Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

A human being is a social creature which needs another human being as a social creature. Human being cannot fully understand other without knowing their language. Language plays a great part in our life. It is undoubtedly a very significant instrument of communication for human being in their daily interaction. Bollinger 1975:14 cities that human language is a system of vocal-auditory communication, interacting with the experiences of its user, employing conventional signs composed of arbitrary pattered sounds units and assembled according to set rules. Human being in communication with others utilize language as maximum medium or a symbol of personal, racial, national or even religious identification. Usually human beings live in group and in that groups they need to share their feelings, interact to other human beings in their groups and make to contact to others. To communicate with other, we need language as a medium of the spoken or written communication. Basically, language is divided by several parts of language like words, phrases, sentence and any other parts of language. It is important to analyze how the speaker arranges his words in good grammatical order to make the hearer understands what the speaker’s purposes are. Meanings are usually studied in semantics. And the term semantic is defined as the study of meaning of meaning or the meaning of words, phrases sentences. Semantics is the study of meaning communicated through language Saeed, 1997:3. The understanding of Universitas Sumatera Utara 13 meaning is really needed for the hearer because it will be problem if the hearer cannot understand what the speaker or the writer means or in other words, the hearer or the reader will get difficulties to understand or to grasp the meaning. Non-literal meaning occurs when the sentences or words have hidden meaning besides the lexical meaning. When we mean something different from lexical meaning or literally meaning or when we intend to have something different meaning. In case of non- literal meaning, there are a number of different ways one that able to speak and write non- literary, that is by using figures of speeches such as facetiously ironical and sarcastically exaggerated metaphorical, trope, etc. Non-literal uses of language are traditionally called figurative and are describe by a host of rhetorical terms including metaphor, irony, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, and litotes Saeed, 1977:16. Leech 1981:10 states, Figurative language are described by a large set of rhetorical terms. Here are some kinds of figurative language, such as irony, hyperbole, metaphor, metonymy, litotes, personifications, oxymora Leech, 1981:11. “Irony is a manner of speaking or writing that is dispread through all kinds of literature” Gray, 1984:108. “Hyperbole is a large exaggeration. Metaphor is a mapping between two objects using like or as. Personification is giving inhuman thing human qualities. Oxymora is fusing together two contradictory ideasconcepts” Leech, 1981:11. Advertisement is a form of communication used by advertiser to promote the sales of products or services, to influence public opinion, to gain political support, to advance a particular cause, or to elicit some other desired responses. Advertisements get their audience to draw upon ideological elements in their MR Member’s resources’ in order to establish an ‘image’ for their product being advertised Young Lynne, 2006:123. Universitas Sumatera Utara 14 Advertisement has been used for a long time in trade. It is also said as the keystone in the arch of sales. Nowadays, advertisements lays a great role in business, it can be one of the best tools in getting the attention of the consumers. No wonder if we can find lot of advertisements of any product everywhere. A big company will spend much in advertising. The better advertisements can get the consumer’s intention, the higher profit they will get. Therefore, it is very important to understand Non-literal meaning expression in advertisement. Sentences can deliver something which intended to audience through various media including newspaper, magazines, television, radio, billboards, and direct email. An advertisement has been used for a long time in trade. It is so said as the keystone in the art of sales. Nowadays, advertisement plays great role in business; it can be of the best tools in getting the attention of the consumers. Advertisements, using the ‘image’ which audience ‘help’ them to generate for products as vehicles, construct subject positions for ‘consumers’ as members of consumption communities…this is the major ideological work of advertising. Moriaty, 1989:202-203. The non-literal meaning in the Reader Digest Magazines Advertisement published on July-August 2012, October 2012 and February 2013 will be chosen as the object of this analysis because some non-literal meanings are found and assumed misunderstanding will arise due non-literal meaning existed in advertisements which make them interested to be analyzed semantically. Universitas Sumatera Utara 15

1.2 Problem of the Study