A Sociolinguistic Study on Slang Words Used by Lesbian Community in Bondowoso: A Case Study

Abstract

This study discusses the slang words used by lesbian community in Bondowoso. The objectives of this study are to find out the slang words and their meanings used by lesbian community in Bondowoso and to explain the social factors which influence the use of those slang words. To achieve the goals of this research, Mattiello’s theory (2008) on slang from sociological point of view is applied to analyze the data which is supported by the interview results obtained by the researcher. Accordingly, Mattiello’s theory (2008) which describes the social factors of using slang words are divided into two categories, those are speakeroriented properties and hearer-oriented properties. Each category has several types. For speaker-oriented properties, there are group and subject restriction, secrecy and privacy, informality and debasement, vulgarity and debasement, and time restriction, ephemerality and localism. For hearer-oriented properties, there are playfulness and humour, freshness and novelty, desire to impress and faddishness, colour and musicality, and impertinence, offensiveness and aggressiveness. This study applies qualitative method as an appropriate type for thisresearch since this research tries to analyze the slang words used by lesbian community in Bondowoso in the form of slang words. The study employs case study as the research strategy. It is a relevant approach to apply since the research object is lesbian community in Bondowoso which is categorized as an issue in real life situation and raised to be examined in depth so as to be able to discover the reality behind the phenomenon. Furthermore, the researcher conducted an observation related to the topic determination, location, respondent identification and instrument preparation. The researcher found out the data through semi-structured interview. The interview results were then transcribed without any reduction and addition. Since the interview results are in Indonesian because the respondents are members of the lesbian community in Bondowoso, the researcher translated the interview results into English. Afterwards, the slang words and their meaning found in the interview results were firstly conformed using Oxford Dictionary, Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI), and www.urbandictionary.com. The slang words were then presented in a table. Subsequently, the researcher analyzed the social factors which influence the use of slang words used by lesbian community in Bondowoso using Mattiello’s theory (2008) and considered the reasons of using slang words given by the respondents in the interview results. The result of this study reveals that there are 27 slang words found in lesbian community in Bondowoso. Each slang word has its own meaning which is obtained through the interview results. Besides, there is a reason of using each slang word based on the respondents. There are solidarity, prestige, secrecy and social recognition as the reasons of using the slang words. Most of the slang words found in lesbian community in Bondowoso have social recognition as the reason based on the respondents followed by solidarity, prestige, and secrecy. Social recognition is exposed as the most dominantly used reason by members of the lesbian community in Bondowoso in the use of slang words, meaning that they aim to make their identity socially recognized by other lesbians. On the other hand, there are only two types of speaker-oriented properties category found as the social factors, those are group and subject restriction and informality and debasement. Most of the slang words have group and subject restriction as the social factors for speaker-oriented properties which shows that almost all slang words used by members of the lesbian community in Bondowoso are restricted to use. This relates to their community which is included as a closed community in society. In addition, there are only three types of hearer-oriented properties found as the social factors, those are playfulness and humour, freshness and novelty, and desire to impress and faddishness. With almost half of all slang words having freshness and novelty as the social factors for hearer-oriented properties, it shows that the hearer of the slang words considered that the slang words used sound fresh and novelt.