History

Sundanese is one of the oldest regional languages in Indonesia. In this time, Sundanese language is commonly used by people who living in the West Java Province. However, the development of the Sundanese language has undergone changes which are some Sundanese people rarely used Undak Usuk Basa (The Manners of Using Sundanese) as a reference in communication. In fact, Undak Usuk Basa (The Manners of Using Sundanese) has an important value for it’s speakers and forms politeness in behavior. Then, social values in Sundanese people can be reflected starting from simple things such as inviting someone to eat, because when inviting someone to eat using good and correct language is believed to produce a positive response. In fact, Undak Usuk Basa (The Manners of Using Sundanese) has influenced the way a person behaves in order to establish good relationships with others. Nowadays, many Sundanese people have experienced a decline on their understanding of Undak Usuk Basa (The Manners of Using Sundanese) it’self. Because of that, further research is needed to identify these problems. Therefore, this study describes the use of different lexical variables of the word “eat” in Sundanese that are adjusted to differences in age, social status, and distance of intimacy between the speaker and the speaking partner. Observations, interviews with informants, and direct interaction with Sundanese native speakers obtained this result. Data collection carried out to determine the perception of Sundanese people in using various terms of the word “eat” in Sundanese. The finding shows that not every Sundanese speakers uses the word “eat” correctly, because there are many of them who lack knowledge about using those lexical words. Refers to the use of Undak Usuk Basa (The Manners of Using Sundanese) as a fundamental variable, it leads us to the originality of using Sundanese correctly in communicating.