CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM

Language is a means of communication, through language humans
can convey ideas, thoughts and feelings they have to others. Therefore,
language is inseparable from humans. This proves that language plays an
important role in our lives. Language is one of the characteristics that
distinguishes humans from other living things. Every member of society is
involved in communication. On the one hand they act as speakers and on the
other as listeners. Language is part of culture that is closely related to
thinking. Thus society and culture have a certain way of thinking that is
expressed in their language. In general, there are two languages used by
Indonesian people to communicate, namely Indonesian and regional
languages. Indonesian as the national language and regional language is
used by the community to interact among members of an ethnic group.
Along with the times, language also develops. Differences in class,
occupation, activity, community also contribute to language diversity. These
things can be said as one of the causes of the emergence of language
variations. The occurrence of language diversity or variation is not only
caused by speakers who cannot live alone, but also because their social
interaction activities are different. Everyone has different activities. Each
individual speaker causes language diversity. Speakers who are in a very
wide area will lead to more language diversity. In linguistics, language is
not only understood as a sign but also seen as a social system,
communication system, and as part of the culture of a particular society.
Therefore, research with a sociolinguistic approach will consider how its use
in society is influenced by social factors. Language variation or language
variety is the use of language according to the user, which varies according
to the topic being discussed, according to the relationship between the
speaker, the interlocutor, and the person being spoken of and according to
the media of conversation (KBBI, 2003: 920).
 One of the languages that developed in Indonesia is the Kerinci
language. The Kerinci language is used as the first language by the Kerinci
people in communication by using variations that are appropriate to the
cultural context. In daily communication and social interaction, the people
of Kerinci use the Kerinci language. The Kerinci language has various
dialects including the Kerinci Siulak dialect and the Kerinci Rawang dialect.
The Siulak community in association and interaction with others uses the
Siulak dialect as well as the Hamparan Rawang community.
The Kerinci isolect has various variations in almost every region.
However, these isolects also have differences, both at the phonological and
lexical levels between isolects. However, speakers and interlocutors
understand and understand each other (mutually intelligible) when they
speak their respective isolects so as not to hinder the Kerinci people from
communicating with each other. The isolects based on the field review are
assumed to be different in each sub-district or village in Kerinci Regency,
one of which is the Siulak and Hamparan Rawang isolects, Kerinci
Regency, which are the observation areas in this study. The selection of the
area was based on the fact that the geographical location was close to each
other and a historical review that the three villages came from the same
lineage. Every isolect in the area was found to have elements that had
undergone changes and renewals from their mother tongue (protolanguage).
The process of change takes place slowly from time to time. These changes
and renewals do not only come from influences outside the isolect, but also
influences within the isolect itself. The influence can be in the form of
renewal of sound elements and phonemes that exist within the isolect itself
or renewal by absorbing sound elements from outside the isolect from areas
adjacent to the isolect.
The Kerinci language is used to communicate between the Kerinci
people in government activities, education, and daily conversation. The
Kerinci language is also a supporter of the Kerinci regional culture until
now it is still well maintained by the people. As
 In regional culture, the Kerinci language has a very important place
among other types of culture. This is because the regional language is a
medium for the development of the regional culture. Based on the
explanation above, research on the Kerinci language can be useful for the
development of Indonesian because Indonesian vocabulary can be
developed from regional languages.
In essence, the Kerinci language recognizes language variations in
the form of local variations which can be called dialects. The dialect
boundaries have not been definitively determined because there has been no
special research on the geographical boundaries of the Kerinci area.
However, the Kerinci language is classified into three major dialect groups,
namely the Upper Kerinci dialect, the Middle Kerinci dialect and the Lower
Kerinci dialect. According to Usman 1990:13 in his research report stated
that "In the Kerinci language there are two dialects, namely the "i" dialect
and the "ai" dialect, each of which has a sub-dialect". Furthermore,
Amirruddin et al (2003:13) stated that "There are approximately 177
dialects in the Kerinci language. The number of dialects is as many as the
number of villages (original hamlets) in Kerinci Regency. The factor that
causes the plurality of dialects is that the group that forms the hamlet
(Kerinci: luhah or negehi) is more dominant in its territorial genealogical
relationship even though the neighboring village is only limited by roads or
rivers.
The characteristics of the Kerinci language have a uniqueness that is
different from other regional languages. The greeting word kerinci is unique
in the form of greeting a sister to her brother depending on the order of
birth. For example, in a family there are four siblings, the second, third, and
fourth children greet the first brother with the greeting word Uwo, the third
and fourth children greet the second brother with the greeting word Ngah,
the fourth child greets the third brother with the greeting word Ndak, and
the fourth child is addressed as Nsu by people who are under the age of the
fourth child, as well as greetings Uwo, Ngah, Ndak, and Nsu are addressed
by people who are under their age.
 Almost all of the consonants in the Rawang isolect Kerinci language
are phonemes except for the glottal sound [ʔ] which does not differentiate in
meaning. The glottal sound [ʔ] is a realization of the phoneme [k] in the
final position. More specifically, there are 18 consonant phonemes in the
Rawang isolect Kerinci language, including: /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /c/, /j/,
/s/ , /h/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /ɲ/, /r/, /l/, /w/, /y/. Proof of these consonants as
phonemes is done through the procedure of finding minimal pairs or similar
pairs. The determination of minimal pairs and similar pairs is done by first
determining the suspicious sound pairs. Pairs of sounds that are not
suspicious are considered to be separate phonemes. As long as the data
obtained, the consonant sounds contained in the Rawang isolect Kerinci
language are as follows. [bub ] 'porridge' ~ [kub ] 'kubur' [abiw] 'abu' ~
[adiw] 'adu' [pase] 'market' ~ [kase] 'rough' [apiwh] 'delete' ~ [aliwh] '
smooth' [dusu] 'dusun' ~ [milk] 'stacking' [bədoəʔ] 'powder' ~ [bənoəʔ]
'brain' [tumpaw] 'blunt ~[kumpaw] 'collect' [lətaoʔ] 'lay' ~ [ləmaoʔ] 'fat'
[kumiw] 'kumur' ~ [sumiw] 'well' [bukiw] 'book' ~ [buliw] 'fur' [gunti]
'scissors' ~ [bunti] 'pregnant' [gagoəh] 'strong' ~ [ gajoəh] 'elephant' [layiw]
'wither' ~ [kayiw] 'wood' [buliwh] 'reed' ~ [butiwh] 'need' [rəkao] 'record' ~
[səkao] 'rice husk' [pareh] 'severe ' ~ [payeh] 'payah' [cabuʔ] 'unplug' ~
[sabuʔ] 'coir' [kace] 'beans ~ [kale] 'kalang' [jad w] 'so' ~ [pad w] 'paddy'
[bajiw ] 'clothes' ~ [batiw] 'stone' [pious] 'wrong' ~ [kaleh] 'lost' [masao]
'masa' ~ [malao] 'night' [handiwʔ] 'towel' ~ [tandiwʔ] 'horn' [umeʔ] 'ummah
~ [uheʔ] 'vein' [nanaoh] 'pus' ~ [tanaoh] 'earth' [pəŋaoʔ]'stuff' ~ [səɲaoʔ]
'silent' [uwoʔ] 'steam' ~ [usoʔ] 'wipe' ' [payeh] 'bad' ~ [paneh] 'hot'.
The Kerinci language has a number of affixes that can be combined
with basic words to form affixes. Among the affixes are:
1. prefixes -, j- , k-, ta-.
2. infix -er-.
3. suffix -lah.
In general, the suffix above cannot be joined with the word task.
Thus, the Kennel language assignment word is less likely to change into an
affixed form.
1.2 IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM
This research will identify the problem. The problem identification
is as follows.
1) Children who have the ability to first speak Indonesian will reduce
local language speakers which will eventually cause extinction of
local languages.
2) It is feared that even children who have the ability to speak regional
languages will not be able to keep up with the times because they
cannot get along with other people who have other languages with
them.
3) Environmental factors affect the first language of children aged 3-5
years, children are less able to communicate in Indonesian.

1.3 LIMITATION OF THE PROBLEM

After identifying the problem, the scope of the problem in this study
is limited to the following:
1) The language taken is only the local language of Kerinci including
Kerinci Siulak or Hulu and Kerinci Rawang.
2) In this study, only talked about some language variations in the
regional languages of Kerinci Siulak and Kerinci Rawang.

1.4 FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM

The formulation of the problem in this study is as follows:
1) What are the language variations between the Kerinci Siulak and
Kerinci Rawang dialects?
2) What are the factors that cause language variation?

1.5 PURPOSE OF THE PROBLEM

The purpose of this study is to describe:
1) To explain the language variations between the Kerinci Siulak and
Kerinci Rawang dialects.
2) To explain the factors that cause language variation?
1.6 SIGNIFICANT OF THE PROBLEM
1) Based on the research background, the authors hope this research
can make a significant contribution to sociolinguistic learning and
enlarge the views of English Department students in particular, and
to sociolinguistic views in general.
2) The development of the theory of language variation is part of
sociolinguistics, which is expected to increase knowledge about
language skills, Indonesian and regional languages as the first
language.
3) Increase knowledge in the field of sociolinguistics regarding the
influence of first language on the ability of children aged 3-5 years
in language, Indonesian and regional languages.
4) Increase knowledge about language skills in children aged 3-5 years
for researchers, especially for readers.
5) Increase parents' knowledge of the importance of local language
learning as the child's first language.