An Analysis of Code-Mixing Between Bahasa Indonesia and Javanese in
President Joko Widodo’s YouTube Videos
Yalma’ R. Mauludini
English Language and Literature
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Bandung, Indonesia
Abstract— President Joko Widodo is well-known for his strong
Javanese dialect. As the leader of the country, he must use Bahasa
Indonesia, especially in formal speeches. However, it will be
interesting to analyze whether his role as the government impacts his
way of speaking in a non-governmental context. The purpose of this
study is to find out which types of code-mixing and code-switching
occurred the most in Jokowi’s vlogs and to find out if his role as a
leader has any influences into his way of speaking because a huge
number of studies related to the topic of code-mixing have been
conducted in several contexts, but no research has been done in
analyzing the code-mixing occurred in the leader of the government
speech, recorded in his personal social media. Data were collected
from selected video logs of President Joko Widodo’s on YouTube
and were analyzed using a qualitative method based on Muysken’s
(2000) theory of code-mixing types and Hoffman’s (1975) functions
of code-mixing. The findings show how President Joko Widodo
mostly used insertional code-mixing both in daily life context with
his family and also when he plays his role as the President in front of
his people. Future research may look at how the other government
figures switching codes in the same context as the data and see if their
roles as the government have any influences to their speech.
Keywords— social media; multilingualism; code-mixing;
Muysken; Hoffman
I. INTRODUCTION
Communication has become easier with the help of technology in this
modern era. As a result of technological development, a variety of
social media emerged and are used by people all around the world for
various purposes. The term social media itself can be literally defined
as a platform - usually in the form of websites or applications, which
allows its user to communicate and share information. At first, social
media are mostly used by teenagers, but nowadays the number of its
user has grown. As reported in Global Digital Report conducted by
We Are Social – a media company (as cited in Chaffey, 2018), there
are 3,196 billion social media users in 2018. This number indicates a
13 percent increase from previous years. This growing number
signified that the use of social media has spread to all generation.
President of Republic Indonesia, Joko Widodo, is one political figure
that is an active social media user. He actively creates and posts
several contents on his personal YouTube account, publishing his
daily activities as a father figure amongst his family and also as the
President of the country.
Indonesia itself is a multilingual country with one official language –
Bahasa Indonesia, and hundreds of regional dialects. According to
the Ministry of Education and Culture, there are 652 regional dialects
in Indonesia in 2017 (as cited in Liputan6.com, 2018) spread all over
the country. President Joko Widodo was born in Solo, Central Java.
Besides Bahasa Indonesia, he must be able to speak in Javanese too
since he seems to use it frequently in his daily life. This claim can be
seen from the way he usually speaks. Even when he talks in Bahasa,
sometimes his speech also has a strong influence of Javanese accent.
In some occasions, he also mixes both codes in his utterances.
Sociolinguists used the term code to refer to a symbol of nationalism
that is used by people to speak or communicate in a particular
language – a dialect, a register, an accent or a style on different
situations and for different purposes (Yuliana, Luziana, & Sarwendah,
2015). Furthermore, the expert divided the act of changing codes into
two categories: code-switching and code-mixing. Code-mixing is
juxtaposition within the same speech exchange of passages of speech
belonging to two different grammatical systems or subsystems
(Gumperz, 1982). Meanwhile, Holmes (1992) defined code-
switching as a situation where a speaker switches from one code to
another. From these definitions, a general assumption can be inferred
that both code-mixing and code-switching are when someone
changes from one language. However, both terms should be
distinguished from each other. Holmes (1992) stated that the switch
indicates a change in the social situation and takes positive account
of the presence of new participants, while code-mixing mainly
happened without any changes in the topic nor the situation
(Gumperz, 1982). This language phenomenon is unavoidable,
notably in multilingual communities. Zhou & Wei (2007) stated in
their study about code-switching in China and found that this the
occurrence can appear in the process of language acquisition or after
a person has acquired a certain degree of English.
Muysken (2000) divided code-mixing typically into three main
types:
1. insertion – occurred at the word or phrase level,
2. alternation – occurred at the clause level, and
3. congruent lexicalization – the mix of standard code and
regional or social dialect.
Following Yuliana, et al. (2015), Muysken stated that the most
common type to occur is insertional code-mixing, in which lexical
items from one language are inserted into another one. Meanwhile,
the change is categorized as an alternation code-mixing when the
structure altered from one language to another. The least to occurred
is the congruent lexicalization code-switching where there is a
change influenced by a dialect to the language use.
In addition, according to Hoffman (1975), there are ten functions of
why code-mixing occurred, they are:
1. To talk about a particular topic.
2. To quote someone else.
3. To express solidarity. Code-Mixing Function Context
4. To interject. (Hoffman) Family Public
5. To repeat for clarification. Talk about a particular topic - -
6. To clarify the speech content for the interlocutor. Quote someone - -
7. To express group identity. Express solidarity - -
8. To soften or strengthen request or command. Interject 4 8
9. To fulfill lexical need. Repeat to clarify - 3
10. To exclude other people. Clarify speech content for the
- 2
interlocutor
As the leader of the government, Joko Widodo is surely expected to Express group identity - 1
be able to speak well in the standard and official language of the Soften or strengthen request - 3
country which is Bahasa Indonesia. But on some occasions, the Fulfill lexical need 4 3
President mixes codes between Javanese and Bahasa Indonesia. Thus, Exclude other people - -
this study aims to find out which types and the function of code-
mixing occurred the most in Jokowi’s speech. The analysis is
expected to be able to determine if his role as a leader has any While all three types of code-mixing are found in this study, not all
influences into his way of speaking. of Hoffman’s functions of code-mixing are identified. As shown in
table 2 above, only six out of ten functions were found in this
II. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY research, they are to interject, to repeat for clarification, to clarify
speech for the interlocutor, to express group identity, to soften or
This research was conducted using a qualitative method because the
strengthen command or request and to fulfill lexical need. In general,
data obtained were in the form of videos which need to be transcribed
the most frequent function is to interject which is found to occurred
and later analyzed. Qualitative research helps the researcher with
12 times in total.
richer and more in-depth understanding (Vanderstoep & Johnston,
2009).
A. Code-Mixing Types
The data for this study were collected from four selected videos of 1. Insertion
President Joko Widodo, taken from both his personal YouTube
account and other sources. The videos are (1) #PILOK 3 Pulang The first video - #PILOK 3 Pulang Rumah Diejek Bapak
Rumah Diejek Bapak, (2) MISTERI TERUNGKAP!!!, (3) Presiden has President Joko Widodo with his son, Kaesang, in a
Jokowi - Menata Pasar Rakyat Hadapi Kompetisi, and (4) Presiden room which seems to be his family house. In the first video,
Jowoki dan Ibu Tariyah. the two talk about their haircuts where the President gives
comments on his son’s new hairstyle.
The identified code-mixing found in the videos would then be
classified using Muysken’s (2000) theory of code-mixing types. <Jokowi> Nah ini loh. Cukuran kayak gini cukuran
Later on, the identified data would be quantified to determine which apa toh ini? Cukuran kok kayak cukuran
type of code-mixing occurred the most and analyze the function of mbatok, hehehe mbatok kelapa.
the mix found based on Hoffman’s (1975) theory. Depannya muncrit ehehe. Muncrit kayak
gini coba. Ganteng kayak bapak gini.
III. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Bagus. Ini cukuran ini tipis, ini tebel, eih…
In total, there are 28 code-mixings identified in the videos of both
Six code-mixings occurred in the video and all six are
contexts – family and public. Since the videos of family context have
identified as insertion. These insertional code-mixings
short duration, only a tiny number of code-mixing identified.
consist of tags such as toh, eih, loh, and Javanese lexical
Meanwhile, since the public context videos both have longer
items such as mbatok and muncrit.
duration, 20 code-mixings were found. However, all three types of
code-mixing by Musyken were found in this research as can be seen 2. Alternation
on the table below.
Alternation code-mixing occurs when someone mixes codes
Table 1. Number of types found in the videos on clause level. For instance, the first clause is produced in
one language then the preceding clause is produced in
Code-Mixing Types (Musyken) another. Six alternation code-mixing are found in this study
and all occurred in the public context where President Joko
Context Congruent
Insertion Alternation Widodo is talking in front of people, playing his role as their
Lexicalization leader. These alternations occurred equally frequent in both
Family 7 - 1 public-content videos, which are (1) Presiden Jokowi –
Public 14 6 - Menata Pasar Rakyat Hadapi Kompetisi and (2) Presiden
Jokowi dan Ibu Tariyah. Examples can be seen in the script
below.
Insertion was found 21 times in total, making it the most occurred
type of code-mixing in this study. Alternation occurred 6 times while <Jokowi> Pasar ini sudah dibangun, menurut
congruent lexicalization only occurred once. panjenengan sae nopo sae? Tadi saya
sudah sampaikan kepada Pak Menteri,
dikompliti sisa meja- mejane ben apik.
Table 2. Number of functions identified Dagangannya ditata yang baik, ojo kalah
kalih mall.
 <Jokowi> Ibu… Tariyah? Bu Tariyah, wonten dusun
pundi?
3. Congruent Lexicalization
Congruent lexicalization occurs when two languages share
the same grammatical structure so lexical elements of both
languages can be inserted, creating a particular pattern. In
the second video, Misteri Terungkap, the President was
asked by his son on why he does not follow his son’s social
media accounts. One code-mixing was found in the video
and categorized as congruent lexicalization since the data
consists of Javanese, Bahasa Indonesia and English lexical
items inserted continuously in one utterance.
<Jokowi> loh, kamu…nge-follow, toh?
The script shows how Joko Widodo used Javanese tags –
loh and toh, and also English word follow in a conversation
using Bahasa Indonesia. The patter the speech above created
can be seen on the image below.
Image 1. Congruent lexicalization pattern
Even though Bahasa and English do not share the same
grammatical structure, the content of the utterance still can
be conveyed.
B. Code-Mixing Functions
1. To interject
Interjection is words that are used to show a short sudden
expression of emotion. Therefore, interjections function to
emphasize the emotion of the speaker. From 28 code-
mixing occurred in the videos, 12 of them function to give
interjection and are mostly consist of tags. The tags found
in the videos such as toh, kok, eih, loh, yo and nggeh, are
considered to interject since they have the function of
emphasizing both the emotion of the speaker and also the
message of the utterance. The speech can be seen on the
script below.
<Jokowi> Nah ini loh. Cukuran kayak gini cukuran
apa toh ini? Cukuran kok kayak cukuran
mbatok, hehehe mbatok kelapa.
Depannya muncrit ehehe. Muncrit kayak
gini coba. Ganteng kayak bapak gini.
Bagus. Ini cukuran ini tipis, ini tebel, eih…
2. To repeat for clarification
This function of code-mixing was also identified to occur
three times in the Presiden Jokowi dan Ibu Tariyah video.
In the clip, the President repeats what the other speaker
uttered to make sure he did not miss heard her speech.
<Jokowi> Enem ngatus…Enam ratus ribu? Per meter?
<Jokowi> Sangan puluh per meter?
The data shows how the President uses Javanese to repeat
Ibu Tariyah’s utterance to make sure he heard right, then he
changes to Bahasa Indonesia to complete his speech.
3. To fulfill lexical need
People mix codes when their vocabulary of one of the
languages they know is lacking. The code-mixing which
function to fulfill the speaker’s lexical need occurred 7
times in total. The regional lexical items such as mbatok
and muncrit occurred merely to fulfill the President’s
lexical need since he probably uses Javanese with his
family on daily basis and could not found the equal
vocabulary in Indonesian standard language at the time he
uttered the speech. Meanwhile words and phrases like
training and bismillahirahmanirahim are used by the
President because both are probably more popular and used
more frequently rather than the equivalent versions in
Bahasa Indonesia as can be seen in the script below.
<Jokowi> Tolong ditata. Bu Kepala dinas tadi yang
disampaikan, tolong masalah manajemen,
masalah penataan diberikan pelatihan,
training, sehingga betul-betul apa yang
dijual itu bener-bener menarik sehingga
laku.
<Jokowi> Dengan mengucapkan
bismillahirahmanirahim, Pasar
Krendetan, nggih, sore hari ini saya
nyatakan diresmikan.
4. To soften or strengthen command or request
People mix codes to soften or strengthen their requests.
This also proven by Joko Widodo who immediately change
code from Bahasa Indonesia to Javanese to ask someone to
come forward in the analyzed video Presiden Jokowi -
Menata Pasar Rakyat Hadapi Kompetisi as the script can
be seen below.
<Jokowi> Tadi saya sudah sampaikan kepada Pak
Menteri, dikompliti sisa meja-mejane
ben apik. Dagangannya ditata yang baik,
ojo kalah kalih mall.
The same function was also found in another video,
Presiden Joko Widodo dan Ibu Tariyah.
<Jokowi> Coba sini ibu-ibu yang tunjuk jari tadi. Ya
sini, ke depan. Mriki, Bu, mriki.
5. To clarify speech for the interlocutor
Code-mixing also occurred to make sure that the speech can
be clearly understood by the hearer. This function seems to
occur once in the analyzed data. In the video Presiden
Jokowi dan Ibu Tariyah, the President changes code from
Bahasa Indonesia to Javanese to make sure his partner
knows and understand what he is trying to say.
<Jokowi> Ibu… Tariyah? Bu Tariyah, wonten dusun
pundi?
<Jokowi> Kagem nopo? Tambah rumah?
 6. To express group identity
People might also change code when they are trying to show
their identity. This function seems to occur once in the video
of Presiden Jokowi – Menata Pasar Hadapi Kompetisi
when he delivers an opening speech to officially open the
Krendetan traditional market which is located in Purworejo,
Central Java. He starts his speech with Bahasa Indonesia but
then changes to Javanese to ask the people.
<Jokowi> Pasar ini sudah dibangun, menurut
panjenengan sae nopo sae?
IV. CONCLUSIONS
The findings show that all types of code-mixing as categorized
by Musyken appear in the selected videos with insertional
code-mixing as the most occurred type with 21 appearances.
Other types – alternation and congruent lexicalization are also
found with the frequency of 6 and 1 respectively. Meanwhile
as for the function, based on Hoffman’s theory, only six out of
ten functions identified in the videos. President Joko Widodo
mostly mixes codes to interject using regional tags such as toh,
nggeh and loh. This function occurs 12 times in total, found in
both contexts. Despite being the leader of the country who is
expected to use standard language, it is found that Joko
Widodo’s role as the President of the Republic of Indonesia
does not have any influence on the way he speaks since he still
uses regional dialect, Javanese, in his speech.
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