what function of wordplay found in the show and what meaning of wordplay delivered by the characters.
B. Identification of the Problem
There are some problems found in this movie. The show often uses figure of speech to create interesting utterances. These techniques of foregrounding
sometimes confuse the audience if they cannot follow the reference or meaning of the figurative language. In addition, The Simpsons likes to use popular and new
American slangs. The unusual sentences and phrases of American slang frequently obscure the audience’s understanding of the message conveyed in the
utterance. Another problem found is that the characters in The Simpsons sometimes create new words like “mayhaps”, “Dadgummit” to respond or
comment on something. Even though the word is useful to deliver a message briefly, it may give difficulty to the audience to understand the meaning of the
utterance. The show also uses some techniques of ambiguity to create a double
meaning and to enrich the message brought by the ambiguity of the sentence or phrase. Most of the examples are puns and wordplays found in the dialog where
the characters are talking about the problem around them. The characters of the series use ambiguous terms, phrases, or sentences
to comment to the problem around them. There are many types of wordplay found in the show whether in dialogues, titles, or signs written in some scenes. It is not
easy to spot the wordplay uttered by the characters as it is delivered like a daily
conversation and it does not make a clear distinction to other dialogues. This fact indicates that the creator of The Simpsons has cleverly added such wordplay to the
dialogue which creates an ambiguous, compact, and attractive message to the viewers. As told by Leech 1968: 212, the type of pun which contains two
meanings in one utterance increases the density and the richness of significance to the poem.
The ambiguous nature of pun adds functions and meanings to the language being used. The functions of the wordplay are examined in the study to
see the effect of its use. As the lexical ambiguity used in wordplay, the study of the meaning of the wordplay used in the context is interesting to be analyzed. The
semantic analysis of the wordplay will use context analysis to interpret the wordplay since it has non-literal meaning.
This study examines how the characters use wordplay in any situation and place. Moreover, some social and cultural terms are analyzed through the
research. The functions of the wordplay used in the utterances will also be the focus of the following study.
C. Limitation of the Problem
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