13 intonation on declaratives are used by the two female main characters Bex and
Suze in
Confessions of a Shopaholic
movie. Later, some words in the dialogues are bolded to indicate the significant feature discussed.
1. The Use of Tag Questions by the Two Female Main Characters in
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Movie
A tag question is a phrase “contains an inverted auxiliary form determined
by the auxiliary in the main clause, and a pronoun that agrees with the subject of the main clause
” Eckert Ginet, 2003, p. 167. It was mentioned in the theory that there were three functions of tag question: as an uncertainty tag, a facilitative
tag and a softening tag. Then, based on the analysis, all of the functions were found in
Confessions of a Shopaholic
movie. However, it was found that this feature was rarely used by the two female main characters in the movie since it
was only used for four times. Here are the examples of tag question used by the two female main characters in
Confessions of a Shopaholic
movie as an uncertainty tag, a facilitative tag and a softening tag.
a. Tag Question Used as an Uncertainty Tag
Here is the example of tag question functions as an uncertainty tag found
in the movie. [5]
At a wedding dress store 00:39:21
– 00:40:06 Suze
:
looking at Bex
This is so relevant. It’s the most relevant thing in the world.
There isn’t another reason why you want to go to Miami,
աis there?
Bex : No.
Suze : Maybe it rhymes with Fluke?
14 Bex
: Luke
blushing
Suze : A-ha-ha-ha
…
laughing
Bex : What?
Suze :
That’s it. You’re making that face. The writer found that the tag question used by Suze in dialogue [5] was an
uncertainty tag. The writer believed that the tag
is there
was to indicate Suze was lack of information that made her doubt about her utterance
“There isn’t another
reason why you wanna go to Miami
”. In other words, Suze did not really know whether her utterance was true or not. On the other hand, the use of tag question
in her utterance indicated Suze was curious about Bex’s reason to go to Miami
and expected clarification form Bex. This could also be seen from the next question she gave to Bex
“Maybe it rhymes with Fluke?” The writer believed this
question emphasized that Suze was so curious and did want an answer from Bex. In this dialogue, Suze also laughed and said
“That’s it. You’re making
that face
”
.
These reactions showed that Suze was happy because finally she got the answer that she really wanted to know. Furthermore, a rising intonation applied to the tag
proved that Suze was not sure about her utterance and expected clarification. It is in line with Thomson Martinet 1986 who say that if a speaker does want
information or confirmation, the speaker will use a tag question with a rising intonation in his or her sentence p. 114. Therefore, in this case the use of a tag
question was to show uncertainty or to ask clarification.
b. Tag Question Used as a Facilitative Tag
The tag question in the movie was also used as a facilitative tag. The example is in dialogue [6].
