Sabdasastra : Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Jawa
Vol 10, No 1 (2026): Sabdasastra : Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Jawa

ADAPTASI FONOLOGIS DAN SEMANTIS KATA SANSKERTA DALAM BAHASA JAWA

Hasan Ashari (Universitas Sebelas Maret)
Fiska Amanda Mulia (University of Lucknow)



Article Info

Publish Date
26 Mar 2026

Abstract

This study examines the adaptation of Sanskrit lexicons in the Javanese language, a process persisting since the 4th century CE as an instrument of religion, literature, and political authority. The primary focus is to identify systematic patterns of phonological change and semantic shifts that facilitated the integration of this foreign language into the local system. Employing a qualitative descriptive approach within a historical linguistic perspective, data analysis was conducted through etymological tracing of Old and Modern Javanese text corpora, phonotactic classification to map sound transformations, and synchronic diachronic analysis to detect semantic evolution. The findings reveal that phonological adaptation occurred through deaspiration and consonant cluster simplification to satisfy Javanese phonological constraints. Semantically, a “nativization” of meaning took place through mechanisms of narrowing, widening, and recontextualization aligned with the community's sociocultural reality. These findings affirm that the Javanese language functions as an active filter that nativizes Sanskrit elements, rendering them an integral part of the Nusantara linguistic identity that remains adaptive to this day.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

sab

Publisher

Subject

Arts Humanities Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Other

Description

abdasastra : Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Jawa (Sabdasastra : Journal of Javanese Language Education) is an open-access journal published by Department of Javanese Language Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Sebelas Maret. The first issue of 2017 Volume 1 No 1 has ten ...