chinese Indonesian
woman I interviewed concerning the
choice of using Tante (Western term) or
A’ik (Chinese term) when addressing a
Chinese adult female, commented that “If
the woman is wearing good and neat dress,
her hair is well combed, she is usually a
peranakan [Indonesian born Chinese].
Then, I’ll call her Tante. But if she is
wearing casual dress, a common dress like
that, and her hair is not that neat, not well
arranged. Then she is usually totok. Then I
will call her A’ik.” She admitted that
Chinese totok would not care so much for
their appearance. She said it was like when
they served food, “The totok like eating,
Eating is number one, not the appearance.”
In using Chinese terms, it is propriety that
counts. Many Chinese feel that it is just
right to address a Chinese with a Chinese
term. However, for other Chinese who
have been Indonesianized or are Western
oriented, Chinese term is not a must. The
use of Indonesian term Bu is considered to
give the addressee more respect and
prestige, though a bit more distance, than
the familiar Chinese term A’ik. For the
Chinese, the use of Western terms like
Tante and Oom are more appropriate when
there is no professional relationship
between the addresser and the addressee,
also when the addressee does not look
more like typical Chinese. Chinese terms
show more closeness and respect among
the Chinese community but is lack of
respect based on profession. Yet when
Westerm terms are preferred rather than
Chinese terms to address a Chinese, there
is some recognition that the addressee no
longer belongs to the Chinese totok
community. Therefore it also connotes
distance.
The Chinese who have Dutch or other
Western education background can be
more various in their use of address terms
than the totok Chinese. One participant in
my research who had some Dutch
education background, could use Dutch,
Indonesian, Javanese, Chinese, a mixture
of Javanese and Chinese terms alternately
when addressing people. Compared to
totok Chinese, perhaps they are more at
ease with the use of different address
terms. One Chinese woman said that in
fact the language differences did not
arouse any specific connotation or feeling.
She admitted that she did not care so much
what address term people called her. Even
when siblings are calling each other by
their names, for her it was quite all right in
establishing familiarity and intimacy. On
different occasions she used different
address terms interchangeably. She used
Tante (Dutch term for aunt) to her father’s
sister, empék (Hokkien term for father’s
older brother) to her uncle, Pak
(Indonesian term for adult male) to an
adult male guest, Bu (Indonesian term for
adult female) to her female friends, dear to
her husband, Zus (Dutch term for sister) to
the baby sitter, Nduk (Javanese term for
young Javanese female of lower class) to
her young female house helper, Tacik
(Chinese term for older sister) to her own
sister, Kohdé (mixture of Chinese and
Javanese term for eldest brother) to her
cousin, Nyo (Dutch term for young boy) to
her grandson and his male friends, and
proper names to her daughters and son-inlaw. It is difficult to find any patterns
distinguishing when she would use Dutch,
Indonesian, Javanese, mixture of Javanese
and Chinese, or English.
Apparently those who have some Dutch
education background still maintain the
use of some Chinese address terms. One
said that “Since we are Chinese, of course
we can’t forget the use of Chinese address
terms so that we know what our
relationships are.” Hence, the use of
Chinese terms is considered more as a
means of sustaining their Chineseness. It is
not a matter of pride (like the totok
Chinese say), but a matter of
appropriateness because they are Chinese.
When Javanese address terms are used,
they argued that when the addressee is
Javanese, it is quite reasonable to use
Javanese or Indonesian terms. Meanwhile
the use of Dutch terms is not meant to be
seen as ke-Belanda-Belanda-an [acting
like Dutch], but because they have been
accustomed to using them and find no
point on changing them. While the use of
proper names or reciprocal terms like
‘Dear’ could be a display of a more
egalitarian relationship. Many younger
Chinese prefer the use of Indonesian /
Javanese address terms when conversing,
such as Pak or Bu, even when the
addressee is Chinese. When I asked one of
my younger Chinese respondents if she
was still using any Chinese address terms,
she said that they were limited to her
parents’ close relatives. She maintained
she would continue using the Chinese
terms just because she had been taught by
their parents to use it since she was little.
She called her older sister Cikdé (mixture
of Chinese and Javanese term for oldest
sister) and was addressed by her younger
sister Cikngah (mixture of Chinese and
Javanese term for middle sister). The
custom of adding a Javanese term to the
Chinese term which shows the age
difference between sibling is never found
being used by the totok Chinese.
Meanwhile the ones who still use such
mixed terms do not seem to inherit this
custom to their children. Older Chinese
people would usually advice young
Chinese mothers to teach their children to
respect their older siblings by using
appropriate terms. However, the young
generation think that such customs do not
always have to be maintained. They do not
seem to object and they think that they are
living in the modern era now and people
want to be more equal. Hence, young
Chinese generation usually use simpler
address terms where the display of
hierarchical relationships is less. Those
who consider themselves having a nonChinese look is an advantage even say that
they are pleased when people call them
using Javanese / Indonesian address terms.
It may show that he/she may not be
recognized as Chinese and so he/she would
be more accepted and less ‘discriminated’
by the Javanese.
Indonesian people have several ways to
use the second person pronoun ‘you.’ In
Java alone, one can use either Anda,
Engkau, Kau, Kamu, Kowé, Sampeyan,
Penjengan, Koen, Elu, Sira, Awaké, and
many other local dialects including those
from the Chinese Indonesian community
like Ni, or deriving from Dutch or English
like Jij, Ü, and you. Many Indonesian,
however, tend to avoid the use of second
person pronoun because its use make
apparent the power differential between
the speaker and the addressee. When
second person pronoun has to be used,
some Chinese, when talking to other
Chinese, will use either zero pronoun or Ni
or You. The Dutch educated will use Jij or
Ü (polite form of Jij). Since Indonesian
and Javanese pronouns of you often
connote hierarchical power relationships,
many Chinese would employ either
Chinese, Ducth, or English second person
pronoun. Or else they would use the
kinship terms or a zero pronoun. A
Chinese woman said that using foreign
language second person pronoun sounds
more egalitarian than using Indonesian or
Javanese second person pronouns. This
may indicate their preference of having
more egalitarian relationships.
The hybrid language
communication
in
daily
Most Indonesians would agree to admit
that for us, Indonesian language or Bahasa
Indonesia is in fact our second language. It
is the language most of us learn when we
go to school, while at home we speak
either the local language or a mixture of
several languages which Rafferty (1984)
termed as hybrid language. Although more
and more Indonesian children nowadays
are taught to use Bahasa Indonesia at
home by their parents, once they socialize
with their peers in the surrounding
community, they tend to speak in hybrid
language. However, among any other
ethnic groups in Indonesia, Chinese
Indonesians can be considered as the
ethnic group who use a rich variety of
different languages in their daily
communication.
In the 19th century to early 20th century, the
language spoken by the Chinese in
Indonesia is called Bahasa Melayu
Tionghoa. It was a mixture of Malay and
Mandarin or any one of the Chinese
dialects, or Malay and Dutch. Below is an
example of such hybrid language taken
from an advertisement put in a famous
newspaper Sin Po in 1926:
Batikhandel
“Borneo
–
Pekalongan”
Saban hari trima batik model
baroe, kasar dan haloes sedia
sampe
TJOEKOEP.
Pesenan
dikirim dengen post rembours,
dalem Hindia Olanda pesen f 400.atawa kirim oewang lebih doeloe f
300.- vry ongkost. Loear Hindia
tida bisa dapet vry ongkost. Pada
langganan dapet rabat bagoes dan
presen.
Pakket reclame ‘Kirim oewang f
50.- bisa dapet 10 saroeng bagoes
roepa-roepa matjem, ongkos vry.
Rembours tamba ongkost kirim dan
tida dapet rabat.
[Batik manufature “Borneo –
Pekalongan”
Receive new models of batik
everyday, from the coarse to the
soft are ENOUGH. The order will
be sent by reimbursed postage
within Holland Indies order as
much as f 400.- or send your
money first for f 300.- free
shipping. Outside Holland Indies is
with fee. Customers will get
discount and tip.
Advertisement package ‘send f 50.will get 10 various batiks, with free
shipping. Reimboursed package is
with shipping fee and no
discount.’]
Many Chinese Indonesians during that
period of time went to study at Dutch
schools. Those who studied there often
considered themselves more progressive
than those studied at the Chinese schools.
Many of them who then published
newspapers and magazines often mixed
their Malay language with Dutch words, as
seen in the above advertisement (e.g. :
handel; post; rembours; vry; reclame are
from Dutch). Meanwhile the Malay
language used was typical of Melayu
Tionghoa. Another famous magazine
named Star Weekly was also read by most
Chinese Indonesians in the fifties. It also
used a lot of Dutch terms in their Malay
language, such as the following sentence
taken from Star Weekly, which was
published in 1950:
Untuk melukisken effectnja aërosol
behandeling
kita
tjeritaken
riwajatnja sala satu patient dari
Dr. Gerrits: Patient B., 40
umurnja, waktu umur 22 taon
menderita pleuritis dan waktu umur
30 taon longonsteking. [To
describe the effect of handling
aerosol, we will tell the experience
of one of Dr. Gerrits’ patients:
Patient B, 40 years old, when he
was 22 years old, he suffered from
pleuritis and when he was 30 years
old from lung disease.]
The use of Dutch terms here are mostly
medical terms connected with diseases.
Since many educated people at that time
like doctors, lawyers, teachers were mostly
Dutch or some Chinese / Indonesians who
studied at Dutch schools, they maintain the
Dutch terms because Indonesian language
had no such terms.
Recently a book written by Tjamboek
Berdoeri, known as the nick name of Kwee
Thiam Tjing, a Chinese descent, entitled
“Indonesia dalem Api dan Bara”
[Indonesia in fire and ember] was
republished in 2004. It was first published
in 1947, but was then forgotten. The
republication of this book interestingly
retains the old language and spellings so
that the readers can follow the exact
language used by the Chinese at that time.
Below is one example taken from the
book. Again, the use of Chinese Malay
mixed with Dutch and Chinese terms was
quite common.
Ada baccarat, ada dji-iet, ada
tjapdji… Dalem praktijknja tudjuan
buat
bantu
memang
benar
diusahakan, tetapi buat bantu
orang jang mendjadi pegawai dari
Nanyang
Societeit,
bantu
pemegang2 saham2nja, buat garuk
keuntungan. Sedang si voorzitter
goblok tjuma boleh makan dan
minum prei di buffet. [There are
places
for
gambling
like
‘baccarat’, dji-iet, and tjapdji …In
practice, there is indeed an
intention to help, but it is done to
help the share holder members of
Nanyang Social Organization to
make profit. Meanwhile the stupid
chairperson can only get free meal
and drink at the buffet.]
Here some Chinese terms (djiiet & tjapdji)
are names of kinds of Chinese gambling
where many Chinese still went although
the place itself was named in Dutch term,
Nanyang Societeit. Other Dutch terms used
are baccarat (?), praktijk, voorzitter,
buffet. The word prei was derived from a
Dutch word vrij means ‘free’. However,
since Indonesian felt more comfortable
pronouncing ‘p’ sound than ‘f’ sound, the
word vrij was pronounced as prei. In other
parts of the book, Chinese terms are often
used in denoting address terms like nko,
ntjim, tatji, nso etc. [older brother, aunt,
older sister, sister-in-law etc.] Yet the
Dutch terms opa (grandfather) and oma
(grandmother) are also used by many
Chinese. It seems many educated Chinese
during that time (40s to 50s) were
comfortable in using both Dutch and
Chinese codes mixed in their Malay.
After Indonesian independence in 1945,
however, the Dutch schools were closed.
Many Chinese Indonesians still went to
Chinese schools, which were also closed
entirely later, i.e. in 1967. Those who had
Dutch education before the independence
were reluctant to move to Chinese schools
as they thought that the Dutch schools had
better education than the Chinese.
However, it could also be caused by the
difficulty of learning Chinese characters
compared to Dutch, which is in Latin
alphabets like Indonesian or Malay.
Gradually many of the Dutch educated
Chinese quit their schools but still
maintained their Dutch which they mixed
in their Malay. The Chinese educated did
not feel the need of learning Dutch either.
So they converse in a mixture of Chinese
and Malay or talked in their own Chinese
dialect. Below are some examples taken
from the casual conversation among
Chinese Indonesians in the study of
Oetomo (1987) in Pasuruan, East Java:
people told me they over-charged. So
I took revenge on them.]
Kalo’, kalo’ beli nggoné tempaté
éksklusif Cuma’ diréken piro, sitoq
… Pokoq Bu Béni itu beli zonder
tabong firtegh doesen. Beli sitoq
twaelf en half. Twaelef en half itu
déngen isiné lho itu. Jij nék beli gasé
twéé doesen dadi berarti tien doesen
mékan. (A)
[If, if you buy the container, they
only charge you, how much do they
charge you, if it’s included in the
purchase of a stove, how much …
Anyway Mrs. Béni bought one
without a container, for Rp. 40,000.If you buy one, it’s Rp. 12,000.They charge you Rp 12,500.including the contents, you know.
You can buy the gas for Rp 2,000.so that means the container only
costs Rp 10,000.-]
Ték, koh. Wé di sini sekarang. Sudah
lama, molai taon nempuluh satu. Ya
cuan ciaq, koh, sekarang. Pasuruan
ini néq ndak, apa, koh? Bisa cuan
ciaq itu …(B)
[Ték lives there. I live near here now.
It’s been a while now. Since 1961.
Well we can make both ends meet
now. What do you expect of you live
in Pasuruan. To make both ends
meet…]
Lha moro moro anu, gini, nasi
rawon, gini-gini-gini, o, ya piro-piropiro, jinggo. Lha kita ndak tahu
itungané to, Nép. Ya ndak? Sampé
pulang itu tak rékenréken. Piro
regané iki? Makan gini mosok
jinggo. Tros akhiré banyak orang
bilang ngegok, mbales, Nép. (C)
[You, suddenly they total up the bill,
nasi rawon, this-this-this, Rp 1500,Well, we don’t know the calculation,
right? On the way home I kept on
calculating, how much is the price? I
could not have spent Rp 1500,- just
eating those things. Later on a lot of
In the first example (A), many Dutch terms
are used especially in mentioning numbers
(prices), address term (jij), and other
common terms such as zonder [without].
The main sentences use Eastern Javanese
Indonesian spoken by the Chinese (with
some Dutch educated background or had
parents who were Dutch educated) in
casual conversations. The second example
(B) is typically spoken by Chinese
Indonesians with some Chinese education
background or the totok family. Here the
address term (koh & wé) is used. The term
cuanciaq is used in Mandarin/Chinese
dialect. This may be caused by the
speaker’s incompetence in the correct term
used in Bahasa Indonesia, or it could also
affect the intended meaning the speaker
wanted to make. The utterance again uses
Eastern Javanese Indonesian with typical
Chinese style of pronunciation. The last
example from Oetomo’s study (C) shows a
combination
of
Eastern
Javanese
Indonesian with some Dutch and Mandarin
terms. The speaker might be more familiar
with counting in Chinese Hokien numbers,
while the word réken is in Dutch.
My own study of the hybrid langauge of
the Chinese Indonesian community in
Surabaya was conducted in 2000. It was
after the abolition of the law issued in 1967
under President Soeharto, which prohibited
almost all Chinese cultural activities in
Indonesia including the use Chinese
language. By that time the Dutch educated
Chinese Indonesians were quite old and
Dutch had no longer been considered as
important for the younger generation to
learn. Meanwhile, Chinese Indonesians’
attention towards Chinese cultural
activities began to gain their revival spirit.
Many young Chinese Indonesians started
to learn Mandarin and use it more openly
like other Chinese cultural activities.
However, not all younger generation of
Chinese Indonesians have the strong
attachment towards China and Chinese
cultures. Many have abandoned their
Chineseness and integrated more towards
the local westernized Javanese culture.
Nevertheless, the language they use for
daily communication is still in the form of
a hybrid language. Below are a few
examples used consecutively by older
Chinese educated woman and older Dutch
educated woman:
Dulu yang punya mobil cung kuo
ren kan isa diitung… dulu itu taon
enampuluh lebih, enampuluh lebih
itu wo barusan cie fen. (D)
[In the past Chinese people who
owned cars were just a few … that
was in the 60s, it was when I just
got married.]
Itu iparé Om itu, dia juga mbikin,
tapi modélé laén sama ndék ik ini,
ndik tacik itu ada modél-modélé
ada aplikasi-aplikasi gitu lho …
lha dia ini hanya gebloom-gebloom
dikasii watercraf gitu ya …(E)
[She is my husband’s sister-in-law,
but the model is different from
mine. Mine has its own models
with some applications … while
hers is just flowers with some water
color…]
Here both of them used Javanese
Indonesian with Chinese Indonesian style
of pronunciation more than the former
Chinese Indonesians. It’s true that it might
be caused by the addressee who were not
known as speaking Chinese, or Dutch. Yet,
interesting to see that both of them still
maintained the use of ‘I’ in Chinese (wo)
in the first woman and in Dutch (ik) for the
second woman. However, the Chinese
educated woman was more consistent in
using Chinese address term than the Dutch
educated woman. The later could swith
from Dutch terms (ik & oom) to Chinese
term (tacik) to refer to herself. On other
occassions she could even switch to other
codes in addressing others such as bu,
mbak, cuq, mas, dik etc., which are taken
from Javanese, Indonesian, or local dialect
of Chinese (empék). Meanwhile the
Chinese educated woman would use more
Mandarin to her Chinese interlocutor who
speaks Mandarin. Both of them maintain
that the use of Chinese terms was meant to
retain their Chinese identity.
The younger generation of Chinese
Indonesians are mostly educated in
Indonesian schools where English is
introduced as a foreign language. They
may prefer the English term mommy to
address their mother than the Chinese term
mama. However, English is not often used
in their daily conversations. This is
probably due to the nationalistic spirit
encouraged by the government. However,
it could also be caused by the way English
is taught at school where students mostly
learn through grammar and reading, and
not for oral communication. The language
they use which differentiate them from
other ethnic groups in Java is the
colloquial Javanese Indonesian, many of
the Chinese use, besides the different
address terms as discussed earlier. For
instance:
Standard Indonesian
Kalau
Orangnya
Duduklah
Di
Masih
Dipakai
Untuk
Lihat
Dengan
Ikut
Colloquial
Chinese
Indonesian
kalo / lék
orangé
duduk o
ndik
masik
dipaké
keja
liak
ambik
mélok
A local TV station in Surabaya recently
broadcasted special news report read by a
Chinese Indonesian reporter using typical
Chinese Indonesian hybrid language.
Although it may sound akward to a
Chinese Indonesia like myself, it is
interesting to see the hybrid language of
the Chinese seems to be acknowledged
publicly. Below is the opening and closing
of the program taken from the news
broadcast:
Wei. Selamat soré! Ni hao ma
pemirsa JTV. Ketemu lagi ambik wo
Dominique ndik Pecinan sing
ngabarno berita kegiatan né
masyarakat etnis Tionghoa ndik
Jawa Timur. … Pemirsa segini sik
ketemuané kéné. Owé Dominique
ambik kabéh kru sing kerja
nyampikno mban-mban kamsia keja
liak acara ini. Kéné ketemu lagi
minggu depan ndik program ambik
waktu sing sama. Cai cién.
[Hi, Good afternoon! How are you
viewers of JTV? I, Dominique meet
you again at Pecinan news which
will report the activities of Chinese
community in East Java. … This
ends our meeting today. I,
Dominique, and the crew here thank
you so much for listening to this
news. We’ll meet again next week in
the same program and at the same
time. Bye.]
Here no Dutch terms are used. This can be
understood since there has been very few
young generation of Chinese Indonesians
who speak Dutch. They are usually from
the children or grandchildren of strict
Dutch educated parents / grandparents
only. However, the use of Mandarin seems
to gain its popularity. Hence, ethnic
Chinese language here is connoted more
towards Mandarin. If another foreign
language is used, it could be English. In
the above example the words cru and
program are English words for crew and
program while the Chinese words used are
ni hao ma, wo, owé, kamsia, cai cién..
With the establishment of many
international schools in big cities like
Jakarta and Surabaya, children are taught
in three languages, namely English,
Mandarin and Indonesian. Chinese
Indonesian parents who have been more
educated today, would usually use standard
Indonesian in talking with their children.
Among peers in informal conversation,
however, young Chinese would converse
in more typical Javanese Indonesian style
as used by the JTV presenter or in the
youth language called bahasa gaul. In the
long run, it would be possible that Chinese
Indonesians would use a hybrid language
of
Mandarin,
English,
Javanese,
Indonesian, with local dialect.
Closing
The language of the Chinese in Indonesia
has undergone changes from Malay with
the mixture of Mandarin and/or Dutch to
the present hybrid language of Indonesian,
Javanese with its local dialect, Mandarin,
and English. First of all they may have
been caused by the different educational
backgrounds of the speakers. The language
used while they were studying have shaped
the habit of using the language they have
been more familiar with. However, the use
of certain code also entails one’s
perception of who he/she is and how each
feels
about
him/herself.
Several
possibilities could be traced, such as one’s
feeling of the importance of maintaining
one’s Chinese identity. Another possibility
is the importance of tracing the generation.
Those who do not feel the need of
attaching to their anscestors’ culture think
that the use of Chinese language and the
practice of any Chinese traditional
activities are no longer necessary. Some
even feel it is advantageous for not being
recognized or connected to China or being
Chinese.
Nevertheless, the hybrid language of the
Chinese in Indonesia may be continuing
for generations to come. The use of the
hybrid language has been the sign of being
Chinese in Indonesia whether one wants or
does not want to be considered Chinese.
Refrences
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Dreyfuss, G.R. & Oka, D. (1979). Chinese
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Heidhues, M.F. (2004). The Chinese
minority
in
Indonesia
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Kuntjara, E. (2001). Women and
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in
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