Strategy of kinship terms as a politeness model in maintaining social interaction: local values towards global harmony

Abstract

Current research on kinship terms shows that variants of kinship terms used in the Bugis speech community interactional discourse show the difference in social status between speakers and listeners. However, only few studies have investigated the role of kinship terms, especially in promoting social harmony. This study aims to find the kinship terms of the Bugis speech community that are dominantly used in interaction, to identify the role of the kinship terms in creating unity and showing identity. This study focuses on the speaker's utterances toward the listener based on their power and solidarity. There were 120 native speakers who lived in Barru and Pinrang regencies participated in this study. The participants were classified into three age groups: 11-21, 22-43, and 44-65. The data collection was carried out using the Discourse Completion Tests (DCT). The DCT consists of five contexts that required participants to provide written utterances for two requests, one invitation, one suggestion, and one rebuking. Each of the context described the speaker's statement to older, coeval, and younger listeners with familiar or unfamiliar social distances. Data analysis used the AntConc 3.5.8 program whereas the interpretation used a sociopragmatic approach. The result shows that (1) There are five kinship and two address terms that are often used to extend the social interaction, namely: a) <i>Ndi</i>, b) <i>Daéng</i>, c) <i>Sappo</i>, d) <i>Emma</i>, e) <i>Sillessureng</i>, then the address terms <i>Puang</i>, and <i>Silong</i>. (2) Bugis speech communities achieve harmony and define self-identity through the strategy of choosing and placing the kinshp terms in their utterances. 3) The use of kinship terms based on the power and solidarity of speakers and listeners show the characteristic behaviour of <i>Sipakatau</i>, <i>Siri na Pesse</i>, and collectivity as Bugis identities. In conclusion, these findings help better understand the function and role of kinship terms in promoting social harmony and need significant support in the context of local language teaching and learning.

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