Discourse of Communication During the Month of Ramadan in Sorong and Mentawai, Indonesi

Abstract

The word choice of the first-person pronoun 'we' shows the attitude of the speaker when positioning the speech partner. The pronoun is considered to involve the speech partner in the communication, so there is no longer an asymmetrical relationship between them. This paper will describe in detail, the syntactic patterns in the use of 'we' as the inclusive plural pronoun in directive speech acts. The data was obtained through the recording of Ramadan lectures that took place in two different regions; Sorong in Eastern Indonesia and Mentawai in Western Indonesia. The results showed that the use of pronouns is associated with complex relationships, both in the attitudes of the parties involved and in the community who are the speech partners in a communication framework. Thus, politeness in communication is disturbed in practice. This paper suggests the need for an understanding of personal pronouns in a cultural context and the need for the development of an equality model in society.