Their finding of their study is that toddlers demonstrate a relatedness effect in which the looking times to unrelated words were larger than the looking
times to related words Willits et al., 2013:13. According to their findings, they emphasize that
our knowledge of words includes extensive information about their meanings and how they related to other words. These words meanings
are part of a semantic system that also represents information about objects, individuals, and events Willits et al., 2013: 17.
Willits et al.‟s article can be related to this study because both studies employ the same approach which is lexical semantic approach. Their study is also helpful for
this study, for their study emphasizes that extensive information about the meaning of certain words is needed in order to gain the knowledge on certain
words. In supporting their statement, this study will later on elaborate certain meanings of the words in order to establish the validity on the specific spectrum
of presuppositions, namely lexical and non-factive presuppositions. However, this study differs from Willits et al.‟s study in terms of the goal. Their goal is to prove
whether a toddler can use or access their lexical semantic knowledge to either related or unrelated words. This study aims to provide valid presupposed meaning
that is presupposed through lexical or non-factive presupposition by analyzing the lexical meaning of certain words, such as verbs or nouns.
A critical discourse analysis is an analysis that can be used to examine certain ideologies
and facts behind a speaker‟s utterances. The study that examines
certain ideologies behind a speaker‟s utterances is an undergraduate thesis entitled
“Ideologies Revealed through Euphemistic Expressions in Bashar al-Assads July 16th 2014 Inauguration English Speech Transcript
” by Irene PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Anindyaputri. Anindyaputri argues that Assad uses euphemism to hide an unpleasant truth or the real situation. Thus, the euphemism carries certain
meanings examined by semantic properties that contain the ugly truth 2015: 65. Anindyaputri elaborates her argument by saying that the semantic properties are
contributive to construct an underlying system which is ideology 2015: 65. She proves that the ideologies revealed from Assad‟s euphemistic expressions are
national strength and autonomy 2015: xi. According to her study, it shows that linguistic device, including euphemism is able to reveal certain ideologies from a
diplomatic discourse 2015: xi. In her analysis, Anindyaputri uses the strategy of componential analysis in order to analyze the meaning of the words; she argues
that componential analysis is important to portray lexical meaning of the euphemistic expressions to comprise the whole meaning of certain words 2015:
32. Based on her findings, Anindyaputri concludes that the ideologies internalized in Assad‟s speech are national strength and autonomy 2015: 80.
Anindyaputri‟s undergraduate thesis can be related to this study because this study also intends to depict certain ideologies through Harvey Milk‟s
utterances. As a result, this study also uses CDA to depict certain ideologies in the utterances. However, this study differs from Anindyapu
tri‟s study in terms of the method in depicting the ideologies because this study intends to find the
presupposed meaning first by using presupposition. After that, this study analyzes the words inside the presupposed meaning in order to show certain meanings that
can be related to the ideologies promoted by Harvey Milk. Compared to PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Anindyaputri‟s study, her study directly analyzes the specific spectrum of words euphemistic expressions uttered by Assad during his inauguration speech.
Based on all of the studies reviewed above, the stance of this study is to improve the studies above by employing presuppositions and critical discourse
analysis. By depicting the ideologies of Harvey Milk based on his utterances, this study develops the significance of presupposition as a linguistic device that assists
the critical discourse analysis.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Pragmatics
Pragmatics is “the study of meaning as communicated by a speaker or
writer and interpreted by a listener or reader” Yule, 1996: 3. Yule emphasizes that pragmatics analyzes what people actually mean beyond the usage of words or
phrases in their utterances, thus making pragmatics as a study of speaker meaning 1996: 3. The study of pragmatics involves “interpretation of what people mean
in a particular context and how the context influences what is said”. Therefore, pragmatics can also be defined as the study of contextual meaning Yule, 1996:
3. Yule also argues that pragmatics explores the way listeners interpret the speaker‟s intended meaning by making inferences on what is said 1996: 3.
Yule defines pragmatics as “the study of the relationships between linguistic forms and the users of those forms” 1996: 4. It is emphasized by Yule
that several things that can be revealed by studying language via pragmatics are PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
people‟s intended meanings, their assumptions, their purposes and goals, and the kind of actions they are performing when speaking 1996: 4.
2. Presupposition
Presupposition is “something the speaker assumes to be the case prior to
making an utterance” Yule, 1996: 25. Based on Yule‟s idea in Pragmatics 1996: 27-30, there are six types of presupposition in certain words, phrases, or
sentences. The first is existential presupposition. In existential presupposition, certain information can be presupposed not only through possessive remarks or
proper names but also definite noun phrases. One of the examples in existential presupposition is „your car‟. The word „your‟ is a possessive remark for „you‟
which means that the noun phrase with the possessive remark „your‟ presupposes
that “you have a car”. The second is factive presupposition. Factive
presupposition can be indicated by certain mental verbs such as „realize‟, „regret‟,
„be‟ with „aware‟, „odd‟, and „glad‟. These mental verbs are responsive to certain fact in a sentence; the fact can be discovered in the object of the sentence as the
theme of the verb. For instance, “I wasn‟t aware that she was married”
presupposes that “She was married”. By using factive presupposition, the sentence
in the example earlier presupposes “She was married” because the object
following the mental verb can be treated as the fact and the verb „aware‟ is
indicating how the speaker subject perceives the fact.
The third is lexical presupposition. In lexical presupposition, an information can be presupposed by interpreting the meaning by examining the
asserted meaning from the utterance. For instance, when we say that someone PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
„managed‟ to accomplish an achievement, that means that the person succeeded in accomplishing an achievement. Furthermore, certain forms of verb may also show
that there is a change of state in that sentence which presupposes certain information. It can be supported by this ex
ample, “They stopped smoking” presupposes
“They used to smoke”. The presupposed meaning in that example is “They used to smoke” because the verb „stopped‟ indicates that the subject „they‟
changed their state by putting an end to what they used to start; in this case, smoking. Therefore, the verb
„stopped‟ in that sentence presupposes an unstated concept of
„started‟ something before it „stopped‟. The fourth one is structural presupposition, a presupposition that is
associated with the usage of certain words or phrases. In structural presupposition, a certain structure takes role in assuming that the information in the sentence is
true. Wh-question is the common example of a certain structure that presupposes certain information in that sentence which is already true. For instance, the
question “Where did you buy the bike?” presupposes “You bought the bike” because this type of presupposition leads the reader to believe that the information
presented is necessarily true based on the structure „did‟ that indicates a past
event. In this case, the past event is “You bought the bike”. The fifth is non-factive presupposition that assumes false information
based on the verbs that indicate a certain wish or hope towards something that is not happening. Verbs like „dream‟, „imagine‟, and „pretend‟ are best to illustrate
this presupposition. For instance, “He pretends to be ill” presupposes “He is not
ill ” because the verb „pretends‟ means an act to make something is true when in
fact it is not. Therefore, the verb „pretends‟ shows the negation of the sentence which is the presupposed meaning.
The last is counter-factual presupposition. In counter-factual presupposition, it assumes that something is not only false but also contrary to the
facts. If-clause or conditional sentence is the common example that shows contrary o
n certain facts. For instance, “If you were my friend, you would have helped me” presupposes that “you are not my friend” because the conditional
sentence indicates that the if-clause is contrary to the fact.
3. Semantics
Semantics is “the technical term used to refer to the study of meaning, and, since meaning is a part of language, semantics is a part of linguistics”
Palmer, 1981: 1. In specific, lexical semantics studies the meaning of certain words and the meaning relationship among words. Palmer elaborates that by using
lexical semantics, the meaning of certain words can be stated through their association with other words 1981: 67.
From Palmer‟s statement, it can be concluded that semantics concerns with the meaning on a certain part of language, such as words, phrases, and
sentences. Lexical semantics is a specific spectrum of semantics that specifically concerns with the meaning of certain words and the relationship among words.
4. Critical Discourse Analysis
Critical Discourse Analysis CDA is a critical way to scrutinize a certain language in order to reveal ideas beyond the language in the text itself. In
supporting the wr iter‟s point, Weiss argues that “gender issues, issues of racism,
media discourses, political discourses, organizational discourses or dimensions of identity research have become very prominent
” 2003: 12. Based on his statement, it shows that certain prominent issues can be drawn by using CDA in
scrutinizing a certain text. One of the prominent issues is gender. In CDA, Fairclough emphasizes that CDA is consolidated as
a „three-dimensional‟ framework where the aim is to map three separate
forms of analysis onto one another: analysis of spoken or written language texts, analysis of discourse practice processes of text
production, distribution, and consumption and analysis of discursive events as instances of sociocultural practice 1995: 2.
Based on Fairclough‟s idea, it means that CDA provides a three- dimensional framework that analyzes the texts in three separated forms of
analysis, including the analysis of texts, discourse practice, and the discursive events.
In elaborating CDA, Weiss also argues that CDA “cannot be viewed as a
holistic or closed paradigm” 2003: 12. It means that “CDA has never been and has never attempted to be or provide one single or specific theory, and one
specific methodology is not characteristic of research in CDA ” Weiss and
Wodak, 2003: 12. In other words, it means that CDA needs another methodology, for CDA‟s objectives can be derived from various theoretical
grounds and methodologies, for instance through metaphorical expressions, euphemism, keyword density analysis, or presupposition which is the one
employed in this study. Wodak and Meyer convey that CDA is interested in “the study of
ideologically biased discourse, and the ways these polarize the representation of PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
