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There are many other examples; one or two may be really
new for people of other dialects. Misunderstanding may
sometimes result when a speaker from one dialect uses a word
which means one thing in his dialect and another in the
hearer's dialect. As for the differences in the
pronunciation of certain sounds, they rarely cause a problem
in comunication. A speaker from a dialect that does not use
the voiced velar fricative [¥]•, for example, may be slow in
understanding the first word he hears containing this sound,
but not after that. I often had relatives or guests from my
village who came to Banda Aceh, and they often talked about
their first experience talking with people from Greater Aceh
dialect.
It is important to note, however, that we may sometimes
find people who exaggerate saying that people from the other
dialect speak so differently that they do not understand
them. I have heard such an exaggeration several times. I
think we all do this. Of course, we do not really mean so
when we say it. Maybe what we mean is that our own dialect
is better than other dialects, which is of course not true.
1.3 Previous Works on Acehnese
A relatively recent and complete bibliography on
various works on Acehnese is Carlson (1983). And a good
analysis of some previous linguistic studies of Acehnese can
be found in the introductory chapter of Durie (1985). I have