BETAWI MALAY DOCUMENTATION BASED ON COLOUR NAMING DIFFERENTIATION IN JAKARTA AND BEKASI DIALECTS

Abstract

The number of speakers of Betawi Malay is decreasing due to both external and internal factors. The rapid migration to Jakarta, the home of Betawi people, and the negative attitude of the Betawi Malay native speakers towards their language have endangered the existence of Betawi Malay language. The same case also happened to Betawi Malay spoken in Bekasi, the other area where Betawi people live. Tangible efforts to save Betawi Malay language are needed, one of which is through Betawi Malay documentation. In this study, the documentation focused on colour vocabulary. This study aimed to find how far the colour vocabulary of Betawi Malay spoken in Jakarta and in Bekasi is different. This study used a qualitative method. The native speakers of Betawi Malay living in Jakarta and Bekasi were taken as the informants. Observations, interviews, questionnaires, and documents were used to collect the data. A semantics approach was used in analysing the data. The results of the study show that the colour used in Betawi Malay spoken in Jakarta and Bekasi is differentiated by colour association, environment, and attitude. Environmental factors are very influential in building the speaker’s way of thinking and the speaker’s identity.

Keywords

• Betawi Malay
• colour naming
• colour vocabulary
• colour association
• language documentation