This book is based on Mrs. Mahmud Murni Ph.D Thesis at Anthropology Department, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies (RSPAS, the Australian National University (2003-2008). Her main purpose is to explore one significant use of language in Bugis society or different contexts of Bugis society as influenced by an urban-lifestyle, that is, to express politeness. This book also relies on ethnographic accounts on Bugis politeness resulted from participant observation speakers in two different Bugis communities, one was in Awangpone, Bone, and the other one was in Parepare.
This book studies Bugis politeness in literature of politeness theories, for example the work of Brown and Levinson (1987) and other scholars in the area of sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology. This is also a study of both Indonesian and a regional language-Bugis. In relation to politeness, this study has shown the important roles of using Indonesian, Bugis or mixed Bugis-Indonesian as a politeness device. The use of Bugis language has experienced changes due to developments in modern society. This may result in language shift, particularly in the urban area, Parepare, where people prefer using Indonesian to Bugis.
This study also makes a valuable contribution to Bugis ethnography accounts. Through a study of politeness strategies, we can understand the ways in which social status and hierarchy are reproduced on a daily basis in social interaction.
BUGIS SOCIETY
The bugis belong to the great family of Austronesian peoples (Pelras, 1996:1). Their language is one of the four language groups in South Sulawesi, the other three being Mandar, Toraja, and Makassar, which are all western Austronesian languages.
Most regencies in South Sulawesi are dominated by Bugis speakers; Bone, Soppeng, Wajo, Sidrap, Pinrang, Barru, Sinjai, and Parepare. While Bahasa Makassar is spoken in other regencies in South Sulawesi such as Jeneponto, Gowa, takalar, bantaeng, and Selayar.
a. Bugis Culture, Religion, and Social System
One important aspects of Bugis culture is concept of ade’ or adat ‘culture or tradition’. According to lontara’ Bugis, there are five basic principles of ade’, namely ade’, bicara, rapang, wari and sara’, together known as pangngaderreng. Another cultural norm of the Bugis is siri’, which means shame, honour, dignity, courtesy or self esteem or harga diri. And there are others concept is called pesse’/pesse’ babua ‘compassion’.
Religious adherence is another important aspect of Bugis society influencing the Bugis practice of politeness. Bugis has embraced Islam as their main religion since the beginning of seventeenth century.
Another aspect is Bugis social system, in which one of them is the high concerns on social status. The First important status is the nobles. These people are known as bangsawan or to-arung, whose ancestors were relatives of the arung ‘the king in past time’. The second status is religious status, influenced greatly by the strong adherence of the Bugis people to Islamic teaching. The third status is educational status.
b. Changes in Bugis Society
One of the significant changes is the treatment of traditional status (nobles). This is related to the growing tendency for Bugis people, especially commoners, to seek higher status. Another change in the treatment of social status can be seen in terms of religious status, especially hajj status.
c. Bugis Social Activities
There are many various social activities in Bugis society, among others; Ramadhan or the act of Silaturahmi in Month of Ramadhan, Mamaudu’ or Celebrating the birth of Prophet Muhammad, Makkulawi or welcoming the newly-born baby, Mappa’botting or wedding party, Mappanre temme’ or mastering the holy book, Majelis Taklim or a group of pengajian, Ma’jeppeng or it makes me healthy but still respectable, Maraneng or making Songko’ to-Bone, Ma’domeng or leisure activity, Arisan or savings organization, and Rapat or a formal meeting.
POLITENESS THEORIES AND CONCEPT
In daily conversations, there are two levels of speech that are normally used, namely, polite speech and familiar speech. Generally speaking, polite speech is used in social situations such as conversations between acquaintances or strangers. This is usually used in formal situations such as at work or offices.
The most important idea of politeness come from Brown and Levinson (1987:58), who say politeness essentially ‘means satisfying communicative and face-oriented ends, in a strictly formal system of rational practical reasoning’. Central to this theory is the concept of ‘face’ (Goffman, 1967:5) in the sense of ‘reputation’ or ‘good name’.
Definitions of politeness are mostly associated with its functions in conversational interaction in a partical society. Lakoff (1976:64) interprets politeness as ‘forms of behavior which have been developed in societies in order to reduce friction in personal interaction’. She proposes two basic rules for politeness, which she calls rules of pragmatic competence: ‘be clear’ and ‘be polite’. Furthermore, Lakoff formulates the following rules of politeness as ‘formality: keep aloof, deference; give options, and camaraderie: show sympathy’ (1976:65). Holmes (1995:4-5) describes politeness as behavior which is somewhat formal and distancing, where the intention is not to intrude or impose. According to her, ‘being polite means expressing respect towards the person you are talking to and avoiding offending them.’ Sifianou (1992:82) also tries to see politeness as a means of ‘restraining feelings and emotions in order to avoid conflict’ and more as ‘a means of expressing them’.
The literature reveals four major perspectives on politeness. The firs is ‘the social norm view’ which assumes that ‘each society has a particular set of social norms consisting of more or less explicit rules that prescribe a certain behavior, a state of affairs, or a way of thinking in a context’ (Fraser cited in Bharuthram 2003:1526).
The second perspective is ‘the conversational-maxim view’ base on Grice’s work, which maintains that conversationalist are rational individuals who are primarily interested in efficient conveying of messages (Fraser cited in Bharuthram 2003:1527). The third perspective is ‘the conversational-contact view’ where politeness means ‘operating within the terms and conditions of the existing conversational contract.’ The fourth perspective is ‘the Brown-Levinson face-saving view’ which has become the most influential idea of politeness in sociolinguistic studies.
Everyone has ‘face’, consisting of two related aspects, namely positive and negative face. The ‘negative face’ is ‘the want of every competent adult member’ that his action be unimpeded by others’ including basic claim to territories, personal preserves, right to non-distraction. On the other hand, ‘positive face’ is the want of every member that his wants be desirable to at least some others’ which is the positive consistent self-image or personality.
There are two kinds of politeness: ‘positive politeness’ and ‘negative politeness’. ‘Positive politeness’ is directed to the addressee’s positive face. ‘Negative politeness’ is repressive action for FTAs directed to the addressee’s negative face: his wants to have freedom of action unhindered and his attention unimpeded (Brown and Levinson, 1978:129).
Politeness can be expressed through verbal and non-verbal means. In relation to verbal strategies, Altman and Riska (1966:2) mention five classes of politeness expression: graphical, phonetical, lexical, grammatical, and stylistical. One of the commonest ways of showing politeness is by using address behaviuor. According to Brawn (1988:13) address behaviuor is the ways speakers use address variants such as words and phrases used for addressing the collocutors.
Brown and Levinson (1987:74) consider a number of variables which might affect the level of politeness, such as power, distance, and rank of imposition. According to Holmes (1995), there are three dimensions which have proved useful in analyzing linguistic politeness. They are the ‘solidarity-social distance dimension’, the power, and formality. Mizutani and Mizutani (1987) note that familiarity, age, social relations, social status, gender, group membership and situation affect Japanese level of politeness. Salzmann (1998:181) notes that Javanese generally have the choice of dialect (ngoko, kromo, or kromo madya) and the particular words within these to be used are determined by age, gender, kinship, family background, wealth, education, occupation, familiarity, and other characteristics of speaker and listener.
A speech act, according to Austin (1962:109), implies that someone saying something is normally also doing something. In that way, people may perform less or more polite interactions. There are several speech acts which may be used in direct and indirect ways; instructions/requests, agreement/disagreement, asking/answering questions, greetings, expressing thanks/gratitude, invitations, apology, and compliments.
BUGIS CONCEPTS OF POLITENESS
Bugis people do not have a specific term for politeness. Relating to the meaning of politeness in Bugis is ampe’ kedo ‘attitude and behavior’. The Bugis word ampe’ release to mental behavior or attitude whereas kedo is physical behavior. These terms are used together with some other Bugis adjectives such as malebbi’ ‘modest’.
Another Bugis expression related to politeness is derived from the word raja/maraja ‘big/great’. To respect people is mappakaraja ‘to respect as a big/great person. The term also related to politeness comes from the word tau ‘a person or a human’. To be polite, one should acknowledge and treat someone as a person or as a human being. Another form of non-verbal communication which shows politeness is to lower the body and put one hand in front, especially when passing in front of other people. Another expression related to politeness comes from religious terms due to the influence of Islamic teaching in Bugis life.
Bugis people espouse particular ideal characteristics or types of behavior. A Bugis should have two kinds of relationship. The first one is with God, and the second one is the relationship with other human beings. Bugis society regards politeness as important aspects of Bugis cultural and social life.
The main factors influencing Bugis politeness in addition from cultural and religious norms. These factors relate to differences in social status, age, gender, degree of familiarity, and situation.
BUGIS SPEECH ACT AND POLITENESS
The meanings of these speech acts are those in which the speaker utters a sentence and means exactly and literally what he/she says. This directness can be by doing an act ‘without redressive action’ or ‘with redressive actions’. The former is done in the most direct, clear, unambiguous, and concise way possible while the latter is done by using some modifications or addition in order to avoid potential face threatening (Brown and Levinson, 1987). Below are some of the direct speech acts in Bugis:
a. Giving instruction/making requests
In Bugis society, giving instruction is known as giving perintah ‘order’ whereas to make request is known as mellau tulung ‘asking for help’. Acts of giving instruction are done in direct ways, whereas to make requests can be either in direct or indirect ways. Some examples of instructions and direct requests can be seen in the following extract:
M : nai’ mako dulu de’!
‘you get into the car first, de’ [younger sister]
HM: nai’ mako sini he’ …
‘you get in here’
M : belakang … siniko paeng he’!
‘at the back … come here instead!
In the first turn, Marwiah used the familiar pronoun –ko in nai’ mako and made her instructions direct though, she did also use the intimate address term de’ ‘younger sister’ to refer to the little girl. These ways of giving instructions were mainly influenced by differences age.
b. Agreeing
In Bugis society, direct ways of agreeing can be done in many ways. One of these is by using the ostensible marker iye’ or iya ‘yes’ at the beginning of their agreement.
A : Sama ji saya rasa itu
‘I think it is just the samen[that will do]
M : Sama ji itu di’?
‘you think so, don’t you?
A : iya, yang begitu saja
‘yes, it’s fine’
Both of the speakers above agreed with each other. When Marwiah proposed the curriculum to be used, Aswar just agreed. When Marwiah ask him again sama ji itu di’?, Aswar confirmed by saying iya, yang begitu saja.
c. Disagreeing
Mu : Lokkaka’ manre’ coto. Upassu’I sinru lilana
I went to eat coto. I took the tongue from the bowl
M : Wei .. ai de’na iya’
‘wei[yuck] .. I don’t like it’
Wei .. ai de’na iya’. Wei is usually used to express surprise, but in this context it was used to express disgust and signals that she really did not like the idea. This shows the ways these two females of similar age and status disagree directly.
d. Asking questions
W : Apa? Museum apa?
‘what? What museum?’
H : Kuro Bacukiki, agasenna?
‘over there at Bacukiki, what is its name?’
Pak wahid asked apa? Museum apa?. This is a type of direct way of asking question to seek more information.
e. Answering questions
H : de’ tabalu’i?
‘don’t we [you] sell it?
F : de’
‘no’
Haniah’s question above were answered directly by Fahri. This influenced by the similar age and status they have as well as their close relations as neighbors and relative.
f. Greetings
Y : Bismillahirahmanirahim. Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh. Bapak kepala Dinas yang saya hormati. Bapak Pengawas penilik yang saya hormati. Bapak ibu kepala sekolah yang saya hormati,
‘In the name of Allah, peace be upon you all. Respected head of education department branch, respected school supervisor and inspectors. Bapak ibu [sir and madam],
The speaker above, pak penilik was being extremely formal in his greetings.
g. Expressing thanks/gratitude
N : kan sudah perampingan dulu empat tahun baru Wa’ Jare’ yang usulkan kembali
‘There were school closures four years ago, weren’t there? It was Wa Jare who just suggested opening it again’
H : ‘eh, terima kasih banyak Bu
‘[okay] thanks a lot, Madam’
N : iye’
‘Yes’
This axtract above shows the use of thanks in Bugis society. The thanks expressed by Pak Haris is not merely a way to be formal and polite. Indeed, Pak Haris said terima kasih followed by banyak showing that he was really thankful.
h. Invitations
B : (inviting me) lo diattangmuki’ mai jokka-jokka
‘we [you] can go to the south [my house] to drop in’
R : iye’
‘yes’
B : (inviting all) lo diattangmanekki’ mai
‘come all of you to the south [my house]’
All : iye’
‘Yes’
The above extract in the last part of the conversation when Ibu Bunga was going to leave. First she asked me to come with her to her house and later she invited everyone there. This is an example of an ‘ostensible invitation.
i. Apologies
C : saya mohon maaf, tidak bisa hadir
‘I do apologize, I couldn’t come’
A : wah, ndak apa-apa
‘wah, it’s OK
C : karena ada satu hal yang paling mendesak
‘because there was something very urgent’
Ibu Cia used a formal way in her apology. This extract shows a real apology.
j. Compliments
N : mappaguru tokka’ bahasa Inggris tapi dasarna bawang
‘I also teach English but only the basic level’
H : tawwana!
‘you are the person [that’s great]’
A compliment was given by Haniah to Nur by saying tawwana! When Nur stated that she also taught English.
k. Self-promotion
H : (praising him self) eh, tapi selaluka’ dipanggilka’ ..Hanson@@
‘eh, but I am always called..Hanson’
B : Bibir, puji alesi parnere
‘not true [only lip service], our friend is praising himself again
Harun characterizes him self as someone who looks like Hanson. In this case, he was praising him self. His interlocutor, Bandu responded puji alesi parnere implying that he did not believe Harun’s statement. Bibir symbolizes that someone is talkative and saying something in a very hyperbolic way. To some extent, the use of self-promotion can function as a joke which can maintain a conversation and therefore invite laughter as symbolized as @@ in the extract. In this case, the self-promotion also invited rejection of it from a friend.
LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF BUGIS POLITENESS
- Pronoun Systems
The first important aspect of Bugis grammar that is used to show politeness is the pronoun system. The Bugis pronouns can be seen in the following table:
| Pronouns | Independent Pronoun | Ergative pronoun | Absolutive Pronoun | Possessive Pronoun | Meaning |
| 1st Person | Iya’ | -ka’ | u- | -ku’ | I/me/my/mine |
| 2nd Person | iko | -ko | Nu-, mu- | -mu/-nu | You/your/yours |
| 3rd Person | alena | -i | Na- | -na | He/him/his or she/her or it/its |
| 1st person pl incl | Idi’ | -ki’ | Ta-/i- | -ta’ | We/our/us/ours |
Example: asking a female fish seller
H : lo’ki’ melliwi?
‘are we [you] going to buy some?
PM : de’ to
‘not really’
Although they are familiar as close neighbor, are of similar age and have been friends since a young age, the different status. PM used the familiar possessive pronoun –nu when she was asking about the price of the prawns. Conversely, Hanuda used the distant pronoun –ki’ in lo’ ki’ melliwi?. This shows asymmetrical relations among the interlocutors are influenced by their status different.
- Participant Avoiders
A second aspect of Bugis grammar that can be exploited for showing politeness is the use of participant avoiders. One of these is the use of passive rather than active forms of the verb. Using a passive form marked by the passive prefix di- and ri- can free the speaker from having to mention participant overtly at all. Example:
A : aga lo’ dielli?
‘what is going to be bought [what are you going to buy]’
M : hm?
A : aga lo’ taelli?
‘what are we [you] going to buy?’
M : beppa
‘cakes’
The words: dielli and taelli? Above are polite expression in Bugis society. Aslinah asked aga lo’ dielli which was then repeated, aga lo’ taelli. In the first turn, Aslinah used passive verb di- in mentioned the participant by saying taelli, when she needed to rephrase the question more directly. As noted in the previous section, the use of the first plural inclusive pronoun ta- indicates politeness. The formality of the situation encouraged Aslinah to use these devices despite the similar age and status of the addressee.
- Phonological Alternations
There are also a number of pairs of semantically equivalent terms in which a phonological alternation between final –o and final –i/-e can be used to encode politeness differences in Bugis. Final –o is less polite than final –i/-e. Example:
N : (explaining the plan in the school) yero lo’ to dianu..
‘that also needs to be done’
M : oh iye’, sekali di anu di’..di..
‘oh yes, let it be done once’
N : yessoe, iye’, yero kubolana Puang Aji Mangngobbi
‘today, yes, that is in her [Puji]’s house. Puang Aji called’
Note that when Nur indicated the school plan, Marliah confirmed her availability and said iye’. Later, Nur explained again the reason by saying that is was their headmaster (puang Aji) who had called. She also said iye’. Although the speakers could also have used iyo, this would have been less polite. In this case, they use of iye’ ‘yes’ strengthens the agreement.
- Other Grammatical Devices
Beside the above grammatical devices, there are some other linguistic strategies used by Bugis speakers to express their politeness. Some of these function as softeners and can be categorized as hedges, understaters, downtoners, and the like.
ADDRESS TERMS
- Functions of Address Terms in Society
The use of address terms by a particular speech community can serve many important roles or functions in the relationship between speaker and addressee. Like Balinese society, the Bugis use a number of address terms to communicate base on underlying principles, such as concern for social status.
- Names as Address Terms
A name of particular person has an important meaning. Names can indicate identity.
- Kinship Terms as Terms of Address
All speakers constantly address their parents, children, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousin in-law, and more distant relatives. However, speakers not only mark the relationship between them selves and addressee when they address a relative, but often also mark their own and the addressee’e social class.
- Status Terms as Terms of Address
In Bugis society, other address terms influenced by the hierarchical nature of society relate to noble status, religious status, and educational/or occupational status. Examples of Nobles status: andi, puang, daeng, and puang nene. Examples of religious status; haji/aji, ustadz, kyai, and pak imam. Examples of occupational status; pak/bu guru, pak/bu lurah, pak mantri, and bu suster.
OTHER DEVICES FOR BUGIS POLITENESS
- Bugis Speech Level
- Euphemism, Metaphors, Other idioms
- Basa-Basi “Small Talk”
- Jokes
- Switching the Topics of Conversations
- Non-verbal Politeness
CODE-SWITCHING
- What is Code switching
- Choices in Bugis Society
- Code-switching in Bugis Society
- Language Choices and Code Switching as Politeness
- Language Shift
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