Faced with difficulty in finding references to learn the Sasak language, Jason Kelly, 55, and Andrew Friend, 34, were inspired to compile a Sasak-Indonesian-English dictionary.
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By Ismail Zakaria
·5 minutes read
Faced with difficulty in finding references to learn the Sasak language, Jason Kelly, 55, and Andrew Friend, 34, were inspired to compile a Sasak-Indonesian-English dictionary. They explored villages to absorb a wealth of vocabulary.
Jason, who is an Australian, discussed his first visit to Lombok in 1997 on a honeymoon with wife Anne Kelly. The experience prompted him to pray that someday he could return to Lombok and learn the Sasak language. Five years later, Jason’s prayer came true when he enrolled in a teacher exchange program in Lombok.
“At the time, references for Sasak language study were least available. So, I learned the language from neighbors in Gunung Sari, at the same time starting to compile a dictionary,” said Jason, while visiting Midang, Gunung Sari, West Lombok, in mid-September. He was accompanied by his wife, Anne.
He was also learning the Sasak language through his interaction with local residents.
Meanwhile, Andrew, who is an American, took up residence in Ampenan, Lombok, in 2005 to study Indonesian. He was also learning the Sasak language through his interaction with local residents.
Andrew’s residency in Lombok continued after he was received as a student at the School of Agriculture, Mataram University, in 2007. Graduating in 2011, he was married and settled in Selong Belanak, Central Lombok. “I met Jason and he asked me to compose a Sasak Lauq dictionary and I began to work on it in 2015,” recalled Andrew.
Jason wrote a Sasak-Indonesian-English dictionary, focusing on the Sasak language spoken in Mataram city. Andrew penned a Sasak Lauq-Indonesian-English dictionary. Lauq, meaning south, refers to the Sasak tongue of the community south of Central Lombok.
Dictionary writing
Jason wrote the dictionary from 2002 as suggested by his friend, who was studying languages in eastern Indonesia. “My friend made a dictionary program. Everything I learned from my neighbors at the time was thus put into the program,” said Jason.
The dictionary compilation program was halted for six years.
Sadly, not long after learning the Sasak language, the Bali bombing incident occurred in 2002. Jason was forced to return to Australia. The dictionary compilation program was halted for six years.
In 2008, Jason went back to Lombok and became a volunteer in the Educational Quality Guarantor Institute (LPMP) of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). He again learned this language and proceeded with the suspended dictionary writing. He was assisted by his wife Anne, who is a linguist.
Jason compiled the dictionary by preparing the vocabulary frequently used in English. “I invited and paid local residents to my home to have discussions with them. I matched the vocabulary list I made to the Sasak language, while asking for examples of its use in sentences,” he said.
Andrew was doing the same. He went around villages with his vocabulary list. He met common people as well as community figures to match the meanings of words to the Sasak language. “Lamun ndek arak tegawek, tokol lek berugak, ngupi (if nobody is available, it’s worked out while sitting in the gazebo, drinking coffee),” said Andrew in mixed Sasak-Indonesian.
Jason and Andrew once were walking together from Kuranji, West Lombok, to Tanjung Luar, East Lombok. They were checking the vocabulary lists they carried with residents they found on the roads, farmland or at shops.
The research was done to get a general description of language equivalents and at the same time ascertain if the Sasak language spoken in Mataram or West Lombok is understood by the community from Central Lombok to East Lombok.
Not simple
Jason said the process of dictionary compilation was not simple and took a long time. It’s because of the large vocabulary contents to be sought. His dictionary has 4,000 entries while the one written by Andrew has 1,000 entries.
“I’ve also studied the Sasak language of North Lombok, but I don’t include it in the dictionary because its vocabulary is very different. If it’s entered, my dictionary can contain 5,500 items,” added Jason.
I had difficulty in this respect, which is even more so as language isn’t my major. I specialize in agriculture.
Jason and Andrew also had to learn Sasak pronunciation. Besides, they needed to select the levels of vocabulary because the Sasak language has its common to refined grades. “I had difficulty in this respect, which is even more so as language isn’t my major. I specialize in agriculture,” said Andrew.
They both were enthusiastically assisted by Lombok residents in the process of compilation. “They knew I was compiling a dictionary. So, when I visited a village, locals were gathering, even residents who were walking past came to help,” said Andrew.
For the dictionaries, Jason and Andrew spent their own funds for the research, compilation and printing. They are happy to have finished the books that have obtained International Standard Book Numbers. Jason has printed 300 copies of his dictionary, while Andrew’s dictionary has come out in 450 copies.
These dictionaries have also appeared in Android based applications and are purchasable from Google Playstore at Rp40,000 each.
Jason and Andrew are now planning to work on a series of dictionaries of North Lombok’s Sasak, (ethnic Bima’s) Mbojo and (ethnic Sumbawa’s) Samawa languages.
They hope their dictionaries will be useful for tourists and whoever interested in learning the Sasak language.
JASON KELLY
Born:Australia, 1965
Wife:Anne Kelly
Education:First degree, Education, Marrara Christian College
ANDREW FRIEND
Born:United States, 1986
Wife:Julie Friend
Education:First degree, Agricultural Technology, Mataram University