There are two dialects of Banjarese. The first one is Bahasa Banjar Dialek Kuala
(BBDK) spoken by people who live in areas of Banjarmasin, Banjarbaru, Marabahan, Pelaihari
until Kotabaru. The other dialect is Bahasa Banjar Dialek Hulu (BBDH) is used by people from
Martapura, Tapin, Hulu Sungai Selatan, Hulu Sungai Tengah, Hulu Sungai Utara, Balangan
and Tabalong. Similarly, as one of languages in the world, English also has variations known
as American, British, Australian, Indian, Singaporean and other types of English language.
American English is particularly not spoken in its continent of the fifty states only, but also is
generally adapted and studied by English-speaking people around the world. English does not
have level of pronoun politeness like Banjarese unda, aku, and ulun to express the first singular
pronoun.
The research design is mixed method so-called Convergent Parallel Design. The subjects
of the research are English Department students of Unlam, Banjarmasin Batch 2012. The
technique of data collection is by using questionnaire. The random sampling techniques is
applied by asking 100 respondents to fill out the questionnaire A and B. It was found out that
37 samples of respondent are BBDK and 24 samples are BBDH. The rest 29 respondents do
not qualify as a dominant native speaker of particular dialect. For questionnaire C, only 40
students from Batch 2012, taken randomly, are asked to fill it out.
Findings show that there is a broad variety of personal subject pronoun used and the
choice on the use of the pronouns is sometimes not rigidly strict to the existing patterns. It is
more determined by the relationship of the speakers in a given context. Although unda and
nyawa is the rudest form of pronoun in Banjarese, in some familiar contexts they might be used
without any feeling of rudeness anymore. For example, it becomes usual between friends, the
terms used is considered as not rude. When people used the 3rd level of politeness of Banjarese,
it does not mean that they are impolite. It happens when they feel that they are close enough to
the interlocutors.
There is also politeness in Banjarese when its speakers use personal subject pronoun is
the switch of its use as in the case of ulun, pian which is customarily used when speaking with
someone older, respectable and more superior. Ulun, pian, in particular occasions, can be used
when talking with someone younger and inferior due to certain reasons, for example to
accustom children in order that they speak using the most polite form of Banjarese personal
subject pronoun.
Banjarese and American English’ pronouns are based on singular and plural distinction
although Banjarese does not have a gender distinction as in the American English. The personal
pronouns are categorized into three persons: first person, second person and third person.
English personal pronouns are depend mostly on the grammatical role while Banjarese personal
pronouns can indicate the social status or the relation of the speaker and other persons in the
discourse. Personal pronouns can reveal the social status or the relationship between the
speaker and the listener, in some cases, they can also show the politeness or impoliteness of
the speakers.
research-on-politeness-merged_document_94-compressed
