THE SYSTEM OF ADDRESS IN SAMBAS MALAY SPEECH COMMUNITY: A REPRESENTATION OF SOCIOLINGUISTIC COMPETENCE

Whithin the scope of kin and neighbourhood relationship, this study was conducted for two purposes. The first was to identify the system of address used in the Sambas Malay speech community. The second was to interprete how the system represents the speakers’ sociolinguistic competence. The data were collected through fieldwork. Participant observation, unstructured interview and voice recording were simultaneously implemented. The componential analysis and the analysis of alternation rules were applied as the model. The findings show that the address terms in Sambas take various linguistic forms of the language. birth order labels are typical kinship terms of the community,  and  these terms are also commonly used as address terms in both kin and neighbourhood relationship. Some address terms from other languages also exist. Beside indicating the role relationship between the addresser and the addressee, the use of an address term indicates the physical characteristics and the social status of an addressee, in addition to reciprocity or otherwise. Honorific, academic and other status terms refer to the higher status of the addressee and the social distance between participants. The use of such terms denote solidarity, intimacy and power relationship.