Verbal Abuse in Multiracial Communication: a Sociolinguistics Perspective

Humans are naturally born into the world in a variety of different races and tribes. Diversity and difference is one form of cultural treasures of a nation if the people live collectively in the frame of tolerance and mutual respect for each other, thus avoiding various social conflicts. One of the factors that make vulnerable causes of conflict is the language factor. Language is one element of culture that has an important role in maintaining the harmony of diversity. Language is not only understood as a sign only but is also viewed as a social system, communication system, and as part of a particular cultural society. Language serves as a tool of communication in the life of society which consists of a variety of races, tribes through the polite language will be able to build a peaceful coexistence between different backgrounds of history, culture and identity. Verbal abuse in multiracial communication often becomes the trigger of social conflict in the midst of society. Verbal abuse often leads to conflict, because every word that becomes the expression of meaning and meaning is formed based on the perception and interpretation of people involved in the communication process. The inappropriateness of choice of words used will result in perceptions that do not match the expectations of the communicant. Errors of perception will be a major obstacle in the process of communication. If the obstacles are not managed properly it will lead to conflict and hostility. Verbal abuse does not only appear in socio-political life, but also in literary texts. This research was conducted to analyze how the portrayal of language violence in Jacqueline Woodson novels. The theme will be examined in terms of its impact on efforts to create a tolerant society. This study was conducted using a sociolinguistic perspective. The results of this study found violent forms of language in multiracial community communication. There are seven forms of verbal abuse found: countering, discounting, accusing and blaming, judging and criticizing, trivializing, threatening, and denial. Based on these findings it can be concluded that the relation of power and dominance also manifested in aspects of language that directly occur in everyday life, such as at home, in the office, space, class, playground and others. Everything is the context in which individuals spend most of their time interacting, using language to express their intentions, and following up on specific purposes. Keywords—multiracial; sociolinguitics; verbal abuse