The Politeness of Javanese Women in Social Interaction of Rewang
Tradition
Prembayun Miji Lestari, Djatmika Djatmika, Sumarlam Sumarlam and Dwi Purnanto
Universitas Sebelas Maret Surakarta, Indonesia
Keywords: unggah-ungguh, rewang tradition, Javanese women.
Abstract: The objective of the study was to analyze forms of language politeness from Javanese women in rewang
tradition or helping others who have desire. It is a case study in Klaten Regency, Central Java by using a
sociolinguistics approach that considers concept of Javanese culture. The data were in the forms of women’s
utterances taken from their communication in a rewang activity. To get the data, observation by recording the
talks and interview were used. The data was utterances of Javanese women assumed to contain Javanese
politeness. The analysis refers to Spradley: domain, taxonomy, componential and culture topics. The findings
show that forms of Javanese women politeness in the social interaction are performed by empan papan
principles in the forms of 1) avoiding the use of taboo words or saru, 2) using euphemism or kurmat principles
in the forms of nuwun sewu or sorry, matur nuwun or thank you, nyuwun tulung or kindly help and (3) using
speech based on social status or andhap asor principles.
1 INTRODUCTION
Indonesia is a multiethnic and multicultural country
in which each ethnic has its own tradition, custom,
culture and different language. Then, the language
politeness has sociolinguistically become an
interesting phenomenon to be researched as this is
related to not only language aspect but also
sociocultural aspect in the society. In a social
interaction, the language strategies politeness of
people must be different from other societies (Wei-
Lin, 2008; Shien-Chieh, 2009; Tabar, 2012; Suzuki,
2013). It has also been a communication and
behaviour norm to avoid conflict and to create
harmonious relationship between all languages, as
well as Javanese language. The politeness, for the
Javanese people, is called as unggah-ungguh or
ethics. They will be considered polite if they know
pengucap or the utterances and patrap or well-
informed to whom and how they are talking to. The
politeness of the Javanese people is an effort to
strengthen interaction in order to eliminate a conflict.
Javenese women have different ways to behave
and communicate as well as language politeness. It is
due to their interests and problems that bound
individual togetherness at the same activity. Javanese
language is used as the mean of communication by
the women to do an interaction including rewang
tradition. This emphasizes that the language used by
individuals and group of people functions as identity
making. Burke, Jan and Stets (2009, p.3) state that
identity is a set of meaning to identify who and when
a person has a particular role in the society or become
a member of a particular community.
In an interaction, some norms must be conducted
by Javanese women such as language, social and
communication norms. One of language norms is
language politeness. In general, the research finding
shows politeness of a language different from other
languages (Ryabova, 2015; Sukarno, 2015).
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
In communication and interaction, the use of
language politeness is affected by the background of
speaker and interlocutor. An older woman will show
different politeness compared to a younger one. A
Javanese woman with higher social status will show
different politeness compared to those with lower
social status as well as different age. As the result, a
speaker needs to choose Javanese politeness concept
based on the situation and condition. The study of
language politeness in the social interaction,
moreover, has been conducted by Shigemitsu (2003);
Salmani-Nodoushan (2006); Ryabova (2015);
Lestari, P., Djatmika, D., Sumarlam, S. and Purnanto, D.
The Politeness of Javanese Women in Social Interaction of Rewang Tradition.
DOI: 10.5220/0007171005630570
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 563-570
ISBN: 978-989-758-332-2
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
563

Sukarno, (2015); Theodoropoulou (2015).
Shigemitsu (2003) wrote a study entitled Politeness
Strategy in the Context of Argument in Japanese
Debate Show. He analyzed the use of language and
politeness characteristics of Japanese people in a
communication. The study shows that Japanese
people will try to keep the relationship by avoiding
conflict and politeness even though they are in a
different opinion. They will look for seek agreement
in a talk. In addition, the speakers and interlocutors
express their ideas in a concise and straight manner
based on the Japanese culture. The dominant negative
politeness indirectly appeared characterized by a
communication showing honorifics.
Salmani-Nodoushan (2006) analyze the use of
language expressing politeness in a social interaction
from Farsi, Iranian language. From the study, it can
be found that male, referring to sex, express
disagreement, repeat apology, look for solution and
face the opposite in communication. Meanwhile,
female to show politeness will use some strategies
such as expressing regret, avoiding complaint,
switching complaint, closing the conversation and
minimizing quarrel.
Ryabova (2015) states that the characteristics of a
community is affected by culture communication
from which it will affect how the people choose
formula and communication model in a daily
interaction. It can express class and social status in
order to show politeness in a sociopragmatics
research. Besides, the English politeness strategies
consist of absolute, relative and negative or positive
politeness. Politeness expresses actions. The
strategies mostly found in the social interaction are
the expression of apology and sympathy.
Based on Sukarno’s (2015) study, it can be seen
that Javanese people use Javanese language to
express politeness in accordance to compliment from
others. There are some strategies to respond
compliment in Javanese language. They are 1) no
mocking, 2) no questions, 3) accepting and revising,
4) accepting, and 5) accepting and offering.
Theodoropoulou (2015) analyzed the use of
language for gossiping in social media. The study was
aimed at analyzing the communication politeness
from the native speakers of Greece. It is found that
the native speakers of Greece show politeness by
using language based on the interlocutor’s context,
showing emoticon and punctuation of the condition
being discussed. Expressing gratitude or
congratulation for a success or felicitating condition
such as birthday.
Those researches have similarity with this study
that is how it analyzed language politeness in social
interaction. To make it different, most researches use
pragmatics approach and focus on politeness
strategies while the current study used
sociolinguistics approach, focused on Javanese
women politeness in rewang tradition. Hence, the
previous studies did not discuss about the forms of
politeness with a more comprehensive concept of
Javanese culture. Moreover, the study is needed to
answer the research gap.
2.1 Javanese Speech Level
Javanese language has speech level in accordance to
how to express politeness namely ngoko, madya and
krama. Furthermore, most Javanese people only
know ngoko and krama as the speech level. It relates
to Sasangka and Maryani (2009, p.92) that Javanese
speech level only consists of ngoko and krama.
Krama speech level shows high honorific politeness
and ngoko epresses low honorific politeness. The use
of speech level to express Javanese women’s
politeness is also found in a social interaction in
rewang tradition.
2.2 Language Politeness
Language politeness as a sociolinguistics
phenomenon is closely related to a language in the
society. Ngalim (2015, p.78) stated that language
politeness as a form of language activity agreed by
community users is to appreciate and respect one
another. The politeness sociolinguistically has varied
features. The features are based on three
considerations. First, it is based on the age which can
be seen from parents and children; teachers and
students, and brothers and sisters. Second, the
consideration is based on social and economy level
that can be found from house assistants and
householders; court retainersand kings or noblemen;
and boss and employers. The last, it is based on the
close relationship between colleagues (Ngalim, 2015,
p. 79). Pranowo (2009, p. 76) said that politeness is
affected by many factors such as written and spoken
language, non-verbal language and sociocultural
system. One aspect affecting politeness in a spoken
language, intonation, tone (emotions: formal tone,
fun, satire, mock), word choice and sentence
structure. Non-verbal languages such as body
language, eye contact, head shaking, hand waving,
fist, hands on girdle also affect politeness. Another
factor that affect politeness comes from non-language
aspect, in this case social system such as how the
children respect the older people, how the children are
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
564

not allowed to eat while speaking or walking, and
how the women are not supposed to laugh aloud, etc.
2.3 Language Politeness in Javanese
Cultural Concept
Language politeness in Javanese cultural concept is
related to the people’s desire to defend and to be
recognized its existence as a group of people who
have good behavior, culture, morale and ethics.
Politeness for Javanese people is not only to
strengthen communication, but also to show that it is
as life attitude. In doing so, the Javanese people
consider two things – utterances used by the speaker
and speech acts adjusted to the situation and to whom
the utterance is addressed. The politeness in the
Javanese society is also associated to a concept of
taboo or saru as the sign of politeness. Taboo or saru
is utterances and acts that should be eliminated to
avoid friction in communication. The use of
euphemism to soften particular situations need to be
consideration for Javanese people. In establishing
language politeness in Javanese culture, each person
must respect others (kurmat), be humble (andhap
asor), understand situation and condition (empan
papan), and express solidarity (tepa selira). The
concept of ‘kurmat’ in Javanese culture contains a
teaching or advice that everyone should respect others
based on the social status in the community. Then,
andhap asor teaches people to be humble, not
arrogant, and not conceited. In addition, empan papan
meaning ‘based on social statuses is a culturally
Javanese concept that teaches us how to behave based
on the situation and condition. Tepa slira is meant
that we should speak accordingly. The four
considerations are considered to reinforce
communication without pertaining other feeling.
In Javanese ideology, there are four
considerations to show unggah-ungguh based on
Berman (1998, p.15) as the followings:
 Self-introspection
 What are the social status of the speaker and
interlocutor
 Language choice in social status
 What speech level should be used – karma,
madya or ngoko
 Word choice
 It needs honorific or not.
 The right attitude
What Berman (1998, p.15) stated number 2 and 3
are related to the politeness in Javanese society that is
pengucap or ‘what is said’, while number 1 and 4 are
essential factors in Javanese that is patrap or ‘acts of
politeness’. The followings are examples of how
Javanese women show politeness in a social
interaction in a rewang tradition for informal context.
(1) P : “Amit-amit nuwun sewu, malane mbak War
ki wis nyebar dadine kudu kemo”.
‘Sorry, the disease of Ms. War has already
spread, so it needs chemo’
(2) P : “Wong loro ki pancen setel, bola-bali nak
ora kebak”.
‘Both of them are the same, less normal’
(3) P : “Aku wis suwe ora anu ro bojoku”
‘I did not have sex with my husband’
The word choices of amit-amit nuwun sewuor the
expression of apology and malene or the disease on
data (1) is used by the speaker to talk about other
people. Amit-amit nuwun sewu is uttered by a speaker
before talking about something bad related to the
disease suffered by the other people. The word
malane or the disease is an euphemism from cancer
suffered by the adressed person. Data (2) which
shows Javanese politeness can be seen from the word
choice ora kebak or insane. Javanese women try to
avoid direct pointing to others related to something
inconvenient. It is believed to be saru or taboo to tell
directly using a word edan or crazy, so to show
politeness they use euphemism. The word anu in data
(3) refers to sexual activity by a husband and wife. If
uttered directly, it sounds impolite or rude so that the
word anu or something is chosen to soften the
message and to make a joke in the social interaction.
Some researches have actually conducted some
studies related to the politeness of Javanese people,
but only for particular aspects. Then, Gunarwan
(1994) did similar research basing on pragmatics
perspective from bilingual speakers (Indonesia-Jawa)
in Jakarta and he also conducted another research
(2007) about ludruk theatricals in East Jave. In
addition, Prayitno (2011) emphasized on directive
politeness from elementary students in a Javanese
cultural environemnt. The last was from Sukarno
(2015) who conducted a study about politeness of
compliment utterances from Javanese people in
Jember, Central Java.
3 METHODOLOGY
The study used sociolinguistics approach with a
qualitative design since the data was taken from
natural condition. The data was in the form of how
the Javanese women used Javanese language that
contained politeness. The data was taken from 1)
spoken activity that reflected politeness of Javanese
women in a social interaction of rewang tradition, and
2) reponents who were from the people who had
The Politeness of Javanese Women in Social Interaction of Rewang Tradition
565

backround knowledge about language politeness. To
collect the data, the researcher used 1) observation by
recording Javanese woman’s talks while gossiping in
a rewang social activity, and 2) interview in order to
compate the data taken in the field.
The study was conducted in Klaten, Central Java
as geographically most Javanese language users live
here so it enabled the researcher to get the data. In
addition, Klaten is historically between two big cities,
Surakarta and Yogyakarta in which the two cities are
the centre of Javanese culture. The research setting
was in Dukuh Montelan, Siderejo, Tibayan Jatinom,
Klaten. This village represents a great number of
villages as Javanese culture and rewang tradition are
there, and Javanese language is as the mean
communication in the social interaction.
Data analysis in this study consists of domain,
taxonomy, componential and culture topics or themes
(see table 1). Domain is defined as social interaction
of Javanese women, the subdomain of which is seen
from rewang tradition focused on the participants
based on social status. Then, the subdomain can be
seen from how the form of language politeness and
Javanese cultural concept andhap asor, kurmat,
empan papan and tepa selira. Taxonomy is a data
analysis based on group categorization on knowledge
relevant to the theory (see table 2). Meanwhile,
componential analysis refers to systematic search of
meaning components related to cultural symbols by
combining domain analysis and taxonomy into a
single data, the researcher, then, interpreted language
politeness of Javanese women in a social interaction
of rewang activity with Javanese cultural concept.
Meanwhile, the analysis of cultural topics or themes
is the cognitive principle which is either implicitly or
explicitly repeated in some domains and function as a
relationship between many subsystems of cultural
meanings. The analysis of culture themes is aimed at
looking for a finding and relationship with a theory.
Table 1: Domain analysis.
Domain
Sub Domain
P-MT Based on
Ages
Social Interaction
of Javanese
Women in the
Rural Area
Rewang
Young-Young
Old-Old
Young-Old
Table 2: Taxonomy analysis.
Politeness Forms with Javanese Cultural Concept
Empan
Papan
Principle
Kurmat
Principle
Andhap
Asor
Principle
Tepa Selira
Principle
4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The research finding about politeness of Javanese
women in the social interaction of rewang tradition is
discussed. Javanese women use many ways to
express politeness that consists of kurmat, andhap
asor, empan papan and tepa salira (see table 3).
Table 3: The realization of politeness forms from Javanese
woman in a social interaction.
Realization of Politeness Forms with Javanese
Cultural Concept
Empan Papan
Principle
Kurmat
Principle
Andhap
Asor
Principle
Tepa
Selira
Principle
 Avoiding
the use of
taboo words
or saru
 The use of
euphemism
 The use
of
politene
ss
expressi
on
 The use
of
speech
act
based
on
social
status
 Be
humble,
use
indirect
words
 The use
of
appropri
ate and
indirect
languag
es.
4.1 Politeness with Empan Papan
Principles
Empan papan principles or ‘context based’ teaches
the Javanese women to adapt while doing interaction
with others. They should know their position in the
society from which they will try to be very carefull in
doing communication.
4.1.1 Avoiding the Use of Taboo Words
Saru based on the Javanese language is recognized as
taboo in English meaning the social prohibition
toward the use of words, things, acts and person
which are againts other group, culture and
community. Taboo is defined as a custom, attitude,
utterances, and acts that must be avoided in order to
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
566

eliminate clash in communication. The example can
be seen from the follown\ing social interaction:
Data [1]
P : “Sing duwe gawe kandhane lagi lara
anune”
‘Pemilik hajat katanya sedang sakit alat
kelaminnya’
‘The wedding organizer has problem with his
genital’
MT : “Anune ya gene?”
‘What’s wrong with his genital?’
P : “Ora ngerti aku”
‘I don’t know’
Data [2]
P : “Sing gawe jladrenan jenang lot mau na
ngendi, awit mau kok ra dadi-dadi?”
‘Where does the person who made dough, it
has not been done?”
MT : “Lagi na mburi, wetenge lara kandhane mau”
‘He is in the toilet as he said that he had
problem with his stomach’
The word ‘anune’ [data 1] linguistically refers to
a thing based on the context, in this case, it refers to a
genital which is taboo to be spoken directly. For most
Javanese women (either old or young), it will be
reversed with another word that refers to genital in
order to avoid impoliteness. Javanese women tend to
use their feeling, so they will consider what to say.
Meanwhile, the word na mburi [data 2] is used to
replace a word refering to ngising or poop activity.
In the concept of Javanese culture, the people are
considered polite or impolite if they tell particular
words directly in front of the pople related to
activities resulted from holes of a body such as ngidu
or split which produces saliva ngumbel that produces
snot, ngising that produces tai or shit, etc. The
avoidance of saru or taboo words by Javanese women
in a social interaction is a form of language
politeness. Beside, it can be seen from how the
Javanese women apply the concept of kurmat or
respect and empan papan empan panggonan or
adaptable.
4.1.2 The Use of Euphemism
The use of euphemism to express politeness is used
by Javanese women in the social interaction of
rewang tradition. It can be seen form the following.
Data [3]
P : “Daliyem ki omahe cerak, tur ya sedulur kok
ra rewang rene ki ngapa?”
“Daliyem’s house is near and she is still a
relative, but why doesn’t she come here?
MT :“Jenenge wae kurang saksetrip, kamangka
wonge ya na ngomah”
‘She is less normal even though she is at her
house’
Data [4]
P : “Mbokdhe Legiyem aja dikon njenang lot,
tenagane wis ora pati rasa saiki”
‘Legiyem should not be told to make dodol as
her hands are not that strong now’
MT : “Ya wis golek liyane sing isa nak ngana”
‘Ok, let’s find another one’
Data [3] shows the use of euphemism which can
be seen from words kurang saksetrip or less normal.
This word seems more polite uttered directly
compared to the use of word edan or crazy.
Meanwhile, data [4] the euphemism can be found in
the word ora pati rasa or less strong to describe
unmotivated condition or do not have spirit to do the
job. It indicates that Javanese women have strong
rasa pangrasa or feeling so that they will be very
careful in uttering words because they will consider
other feelings. Rasa or feeling in Javanese culture is
not only related to emotion, but also intuition, thought
and awareness. Rasa rumangsa is a feeling that tries
to see self-reflection and others in order to avoid norm
disobedience.
4.2 Politeness Forms with Kurmat
Principles
Kurmat or respect is meant that Javanese women
should respect and appreciate others based on the
social status in Javanese community. In doing so, this
principle can be realized by the use of language based
on the speech act level so that the interlocutor feels to
be appreciated for his social level.
4.2.1 Nuwun Sewu ‘Sorry’, Matur Nuwun
Thank You’, Nyuwun Tulung ‘Excuse
Me’ as the Expressions of Politeness
In the Javanese culture, politeness is an important
aspect for Javanee people. The Javanese women as a
part of Javanese society will consider social
expressions when doing social interactions with other
Javanese women. The word nuwun sewu or sorry
(krama) is used to express apology and respect to
others in a communication activity. Nuwun sewu or
the expression of apology occurs because the speaker
wants to ask for a help, pass a sitting person, or
leaving for homes before others. Nuwun sewu is
The Politeness of Javanese Women in Social Interaction of Rewang Tradition
567

mostly uttered as the introductory expression before
the main utterances. For example, “Nuwun sewu,
nderek langkung njih mbak” or Excuse me is used
when passing others. The other example can be seen
from the following example:
Data [5]
P: “Nuwun sewu, mang pendhetke brambang
bawang niku mbak”
‘Pardon, can you fetch me onion and garlic’
MT: “Njih mbak, mangga…”
‘Yes, miss … ’
In data [5], the speaker P who is at the same age
with MT used nuwun sewu or sorry as an opening
conversation before moving to the main message. P
asks MT for a help to fetch onion and garlic. The word
nuwun sewu may vary to pangapunte and ngapunten
or sorry. Those words express respect showing an
apology toward others.
Data [6]
P : “Ya mangan bareng sik ya, bar itu tandang gawe
maneh”
‘Let’s eat together, and then we can work again’
MT : “Nggih, matur nuwun mbak”
‘Yes, thank you miss’
In data [6] MT shows politeness to P who is older
than MT by uttering “Nggih, matur nuwun mbak”to
respond invitation. The word nggih or ‘yes’ is meant
to accept the invitation from P and matur nuwun or
‘thank you’ may vary such as matur nuwun, matur
sembah nuwun, sembah nuwunand its use is often
simplified into tur nuwun, nuwun or suwun. These
words are used to express respect and thankful for
others. It is common for the Javanese women without
considering age status either old or young. To express
respect to the older ones, young women tend to use
krama.
Data [7]
P : “Nyuwun tulung, jupukna wedangku kuwi mbak”
‘Excuse me, can you fetch me water’ Minta
tolong, ambilkan minuman saya mbak’
MT: “Oh nggih, budhe”
‘Yes, aunty’
The word nyuwun tulung or help uttered before
ordering others [data 7] shows the politeness of
Javanese women. P is older compared to MT, but P
shows kurmat or respect to MT. On the contrary, MT
responds P’s request by choosing speech level karma
as the respect toward the older. Then, the word
nyuwun tulung may vary for its use such as the
simplified word tulung which has the same meaning.
4.2.2 The Use of Speech Act based on the
Social Status to Express Politeness
The use of speech acts related to social status has
become a politeness sign with kurmat principle. By
observing how the position and social status with the
interlocutor, a speaker may choose ngoko and krama
to show politeness.
The following conversation is an example of speech
level karma that express politeness of Javanese
women in a social interaction of rewang tradition.
Context: A Javanese woman was doing rewang
mantu or helping wedding ceremony and
she hada duty to manage and prepare the
food while talking to the wedding
organizer. They were talking about
punjungan or ‘food given to the others in a
wedding time’. P as the wedding organizer
and MT as the person who was in charge
of helping the wedding had close
relationship as they were neighbors. Even
though P and MT have a very close
relationship from the same age, they chose
krama as the sign of respect one another.
Data [8]
P : “Budhe, budhe….”
‘Aunty, aunty …’
MT1 : “Pripun, bu?”
‘Yes, mam?’
P :“Sekecanipun juragane bapake
dipunjung napa njih? Kalawingi sampun
tindak mriki niku. Lha pas dugi mriki
dereng gadhah napa-napa sing ngge
angsul-angsul”
‘What should we give to your boss? He
was here yesterday. When he was here,
we had nothing’
MT2 : “Nak piyayi niku biasane remen
dhaharan tradisional kados wajik,
cucur, jenang lot, tape, carang gesing,
kados ngaten niku. Nak sanese biasane
malah mboten didhahar.”
‘The noblemen usually like traditional
food such as wajik, cucur, jenang, tape,
carang gesing. They will not eat the other
food’.
MT1 : “Leres niku. Sing penting murwat lha
kagem piyayi kok”
‘Sure, at least they like them’.
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
568

From the data, it can be seen how the Javanese
women use Javanese language to express politeness.
It starts with the word budhe to show close
relationship, open a conversation and respect the
older ones. Then, it goes with the problem of the
conversation. The utterance “Sekecanipun juragane
bapake dipunjung napa njih? Was used by P in order
to ask consideration to MT related to what is being
talked. The person being asked responded based on
the question by uttering “Nak piyayi niku biasane
remen dhaharan tradisional kados wajik, jenang lot,
tape, carang gesing, kados ngaten niku. Nak sanese
biasane malah mboten didhahar. The words such as
punjungan or offering, angsul-angsul or souvenir,
dhaharan tradisional or traditional food like wajik,
jenang lot, tape, carang gesing, etc. are often available
and used in the social interaction of rewang activity.
4.3 Politeness based on Andhap Asor
Principles
4.3.1 Be Humble, Use Indirect Words
This principle positions a speaker at the lowest level
while the interlocutor is at the highest position. This
Javanese politeness concept teaches human beings to
be humble and will always try to respect others.
Data [9]
P : “Jenengan kok malah repot-repot, mboten
sah mbah, kados kalih sinten mawon
jenenganki” (when P see MT brings food
and beverages)
‘I don’t want to make a problem, no need to
do that’
MT : “E…naming toya petak men, mboten
gadhah napa-napa kados nggen jenengan
Bu. Mangga diunjuk, didhahar rumiyin.”
‘E…just plain water, do not have something
special like you, Mom. Let’s eat and drink’.
The bold sentences show Javanese politeness by
showing politeness and position P at the highest level.
Even though P is younger than MT, MT used a more
polite language to express respect for P who has
higher social status. The utterance E … naming toya
petak men, mboten gadhah napa-napa kados nggen
jenengan Bu. The principle of andhap asor is
reflected on MT utterance showing that P only gets
plain water. Then, she also mentioned that she had
nothing as P has been considered as a rich woman. In
fact, MT brought some tea and many kinds of food.
Data [10]
P : “Ayo Nyah, disambi sik, iki wedange.
Panganane ya bur kaya ngene iki
nduwene”
‘Sister, just eat and drink. I have only that
food and beverage’.
MT : “Iya mbah wis komplit iki, apa-apa ana
ngana kok”
‘It’s enough, everything is available there’
Data [11]
P : “Duwene tithik ya disumbangke tithik
ngana to, sakduweke.”
‘I have only this’
MT : “Ya iya na, kuwate nyumbang manggelo
yo disumbangke manggelo.”
‘Yes, you can donate what you have’
Data [10] and [11] showing the lowest manner is
the utterance Panganane ya bur kaya ngene iki
nduwene ‘I have only have that food’ and kuwate
nyumbang manggelo yo disumbangke manggelo
‘you can donate from what you have’. Data [10] and
MT are at the same age around 50. P as the event
organizer asked MT to eat the available food even the
food is full of menus. P tried to be humble and try to
make MT convenient with her behavior. Data [11]
showing Javanese politeness try to be humble that can
be seen from MT utterance. P is in fact younger than
MT as they are still relative. From MT utterance, it
can be seen that she can only donate with little money.
The word manggelo or one rupiah is as the figurative
language functioning as the politeness even though no
one will donate one rupiah in real life.
4.4 Politeness based on Tepa Selira
Principle
4.4.1 The Use of Appropriate and Indirect
Languages
Tepa selira principle teaches Javanese women how to
treat others as we want to be treated. Hence, the
women should do and speak in appropriate manner in
a social interaction.
Data [12]
P : “Ayo nyah mbe wedhang sik yo”
‘Please have the drink Sister’
MT : “Wis mbah matur nuwun. Aku ki bar
madhang, nak wareg-wareg ki ora penak
na weteng. Ngeleh ya ora penak. Mengko
sing mangan, ben mudhun sik segane.”
The Politeness of Javanese Women in Social Interaction of Rewang Tradition
569

‘Thank you sister. I have already had my
meals so I will get my stomach-ache if I eat
too much’. I will eat later’.
Data [12] in the bold utterance is as the example
of politeness form using tepa selira principle. P and
MT are 50 years old and they are relatives. The data
shows that P lets MT to drink together. To express
politeness, MT say thank you ‘matur nuwun’ for the
offering. Then, she told that she had already eaten and
felt full. She also told her that it was not good for full
stomach. To avoid inconvenient communication MT
promised to have the food later. She used appropriate
and indirect languages to decline offering from
others.
5 CONCLUSIONS
From the discussion, there are some conclusions that
the politeness of Javanese women in the social
interaction is indicated by 1) the avoidance of taboo
words, 2) the use of euphemism such as nuwun sewu
or pardon, matur nuwun or thank you, nyuwun tulung
or help as the indication of politeness and 3) the use
of speech acts based on the social status such as being
humble, using acceptable and indirect languages.
Those are politeness realization from Javanese
politeness concept namely empan papan, kurmat,
andhap asor dan tepa selira that consider social
aspects.
From the discussion, there are some conclusions
that the politeness of Javanese women in the social
interaction is indicated by 1) the avoidance of taboo
words, 2) the use of euphemism, 3) nuwun sewu or
pardon, matur nuwun or thank you, nyuwun tulung or
help as the indication of politeness and the use of
speech acts based on the social status.
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