Understanding The Dialect Of Madurese

Madura is my father and my mother home town and also my home town. 

Madura is divided by four regencies. They are Sumenep, Pamekasan, Sampang, and Bangkalan. 

Each regency has its own speech level engaged to social dialect. Firstly, Sumenep is the regency which has the most polite Madurese language and 

typically has the strongest Madurese dialect. Sumenep society frequently uses Enggi/Bunten level of speech. The second regency is Pamekasan 

which is the central regency of Madura. Pamekasan people usually use Enja’/Iya as their daily language even though when they are talking to their parents. Thirdly, Sampang regency has less polite language compared to the other regencies. They use Enja’/Iya for their daily communication including talking to their parents. It is suspected because they live in a maritime area. However, Sampang people use Enggi/Bunten level of speech when they are talking to the teacher or those 

who are considered as the educated people. Compared to all regencies in Madura, the fourth regency, Bangkalan, is well known as the regency which has the most rude speech level. It is because Bangkalan is located near Surabaya, East Java, and far from Sumenep. Bangkalan people use Enja’/Iya as their daily language, but just like Sampang, they still use Enggi/Bunten to talk to those who are considered as the educated 

people such as teacher. In general, there are two speech levels in Madurese language. First is 

Enja’/Iya [ənjə? Iyə] used by Madurese society among friends, relatives, and the older people to the younger ones. It is considered to the 

low level. This level of speech is also used in the daily communication. The second speech level of Madurese language is Enggi/Bunten [æŋghibhuntên] used by young people to the elder ones, students to their teacher, and a nephew to his uncle. This is a kind of high level of speech 

in Madurese language and considered as the more polite one.