Minangkabau language: use and attitudes

Submission note: A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Commerce, La Trobe University. Bundoora, Victoria.

This study investigates the use of and attitudes towards Minangkabau language in the Minangkabau community of West Sumatra, Indonesia, which is a matrilineal society and is among the most Islamic areas in Indonesia. In this area there is bilingual diglossia with Indonesian as the high variety and Minangkabau as the low variety. This study documents language use in various different contexts and language attitudes among Minangkabau people. Nine domains of language use are observed: family, market, friendship, education/work, religion, government, public service, with outsiders, and personal expression. The data on language attitudes of Minangkabau people reflect the characteristics of Minangkabau society. The respondents in this study were two groups of Minangkabau people: 200 youths, 11-18 years old; and 200 adults, above 35 years old. Three cities were chosen from high language contact areas—Padang, Bukittinggi, and Payakumbuh—while the other three cities are in regencies in low language contact areas—Muaro Sinjunjung, Pulau Punjung, and Lubuk Sikaping. The data was collected by a questionnaire, participant observation, and interviews. The findings reveal that MIN is still used in the community, especially in the low language contact areas. However, intergenerational language transmission of Minangkabau is decreasing, especially in two high language contact areas where there is a large shift away from Minangkabau in the youth generation, and there is a consistent shift everywhere between the adult and youth generations. Various kinds of ambivalent language attitudes are reflected in the data and suggest that people in Minangkabau society have dualistic attitudes about language.