Abstract
The adolescents of West Lombok in the village of Bengkaung have created a new variant of the Sasak language and used it among themselves as a means of creating local youth communities.The language variant is uniquely patterned that only the youth group community members can identify and use it in everyday communication.The study aims at identifying the pattern which is symbolically used as means of constructing youth identities and youth microcommunities within the macro-community of Bengkaung.Data were collected by observing, interviewing, and distributing questionnaires to members of the youth group communities.Ethnographic analysis was used to elucidate the pattern and the factors governing its use.The study shows that, while the pattern of the variant is identifiable, the governing factors range from keeping private secrets to stylizing personal and resistance to adult domination of Bengkaung social structure.