3.1 But You Still Use Javanese, Right?

In the course of my time in Central Java it became apparent to me that the label indicating ‘the Javanese language’ – bahasa(BI) or basa(BJ) Jawa – represented either: (1), not a ‘language’ but the bahasa sehari-hari, ‘daily talk’, that everyone spoke with each other every day; or (2) it was a very sophisticated language that was too difficult for even local residents to learn. This inconsistency over the definition of language and the definition of Javanese ways of communicating is well represented in a conversation that I had one morning over breakfast with a friend. The following is a paraphrase of the conversation that I jotted down after we finished our meal together:

Then AC said something about languages she can and can’t speak and she said she can’t speak Javanese. She said she can’t read the characters [of the syllabary]. I said, ‘But what languages do you use every day with your friends?’

Just two days prior to this conversation, other messages caught my attention as I attended the home viewing service for AC's grandfather's recent passing. As we sat at the ceremony, held at their aunt's house nearby, AC's older sister SJ sat next to me. As the service began, SJ told me that this was about to get boring because she and her siblings couldn't understand the bahasa Jawa kromo – the high register of Javanese – that was being spoken at the service. A couple of minutes later, one of her other sisters leaned over and asked me, 'Are you bored? Because I am. I can't understand any of this.