Determined Factors of Language Use in The Sindang Market of
Cirebon
Afi Fadlilah and I Dewa Putu Wijana
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Jl. Dr. Setiabudhi No. 229, Bandung, Indonesia
Keywords: The Use of Language, Determined Factors, Sociolinguistics.
Abstract: The use of language is determined by the factors that affect the speaker, whether speakers’ language abilities
or speakers’ psychological factors. Speech community (sellers and buyers) in the Sindang market in Cirebon
District-Indonesia as the multilingualism speakers certainly have to consider what code they should use in
interacting with their interlocutors. This paper aims to outline the factors that determine the use of language
in buying and selling interaction at Sindang market. The method and technique used in this paper were
observational method and recording technique. The data analysis conducted by analyzing speeches
qualitatively based on sociolinguistic theory. The results from this study showed that the language use in
Sindang market is determined by following factors: (1) language skills of both speakers’ and interlocutors’,
(2) participants, and (3) intention of the interaction.
1 INTRODUCTION
Sindang market is a traditional market which located
near the Sindanglaut village of Cirebon district. This
market is the old market that built before the royal
Caruban or Cerbon in Dupala times. In the old days
around the 15th century until the 17th, this market is
visited by traders from different tribes, namely the
ethnic of Chinese, Arabic, Sundanese and Javanese
thus forming the language used by the speech
community. This language situation caused the
variation of languages. The language varieties in the
buying and selling interaction occur not only as a
result of language contact, but also because of the
background of the seller and the buyers are different.
The contact language event in multilingual societies
there is a speech event which is the object of
sociolinguistics studies, among others the code
switching, code-mixing, and interference. Language
contact is part of the social fabric of everyday life
(Sankoff in Ravindranath, 2015), and so the study of
language in its social context (sociolinguistics) must
take into account the fact that in most parts of the
world multilingualism is the norm. Winford (2002)
said that the field of contact linguistics is quite broad.
It includes the study of a range of phenomena
associated with multilingual communities, including
strategies used by bilingualis such as borrowing and
code-switching: outcomes of language contact,
including changes to an existing language as well as
the creation of ‘new’ languages such as pidgins and
creoles; the role of imperfect second language
acquisition in predicting linguistic outcomes; and
finally, the social context of language contact and
macro-level outcomes such as language shift,
attrition, and death. Chaer and Agustina (2004)
mentioned that language contact can cause a variety
of linguistic phenomena, such as bilingualism,
diglossias, code switching, interference,
convergence, language shift, and language
preservation. A person who is involved through the
use of two languages and in two cultures, and also
called as bilingual certainly cannot be separated from
it due to the use of two languages. One of the
consequences of bilingualism is an overlap between
the two systems of language its uses or uses the
elements from one language in the language he uses
or uses elements from one language on the user's
other languages, namely the transfer of code
switching and code mixing.
Among the people who dominate more than one
language, code switching and code-mixing are
common. This is carried out if the speaker has a
strong enough reason to switch from one language to
another. Among other reasons, because the change of
moods, and other factors that affect the use of
language speakers. Sumarsono (2008) says that as
822
Fadlilah, A. and Wijana, I.
Determined Factors of Language Use in The Sindang Market of Cirebon.
DOI: 10.5220/0007175808220825
In Proceedings of the Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference
on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education (CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017) - Literacy, Culture, and Technology in Language Pedagogy and Use, pages 822-825
ISBN: 978-989-758-332-2
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved

one of the speech events, a form of language usage is
influenced by various factors, such as places,
situations and events, participants of speech, speaking
destination, norms of interaction and so on.
Research conducted by Setyari (2001) found that,
communication bargaining between mlijo or green
grocer (ethnic Madura) and the buyer (Javanese) in
Bangka Housing Jember norm either the customer or
not the customer. Interpersonal relationships can
affect the value to the price of goods, but does not
eliminate the norm of the bargaining process. Based
on the data, their pattern of communication between
seller and buyer is dialogical, which both parties
undertake reciprocal communication to reach an
agreement. The agreement process is based norms
prevailing socio-cultural. Thus, the interaction of
buying and selling is a social institution function in
people's lives in the Housing Bangka.
That research seems related to the multilingual
society to the Sindang market because there is a
determined factor of language use that used by the
seller and the buyer. When the speaker wants to speak
he will be pay attention to the background of his
partner. His speech will be different with the sellers
to the buyers who have become its customers with a
new the buyer is known. The seller speech to
customers will be impressed intimate (familiar) as
there is no distance, while the buyers who are new to
look more carefully and maintain decorum. Thus, the
speaker’s factors largely determine the use of one's
language and can cause the variation language as it
has a social distance vary. Therefore, a speaker who
mastered two or more languages when they wanted to
speak should choose one of these languages through
the electoral process.
The term of language usage has in common than
the use during the term or the language choice
(Kridalaksana, 1984; Alwasilah, 1985; Wardhaugh,
1986; Bolinger, 1975; Crystal, 1991). Thus, the use
or language choice on the question of this research is
the use of verbal language within a society as a means
of communication by a participant in the relationship,
the specific situations and other components
associated with the speech events. The language
choice according to Poedjosoedarmo (in Suwito,
1985) is a social fact that is not only influenced by
linguistic factors, but also by the factors outside. The
language choice is closely related to the social
situation of the wearer. Differences in age, education
level and social status can affect the language choice
when talking with others. Similarly, the situation
behind a conversation can influence how a language
will be used. The influence of social factors and
situational to this language choice gave rise to
variations of language options. That is why the
researcher wants to research the language use in the
buying and selling interaction at Sindang market and
wants to explain the determined factors as the
language use there.
2 METHODS
This research method is used in three stages, namely:
(1) data collection methods; (2) data analysis
methods; and (3) presenting the results from the data
analysis methods. The observation method used in
addition to describe the forms of language and
language variation in the buying and selling
interaction in the Sindang market, also to reveal social
and cultural of speech community that the
determining factor use or selection of language by the
buyer and seller. This observation method uses three
advanced techniques, the technique involved to refer
to a conversation, see the techniques involved free
conversation and the snowball sampling technique to
expand the information (Lexy, 2007). Once the data
is grouped, analyzed descriptively using the
ethnographic methods of speech act analysis with the
acronym of SPEAKING components. In addition, the
contextual methods used also to clarify the situation
in the form of an intent associated with a speech
events in the buying and selling interaction at Sindang
market. This research is presented under the form of
qualitative research that is used only an invitation to
write the data that is informal speech. In another sense
not to use the emblem or any letters not be counting
systems or statistical data, which is fairly presented
descriptively in writing.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In general, the factors that determine the use as the
language in the buying and selling interaction
Sindang market can be identified into four, namely
(1) the factors of language skill of speakers and
interlocutors, (2) the factor of participants in the
interaction; and (3) the factors of intent and the
speech willing.
First, the abilities of language speakers are
affected by the accommodation of speakers, mobile
speakers, and educational speakers. Second,
participants factor, influenced by (1) the social
distance, consisting of: (a) the factor of social
relationship tenuous or just meet; and (b) social
distance familiar; (2) The ethnic background
Determined Factors of Language Use in The Sindang Market of Cirebon
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consisting of an age and the presence of a third
person. Thirdly, the intention and the speech willing
factors include: concealing identity, offer
merchandise, affirm, criticize, funny or joking,
appreciate the hearer, and preserve the culture. The
determinants of language use in the buying and
selling interaction at Sindang market will be
described one by one as follows.
3.1 Language Skills of the Speaker and
the Hearer Factor
Speaker's language ability was instrumental in
determining the language choice used as a speech.
The ability possessed by the speaker is usually
manifested under the form of code to adjust to the
hearer. Here are the factor's proficiencies of speakers
and hearer.
3.1.1 Accommodation Speakers
Accommodation speakers referred to in this research
is the ability to accommodate speakers in determining
the language choice used. It is closely related in the
communication process with the background of
mother tongue each speaker who is different, so it
often causes the code switching. Speech code used in
a speech event is varied depending on the mastery of
speaker and hearer.
3.1.2 Mobility of Speakers
The abilities of language speakers are also determined
by the level of mobility. A speaker with high
mobility, in the sense of more frequent social contact
has a level of mastery of the language choice is
higher. It is different from the speakers of low
mobility. Speakers with high mobility tended to
dominate some of the speech codes that can be used
mainly in accordance with the situation during a
speech.
3.1.3 Education Speakers
Highly educated speakers will show the variations of
different language with secondary education
speakers, less educated, or uneducated altogether.
The most obvious difference, namely on the selection
of vocabulary, pronunciation process, and also
morphology and syntax (Chaer and Agustin, 2004,
p.65). Language skills possessed highly educated
speakers can be seen from the sentences composed
well and support each other so that the delivery is
clear.
3.2 Participants Factor in the Salling
and buying interaction at Sindang
Market
The language use in the buying and selling interaction
at Sindang market determined by the participants,
especially those related to social relationship
consisting of social relationship tenuous or only
known and familiar social relationship.
3.2.1 Social Relationship
Social relationship between a seller and a buyer of
course is different, there are new and there are already
familiar with the old familiar even become customers.
The reseller’s speech to buyers who are new will be
different with buyers who are already customers. The
familiar social distance relationship can be divided
into two types based on upon his relationship and
subscriptions. Usually, in the communication
intertwined because of the relationship with
customers tend to use the familiar speech code. It is
different if a buyer meets the seller for the first time
in that interaction, so he uses a familiar language.
3.2.2 Ethnic Background
Another participant factors that determine the use as
the language in the buying and selling interaction
Sindang market is the ethnic background. Speech
community that is in Sindang market consists of
several ethnicities. There are not only from ethnic
Javanese and Sundanese but also other ethnicities, for
example, some of the descendants of Arab and
Chinese, who have long-lived and worked there.
Someone who came from outside the city of Cirebon
will tend to use the Indonesian language when talking
to the speaker of the Cirebon area.
3.2.3 Age
The age factor is also one determinant of language
use, especially Indonesian language. The language
used by young age speakers is different from an old
age the speakers. The differences of the speech would
be seemed, especially in the terms of lexical and style.
The young age speakers tend to use Indonesian
Language, whereas old age speakers tend to use the
local language in the interaction.
3.3 The Presence of a Third Person
When there are participants who are interacting in a
speech event using a particular language, then present
CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017 - Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology
Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education
824

the third persons that come from other ethnic then the
previous participants will divert the language that can
be understood by him.
3.4 The Intention of Interlocutors
When the seller and buyer do the transaction of course
there is an intention and will that want to be reached,
for example, the seller prised the merchandise
because he wants to be purchased by the buyer. The
purpose and will the speaker as a determining factor
in the buying and selling interaction of at Sindang
market, include: familiarizing yourself, offering
merchandise, affirming, criticizing, and appreciating
partner speech.
3.4.1 Familiarizing Yourself
A seller will adjust his language use to a buyer if he
speaks Indonesian language, then a buyer talks to him
by using the same language.
3.4.2 Offering Merchandise
Factor's intention and will of the speakers as a
determinant of the use of language in interaction
Sindang Market buying and selling in another, is to
affirm get discounts on merchandise. In this case, the
speaker unwittingly doing code-mixing with the local
language because it does not find its equivalent in
Indonesian language.
3.4.3 Partners appreciate
Code switching and code-mixing is recommend in the
interaction of buying and selling in the market
Sindang, usually occurs to vary according to the
situation and background of the speaker. For
example, when the seller serves two or three buyers
originating from different ethnic, the seller seeks to
accommodate his speech to appreciate the buyer.
3.4.4 Prestigious
Indonesian language usage by participants in the
interaction of buying and selling are usually done by
young people and adults, particularly students or
shoppers who are still relatively young and already
working. This was done because they want to be
considered a modern person, sociable, and not
outdated.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Based on the results from the study on the factors that
determine the use of language in interaction buying
and selling in the market Sindang Cirebon, the
authors conclude that: (1) the diversity of languages
in the interaction of buying and selling in the market
Sindang not been affected because of its location near
Sunda-Java's societies, but also due to language
contact between speakers very intense resulting in
code switching, code-mixing and interference
between the code that one code to another; (2) the use
of language in the interaction of buying and selling in
the market Sindang have a strong enough reason for
speakers that affect the choice of language is good
because of the pressure that required psychological or
other factors, such as language skills are mastered.
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