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Kasar, Kurang Ajar, Tak Tahu Adat, Tak Tahu Bahasa dan Biadab

Tiba-tiba saya terkenang akan beberapa kata dan frasa Melayu seperti terpamer dalam tajuk di atas - Kasar, Kurang Ajar, Tak Tahu Adat, Tak Tahu Bahasa dan Biadab.

Kamus Dewan (esdisi keempat) terbitan Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka memang ada memberi erti bagi kata-kata tersebut . . . namun saya amat tertarik kepada penjelasan terperinci yang dibuat seorang pakar bahasa Prof Dato' Asmah Haji Omar (mantan Pengarah Pusat Bahasa, Universiti Malaya) tentang maksud kata-kata yang berkenaan.

Dalam buku beliau berjudul "Concepts of Conflict, War and Peace in the Malay Language" yang diterbitkan Akademi Pengajian Melayu Universiti Malaya pada tahun 1998 beliau ada menyentuh erti yang tersirat di sebalik kata-kata Melayu . . . Kasar,  Kurang Ajar, Tak Tahu Adat, Tak Tahu Bahasa dan Biadab. 

Sentuhan pandangan ini terdapat dalam Chapter 3 perenggan 3.7 Being Rough and Rude buku tersebut.

Penulisan Prof Dato' Asmah Haji Omar telah dibuat dalam bahasa Inggeris dan untuk memudahkan rujukan* dan renungan** kita bersama biarlah saya turunkannya semula di bawah ini dalam bentuk asal . . . al-maklum bahasa Inggeris sudah amat luas tersebar dan terpakai di kalangan penduduk di negara kita ini dan sudah lebih mudah difahami oleh sebilangan terbesar warga Malaysia . . . berbanding bahasa Melayu. 

*{Walaupun sedikit panjang (dan mungkin membosankan bagi setengah-setengah golongan) . . .} 

**{Sudilah meluangkan sekejap waktu membacanya. Semoga bermanfaat jua.} 

Being Rough and Rude

An aspect of a person's behaviour that is likely to cause a conflict is one that is rough, rude and 'uncivilised'. In Malay, there are various lexical items for this. Among these are kasar,kurang ajar,tak tahu adat, tak tahu bahasa, and biadab. 

Kasar (literally: rough) is the antonym of lemah lembut (gentle). The kasar characteristic in a person may refer to his movements and mannerisms, his choice of words and his intonation. He may or may not be aware that his verbal or non-verbal demeanour or both are offensive to others, for example , when he points with the pointer finger when he should do it with his thumb; beckons people with the palm of the hand facing upwards and the fingers moving towards the inside of the wrist, instead of the other way round; looking at people straight into the eyes instead of drooping the eyelids slightly, etc.

All these are examples of behaviour that is rude, crude and uncouth. However, what is just kasar in one situation may be interpreted as kurang ajar, tak tahu adat, or  biadab in another.

Situation here refers to the setting of the event in which the traits of behaviour are manifested together with the degree of formality or solemnity that goes with it.For example, handing over something to someone or taking something from someone with the left hand is considered kasar (rough) if it is done among peers and colleagues, or in relation to those below one in terms of age, rank and family hierarchy.It becomes kurang ajar or tak tahu adat when the other party involved is one who is higher in rank (viz.in social, official or family hierarchy) or older in age than oneself. It becomes biadab when the other party is one who is very highly placed in society, for example, the King, the Sultan, the Prime Minister, Ministers and so on.

From the above description it is clear that the lexical items and idioms under consideration may be placed in a hierarchical order, based on the intensity of the denotation of 'rough', 'rude', and 'crude' borne by them. Kasar may be considered as the mildest of the lot.It just means that one is rough. A little bit of coaching will make one more gentle. Next comes tak tahu adat or tak tahu bahasa. Both these idioms mean that the person involved does not know of the custom and tradition of the people he is interacting with. When these idioms are used to describe non-Malays, local as well as foreign, there usually is a tinge of mitigation; because they are not Malays, one cannot expect them to be conversant with the custom and tradition of the Malays. However, if these idioms are used to refer to the Malays, there is no forgiving about it, because a Malay is expected to know and practise the custom and tradition of his own community which have been handed down to him from generation to generation.

Among the Malays, a person who violates a custom or a tradition is said to be tak tahu adat (does not know the tradition or custom) or tak tahu bahasa (does not know the language). The latter phrase denotes the close link between language and culture.

Kurang ajar (literally: not fully taught) seems to bring with it a more serious note than tak tahu adat and tak tahu bahasa. This particular idiom means that one is not taught the rules of decorum by one's parents. However, usually it is the mother that is implicated when a child does not behave properly. This is evident when the phrase kurang ajar is placed in a discourse. The onlooker or the disputant is usually heard to say to or of the person involved in this crudity as 'kurang ajar, anak mak tak terajar' (which may be translated as 'you are rude, you are the child of a mother who is not able to bring her child up properly'). The severity of kurang ajar is supported by litigations and court cases taken up by people who have been referred to as kurang ajar by others. (There was such a case in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur in 1977, in which I was subpoenaed as the language expert).

Biadab (literally: uncivilised) is a loan word from Arabic which means 'uncivilised'. An 'uncivilised' person occupies a lower social level than one who is not properly brought up by the mother. There has not been a court case or a litigation on biadab so far. There are two possible explanations to this. Firstly, biadab is not as frequent in occurrence as kurang ajar, perhaps due to it being a sophisticated word. Secondly, if it is used at all, it appears in a more general context with no particular personal referent. 

- Asmah Haji Omar



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Semoga dapat jua kita membuka minda dan berlapang dada dalam ikhtiar mencari sesuatu yang lebih baik untuk meningkatkan cara dan daya kita berkomunikasi dan berinteraksi antara satu sama lain.          

Terima kasih.

                

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