The Languages of Men and Women in Indigenous Villages

Abstract

In indigenous villages, distinct language features of men and women exist. The linguistic features of men’s and women’s languages are unique because the villages have unique cultures. This research was conducted in Tenganan Pegringsingan village and Penglipuran village. The research method applied was descriptive-qualitative, in which the data were collected through recordings and structured interviews. The results of the analysis show that in conversations amongst men, the topics that emerged were ngayah meratengan (cooking together without payment), perarem (village regulations), money, and responsibility. Meanwhile, in discussions amongst women, the topic that emerged was the lottery club. Regarding intonation, men and women showed differences in using tag questions. Furthermore, differences in the lexicons associated with men and women emerged. In the selection of sentence types, men predominantly used tag questions, while women predominantly used super-polite forms. Men tended to be more direct, while women preferred to be more circumlocutory before conveying the main utterance. In the dominance of conversation between men and women, it was found that men dominated in taking turns to speak and led the topic of conversation.