Javanese Grammar For Students

by Stuart O. Robson

Javanese is the first language of approximately half of the population of Indonesia, making it one of the most important languages of Southeast Asia. It is not only a vehicle of everyday communication, but also of various forms of theatre and of a very extensive literature.
As a result of the regional autonomy movement in Indonesia, there is an upsurge of interest in the Javanese language and culture, so that students of Indonesia need to take account of and become acquainted with this fascinating language. Javanese is a vital, expressive language, with interesting features that warrant further study by linguists, in particular sociolinguists, in view of its remarkable 'language levels', essential for use in social situations.
Visitors and researchers working in Java will be well aware of the need to use Javanese, whether their field be the arts, society, history or any other. This modest reference grammar, now in its second edition, can be of assistance in identifying grammatical forms and constructions, and should be used in conjunction with the Javanese-English Dictionary (Periplus, Singapore).

132 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2002

About the author

An Australian scholar, Stuart Robson has been involved with Asian Studies for over 40 years. A resident of Victoria, Australia, he has lived and taught overseas, and has a number of publications to his name. He currently teaches Indonesian at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He is a member of the Royal Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology. His other interests include Theravada Buddhism, archaeology, and classical Javanese music.

Reviews

[ꦧꦺꦴꦝ꧀ꦱꦸꦂꦪ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a handy little guide. I found the contents accurate and helpful and really enjoyed reading the example sentences. Has lots of info on verbs, affixes and particles and talks about some of the initial hurdles I've had.
One warning I wish the book made very clear is that Javanese can vary a bit and in a way you can't rely on these kinds of books for everything, you'll need a real teacher to help you with the dialect you want to learn. But all in all this book is wonderful and more helpful than misleading (referring to what I said before).