JELL (Journal of English Language and literatur.
STIBA IEC Jakarta Volume 10.
Issue 2.
September 2025 p-ISSN 2540-8216, e-ISSN 2654-3745 https://journal.
stibaiec-jakarta/ojs/index.
php/jell Face-Saving and Face-Threatening Strategies in Sundanese Teenagers' Interactions through TikTok Content Luki Alifia Mustaam Firmansyah1 mustaamfirmansyah@gmail.
English Literature Department.
Faculty of Tourism and Language.
Universitas Pertiwi Sahril Mujani mujani@pertiwi.
English Literature Department.
Faculty of Tourism and Language.
Universitas Pertiwi Lilik Pujiani pujiani@pertiwi.
English Literature Department.
Faculty of Tourism and Language.
Universitas Pertiwi Firmansyah.
Mujani.
and Pujiani.
Face-Saving and Face-Threatening Strategies in Sundanese Teenagers' Interactions through TikTok Content.
Journal of English Language and Literature, 10.
, doi: 10.
37110/jell.
Received: 20-04-2025 Accepted: 25-07-2025 Published: 02-09-2025 Abstract: In todayAos digital landscape, traditional norms of politeness are increasingly challenged by the fluid and often informal nature of online communication, particularly among teenagers.
This research focuses on how Sundanese teenagers apply undak-usuk basa, a cultural system of linguistic politeness in their content interactions on TikTok, a platform characterized by spontaneous and casual exchanges.
The aim of this research is to analyze how face-saving and face-threatening strategies are utilized by Sundanese-speaking adolescents in digital peer communication.
Employing a qualitative approach, the research collects data through observation and discourse analysis of selected TikTok videos.
Brown and LevinsonAos Politeness Theory serves as the primary framework to examine how traditional politeness strategies are adapted within modern teenage interactions.
The findings reveal that Sundanese teenagers apply undak-usuk basa selectively, influenced by social context, peer dynamics, and platform-specific norms.
These results suggest that while digital media shapes communication behavior, the cultural norms embedded in undak-usuk basa remain relevant in the practice of both face-saving and face-threatening acts.
Keywords: politeness strategies, undak-usuk.
Sundanese teenagers, face-saving & face-threatening INTRODUCTION In today's digital age, social media platforms like TikTok are highly popular among teenagers for interacting.
This platform is chosen by users to create engaging conversation content using spontaneous, equal, and often informal language.
For Sundanese teenagers, this presents a unique challenge, as Sundanese cultural values emphasize politeness through a hierarchical language system known as undak-usuk basa.
In Sundanese society, undak-usuk basa represents a deeply rooted form of politeness embedded in language, reflecting values such as respect, humility, and social harmony.
According to Almustari .
, understanding and correctly applying undak-usuk basa is a vital part of social interaction in Sundanese Similarly.
Adejuve .
describes this system as a distinctive mark of Sundanese identity that upholds etiquette and decency in everyday life.
1 Corresponding author Luki Alifia Mustaam Firmansyah.
Sahril Mujani & Lilik Mujiani Face-Saving and Face-Threatening Strategies in Sundanese Teenagers' Interactions through TikTok Content However, in practice, many TikTok videos show Sundanese teenagers mixing language levels or using blunt, even harsh expressions in casual conversation with peers.
Teasing, interrupting, and mocking are often presented humorously and normalized within the platformAos culture.
This suggests a shift in how traditional norms of politeness are expressed or even challenged.
While undak-usuk basa is widely recognized as a core aspect of Sundanese identity, there understanding of how it is actually used or gradually lost by younger generations in digital It is still unclear whether Sundanese teenagers consistently apply politeness strategies in online peer communication or whether they adjust these norms in response to the informal nature of the platform.
Handriani et al.
emphasize, politeness strategies play a crucial role in fostering social harmony, and Usman et al.
argue that language is a mirror of cultural values and social order.
To analyze this phenomenon, this research applies Brown and LevinsonAos .
Politeness Theory, which explains how individuals use strategies to manage facesaving and face-threatening acts in communication, based on the concepts of positive face .
he desire to be like.
and negative face .
he desire for autonom.
The theory outlines politeness strategies, such as bald on-record, positive politeness, negative politeness, and off-record, used depending on social factors like power, distance, and the level of imposition (Brown & Levinson, 1.
According to the theory, individuals aim to protect their own and othersAo "face" Ai the public self-image Ai during interaction.
Positive face relates to the desire to be liked and accepted, while negative face refers to the desire to act freely without imposition.
This framework is suitable to understand how Sundanese teenagers express politeness and navigate peer relationships in online interactions, particularly through TikTok.
This research also adopts a pragmaticsociolinguistic approach to explore how traditional politeness norms are adapted in peer-to-peer digital interactions.
Through this lens, the research investigates how these adaptations affect both face-saving and facethreatening acts in their daily communication, especially in peer contexts within online Some previous studies use Brown and Levinson's politeness theory in investigating how TikTok affects language politeness .
Anggraeni et al.
, 2023.
Islami et al.
, 2024.
Guo.
This research reveals the complex interactions between exposure to disrespectful content and the maintenance of polite language in daily interactions.
Compared to AnggraeniAos research that focuses on children, this research emphasizes Sundanese teenagers.
Similarly.
Islami et al.
analyzed politeness in YouTube podcasts, while this research focuses on TikTok interactions.
However, limited research has specifically analyzed how undak-usuk basa is practiced, adapted, or potentially diminished among Sundanese teenagers in online communication, especially in informal peer interactions.
This is concerning, as undak-usuk basa is a vital element of Sundanese cultural identity that should be preserved across generations.
Therefore, this research is essential to investigate how cultural politeness is expressed through face-saving and face-threatening acts among Sundanese teenagers.
The research aims to highlight whether these traditional politeness strategies continue to shape their digital conversations and contribute not only to pragmatic and sociolinguistic scholarship but also to cultural preservation efforts.
METHOD
In the process, this research uses a descriptive qualitative approach which is most suitable for capturing and presenting detailed, context-rich insights into naturally occurring communication phenomena.
According to Sandelowski .
, descriptive qualitative research aims to provide a straightforward JELL (Journal of English Language and literatur.
STIBA IEC Jakarta Volume 10.
Issue 2.
September 2025 p-ISSN 2540-8216, e-ISSN 2654-3745 https://journal.
stibaiec-jakarta/ojs/index.
php/jell description of experiences or events, making it ideal for analyzing discourse without heavy theoretical abstraction.
This method is chosen because the research analyzes data collected from several TikTok videos that become the main objects of research.
The conversations in these videos, especially among Sundanesespeaking teenagers, are observed to identify the use of face-saving and face-threatening To support this, the theory of politeness strategy by Penelope Brown and Stephen C.
Levinson is applied through a pragmatic-sociolinguistic approach (Brown & Levinson, 1.
This theory helps to explain more deeply the meaning and implications of both strategies as they appear in the selected video content.
The primary data of this research consist of dialogues among Sundanese teenagers that reflect real-life politeness practices.
These data were collected through observation of natural communication found in public TikTok Meanwhile, the secondary data include academic references such as books, journal articles, and other relevant sources discussing politeness theory, linguistic pragmatics, and the cultural values embedded in the use of the Sundanese language.
In the analysis stage, the researcher first Sundanese communicate in peer-to-peer situations to recognize patterns related to politeness.
Then, several relevant theories were reviewed to support the analysis, especially those related to politeness and language use in digital spaces.
The data were analyzed using thematic analysis, where instances of communication were coded and grouped based on emerging themes based on Brown and Levinson's politeness theory, specifically face-saving and face-threatening strategies.
Finally, the results of the research were interpreted in relation to existing literature to understand how Sundanese adolescents negotiate traditional norms in everyday communication, especially in digital environments.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This research explores how Sundanese teenagers use face-saving and face-threatening strategies in their TikTok interactions, based on Brown and LevinsonAos Politeness Theory.
The results show that they often switch between polite and casual language depending on the context and who they are talking to.
In some cases, they maintain traditional politeness, while in others they use direct or humorous expressions with peers.
Below are several findings taken from selected TikTok content that show how these strategies appear in real Face Saving Extract 1: .
ource: @budaksunda.
Boy 1: AuHeyA bade kamana? Kadieu tuangA sarengA".
[HiA where are you going? let's eat here.
Boy AuMuhunA mangaA lanjengkeunAAy.
Boy 1: AuEhA ngariung meh resepA kadieuAAy.
[EhA let's get together to have more funA come hereA].
Boy 2: AuEhA muhun mangaA ngiring raos na weAAy.
[EhA yes pleaseA IAoll enjoy it through yo.
The first extract illustrates how Sundanese adolescents use polite and inclusive language to negotiate social relationships in ways that reflect cultural values and strategic The exchange, which begins with Aubade kamana?Ay and is followed by phrases such as Aukadieu tuang.
Ay, demonstrates the use of positive politeness strategies, as outlined by Brown and Levinson .
, which aim to foster solidarity, engagement, and mutual respect.
The second speaker's gentle refusal-Aumuhun.
Ay-further emphasizes the facesaving orientation, typical in Sundanese norms of interaction, which prioritizes avoiding direct conflict and maintaining social harmony.
This finding resonates with Anggraeni et al.
, who found that TikTok influenced Luki Alifia Mustaam Firmansyah.
Sahril Mujani & Lilik Mujiani Face-Saving and Face-Threatening Strategies in Sundanese Teenagers' Interactions through TikTok Content conformity and experimentation with forms of Although their research focused on younger children, this research shows that adolescents also actively maintain forms of politeness, especially in peer interactions, reflecting the continuing influence of traditional values in digital discourse.
Moreover, these findings differ from those of Islami et al.
, who observed mixed politeness and impoliteness strategies .
sarcasm and directnes.
in Sundanese YouTube podcast interactions.
In contrast, the teen dialogues analyzed here lacked overt impoliteness, which suggests that peer-based TikTok interactions may encourage more harmonious and collaborative language use compared to entertainment-based discourse In addition, the use of basa undak-usuk - as seen in the expressions AumuhunAy and AumangaAy - illustrates how Sundanese adolescents use hierarchical language even in casual peer This supports Guo's .
argument that platforms like TikTok shape adolescents' communication styles and social behaviors.
However, while Guo highlights shifting interactional norms, this research shows that digital environments do not necessarily diminish traditional norms of politeness, but rather provide a space where such values are renegotiated and reinforced among peers.
Boy 2: "Kadinya mah paling dua puluh lima [That would be around twenty-five Boy 1: "Ari ka Cimahi?".
[To Cimahi?].
Boy 2: "Tilu puluh rebu we a, teu nanaon.
[Thirty thousand only, sir.
ThatAos fine.
Based on this extract, the interaction begins with a respectful and culturally appropriate Boy 1 uses the polite term AuKang,Ay .
, which signals deference to the other person, even though they appear to be peers.
The follow-up question Autukang ojek didieu?Ay .
s there an ojek her.
, is neutral but still carries a sense of formality.
Boy 2 responds briefly with AuEnya,Ay and as the conversation continues, he replies with AuMuhun a, bade kamana?Ay (Yes, sir.
Where would you like to go?), an expression rooted in undak-usuk basa that softens the interaction and maintains mutual respect.
These early turns reflect Sundanese politeness norms, where showing humility and avoiding imposition are prioritized, even in casual settings like ojek The tone of the dialogue is consistently Boy 1 continues asking about different destinations, but his inquiries remain polite and exploratory rather than demanding.
Boy 2's answers are calm and accommodating.
Phrases like Ausapuluh rebu weAy .
ust ten thousan.
, and Auteu nanaonAy .
hatAos fin.
, are not just factual price responses they function as subtle strategies to maintain harmony, show generosity, and reduce the weight of the transactional setting.
This reflects Brown and LevinsonAos positive politeness strategies, particularly giving goods and services, showing camaraderie, and avoiding conflict.
There's no sign of annoyance or distance even after multiple questions, highlighting the speakerAos desire to maintain a comfortable interactional The consistent use of soft tone and lemes language level illustrates how undak-usuk basa is still actively used by Sundanese teenagers even in digital media recreations of daily life like those on TikTok.
This supports the notion that traditional politeness systems are not lost.
Extract 2: .
ource: @budaksunda.
Boy 1: "Kang.
tukang ojek didieu?".
[Sir.
is there an ojek here?].
Boy 2: "Enya.
[Yes.
Boy 1: "Nyalira wae atuh.
[You're alone here, right.
Boy 2: "Muhun a, bade kamana?".
[Yes, sir.
Where would you like to go?].
Boy 1: "Ari ka Parongpong, sabaraha?".
[How much is the cost to Parongpong?].
Boy 2: "Oh.
sapuluh rebu we.
[Oh.
ten thousan.
Boy 1: "Ari ka Pasar Lemang?".
[How about Lemang Market?].
JELL (Journal of English Language and literatur.
STIBA IEC Jakarta Volume 10.
Issue 2.
September 2025 p-ISSN 2540-8216, e-ISSN 2654-3745 https://journal.
stibaiec-jakarta/ojs/index.
php/jell but they are recontextualized in newer communication platforms.
The interaction in this extract serves as a good example of how young people uphold cultural values through respectful language choices, showing that facesaving acts remain relevant and meaningful in peer conversations.
Face Threatening Extract 1: .
ource: @budaksunda.
Boy 1: AuHeyA bade kamana? Kadieu tuangA sarengA".
[HiA where are you going? let's eat here.
Boy AuMuhunA mangaA lanjengkeunAAy.
Boy 1: AuEhA ngariung meh resepA kadieuAAy.
[EhA let's get together to have more funA come hereA].
Boy 2: AuEhA muhun mangaA ngiring raos na weAAy.
[EhA yes pleaseA IAoll enjoy it through yo.
Boy 1: AuEhA rek naon maneh kadieu?".
[EhA what are you doing here?].
Boy 2: AuHeheA mana atuh piringna?Ay.
[HeheA where is the plate?].
Based on the first extract, the initial part of the conversation still reflects politeness and friendliness, as seen in the earlier turns of offering and soft refusals.
However, the tone changes in the fifth utterance when Boy 1 says Aurek naon maneh kadieu?Ay, which directly challenges or mocks Boy 2Aos presence in a confrontational tone.
The informal address AumanehAy and the direct questioning signal a shift from positive politeness to facethreatening interaction.
Instead of maintaining harmony, the speaker begins to undermine the otherAos face through sarcasm or mild The choice of vocabulary plays a key role in shifting the tone of the exchange.
The word Aumaneh,Ay .
, while commonly used among close peers in Sundanese, carries a lower politeness level compared to alternatives like AuanjeunAy .
or Auakang.
Ay .
When used in certain contexts, especially alongside direct or critical questions, it can trigger a sense of informality that borders on disrespect.
In this case, the sudden switch from soft language to blunt questioning introduces a social distance or tension that may threaten the hearerAos positive face, as the speaker no longer frames his remarks in a cooperative or affiliative This change disrupts the earlier harmony and shifts the conversation from respectful to slightly mocking.
It reflects a face-threatening strategy, where the speaker no longer tries to maintain the listenerAos need to be appreciated or According to Brown and Levinson .
, this type of utterance threatens the hearerAos positive face, especially when spoken without any softening or politeness markers.
Extract 2: .
ource: @budaksunda.
Boy 1: "Ari ka Cibaruga?".
[How about the cost to Cibaruga?].
Boy 2: "Lima belas rebu!.
Keheula.
teh rek naon ojek moal sih? Titadi tunyatanya wae!".
[Fifteen thousand! .
Hold Are you going to ride or not, bro? You've been asking so many questions!].
Boy 1: "Ah.
henteu, naros we a, abdi mah.
ari kitu mah, abdi ngojek didieu wios? [Ah.
I was just asking.
may I be the one taking ojek here then? heh.
Boy 2: "Euh.
kasus!".
[UhA what a mess!] Based on this extract, the tone of the conversation shifts significantly.
While the earlier part showed politeness and patience, the speaker in this segment Boy 2 expresses irritation and frustration.
The use of AuKeheula.
Aa teh rek naon ojek moal sih?Ay (Hold on.
you taking the ride or not?) clearly reflects a face-threatening act.
The statement is blunt, emotionally charged, and lacks softening expressions, which indicates a breakdown of politeness strategies.
The escalation in tone is not only evident in the wording but also in the shift of relational Initially, the interaction is transactional and relatively neutral, but once the speaker uses expressions like Autunya-tanya wae,Ay .
ou've been asking so many questions!), it conveys annoyance and implies that the listener is Luki Alifia Mustaam Firmansyah.
Sahril Mujani & Lilik Mujiani Face-Saving and Face-Threatening Strategies in Sundanese Teenagers' Interactions through TikTok Content wasting time.
The informal particle AutehAy combined with the rhetorical question style reinforces the speakerAos rising irritation.
This signals a breakdown in cooperative communication, where the speakerAos facethreatening act is not mitigated with humor, deference, or indirectness, resulting in a more confrontational tone that disrupts the earlier This kind of response signals a loss of patience and challenges the hearer's face by questioning their intent in a confrontational According to Brown and Levinson .
, such utterances threaten the hearerAos positive face, as they imply criticism, sarcasm, and social discomfort.
Boy 1 tries to neutralize the situation with a humorous tone, but the final response from Boy 2 (AuKasus!A.
affirms the conversational breakdown and serves as an example of impoliteness within digital-age peer such as TikTok.
Instead of abandoning politeness, they adapt key elements of undakusuk basa, such as respectful expression and indirectness, to maintain social harmony in online peer interactions.
This suggests that cultural values are not lost in the digital space, but are reshaped to fit the new context.
The findings imply that local linguistic norms remain resilient and adaptable, even in a rapidly changing media environment.
The findings also point to the importance of integrating cultural awareness into digital literacy, so that young users can engage online while maintaining their cultural identity.
More broadly, this research
contributes to sociolinguistic research by showing that politeness strategies evolve in response to technological and social changes, which highlights the dynamic nature of language and culture in young people's REFERENCES