About Javanese

Javanese is a language spoken by people in the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. It belongs to the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) language family. More than 75,500,000 of people are natives user of Javanese, and in Indonesia it has several regional dialects that have differences in many words and dialect. For example, Javanese in Tegal, a district in Central Java is different from Javanese in Pekalongan, even though both of them are located in the same province. Like for ‘hungry’, in Javasene in Tegal is ‘kencot’, while in Javanese in Pekalongan it is ‘ngelih’.

In Javanese, there are three levels of languages that we use for conversation. There are Ngoko, Kromo Madya, and Kromo Inggil. According to Javanese culture, the way of speaking to someone younger is different than to someone older. We use Ngoko to talk to our friend and whoever who are younger than us. To talk to somebody whom we respect or to stangers we use Kromo Madya. And, we use Kromo Inggil to talk to our parent and some people in important positions. Kromo Inggil is used as well for some ceremonies in formal situations like wedding parties.