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July 2011

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Subject:
From:
Waruno Mahdi <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Indonesian language list <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:19:19 +0200
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Sorry to be so slow to respond. I fully agree with what David wrote.

The 'Anda' address may indeed cause a smile when used in a warung, 
because it is felt to be a bit formal. It would not necessariy cause 
a smile (other than an automatic politeness smile) if you used it to 
address someone more or less your age and rank at a formal occasion.

But I might perhaps add another "you"-equivalent that is a mite less 
"familiar" than 'kamu': particularly in East and Central Java, 
persons who do not know each other closely often use 'situ'
(lit.: "there/where you are"), e.g. 'situ apa sudah pesan?'). It's 
only improper to use with regard to someone you ought to call 
'Bapak', but even then would be much less of an affront than if you 
'kamu' him.

It (situ) can also be, but is somewhat less often, used when a male 
speaks to a female person. So it may be safer to use 'Mbak' (or if 
older or higher ranking: 'Ibu') and then let her "correct" you. Note 
that when one gets "corrected" in this way, it does not necessarily 
mean one made a mistake. It is under circumstances merely part of the 
get-to-know-each-other ritual, accompanied by an appropriate dosis of 
polite laughing to break the ice.

On the north coast (and immediately behind it) the people are more 
informal than in the south (most conservative seems to be Solo and 
immediate surroundings, significantly more so than Yogya).

Best,
Waruno


PS. I once wrote a paper on use of personal pronouns and their replacements:
"Personal nominal words in Indonesian: an anomaly in morphological 
classification",
In: Joel Bradshaw & Kennneth L. Rehg (eds.), Issues in Austronesian 
morphology: a
focusschrift for Byron Bender. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, pp. 166-192.

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