Language Shift of Gayonese in Southeast Aceh Regency

This study aimed to investigate language shift of Gayonese in Southeast Aceh Regency. The objectives of this study are to investigate the types of language shift of Gayonese found in Jambur Damar village, Southeast Aceh Regency, to describe the factors influence language shift of children in Jambur Damar village, Southeast Aceh Regency and to explain language shift occurs of children in Jambur Damar village, Southeast Aceh Regency. In this study the method applied is descriptive qualitative research. The data sources were obtained from the conversations among children due to language shift in their families and environments.The research location was in Jambur Damar Village, Tanoh Alas District, Southeast Aceh Regency. The subjects of this study were 10 children of Jambur Damar Village. Furthermore, observation, interviews, and documentation were employed in collecting the data. The findings showed that the types of language shift found in Jambur Damar village there are only two categories of the four types namely colloquial and jargon. They are colloquial was the most type found in this study. In terms of the factors influence language shift in Jambur Damar, it showed that there are found two factors that influence the shifting of the Gayo language to Indonesian, namely internal factors and external factors. Internal factors are parents/family factors and intermarriage factors. External factors are education/school factors and bilingualism factors. The most dominant one is intermarriage factors. Moreover, it revealed that the reasons language shift occurrence in this study were habitual language usage and environment.