The Maintenance of the Manggarai Language in Religious Practices in Sambi Village, Manggarai

This study aims to describe the pattern of maintaining the Manggarai language in the religious practices in the village of Sambi Manggarai, Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. This is a qualitative research with a phenomenological approach. Data were collected by means of in-depth interviews with five participants, observation and documentation. Determination of participants is done purposively. The analysis and discussion uses Fishman's (1968) language maintenance theory which raises two main topics of language maintenance including (1) The habit of using regional languages in communicating, (2) Psychological, social and cultural processes and their relationship to stability or change in language use habits. By addressing these two key topics, the preservation of the Manggarai language in religious practices within Sambi village is upheld through various religious activities, which serve as the implementation of policies established by local church leaders. In addition, the use of the Manggarai language in several religious activities is an effort to communicate the feelings of the people to God the creator by using language that is easy to understand and accept. The study enriches sociolinguistic discussions on the role of local church policies in promoting linguistic preservation through structured religious activities.