Javanese’s
Conceptual and Associative Meanings of Black and White Colours
Eka Sugeng Ariadi
Graduate Program of English Department
The State University of Surabaya
Abstract: Exploring the relationship between conceptual and associative meanings in colours of
particular community is a challenging subject in few
decades. Aiming at building a good
cross-cultural communication, it is necessary to share what Javanese’s people
intrepretation in colours at their mundane life. It is believed that there is a
strong relationship between language (i.e.: colours) and culture. Evans (2006)
states that culture is shared and maintained through the use of language, in other words, culture is reflected in language,
vice versa. The present research investigated the conceptual and associative
meanings of the black and white colours used in Javanese society in order to find out the cultural
values inside. This study employed 50 students in East Java
as the participants. Gender and educational background were culturally ignored since it merely encourages their cultural
expressions related to colours. Each participant was provided with 10
expressions and insisted them to interpret their meanings according to his/her knowledge. The results show that most of their
interpretation on the target
expressions are solely
based on their associative meanings rather than
lexical ones. It also reveals that white colour prominently
figures positive meanings while black colour figures negative meanings.
Keywords: Javanese
society, conceptual, associative, black, white
1.
Introduction
Learning language means learning the culture of the
language users. Ideally, foreign language learners would not only comprehend the
vocabulary, the structure, or the
grammar but also the culture-loaded meaning of particular words/phrases. Pu (2014) asserts that reinforcing the cultural connotation of word plays an
important role in the development of learners’ linguistic competence in order
to avoid cultural failures at the
lexical level or communication. Therefore, building the consciousness of
culture-loaded words is necessary and may extend learner’s language competence
through cross-cultural communication.
Wierzbicka (2006) claims that the fate of the Earth depending on cross-cultural communication and the successful of cross-cultural communication is essential for nations,
ethnic and social groups, and individuals. Additionally, Kim (2001) writes, “Millions of people change homes each year,
crossing cultural boundaries. Immigrants and refugees resettle in search of new
lives. ... In this increasingly integrated world, cross-cultural adaptation is
a central and defining theme.” He concludesthat in a world that has become a global village; even
those living in their traditional homelands need to develop some cross-cultural
understanding in
order to be able to cope with the larger world confronting
them in a variety of ways.
As depicted in the previous paragraphs, in order to avoid communication failures in written
or spoken aspect which is caused by different cultures and languages, expanding
studies on some literatures in accordance with intercultural communication is
remarkably needed. The role of linguists/researchers in eliciting local issues should
be strongly encouraged. As in Persian, for example, Rasekh & Ghafel (2011) inform
that the construction of metaphorical expressions of colours in English and Persian are grounded in reality as
well; cultural beliefs, and to some
extent,
symbolism, may also have a role to play. Their
findings showed that metaphorical expressions of colours, besides their universality, are also
culturally-oriented, which implies that even though some mappings seem to be
universal in their generic level, many of them, especially the more specific
ones, are culture specific and reflect the socio cultural context
in which they are used.
Linguists and researchers may take a point of view
from various insights dealing with incorporating studies between language and
local culture to shape deeply other people’s comprehending about cross-cultural
communication. As Krasnick (1995) has linked effective teaching of English as a
foreign language (EFL) with “bicultural competence” and insists that “language cannot
be separated from culture.” Further, discussing about cross-cultural problems
arising in the teaching of English by Anglo teachers in Indonesia, he commented
that even when one party is employed specifically to meet the needs of the other
cross-cultural communication, problems still intrude. By the year 2020, he predicted
the problem of
English (as a grammatical code) will lessen,
while of intercultural communication competence will
arise.
In a nutshell, Chung (2006) argues that the need for more effective
communication across different countries
has increased as the interactions between them have been growing and in
cross-cultural interactions, people should consider and understand the cultural
background of each other in order to have successful interactions. Thus, the
consideration of cultural contexts in cross-cultural communication is one of the
most essential to successful interactions.
Furthermore, this study is to explain and show the words-meanings
of black and white colours used by Javenese people by exploring 10 expressions
which are consciously
contained the connotative and the associative meanings.
Since it investigated the words-loaded culturally, the aspects of age, gender
and education level background were not considered in this study.
2.
The Existence of Javanese Language
Ethnologue Languages of the World reported a list
number of approximately 7,299 primary names of languages existence around the
world. Setiawan (2010) cited from another researchers informs that an
estimation that there are more than 700 ethnic languages in Indonesia. The most
widely spoken of
these is Javanese,
amounting to 40%
of the total population (Setiawan, 2010, cited in Oglobin, 2005). He
argued that it is likely that of
the languages spoken
in Indonesia, Javanese
would have the greatest
chance of survival because of the greatest of its population. Wedhawati (2006) also noted
that Javanese is a traditional language with the
largest population of users (75 million).
Sukmawan (2010) says that Javanese oral literature
does not only
represent the socio-cultural activities of the Javanese
community as a reflection of their cosmic consciousness, but also as a symbol
of spiritual awareness which is treated as the main essence of Javanese mysticism. For example, in slametan ritual, there are many Javanese
phrases/sentences usage to express their cultures, such as, “Sampun nggih
derek-derek kula sedaya, ingkang
sepuh miwah ingkang enem, ingkang ageng miwah ingkang alit, ingkang samar miwah
ingkang gaib” (well, all the
respectable guests, the olders and the youngers, the visible or invisible). Hence, culture is shared and maintained through the use of
language, thus culture is also reflected in language and language is reflected
in culture (Evans, 2006).
Basically, Widhyasmaramurti (2008) says Javanese is a language
which has three registers, i.e. Krama-Inggil, Krama-Madya, and Ngoko.
Krama-Inggil is used to address older people or people with higher social status, Krama-Madya is applied by
speakers with equal social status and age and Ngoko is used to address those whose lower social status and youngers. She adds
that the Javanese language spoken nowadays is known as
Modern Javanese which is slightly different from Old Javanese spoken in the
16th century.
Related to colours, Baehaqie (2014) informs in detail about four main colours which have particular intention
towards Javanese people. There are red, black, yellow, and white. In global concensus, red is associated with fire, black is associated
with land/earth, yellow is associated with wind/air and white is associated
with water. In term of human desire, red is associated with anger black is
associated with lawwamah, yellow is
associated with sufiyah and white is
associated with mutmainnah. In term
of wind direction, red is associated with southern, black is associated with
northern, yellow is associated with western and white is associated with
eastern.
3.
The Role of Colours
One of an interesting topic in cross-cultural
communication deals with colours and its meaning in particular society. Gage
(1999) explains that the difference between symbolism and connotations is that
symbolism is established as a result of a clear-cut convention. For example,
the black colour of clothes symbolizes mourning in many societies around the
world or ‘black-hearted’ against white-hearted’. As Nezhad & Kavehnezhad’s
(2013) view that colour are one of the most important factors that influence
our perceptions and their impact is visible in every part of our daily lives,
influencing our interactions with other individuals and with inanimate objects.
Colour terms are playing a more and more important role in human communication,
especially in bilingual communication (Zhang, 2007). The relation between culture
and language leaves a great effect on connotations of colour words (Wang,
2007). Rasekh & Ghafel (2011) assert that colour is a kind of natural
phenomenon and colour terms play an important role in describing things, expressing words' meanings and
strengthening languages' influence, and also rich in cultural associations.
According
to Guimei (2009), different
cultures have different
expressions using colours
in general. The connotative or associative meanings are
different from one culture to another. While, for example in the Chinese culture shows the Chinese's material
and spirit disgust. They may describing a lot about things/events, express words' meanings and strengthen languages'
influence, and also quite rich in cultural associations (Rasekh & Ghafel,
2011). In Jordanian Arabic, Al-Adaileh (2012) studies
the connotative meanings
of black, white and
other colours in the Jordanian society. His study shows that in Jordanian
Arabic all colours have euphemistic and dysphemistic connotations, but, as far as
black and
white colours are concerned, black is found to be
predominantly dysphemistic and attached with negative connotations whereas
white is used euphemistically and mostly has positive connotations.
4.
Participants and Methodology
In this present study, the participants are Javanese native
speakers’ students. They are from East Java and Central Java. Fifty subjects aged 20-60 participated in this study. The
limitation in the participants is done since it is assumed that few or lot of respondes
will not give many
effects. Gender and
educational level background were not considered since it merely encourages
their cultural expressions related to colours. Each participant was provided
with 10 expressions and insisted them to interprete the meaning as far as
he/she knew. The questionnaire was carried out in a formal and informal way to
receive answers properly. The scope of the study is limited in covering white
and black colours only even though many
other colours can be explored, since Xing’s (2008) and Tao’s (1994) studies, only white and black colours
have the longest history among the others.
5.
Data and Discussion
It is common that a word has its connotations or deep
meanings in adjunct to their conceptual ones. Richards & Schmidt (2002) in
their Longman dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics define associative
meaning as the total of all the meanings a person thinks of when she/he hears the word.
For example, the word puppy, the
list all the things person thinks of is warm, young,
furry, lively, kitten. These words make
up the associative meaning of puppy for that person. Associative meaning has
been used in studies of memory and thought. While denotative (conceptual) meaning
is that part of the meaning of a word or phrase that relates it to phenomena in
the real world or in a fictional or possible world. It may be regarded as the
central meaning or core meaning of a lexical item, and there is a mount of research findings dealing with
connotations of colours.
The
following paragraphs present the deep
connection between
black and white, and as additional term is the
combination of black & white colours toward the cultural expressions in East and Central Javanese
people. The more explanation is given as follows.
5.1 White
Indonesia is the biggest Moslem country in the world; hence, the cultures are much influenced by Islamic values,
such as the words ‘turu-turi putih’ within a religious song entitled with ‘Turi-turi Putih’. The song was
composed and popularised by Sunan Giri, one of the nine religious men (Walisongo) who had brought and spreaded Islamic religion throughout
Indonesia, particularly in Java Island. In this sense, ‘turi-turi’ is derived from the words ‘tak aturi-tak aturi’ which means I want to say something. ‘Putih’ (white) symbolizes the white cloth
worn by Moslem someday when they die. In
Indonesian language, it is then called ‘kafan’.
Accordingly, the phrase ‘turu-turi
putih’ for Javanese people would be regarded as associative meaning rather conceptual meaning. As the composer in this song, Sunan Giri wants to tell and remind his followers through this song
that everyone who is still alive now will die later and surely wear this ‘kafan’ (white
clothes).
The other expression which is combining the word white
with human’s face is ‘mutmainnah rupane
putih-banyu’ (mutmainnah’s face looks white like water). This phrase symbolizes
that every human has a good desire in his/her heart. It is taken attentively from
both Javanese’s socio-cultural as a reflection of their cosmic consciousness
and Islamic religion as a symbol of spiritual awareness (Sukmawan, 2010). Again,
in this expression, Javanese people tend to use associative meaning rather than conceptual meaning toward this phrase. Associatively,
‘mutmainnah’ means a good desire, while ‘rupane putih-banyu’ means human’s face with a good desire is clean
and bright/gleam. In contrast with ‘aluamah
rupane ireng-lemah’ this will be explained later. In conclusion, a person
who has ‘mutmainnah’ character in
his/her heart, he/she likes to be a helpful or generous or a humble person.
The worths of a person in his/her mundane life is also
posed in the use of the expression ‘ingsung
iki sawijine dluwang putih’ (I am like a white colour paper), it is to
positively draw a person who is like a newly-born
baby, pure, no sins and almost never hurt anybody
conciously. Javanese people who are Moslems (moreover Moslems in the worldwide)
will ever feel to be like it, of course, after doing a month of fasting in Ramadhan. Becoming like ‘a white colour paper’ is also learned from the Javanese anchestor
and beliefs. After doing fasting for certain period, they will feel like a newly-born baby, free
from mistakes/sins/scandals or shameful and back to be a
person who has a good deed.
5.2 Black
Some people from many countries and their languages perceive black colour in negative meaning than other colours; Indonesian is included.
As Allan (2007) stated that in western communities the
term ‘black’ is
associated with funeral
clothes and other compositions
related to death.
Yet, it is little bit different in Javanese language terms. Black colour is not always treated and described
in
bad/negative characteristics, particularly talking
about a
man’s performance. For instance, ‘bocahe
ora ganteng tapi ireng manis’ (the boy is not so handsome but good looking) poses a person refers to colour
people (oriental people) who does not belong to white skin and excellent dress
but he is good looking. The word ‘ireng’ conceptually
means black colour, yet when it is combined with ‘manis’ (sweet), the meaning directly switches. In other expression, ‘ayo sing sregep ngaji, ngademke ireng weteng’ (let’s recite Holy Qur’an, it keeps our heart in peaceful condition). The word’ireng’ is generally black colour, but
when it is stated before ‘weteng’, the
meaning has changed to become a peaceful
heart of a person.
In some extents, Javanese people have the same opinion and belief about black colour as another people in different countries. Basically, black colour has a more negative meaning than other
colours do in most languages and it is associated with mischievous, dirty,
unseen and strong magic, bad luck, bad end, enemies with strong hostility, and
evil issues in general (Rabab'ah & Al-Saidat, 2014). A related expression
in Javanese is ‘aluamah rupane ireng-lemah’
(aluamah’s face is like black-earth). ‘aluamah’ refers to badly human’s
desire in his/her heart, while ‘rupane
ireng-lemah’ means human’s face with a bad desire is likely dark or unclear.
It draws a person who has ‘aluamah’ character
in his/her heart, he/she is untrustworthy, disloyal, does not like to be a
helpful or generous or a humble person. The other expression is ‘bocah kuwi moco buku judule ilmu ghaib ireng’
(the boy is reading a black magic book). This utterance is more familiar than
the previous and the participants easily understanding the words ‘ilmu ghaib ireng’ as a wicked/evil
matter.
Overall, in a particular expression, Javanese people tend to regard black colour both in a positive and a negative meaning. Based on the
data, the
two expressions above are recognized as the positive meaning rather than the negative meaning,
e.g. the expression ‘bocahe
ora ganteng tapi ireng manis’ (the boy is not handsome but good looking) and
‘ayo sing sregep ngaji, ngademke ireng
weteng’ (let’s recite Holy Qur’an, it keeps our heart in peaceful condition).
5.3. Colours Combination
As Evans (2006) states that culture is shared and
maintained through the use of language, thus culture is also reflected in language and language is
reflected in culture. In this expression, “Sapi abang, sapi putih, sapi ireng, sapi kuning. Sira tak gawe brojol.
Teguh rahayu slamet”, shows that some colours used, such as ‘abang’ (red), ‘putih’ (white),
‘ireng’ (black), and ‘kuning’ (yellow) to remain the Javanese
culture, especially used by farmers community. Javanese farmers used to utter
these sentences as one of their ritual activities while they are ploughing their fields by using cows. In accordance with their beliefs, these
colours combination have an associative meaning toward the wind direction, i.e.
‘abang’ (red) refers to Southern, ‘putih’ (white) refers to Eastern, ‘ireng’ (black) refers to Western, and ‘kuning’ (yellow) refers to Northern. Another
expression which has the same beliefs in the Javanese’s eyes is in the
expression of ‘slametan gawe jenang
abang, jenang putih, jenang ireng, jenang kuning,’ nevertheless it is used in different situation/condition. The latest
expression is actually situated at home while having local or religious ritual activies.
The last data expression is ‘ngenteni sliramu nganti rambutku warna ireng lan putih’ which is
meant waiting for you till my hair getting black and white. Mostly the
participants
interpret the
words ‘ireng lan putih’ as getting
older
instead of the lexical meaning as getting the black and white hair.
6.
Conclusion and Suggestions
This present study fruitfully took account into Evans’
statement
that culture is shared and maintained through the use of
language,
in vice versa. It concluded
that the assosiative meaning is predominantly used by Javanese people in all of
the expressions. In
other words, most of them preferred directly interpreting the expressions based on the
associative meaning. Only few participants
gave the denotative meaning responds on the provided
expressions.
Their responds absolutely figure out the
closely relationship between the cultural
beliefs and
the language usages. For instances; the Javanese people eager to use associative meaning than conceptual
meaning
and its relationship toward their beliefs, such as ‘tak aturi-tak aturi’ and
‘mutmainnah rupane putih-banyu’. In
the eyes of Javanese people, there is also colours combination and
the relationship toward their cultures beliefs about wind direction, such as ‘abang’ means Southern, ‘putih’
means Eastern, ‘ireng’ means Western, and ‘kuning’
means Northern.
Therefore, from the above discussion, this study
elicits suggestions that since linguistic meaning
and cultural meaning are inseparable and to acquire a language, one has to
acquire the culture of its native speakers too (Rabab'ah & Al-Saidat,
2014).
It
also reveals that the expression of black and
white colours in Javenese society is often used together
with the nature phenomenon, socio-cultural as a reflection of their cosmic
consciousness and Islamic religion as a symbol of spiritual awareness are
becoming the major effect in eliciting the meaning of particular words. Further
study on the other colours existed in the community of Javanese people perhaps
will enrich other scholars’ references, especially in addressing cross-cultural
communication from different languages and countries.
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