







































 Humanities and Social Science Research; Vol. 5, No. 2; 2022

ISSN 2576-3024   E-ISSN 2576-3032

https://doi.org/10.30560/hssr.v5n2p1

1 Published by IDEAS SPREAD

Existence of Banyumasan Javanese Language in Digital Era

Ali Rokhman1, Rawuh Edy Priyono1, Imam Santosa1, Sri Pangestuti1 & Mustasyfa Thabib Kariadi2

1 Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Jenderal Soedirman University, Indonesia

2 Faculty of Humanities, Jenderal Soedirman University, Indonesia

Correspondence: Ali Rokhman, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Jenderal Soedirman University, Indonesia.

Received: March 23, 2022; Accepted: May 18, 2022; Published: May 23, 2022

Abstract

This research examines whether Banyumasan Javanese Language is still commonly used in the current digital era, 

both in daily interaction and in interaction through digital media. The national language of the Republic of 

Indonesia is Bahasa Indonesia. Besides the national language, local languages are usually used by local people in 

a country according to the people’s ethnicities. The local language used by local people is also called the first 

language. There are about 719 local languages throughout Indonesia. In Java, some local languages are used in 

specific regions and have their uniqueness as the form of local people’s local wisdom. One of the existing local 

languages in Java is Banyumasan Javanese Language, also known as Penginyongan Language or Basa Ngapak, 

used in Banjarnegara, Purbalingga, Banyumas, Cilacap, Kebumen and surroundings (Barlingmascakeb). Many 

researchers have reported that their speakers slowly abandoned local languages because of migration, the young 

generation’s reluctance to use the local language, and lack of pride in first language factors. A UNESCO report 

states that nearly 1,500 ethnic languages are becoming extinct every day. Using a quantitative approach, this 

research randomly took the respondents, constituting Banyumasan language speakers from some regencies. The 

data were collected through questionnaires that were distributed online. The collected data were analyzed using a 

descriptive statistics technique. The research results show that Banyumasan Javanese Language started to be 

abandoned by its main speakers and their descendants, both in family communication and online activities on the 

internet and social media communication.

Keywords: Banyumasan Javanese language, penginyongan language, Google trends, language attrition, digital 

media

1. Introduction

Language is part of a country’s culture that experiences very rapid dynamics. Language can develop because of 

interaction with other languages that may result in loan words. But, on the contrary, language can also go extinct 

because of its speakers’ migration or its young generation’s pride. Such phenomena also occur with local languages 

in Indonesia, which are also affected by the Indonesian Language as the national language and foreign languages 

through various media.

The Indonesian Institute of Sciences reported that the number of local languages in Indonesia was about 719, 

distributed throughout its territory. From the perspective of the number of speakers, local languages are divided 

into two groups, namely big languages group, such as Javanese, Minangkabau, Sundanese, Makassar, and other 

languages, and small languages group, that can be found in West Papua, Papua, Maluku, Maluku Utara, and East 

Nusa Tenggara. Javanese Language with Banyumasan dialect or Basa Penginyongan is part of Javanese Language 

of the big group, just like Boso dialek Suroboyoan, or the dialect of Osing people in Banyuwangi (LIPI, 2020).

Many researches have been conducted by experts on local languages, one of which was the research conducted in 

Semarang. This research concluded that Javanese families had their loyalty significantly decreasing to their local 

language. Another research conducted by Suditomo in 2004 concluded that the use of local language was based 

on age category. For school age (5-16 years old) group, there was 37 percent of local language speakers, domiciled 

in small towns and 14 percent domiciled in big cities. The same research was re-carried out in 2009 and found that 

children of school age (5-16 years old) domiciled in Semarang in 2004 were local language speakers of 14 percent, 

while in 2009 the local language speakers were only 9 percent (Supriyanto, 2016). Such phenomena were also 

reported by researches in many other countries. This shows the fact that the declining loyalty to first language is 

also the issue in many countries as the consequence of globalization and other factors (Canvin & Tucker, 2020; 



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Chiocca, 2020; Reagan, 2019; Emeka-Nwobia, 2020; Crystal, 2000; Wurm, 1991; Chelliah, 2021; Bradley & 

Bradley, 2019; Ladefoged, 1992). 

Language is an element of culture. Koentjaraningrat (1997) stated that there were seven universal elements of 

culture, namely: 1). Religious system and religious ceremony, 2). Community system and organization, 3). 

Knowledge system, 4). Language, 5). Art, 6). Livelihood system, 7). Technology and equipment system. Cultural 

element may change when there are other cultural elements that start intervening the existence of the culture. Local 

art and culture are part of it that will keep eroded when there is no concern about them. The same will also occur 

with local language when there is concern at all from the government and the people as its speakers.

Redfield (1985) stated that there were dichotomies in culture, namely common folk culture and high classical 

culture, rural culture and urban culture, suburban culture and central culture, small tradition and great tradition. 

This actually describes the contrast. Banyumasan Javanese Language grows and develops far away from the center 

of Javanese culture, with Yogyakarta and Surakarta as the Nagarigung. According to Ahmad Tohari, Banyumasan 

Javanese Language is more similar to Old Javanese Language, that there are no strata in its use. Javanese Language 

that is commonly known now is the development of Old Javanese Language to be Central Javanese Language and 

later be New Javanese Language. The initial source of Ngapak Javanese Language is Old Javanese language, 

Jawadipa or the language of people living in Java Land. Javanese Language is said to be the pure Javanese 

language as the level less Ngoko Javanese in its use. The characters of level less language evidently affect the 

characters of the community-users who are egalitarian, populist, cablaka, straightforward, honest, transparent, and 

as is. The arrival of royal envoy to Banyumas certainly used Nagarigung Javanese Language. Wayang kulit, 

ketoprak and pranata cara performance in Banyumas always used New Javanese Language. Teaching-learning 

activities at schools in in Banyumas from the Dutch colonial era early 20th century until now and Preaching at 

mosques and churches commonly used New Javanese Language, not Banyumas Javanese Language (Tohari, 2016). 

Purwokerto city is the capital of Banyumas Regency to which new settler annually come from almost all over 

Indonesia. The new settlers are new students of some big universities in Purwokerto, including Jenderal Soedirman 

University, UIN Purwokerto, Muhammadiyah Purwokerto University, Wijayakusuma University, and Telkom 

Institute of Technology Purwokerto. The new students are from many regions, that can add to diversity in the daily 

interaction for local people and certainly affects the intensity of the use of Banyumasan Javanese language known 

as Basa Panginyongan as the first language of people in Purwokerto city. 

Banyumasan Javanese Language urgently needs attention since its condition is different from other local languages. 

We can still find Sundanese Language speakers casually speaking Sundanese Language confidently. Similarly, in 

Surabaya, it is common for the youth to speak using the unique East Javanese Language. In Bandung we can still 

find Magazine in Sundanese language, Mangle that still exists. Likewise, in Surabaya we can still Magazines in 

local language, Panyebar Semangat and Jayabaya. The phenomena in Purwokerto are not the case, where the youth 

commonly speak Indonesian Language. The causative factors can be internal or external (Supriyanto, 2016). In 

Purwokerto there is also a magazine in Basa Penginyongan, Majalah Kalawerta Basa Penginyongan Ancas. 

However, according to Ahmad Tohari, a Banyumas humanist, Ancas magazine can be stated neither moving 

forward nor backward. 

Based on the fact that many languages in the world have been or are threatened to go extinct and the phenomena 

that not only the youth have started abandoning Banyumasan Javanese Language in their daily speech, it is quite 

urgent to conduct a study on the extent of the existence of Banyumasan Javanese Language. This research aimed 

to identify the characteristics of Penginyongan language speakers and their daily life and explore it based on the 

speakers’ region, age group, region of origin, occupation, and also explore how Penginyongan Language is used 

in the current digital era, both in social media and in the contents distributed in the internet.

2. Research Method

This multidisciplinary research mainly comprises sociology, communication science, information technology, and 

linguistics. This research used quantitative approach and the source of data was from survey and secondary data 

from the internet. The data were collected through questionnaires and observation in the social media. The 

triangulation method used was data source triangulation to check or find out the validity of sources used in this 

research. 

The survey was conducted to map the speakers’ characteristics, and the results were analyzed through descriptive 

statistics. The respondents were taken simply and randomly from questionnaire distributed in Google Form. The 

respondents were individuals from several regencies where Banyumasan Javanese language was used, including 

Cilacap, Purbalingga, Banjarnegara and Kebumen Regencies. The invitation to respond to the questionnaire at 

Google Form was publicized on social media, both via group and personally. There were 518 respondents, 273 



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men (52.7%) and 245 women (47.3%). Majority of the respondents were domiciled in rural areas (63.1%), and 

most of them are over 40 years old (69.7%).

The secondary data were used as the source of analysis on the use of Banyumasan Javanese Language in digital 

media. The analysis technique Google Trends was used to examine how some keywords in Banyumasan Javanese 

Language were searched for via the Google search engine. If the keywords in Banyumasan Javanese Language 

were widely searched for by internet users, this means that the language is widely needed by the community.

3. Research Result

3.1 Use of Banyumasan Javanese Language in Family

It is very interesting to analyze native Banyumas people, both domiciled in Banyumas Regency and surroundings 

and other regions, on how they use Banyumasan Javanese Language in their daily life, especially as the main 

language in family communication. The table below explains native Banyumas people pursuant to their domicile 

and how they use Banyumasan Javanese Language as the language in family communication.

Table 1. Family communication of respondents who were native Banyumas people

Domicile Indonesian 

Language

Mixed 

Indonesian and 

Banyumasan 

Languages, 

dominantly 

Indonesian 

Language

Mixed 

Indonesian and 

Banyumasan 

Languages, 

dominantly 

Banyumasan 

Language

Banyumasan 

Language

Total

Banyumas/

Purwokerto

21

(7.2%)

109

(37.6%)

83

(28.6%)

77

(26.6%)

290

(100%)

Outside Banyumas 

but within 

Barlingmascakeb 

region

8

(65)

59

(44%)

44

(32.8%)

23

(17.2%)

134

(100%)

Outside 

Barlingmascakeb 

but still in Java/DIY

21

(28.8%)

32

(43.8%)

16

(21.9%)

4

(5.5%)

73

(100%)

Outside Central 

Java/DIY

9

(42.9%)

10

(47.6%)

2

(9.5%)

104

(20.1%)

21

(100%)

Total 59 210 145 104 518

The domicile of respondents from Banyumas (native Banyumas people) is divided into four. First, domiciled in 

Banyumas/Purwokerto region. Second, domiciled outside Banyumas region but still in Barlingmascakeb region 

(Banjarnegara, Purbalingga, Banyumas, Cilacap, Kebumen). Third, domiciled outside Barlingmascakeb but still 

in Central Java/DIY. Lastly, domiciled outside Central Java/ DIY.

Based on the table above, there were 518 respondents. 290 respondents were native Banyumas people and 

domiciled in Banyumas or Purwokerto region. Out of this number, only 77 respondents or 26.6% had their family 

communicating purely in Banyumasan Javanese Language without any mixture with any other language. Most of 

them (37.6%) communicated in mixed Indonesian Language and Banyumasan Javanese Language, but dominantly 

in Indonesian Language. Only 26.6% respondents used mixed language with dominant Banyumasan Javanese 

Language. However, 21 respondents (7.2%) living in Banyumas only used Indonesian Language in their family.

This fact leads to further question, why people from Banyumas and their family only used a little Banyumasan 

Javanese language in their communication? The answer for the time being is it is most likely that their spouses 

(husband/wife) were not from Banyumas. The table below describes the language used by the respondents from 

Banyumas and their spouses who were also from Banyumas or native Banyumas spouse.



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Table 2.Family Communication of Respondents born in Banyumas whose spouses are also born in Banyumas

Domicile Indonesian 

Language

Mixed 

Indonesian 

and 

Banyumasan 

Languages, 

dominantly 

Indonesian 

Language

Mixed 

Indonesian 

and 

Banyumasan 

Languages, 

dominantly 

Language 

Banyumasan

Banyumasan 

Language

Total

Banyumas/

Purwokerto

 7

(3.9%)

67

(37%)

59

(32.6%)

48

(26.5%)

181

(100%)

Outside Banyumas but 

still in 

Barlingmascakeb 

region

1

(3.8%)

11

(42.3%)

8

(30.8%)

6

(23.1%)

26

(100%)

Outside 

Barlingmascakeb but 

still in Java/DIY

6

(31.6%)

6

(31.6%)

6

(31.6%)

1

(5.3%)

19

(100%)

Outside Central Java/

DIY

1

(12.5%)

5

(62.5%)

2

(25%)

0

(0%)

8

(100%)

Total 15

(6.4%)

89

(38%)

75

(32.1%)

55

(23.5%)

234

(100%)

There were 234 respondents or 45.25% of totally 518 respondents who were spouses from Banyumas. Out of the 

234 respondents, 181 people were domiciled in Banyumas/Purwokerto, 26 people domiciled outside Purwokerto 

but in Barlingmascakeb region, 19 people were domiciled outside Barlingmascakeb region but still in Java/DIY. 

Those domiciled outside Central Java/DIY were, menwhile, 8 people.

Out of the 181 spouses from Banyumas living in Banyumas/Purwokerto region, 48 respondents or 26.5% people 

purely used Banyumasan Javanese Language in their family. On the other hand, most of them used mixed language 

but Indonesian Language was dominant (37%). The other fact was that some families (3.9%) did not use 

Banyumasan Javanese Language at all. 

The table above also proves that native Banyumas spouses living outside Banyumas, both in and out of Central 

Java, tended not to use Banyumasan Javanese Language in their family. There was no respondent stating that their 

family purely used Banyumasan Javanese Language.

The results above stimulated further question, is the use of language in the family affected by respondent’s 

education level? The answer to this question is presented in the table below.

Table 3. Respondents Born in Banyumas Who Use Banyumasan Javanese Language by Education Level

Education Level Total Total Percentage

Elementary School 3 2.9

Junior High School 2 1.9

Senior High School 21 20.2

Strata-1 (Bachelor) 72 69.2

Strata-2 (Master) 5 4.8

Strata-3 (Doctor) 1 1.0

Total 104 100



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There were 104 respondents from Banyumas who used Banyumasan Javanese language in their family. Out of this 

number, by education level, most of them 69.2% were bachelor (S1), 21 people (21.2) had senior high school 

education. The remainder was comprised of master of 4.8%, elementary school of 2.9%, junior high school of 

1.9 %, and doctorate (S3) education of 1%. These data show that high education level does not prevent ones from 

using first language in family communication. Bachelor (S1), a higher education graduate, took the highest 

percentage in using Banyumasan Javanese Language. 

Besides education level, the use of language in family communication is most likely to be affected by the 

occupation of the concerned family. The table below describes the use of Banyumasan Javanese language from 

the perspective of speakers’ occupation.

Table 4.Respondents Born in Banyumas Who Used Banyumasan Javanese Language by Occupation

Occupation Total Percentage

Teacher/lecturer 51 49.0

Non-teacher/lecturer civil servant 11 10.6

Self-employed 7 6.7

Trader 2 1.9

Farmer 5 4.8

Others 28 26.9

Total 104 100

The table above describes that Banyumasan Javanese language was mostly used by respondents whose professions 

were teacher and lecturer. Out of 104 respondents, 51 people (49%) used Banyumasan Javanese Language in their 

family. Respondents whose profession was trader were the ones who used Banyumasan Javanese language the 

least, of only 2 respondents or 1.9%.

Teacher and lecturer were evidently the profession groups who were more concerned about first language. 

However, as evidently shown in the table above, among the other professions, teacher and lecturer were the ones 

who used Banyumasan Javanese Language the most in their family. 

3.2 Use of Banyumasan Javanese Language in Digital Media

Below is how Banyumasan Javanese language is used in the digital media. The existence of Banyumasan Javanese 

Language in the digital media covers: (1) Use in discussion in social media such as discussion in Whatsapp group 

(WAG), (2) Analysis on searching trend on Google search engine of the important keywords related to 

Banyumasan Javanese Language.

The use of social media is quite massive for personal interaction and group interaction in social media group. 

Therefore, it is very interesting to study whether Banyumas people communicate in social media, especially in 

WAG whose majority of members are from Banyumas, also use Banyumasan Javanese Language.

The table below shows the language used by the respondents in social media whose members were mostly from 

Banyumas. 

Table 5. Language used in social media if the members/audience were mostly from Banyumas

Language used Percentage

Indonesian Language 36.7

Mixed language (Indonesian and Banyumasan) 58.62

Banyumasan Language 4.60

The mostly used language in social media was a mixture between Indonesian Language and Banyumasan 

Language (58.62%), the remaining 36.7% used Indonesian Language, and only 4.6% used Language Banyumasan 

purely.

This study then analyzed how the important keywords of Banyumasan Language were searched for in the Internet 

via Google search engine. The analysis technique used was Google Trends provided by Google. The first keyword 

was kamus Bahasa Banyumas. This keyword was chosen under the consideration that Banyumasan Javanese 



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Language Dictionary had been published and uploaded by the Provincial Center of Central Java. According to the 

results of Google Trends analysis for the keyword Kamus Bahasa Banyumas, there were quite few internet users 

who searched for information of Kamus Bahasa Jawa Banyumasan. Therefore, Google Trends concluded that 

“your search does not sufficient data to display”. This means that Kamus Bahasa Banyumasan was not popular 

since there were no internet users who attempted to search for the information, let alone downloading it. Below is 

the screenshot of Google Trends analysis for keyword Kamus Bahasa Jawa Banyumasan.

Figure 1. Google Trends Analytics for Kamus Bahasa Banyumas

The next analysis was for the keyword “Bahasa Banyumasan” instead of “bahasa ngapak”. The word ngapak was 

used as comparison since it is synonym of Banyumasan Javanese Language. 

Below is the result of Google Trends of the comparison between searching for Bahasa Banyumasan and Bahasa 

Ngapak.

Figure 2. Google Trends Analytics for Bahasa Banyumasan and Bahasa Ngapak

The figure above is the result of Google Trends search for 12 months from November 2020 to August 2021. 

Internet users used the keyword Bahasa Ngapak more than Bahasa Banyumasan. Bahasa Ngapak was averagely 

searched for by 46 users monthly, while Bahasa Banyumasan was only searched for by 6 users. The peak searching 

took place from 27 December 2020 to 2 January 2021 where Bahasa Ngapak was searched for 100 times. This 

shows that Bahasa Ngapak was more popular. 

The next keyword was based on some words derived from the article in online media IDN Times entitled “7 Kata 

Khas yang Identik Bahasa Ngapak Banyumasan, Tahu Kata Rika?” (Chairil, 2021). Based on this article, the 

frequently searched seven words were; (1) Inyong, (2) Kencot, (3) Madhang, (4) Rika, (5) Bebeh, (6) Kepriben, 

(7) Batir. These seven words were then reselected, resulting in three top words, inyong, kencot, and madhang. 

Inyong is a unique word in Banyumasan language, that means I. Kencot means hungry, and madhang means eat.



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Figure 3. Google Trends Analytics for Inyong, Kencot, and Madhang

The figure above shows that among the three keywords, the most popular was inyong. The average search in the 

last 12 months for the word inyong was 34 times, while the words kencot and madhang were respectively 18 times. 

What was interesting was that from 21 to 27 February 2021, the word madhang was searched for the most 

compared the other two words, with 100 times of searching.

4. Discussion

This research produces interesting results namely the people from Banyumas who currently do not use 

Banyumasan Javanese Language in their family, even in the family in which the couple are both from Banyumas. 

Most of them use mixed language, comprised of Indonesian Language and Banyumasan Javanese Language, but 

with dominant Indonesian Language. This is a very interesting phenomenon. If the couple is from different regions, 

it is reasonable and understandable when they do not use either first language since this can hinder communication 

in the family. But if the couple has the same first language but does not use it in their family, there is a causative 

factor that needs to be explored more thoroughly.

The first factor, according to Ahmad Tohari, a Banyumas humanist, is: (1) using Indonesian language is deemed 

more modern, and (2) Mass media also contributes to making local language extinct, since many media, especially 

television, makes local language speakers as object of comedy. This makes local language speakers feel inferior 

(Ridlo, 2018). 

Based on in-depth interviews with some respondents who were a couple from Banyumas on why they preferred 

using Indonesian Language in their family, their responses were: (1) when children were not trained in using 

Indonesian Language from childhood, the parents were concerned that when the children went to school, they 

would not be able to communicate with their teachers and friends since the language they used at school was 

Indonesian Language, (2) in family or relative meeting in which many of the participants were from other regions, 

the parents were concerned that their children would feel inferior since they could not communicate with the other 

families since such a meeting commonly used Indonesian Language more, (3) The parents felt pity if their children 

felt inferior in their interaction in other regions when they used Language Ngapak much.

The other cause that Banyumas families started to abandon Language Jawa Banyumas was the negative image of 

ngapak language. Analyses on the contents distributed in the digital media proved it, one of which was that one 

contained in a blog of Banyumas citizen (Agung, 2015) at https://briliagung.com/. In this blog he wrote: 

“Kami, para ngapakers sudah terbiasa dengan ledekan karena logat kami yang berbeda. Tidak jarang 

jika kami merantau, banyak celetukan : “Ganteng-Ganteng ko ngapak?” “Cantik sih, sayang ngapak..” 

“Coba dong ngomong lagi pake logat ngapak..”.

[“We, ngapakers are used to the jokes for our different accent. In other regions, we often heard: 

“Handsome indeed, but why ngapak?” “Beautiful indeed, unfortunately ngapak..” “Please say something 

again in ngapak accent..”.] 

Another blog of a Banyumas woman (Riris, 2013) at stated: 

“Orang Purwokerto dikenal dengan language ngapaknya, setiap kali ngomong pasti dikira ada huruf k 

dibelakangnya. Kebanyakan orang ngapak itu kalo ngomong banter tenan alias cepet. Apabila kalian – 

kalian hijrah ke kota lain pasti mereka bakal nertawain language ngapak kalian. Sering juga ada yang 

ngomong gini ” Cantik sih tapi sayangnya ngapak ” hahaha terus gimana harus jawabnya ? kata daplun 



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suruh dijawab gini ” ngapa ? trauma apa kambi wong ngapak ? jarene ”        Tapi gapapa kebanyakan 

orang ngapak itu cantik katanya”

[“Purwokerto people are known for their ngapak language, each time they are speaking, it is thought that 

there is consonant k at the end of it. Many ngapak people are used to speaking fast. If you go to another 

city, they will laugh at your ngapak language. Some will also say ”Beautiful indeed, but unfortunately 

ngapak” hahaha then how to respond to it? Daplun said that we should respond this way ”ngapa ? trauma 

apa kambi wong ngapak ? jarene ”        But it is alright, it is said that ngapak people are mostly beautiful”] 

Social media Twitter also shows evidence that ngapak language was sometimes degraded and even got racist 

treatment, as stated in a twitter posting below (Munez, 2019): 

Figure 4. Screenshot from Twitter on Ngapak Language

The figure above proves that beauty and ngapak are paradoxical. Ngapak has bad and not smooth impression, 

especially when compared with other local languages such as Sundanese language. This fact is associated with the 

results of research conducted by Rohmawati (2019) that discussed the trend of paradigm of current Purbalingga 

local adolescents who tend feel inferior in using their local language, that is Banyumasan Ngapak language as their 

interaction language. The results show that they who tend to get embarrassed to use Banyumasan or ngapak

language are female adolescents.

Besides writing in blogs, the phenomena of degrading ngapak language are also a hot talk in Kaskus (Kaskus, 

2018) as follows:

“Banyak stigma yang dilekatkan pada orang berlanguage ngapak. Ada yang menilai lucu, ndeso, bahkan 

katrok.

Stigma itu terkadang membuat penutur language ngapak yang lahir dari lingkungan berlanguage ngapak 

justru meninggalkan language leluhur itu”. 

[“Many stigmas are attached to people who use ngapak language. Some consider it fun, ndeso, and even 

katrok.

Such stigmas sometimes make ngapak language speakers who were born in an environment with ngapak 

language even abandon their ancestor’s language”. 

Academic studies on the topic first language starting to be abandoned by their speakers were known as Language 

attrition, that is the progressive loss of a language due to lack of use. Maurin (2017) presented his analysis that a 

language can be extinct and forgotten because of the following two factors:

L1 attrition, or first language attrition, is governed by two main factors: the increasing use and dominance 

of the L2, or learned language, and the reduction of exposure to the L1.

The cause of reduction of exposure, according to Hakuta and D'Andrea (1992), is principally associated with 

parent's language practice in the home. That is, the more parents try to speak with their children in their mother 

tongue, the more their children maintain their mother tongue.



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The research conducted by Retnawati (2018) confirmed the loss of first language, as shown in the quote below.

“There were two factors influenced language loss; they were internal factors and external factors. It is 

found that subject research got language loss because Indonesian Language is more dominant than her 

mother tongues”

5. Conclusion

The main speakers of Banyumasan Javanese Language are the people who are born in Banyumas and surroundings. 

Banyumasan Javanese Language speakers are distributed almost throughout the Indonesian Territory, but mostly 

are the people domiciled at Barlingmascakeb region (Banjarnegara, Purbalingga, Banyumas, Cilacap, and 

Kebumen). The more distant it is from Barlingmascakeb region, the less the Banyumasan Javanese Language 

speakers are. 

The use of Banyumasan Javanese Language currently starts to be abandoned by its main speakers. In a family 

where the couple was born in Banyumas, and domiciled in Barlingmascakeb region, only a little part of the 

communication in the family uses Banyumasan Javanese Language. Most of them communicate in mixed language, 

comprised of Indonesian Language and Banyumasan Javanese Language, but Indonesian Language is dominant. 

The same occurs in social media. Although majority of members in a discussion group in social media are from 

Banyumas, but the dominant language used is Indonesian Language. 

The existence of Language Banyumas in the digital media is also not really popular. Banyumas Language is 

commonly known as Ngapak Language, that is often connoted as a language with fun and less modern impression. 

Searching for knowledge of Banyumas Language in the internet is also quite little. The results of Google Trends 

analysis prove that not many internet users search for keywords related to Banyumasan Javanese Language.

Some factors that affect the declining use of Banyumasan Javanese Language can be distinguished into external 

and internal factors. The external factor includes dominancy of national language and foreign languages factor. 

The internal factor includes the speakers’ inferior feeling since Banyumasan Javanese Language is often deemed 

ndeso and less modern, and is more suitable to comedy.

To solve the problem so that Banyumasan Javanese Language will not go extinct, efforts from all parties are needed 

to conserve it. The local government needs to issue a policy that can encourage the people to use Banyumasan 

Javanese Language more actively. The policies that have been made need to be evaluated so as to encourage all 

components of the community from all ranges of age and occupations so that they will be confident in and proud 

of using Banyumasan Javanese Language.

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