received without any noise, it can be decoded to carry the original message. Therefore, receivers can get the message shown in the last brackets as senders
want. Above all, the figure shows that people need to give attention to messages in order to make a successful communication.
In addition, Lyons 1997:34 has two points having to do with the notion of communication. The first point is the distinction between actual and intended
receivers of a signal. It is stated that it is common to have more than one receiver linked to senders by a channel of communication and for the senders to be
communicating with only one of these receivers. In this point, the senders give the signal identifying the intended receivers or addressees and invite them to pay
attention to, or respond to the signal. The second point relates to a successful communication that does not only
depend upon rec eivers’ reception of the signal, but also upon his recognition of
senders’ communicative intention and upon his making an appropriate behavioral or cognitive response to it. From those two points, it can be stated that giving
signal to intended receivers is important in a communication because if senders give the signal to another receiver, the communication might not become as what
the senders want. After the senders give the signal, the intended receivers also need to pay attention carefully and respond to the signal given by the senders.
Giving an appropriate response to the signal is also needed to make the communication run well. Thus, those points can create a successful
communication between the senders and the receivers. A successful communication also depends on the person when
communicating with others. In other words, the way people start or end the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
conversation, respond a message, give attention, take the turn, and listen carefully become important as well Jumanto, 2011:24. In brief, people need to know how
to make a successful communication with others, including with unknown people.
2. The Concept of Phatic Communion as Phatic Communication
Conversation happens many times in society, and people might not always employ utterances for sharing information. In this case, they might only show
their willingness to talk in order to open or to keep open a channel of communication Wardhaugh, 2006:285. The utterances that do not inform
anything are called phatic. The word phatic is from the word phatos, that is, the Greek word for spoken
Schneider and Barron, 2008:102. Therefore, it can be stated that phatic is as verbal communication. This kind of communication can be called phatic
communion or phatic communication. Actually, both of the terms have the same purpose, that is, to build good rapport.
Phatic communion is as casual conversation applied in society. Malinowski 1923 has studied and introduced the concept of phatic communion. At first,
Malinowski 1923:298 has analyzed the problem of primitive languages from Papuo-Melanesia. He explains that a group of primitive people works together and
does certain activities based on specific rules created by their culture and tradition. In this case, verbal communication is the best way to interact with each other
Malinowski, 1923:305. On the other hand, Malinowski has another opinion about language. He
argues that the language used by certain group might not give any specific purpose. He observes the activities of the primitive people; hunting, fishing, tilling
the soil, and others. They have a chat with each other talking something. The topics are not related to what they are doing at that time. In this case, “speech is
the necessary means of communion ” Malinowski, 1923:310. They use language
for other purposes, that is, maintaining social bonds and showing politeness Malinowski, 1923:316.
From his observation, Malinowski 1923 has coined the term phatic communion. It describes as
“a type of speech in which ties of union are created by a mere exchange of words” Malinowski, 1923:315. Even, he argues that
language of phatic communion is used in free, aimless, social interaction Malinowski, 1923:313. It means that the language might be used in any situation
without any specific purpose aiming to interact with other people. Malinowski has realized that phatic talk is a form of action in order to
establish personal bonds between people by the mere need of companionship Malinowski, 1923:326. In other words, phatic communion is a kind of action in
which people can build or maintain relationship. In addition, Coupland 2000:2 emphasizes that phatic communion does not have any purpose, but it is useful for
defusing the threat of taciturnity in conversation. This refers to space-filling talk in which phatic talk is to break the emptiness in communication.
The term phatic communion has popularly become phatic communication. The development of the term phatic communion
refers to one of Jakobson’s language functions, that is, phatic. The function of language emphasizes a contact
between speakers and listeners Innis, 1985:146. The term contact becomes the point of phatic communication.
Other linguists, Richards and Schmidt 2010:432 also refer to the term social contact in the definition of phatic communion. It is described as
“a term used by the British-Polish anthropologist Malinowski to refer to communication
between people which is not intended to seek or convey information but has the social function of establishing or maintaining social contact
” Richards and Schmidt, 2010:432. They also use the same term, contact, showing that phatic
communion is sort of communication. Therefore, based on phatic communion definition above, then phatic communion can be called as phatic communication.
In this case, phatic communication shows “a verbal communication between
speakers and hearers to maintain the social relationship between them, not to give an emphasis on information content of the communication
” Jumanto, 2014:10. The concept of phatic communication is actually the same as phatic
communion. Both of them aim to create good social relationship. In the above explanation, Malinowski 1923:315 has underlined that phatic communion is a
type of speech tying unions without any specific purpose. Besides, phatic communication is to express “an affective or social message rather than a
referential one” Holmes, 1992: 287. Hence, it is clear that both terms are similar because they have the same purpose, that is, building social rapport. In addition,
giving any information might not become typical of phatic communication. In short, phatic communication does indeed aim to create free conversation without
any information.
3. Phatic Functions
Phatic communication covers a number of functions accounted by several linguists taking into account of it. The linguists are Malinowski, Jakobson,
Bϋhler, PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Leech, Cook, Holmes, Kridalaksana, Renkema, Schiffrin, Abercrombie, Verschueren, Coupland, Saville-Troike, Mey,
O’Sullivan, Hartley, Saunders, Montgomery, Fiske, Richard, Platt, and Platt. They have contributed their ideas
about phatic. The idea of each linguist, then, is turned out twelve functions of phatic
communication. Referring to Kridalaksana 2004, Jumanto 2014:9 proposes theoretical framework of phatic communication exploring the specific functions of
phatic communication. In this point, he adds phatic function, that is, politeness. He argues that the idea of Malinowski 1923, Leech 1983, and O’Sullivan et
al. 1994 is stated that people need to utter words politely and therefore politeness function might also be important. The theoretical framework is outlined
as follows.
Phatic communion Three language functions
Bϋhler 1934: Malinowski 1923
Expressive, Appellative, Representative
6 functions of language Jakobson 1960:
Emotive, Conative, Referential, Phatic, Multilingual, Poetic
Phatic Communication
Richard et al. 1985; Leech 1983, Cook 1989, Holmes 1992, Kridalaksana 1994, 2004,
O’Sullivan et al. 1994, Renkema 1994, Schiffrin 1994, Abercrombie 1998, Verschueren 1999,
Coupland 2000, Saville-Troike 2003, Mey 2001
12 functions of phatic communication
1 avoiding the silence, breaking the silence, or saying something obligatory, 2 starting a conversation or opening a contact,
3 giving chit-chat or a relatively unfocused conversation, 4 making gossip, 5 keeping talking, 6 expressing solidarity,
7 creating harmony, 8 creating comfort, 9 expressing empathy, 10 expressing friendship or camaraderie,
11 expressing respect or deference, 12 expressing politeness PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Figure 2.2 Theoretical Framework of Phatic Communication Jumanto, 2014:9
Figure 2.2 gives details about the functions of language and phatic talk, and the experts who concern with language in use. As explained, Malinowski has
proposed phatic communion. He believes that phatic communion is not used to exchange ideas, but it aims for creating social bonds in a society Malinowski,
1923:316. Bϋhler 1934:460-461 mentions three functions of language: expressive,
appellative, and representative. Expressive function shows that language is as a tendency used to express feelings. Appellative function shows a signal leading to
a feeling and a behavior of a speaker. Representative function shows that language is a sign used to talk about an object and a situation.
In addition, Jakobson 1960:357 gives six functions of language, namely emotive, conative, referential, phatic, metalingual, and poetic. Emotive function
emphasizes on addressers senders or speakers and it describes an expression of speakers’ behavior towards the topic discussed. Conative function deals with
addressees receivers or listeners. Referential function refers to context. Phatic function emphasizes on contact between addressers and addressees. Metalingual
function focuses on code used by addresser and addressee. Poetic function emphasizes on a delivered message.
Figure 2.2 shows that phatic is the focus of several linguists and it has a number of functions. In this point, Jumanto 2014:9 draws conclusions on phatic
functions in which each function serves various communicative functions of phatic communication. The functions of phatic communication are avoiding the
