Yogyakarta- Friday Speech (Khotbah Jumat) is one of Islamic rituals. The speech is delivered in the mosque before the Friday prayers. Generally, the content of the speech is no other than the preacher’s appeal to the congregation to be pious people. Friday sermons are seldom delivered in many languages. But in Surakarta, the sermon is delivered in three languages, Javanese, Indonesian and Arabic. The triple-lingual sermon is even delivered simultaneously.
According to Kundaru Saddhono, S.S., M.Hum, Linguistic lecturer of Sebelas Maret University of Surakarta, Javanese is used in rural areas and few urban areas. Meanwhile, Indonesian is used in urban areas. “In urban areas, the congregation is from many backgrounds of education, profession, etc,” Kundaru said at his open doctoral examination in Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Tuesday (5/7). Acting as promoter is Prof. Dr. I Dewa Putu Wijana, S.U., M.A., and co-promoter Prof. Dr. Soepomo Poedjosoedarmo.
Kundaru added that Arabic is used in particular mosques, such as mosques of Indonesia Institute of Islamic Dawah (LDII). After the Friday prayers, there is explanation about the content of sermon using Indonesian or Javanese. Although using different languages, the Friday sermons are mainly citation of Allah’s words, the Prophet’s words, dialogues or the word of someone important. There are also stories about the Prophet and friends, history and current events.
Kundaru said that the topic is based on social environments of the mosques, namely family, religion, education, network and society. In his opinion, each social environment of the mosque influences the use of language, vocabulary, and dictions in utterances of Friday sermon. “The social factors make the characteristics of Friday sermons between mosques in five environments different,” he said.
In addition, the utterer, speaking partner and speech act also influence the use of language and vocabulary. Although Friday sermons have clear rules, in the utterance these are influenced by the utterer. “The utterer or preacher has the freedom in delivering the speech in his own language style, but it still follows the prevailing rules,” he said.