Affixation and Abreviation in the Variety of Adolescent Languages in the BBM Application

Munirah and Dika Ayu Wulandari

Indonesian Language and Literature Education Postgraduate Program

Muhammadiyah University of Makassar

Email: munirah@unismuh.ac.id

Abstract

This study aims to describe affixation and abreviation in the variety of adolescent language
in BBM application. The method in this research is descriptive method. The approach in this
research is qualitative. The data in this research are affixation and abreviation in the vocabulary,
morpheme, words, phrases, and sentences that form the status and comments used in
communicating adolescent users of BBM. Data collection technique in this research is collecting
secondary data. Data were taken randomly throughout March 2016 to May 2016, captured from
128 (one hundred and twenty-eight) posts in BBM status and commentary containing
morphological process data of affixation and abreviation by holding the principle of confidentiality
and keeping the respondent private. The data will be described and classified based on affixation
and abreviation in the range of adolescent languages in the BBM application. Data analysis
techniques by data reduction, researching morphological processes, grouping affixation and
abreviation, display data, verification, and conclusions. The study yielded 11 prefix patterns, 7
suffix patterns, 10 confix patterns, 6 abbreviation patterns, 9 acronym patterns, and 7 contraction
patterns. The wide variety of affixation and abreviation patterns found characterize that the
morphological pattern of the adolescent language varies greatly.
Keywords: affixation, abreviation, and variety of youth language.

Preliminary

Every human needs a language to work together. Language is used as a communication tool for
various purposes, such as in worship, study, work, and community. Language can accommodate the
feelings and thoughts of the wearer, and is able to lead to mutual understanding between speakers and
partners or between the writer and the reader.

Diverse communities and different cultural environments give rise to a variety of languages in
language use. Community diversity in language is caused by the dynamic nature of language. The
dynamism of the language is inseparable from the various possibilities of changes at any time. Things that
affect the dynamics of language in society include the influence of social, cultural and science and
technology (science and technology) that develop. The phenomenon of the emergence of various
languages is caused by the need to use language to communicate and work together in accordance with
the situation and function in social contact. Every language that meets another language will have a
language contact. The existence of language contact influences the occurrence of various languages that
develop in society. This was marked by the emergence of new languages that developed in the community
and were used by some people to communicate everyday.

A language within the scope of society will always experience development and change. Along
with the development of the times, the use of language among adolescents is also experiencing
development, so the term "adolescent language" appears.

Adolescent language is one of the various types and forms of Indonesian language richness that
must be acknowledged as being in line with various other languages (Wijana, 2010). It is very wrong to
consider this variety of languages as a variety of languages that lack prestige, let alone a variety that will
damage the use of standard languages. As long as its use is in accordance with the situation and context,
the communication tools of these teens will not cause problems. A variety of teenage languages like this
can be found in all developing languages.

Based on its characteristics, the language range of adolescents includes informal variety.
However, adolescent language is different from formal and informal Indonesian in general. The linguistic
characteristics of the adolescent language range include phonology, morphological, syntactic, and lexical
characteristics (Subiyatningsih, 2007).

If viewed from a developmental perspective, the adolescent phase is the most interesting and
impressive phase of human life. This phase has its own characteristics, among others, teenagers are often
adventurous, in groups, and do 'delinquency'. These characteristics are also reflected in their language.
The desire to make different groups causes them to create "secret" languages that only apply to their
groups.

In general, adolescents use this form of speech to communicate with each other in a relaxed state
and function to establish intimacy or as an identity familiarity. Sometimes for those who are no longer
teenagers, this adolescent language causes confusion because they cannot understand what is said or
written by the teenagers when they communicate.

At present the use of Indonesian language among teenagers is somewhat different from
Indonesian which is 'good' and 'correct'. One of the requirements of good and correct language is the use
of language that follows a standardized or standardized principle or appropriate and appropriate variety
of usage according to the speakers and types of language use (Badudu, 1985).

The variety used in adolescent languages includes a variety of relaxed so the language is not too
raw. The impotence is reflected in vocabulary, sentence structure and intonation. For example, in the
choice of words gimana is used to replace the word bagaimana (how), napa for kenapa (why). To avoid
the formation of words with affixation, the language of adolescence uses the process of nasalization and
some are accompanied by the addition of the suffix -in such as ngerusakin (confusion) for merusak
(damage) or also the menguntungkan (beneficial) word to be nguntungin (profitable).

The vocabulary of the adolescent language is very rich. Adolescent language vocabulary can be a
shortening of words, the use of natural words is given a new meaning or a completely new and changing
vocabulary. In addition, the language of adolescence can also be a reversal of sound, the vocabulary
commonly used in the community becomes strange, funny, and there are even different meanings.
 Adolescent language can be widely known through the role of mass media, such as print media
and electronic media. In print media, adolescent languages are widely used in magazines, novels, short
stories, and tabloids. Whereas in electronic media, we often find adolescent languages in languages on
radio, television, internet, and SMS.

One of the communication media used by teenagers to support communication is a cellphone or

handphone. In addition to delivering voice messages, telephones or cellphones can also deliver messages
through writing, commonly known as SMS (short message service). Today the community does not only
use SMS services in delivering messages through writing, but through other media services such as BBM
(BlackBerry Messenger) which have become the needs of the community of all groups, ranging from
children, adolescents, even adults.

BBM is an instant messaging sender application that is provided for smartphone device users such
as BlackBerry and Android. BBM applications that have many advantages make many people use these
applications to be used as an efficient communication medium. Through the BBM application, users often
use private messages (personal messege) or status that aims to express themselves, provide information,
offer goods, and so on. The existence of personal messages or status, fellow BBM application users can
comment related to personal messages or status written.

The BBM application impacts on the use of the language of adolescents. It seems that the
language used is a language that we usually use everyday or a mixture of Indonesian, regional languages,
and foreign languages. From the language used there are a number of vocabulary that can be understood,
but there are some that cannot be understood.

This is very worrying for the people who do not understand the language of adolescents at all so
that they think that they are destroying the standard Indonesian language. Adolescent language is never
fixed, or in other words it is always changing, according to the nature of the adolescent itself which is not
yet established. The change cannot be predicted, nor by the teenagers themself.

In connection with the increasingly widespread use of adolescent language used by some
teenagers, it is necessary to take action from all parties who care about the existence of Indonesian which
is a national language, the language of unity, and the language of instruction in education.

Based on the background above, the focus of the problem of this study are: 1) affixation in the
morphological process of the variety of adolescent languages on the application of BBM, 2) abreviation in
the morphological process of adolescent language variety in the BBM application.

Research Methods

The type and design of the qualitative-descriptive study were used in this study. The data used in
this study are affixation and abreviation in vocabulary, morpheme, words, phrases and sentences that are
tangible status and comments of BBM users (Blackberry Messenger) aged 13 years to 20 years who are
classified as adolescents. The data collection of this study uses observation techniques and
documentation techniques. The process of collecting and analyzing data in research through three stages,
namely 1) data reduction, 2) data display, and 3) data verification / conclusion drawing.
Discussion and Results

BBM is an instant messaging sender application that is provided for smartphone device users such
as Blackberry and Android. BBM has many advantages to make people, especially teenagers, use
applications to become efficient communication media. The BBM application impacts on the use of the
language of adolescents.

As data in this study, the researchers sampled 128 (one hundred twenty eight) articles in BBM in
the form of status and comments. BBM users are 13-20 years old. Data was taken randomly throughout
March 2016 to May 2016. Data will be described and classified based on affixation and abreviation in the
variety of adolescent languages in the BBM application.

According to Chaer (2003: 8), affixation is the process of affixing affixes to the basic form, both in
forming derivative verbs, derivative nouns, and other derivative categories. In this study, affixation is
divided into prefixes, suffixes, and confixes.

According to Alwi et al. (1998), prefixes are called prefixes. Prefix is an affix placed on the face of
a basic word. This term comes from the Latin praefixus which means attached (fixus, figere) before
something (prae). One example of the Indonesian prefix is {meng-} like mendapat (getting), menganggap
(assuming), menyikat (brushing). Analysis techniques by sorting data that undergoes a process of changing
the prefix by removing one or several letters or by using punctuation. The basic words ubah (change), arti
(meaning), syukur (gratitude), and sandiwara (theatrics) get the prefix {ber-} so that to be berubah
(changes), berarti (means), bersyukur (grateful), and bersandiwara (theatrics) and then changes the prefix
{br-} so that it becomes a brubah (changes), brarti (meaningful), brsyukir (thankful), and brsandiwara (role
play). The basic words minum (drink), cela (interrupt), and sambung (connect) get the prefix {di-} so that
to be diminum (drunk), dicela (interrupted), and disambung (connected) and then undergo a change in
the prefix {d'-} so that it becomes d'minum (drunk), d'cela (interrupted), and d’sambung (connected). The
basic words jemput (pickup) and tukar (exchange) get prefixes {di-} so that to be dijemput (picked up) and
ditukar (exchanged) and then change the prefix {d’-} so that it is djemput (picked up) and dtukar
(exchanged). Indah (Beautiful) and diam (silent) words get the prefix {ter-} so that to be terindah (the most
beautiful) and terdiam (silent) and then experience a change in the {tr-} prefix so that it becomes trindah
(the most beautiful) and trdiam (silent). The basic word tahan (the resistant) and darah (the blood) gets
the prefix {meng-} to be menahan (hold) and mendarah (bleed) and then changes the prefix {m-} so that
it becomes mnahan (hold) and mdarah (bleed). The basic words of ajar (teaching), kaji (study), kantuk
(sleepiness), and idam (craving) get prefix {meng-} into mengajar (teaching), mengaji (reciting),
mengantuk (drowsiness), and mengidam (cravings) and then experience changes in prefix {ng-} so that
they become ngajar (teaching), ngaji (recitation), ngantuk (sleepiness), and ngidam (cravings). The basic
words sapu (broom) and seberang (cross) get the prefix {meng-} to menyapu (sweep) and menyeberang
(cross) and then experience a change in the prefix {ny-} so that it nyapu (sweeps) and nyebrang (crosses).

Suffix is an affix inserted in the middle of the base word. In Latin it is sufixus which means attached
(fixus, figere) below (sub). The analysis technique is by sorting out the words that experience the process
of changing the suffix by removing one or several letters, replacing them with another suffix, or by using
punctuation. The basic word ada (there), sembuh (healed), selalu (always), and hujan (the rain) gets its
suffix {-nya} into adanya (existence), sembuhnya (heal), selalunya (always) and hujannya (the rain) then
experiences changes in suffix {whatever they like} so that it becomes adany (existence), sembuhx (heal),
selalu.a (always) , and hujan.y (the rain). The basic words are dengar (heard) and siap (ready) get the suffix
{-kan} so that it becomes dengarkan (listening) and siapkan (prepare) and then change the suffix {-in} and
{-kn} so that it becomes dengerin (listening) and siapkn (ready). The word dengerin (listening) changes
phoneme /a/ becomes phoneme /e/ so that it becomes dengerin (heard). The basic word for sakit
(sickness) gets the suffix {-i} to become sakiti (sick) then changes in the suffix {-in} becomes sakitin {sick}.

According to Gummere and Horn (1955), Confix is also called ambipiks and circumfiks.
Etymologically from Latin, these three terms have the same meaning. Kon- (con-) from the word confero
which means together (bring together), ambi- is from the word ambo, which means both, and circulation
- derived from the circumdo word which means put around. According to Alwi et al. (1998: 32),
configuration is a combination of prefixes and suffixes that form a unit and are simultaneously added. The
analysis technique by sorting out the words that experience the process of confix change by removing one
or several letters, replacing them with another suffix, or by using punctuation. The basic words Tanya
(question), dua (two), and timbang (weighs) get confixed {di-kan}, they become dipertanyakan
(questionable), diduakan (superseded), and dipertimbangkan (considered) and then it gets confixed {d-
kn, d’-kan, d-kan} so that they become d.pertanyakn (questionable), d’duakan (superseded), and
dpertimbangkan (considered). The basic words are sembuh (cured) and hujan (the rain) gets confixed {ke-
an} into disembuhkan (healing) and kehujanan (rain) then experiences confix {k-an, k’an} changes, so that
it becomes ksembuhan (healing) and k’hujanan (rain). The basic words bayar (pay) and sahabat (friend)
get confixed {pe-an} into pembayaran (payment) and persahabatan (friendship) then experiences confix
{p’-an, pr-an} changes, so that it becomes p’bayaran (payment) and prsahabatan (friendship). Likewise in
the basic word raya (celebrate) and butuh (need) get confix {meng-kan}, it will become merayakan
(celebrated) and membutuhkan (need) then experience confix {m-kan, mm-kan} changes, so that it
becomes mrayakan (celebrate) and mmbutuhkan (need). Specifically the basic word balas (reply) get
confix {meng-nya} so that to be membalasnya (reply to it) and then experiencing confix {m’m-x} changes
so that it became m’mbalasx (reply to it).

In the Big Indonesian Dictionary (2008: 3), abreviation is shortening the form as a substitute for a
complete form; written abbreviations instead of words or phrases. In the analysis of this study, abreviation
is divided into abbreviations, acronyms, and contractions.

Abbreviation is one of the shortening processes in the form of letters or a combination of letters,
which are spelled letter by letter, such as KKN (Kuliah Kerja Nyata; Real Work Lecture). According to Chaer
(2008: 236), the abbreviation is taking the first letters (phonemes) of the words that make up the concept.
The analysis technique is by sorting words that experience a shortening process by spelling letter by letter
taken from the initial phonemes of the syllable and the initial phoneme of the word. The basic words
broadcast and transfer base words are shortened by taking the initial phoneme of each syllable, so that it
becomes bc and tf. The chat post and get well soon chat phrases are shortened by taking the initial
phoneme of each word, so that it becomes cp and gws. The basic word happy birthday is shortened by
taking the initial phoneme of the first word and the initial phoneme of the second word and then taking
the phoneme /d/ of the second syllable, so that it becomes hbd. The phrase where are you is shortened
by taking the initial where phoneme, specifically abbreviations that contain 'are' are not abbreviated as
/a/, but becomes /r/ and the abbreviation 'you' is not abbreviated to /y/, but becomes /u/, so it becomes
wru.

Acronyms are word formation through combining the initial letters of the word sequence or
certain parts of sequential words, such as raker (rapat kerja;working meetings), polwan (polisi wanita;
female police), and so on. The analysis technique is by sorting words that undergo a shortening process
through a combination of initial letters and syllables from a row of words that are treated as words. The
phrase knowing every particular object is shortened by taking the initial phoneme of each word, so that it
becomes kepo. A bobo cantik (beautiful sleeping) phrase and bikin jengkel (make you feel annoyed) with
an abbreviation by taking the first syllable of all words, so that it becomes bocan and bijeng. The malas
gerak (lazy to moves) and bawa perasaan (brings feelings) phrase to be shortened by taking the first
syllable of the first word and the second word plus the first phoneme of the second syllable, so that it
becomes mager and baper. Lupa daratan (Forgotten) and dari dulu (since a long time ago) phrases from
the beginning by taking the first syllable plus the first phoneme of the second syllable of each word, so
that it becomes lupdar and dardul. Malam minggu (The Saturday nighttime) phrase is abbreviated by
taking the first syllable plus the first phoneme of the second syllable and the first syllable of the second
syllable, thus becoming malming. Mari kita bobo (Let us sleep) phrases shortened by taking the first
syllable plus the first phoneme of the second syllable, the first syllable of the second word and the third
word, so that it becomes markibo. The phrase sakinah mawaddah warahmah experiences an abbreviation
of the syllables of all words, so it becomes samawa. And the phrases of calon adik ipar (prospective sister-
in-law) experience abbreviations by taking the initial syllable, the middle syllable, and the final syllable of
each word, so that it becomes cadipar.

Contraction, which is a shortening process that summarizes words or basic lexemes or a

combination of words or basic lexemes, like tak (tidak;no), takkan (tidak akan; won’t), and so on. Data
analysis techniques by sorting words through shortening processes that summarize words or basic
lexemes or combinations of words. The basic words of brother suffered decapitation by means of the
three phonemes beginning with the base word and the phoneme then removed, so that it becomes bro.
The basic words tidak (no) experience decapitation by removing some of the words in the beginning of
the word, so that become dak (no). The basic word mau (want) is to be decapitated by replacing the
phoneme /au/ or /ua/ into phoneme /w/, so that it becomes mw (want). The basic word kalau (if) has
beheaded by replacing the phoneme /au/ or /ua/ into phoneme /o/, so that it becomes kalo (if). The basic
words tidak (no), dia (he), and kita (we) are beheaded by removing some phonemes and replacing them
with other phonemes, so that they become dag (no), dy (he), and qt (we). The basic words ini (this) and
untuk (for) experience decapitation by phoneme removal in the beginning of the word, so it becomes ni
(this) and ntuk (for). Basic words padahal (even though) and saying (darling) are decapitated by removing
vowel phonemes and or phoneme replacement /ng/ to /g/, so that they become pdhl (even though) and
syg (darling).

From the analysis above, it can be summarized as follows: in affixation there are 11 prefix
patterns, 7 suffix patterns, and 6 abbreviated patterns and on abreviation there are 6 abbreviated
patterns, 9 acronym patterns, and 7 contraction patterns.

The Pattern of the Process of Affixing and Abreviating Adolescent Languages in the BBM
Application (Blackberry Messenger)

Proses Pola Perubahan Contoh Kata

Morfologis
ber- + KD  br- + KD berubah  brubah
Prefiks
di- + KD  d'- + KD diminum  d'minum
 di- + KD  d- + KD dijemput  djemput
ter- + KD  t- + KD terasa  trasa
ter- + KD  t'- + KD tersayang  t'sayang
ter- + KD  tr- + KD terindah  trindah
meng- + KD  m- + KD Menahan  mnahan
meng- + KD  mm- + KD Membaca  mmbaca
meng- + KD  ng- + KD Mengawas  ngawas
meng- + KD  ny- + KD Menyapu  nyapu
meng- + KD  n- + KD Menuntut  nuntut
KD + -nya  KD + -ny adanya  adany
KD + -nya  KD + -x sembuhnya  sembuhx
KD + -nya  KD + -.a gondrongnya  gondrong.a
Sufiks KD + -nya  KD + -.y hujannya  hujan.y
KD + -kan  KD + -in dengarkan  dengerin
KD + -kan  KD + -kn fixkan  fixkn
KD + -i  KD + -in sakiti  sakitin
di- + KD + kan  d.- + KD + -kn Dipertanyakan d.pertanyakn
di- + KD + kan  d'- + KD + kan Diduakan  d'duakan
di- + KD + kan  d- + KD + kan Dipertimbangkan
dpertimbangkan
ke- + KD + an  k- + KD + an Kesembuhan  ksembuhan
Konfiks ke- + KD + an  k'- + KD + an Kehujanan  k'hujanan
pe- + KD + an  p'- + KD + an Pembayaran  p'bayaran
pe- + KD + an  pr- + KD + an Persahabatan  prsahabatan
meng- + KD + kan  m- + KD + kan Merayakan  mrayakan
meng- + KD + kan  mm- + KD + kan Membutuhkan mmbutuhkan
meng- + KD + -nya  m'm- + KD + x
Membalasnya  m'mbalasx

The Pattern of the Process of Affixing and Abreviating Adolescent Languages in the BBM
Application (Blackberry Messenger)

Proses Pola Perubahan Contoh Kata

Morfologis
sk1 + sk2 + skn  fsk1 + fsk2 + fskn Broadcast  BC
k1 + kn  fk1 + fkn Chat Post  CP
k1 + k2 + kn  fk1 + fk2 + fkn Get Well Soon  GWS
Singkatan
k1 + kn  fk1 + fk2 + fsk2 Happy Birthday  HBD
k1 + k2 + kn are you fk1 + /r/ + /u/ Where Are You  Wru
k1  fsk1 + fsk2 Transfer  tf
Kontraksi sk1a + sk2a  sk1a Brother  bro
 sk1a + sk2a  sk2a tidak  dak
f1f2f3fn (/au/ atau /ua/)  f1f2f3fn /w/ mau  mw
f1f2f3fn (/au/ atau /ua/)  f1f2f3fn /o/ kalau  kalo
f1f2f3fn  f3f4flain tidak  dag, dia  dy, kita
 qt
f1f2f3fn  f2f3fn ini  ni, untuk  ntuk
Penghilangan fonem vokal atau padahal pdhl
penggantian fonem /ng/ menjadi /g/ sayang  syg

Pola Perubahan Akronim Contoh Kata

knowing
[f1a + f2a + fna] [f1b + f2b + fnb] [f1c + f2c + fnc] [f1n + f2n + f3] [f1a + f1b + every
f1c + f1n] particular
object 
kepo
bobo cantik
[sk1a + sk2a] [sk1b + sk2b] sk1a + sk1b  bocan
bikin jengkel
 bijeng
malas gerak
 mager
[sk1a + sk2a] [sk1b + sk2b(f1b + f2b + fnb)] [sk1a + sk1b + f1b(sk2b)]
bawa
perasaan 
baper
lupa daratan
[sk1a + sk2a (f1a + f2a + fna)] [sk1b + sk2b (f1b + f2b + fnb)] [sk1a + f1a(sk2a) +
 lupdar
sk1b + f1b(sk2b)]
dari dulu 
dardul
malam
[sk1a + sk2a(f1a + f2a + fna)] [sk1b + sk2b] [sk1a + f1a(sk2a) + sk1b]
minggu 
malming
[sk1a + sk2a(f1a + f2a + fna)] [sk1b + sk2b] [sk1c + sk2c] [sk1a + f1a(sk2a) + mari kita
sk1b + sk1c] bobo 
markibo
[sk1a + sk2a(f1a + f2a + fna)] [sk1b + sk2b] [sk1c + sk2c(f1c + f2c + fnc] mari kita
[sk1a + f1a(sk2a) + sk1b + sk1c + f1c(sk2c] pulang 
markipul
 Sakinah
[sk1a + sk2a] [sk1b + sk2b] [sk1c + sk2c] sk1a + sk1b + sk1c mawaddah
warahmah 
samawa
[sk1a + sk2a] [sk1b + sk2b(f1b + f2b + fnb)] [sk1c + sknc] [sk1a + f2b calon adik
+ fnb(sk2b) + sknc] ipar 
cadipar

Conclusions

This study produced 11 prefix patterns, 7 suffix patterns, 8 confix patterns, 6 abbreviated
patterns, 9 acronym patterns, and 7 contraction patterns. The variety of patterns of affixation and
abreviation found to characterize that the adolescent BBM language morphological pattern is very
diverse. The pattern of the morphological process of the adolescent BBM language is predominantly
reduced. Teenagers have the same mindset pattern which is always reducing their vocabulary. They
abbreviate words or simplify forms for the beauty of writing, prioritizing sound comfort by replacing
letters that have similar sounds, decorating communication by playing letters, punctuation, and numbers.
They access via cellular which is not as free as computers because it refers to short messages from service
operators who charge per character rates which function to save costs, simplify pronunciation, and
practice spelling style.

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