The Address Practice of Youth Language in Malang: Comparative Study of BWM and Bahasa Gaul

Youth language is a unique language variation, has its characteristics, and continues to develop. There are interesting sociolinguistic phenomena to observe, especially the use of terms of address that are different from general language and have a specific purpose. This phenomenon is also found in the use of BWM (Basa Walikan Malang) and Bahasa Gaul. BWM is a reversed language, which become the identity of young people in Malang City, but in this digital era, the intent use of social media drives the youth in Malang City to combine it with Bahasa Gaul, especially on Instagram and Twitter. This research aims to find out: 1) the various terms of address, both in BWM and Bahasa Gaul used by Malang’s youth when socializing on Instagram and Twitter, and 2) Which terms of address are among BWM and Bahasa Gaul are mostly used by Malang’s youth when socializing on Instagram and Twitter. The data was taken from two base accounts that facilitate Malang’s youth to socialize: @Ngalamfess (Twitter) and @ikimalang (Instagram). Data from this research shows that the terms of address used by Malang’s youth are dominated by "ker" (BWM) and "gaes" (Bahasa Gaul). Meanwhile, the term of address most widely used is "ker" (BWM), which is considered to unify and resemble closeness between users when interacting.

Keywords: Youth Language, Basa Walikan Malang, Bahasa Gaul, Terms of Address