ABSTRACT
Language game, including wordplay and speech disguise, also known as ludling, is a phenomenon of modifying words created by native speakers of a language to conceal the actual meaning of what the speakers are saying. As one of the languages with many speakers, Javanese has also experienced the phenomenon of language games for a long time and is still actively happening today. A type of wordplay from numerous Javanese language games occurs in Ampel, a region in the north of Surabaya, with different characteristics from most modification processes in language games worldwide. Therefore, this research analyzes information related to the study objectives using a qualitative method of interviews and observations with the wordplay users and non-users. The study focuses on (1) how the Javanese wordplay is formed in Ampel, (2) certain situations, conditions, and settings to determine the circumstances in which the wordplay occurs, and (3) how users and non-users comprehend the wordplay. The result shows that Javanese wordplay in Ampel undergoes linguistic formation processes of prefixation and truncation that differ from most language games in other communities and societies. The findings show that this wordplay applies to particular circumstances and certain purposes of the users assigning whether outsiders should understand it or not.
