Banyumasan dialect

Banyumasan (basa Banyumasan), also known by its autoglottonym Ngapak (basa Ngapak), is a dialect of Javanese spoken mainly in three areas of Java: the Banyumasan region in the westernmost part of Central Java province and surrounding the Dieng Plateau, Mount Slamet and Serayu River; a neighboring area inside West Java province; This area includes Cilacap, Kebumen, Banjarnegara, Purbalingga, Banyumas, Wonosobo regencies, southern part of Pemalang, southern part of Pekalongan, southern part of Batang and, together with independent cities within that region. Banyumasan is considered as one of the most conservative Javanese dialects (comparable to the Nuorese variety of Sardinian), retaining the phonology and some aspects of Old Javanese (Kawi) grammar and vocabularies in the modern language.

Scholars divide the development of Javanese language into four different stages:

The phases above were influenced by the emergence of empires in Java. In Javanese cultural history, empires yielded some distinct grades of language, each grade representing the social grade of the speakers (mainly nobles and populaces). Those grades of language are not of significant influence to Banyumasan people. In the Banyumasan region, high grades are usually used only when speaking to a stranger assumed to come from the eastern area of Java i.e. Yogyakarta / Surakarta etc., or on certain occasions. Nowadays the Banyumasan people use high grade Javanese to a stranger, a noble man and older people. Surakartan and Yogyakartan style are usually considered the standard Javanese language.

Banyumasan many differences compared to standard Javanese, mainly in phonology, pronunciation and vocabulary. This happened due to cultural or character distinction and widely current usage of Old Javanese vocabulary. Another distinction is that the pronunciation of the vowels is not as complicated.

Vocabulary distinction is basically found in:

Javanese speech varies depending on social context, yielding three distinct styles, or registers. Each style employs its own vocabulary, grammatical rules and even prosody. This is not unique to Javanese; neighbouring Austronesian languages as well as East Asian languages such as Korean, Japanese and Thai share similar constructions.

In Javanese these styles are called:

In the Banyumasan region, Madya and Krama styles are rarely used, usually towards a stranger who is assumed to come from the eastern area of Java (wetanan) such as Yogyakarta, Surakarta etc. or on certain occasions, an eastern style of language (basa wetanan) named bandhekan (from gandhek).