SLANGS FOUND IN “MISSING YOU” NOVEL WRITTEN BY MEG CABOT

SLANGS

FOUND IN “MISSING YOU” NOVEL

WRITTEN BY MEG CABOT

THESIS

BY:

RAHIMA FITRIATI

201010100311079

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG

SLANGS FOUND IN “MISSING YOU” NOVEL

WRITTEN BY MEG CABOT

THESIS

This thesis is submitted to meet one of requirements to achieve

Sarjana Degree in English Department

Faculty of Teacher Training and Education

BY:

RAHIMA FITRIATI

201010100311079

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG

This thesis written by Rahima Fitriati was approved on April 30th_{, 2014.}

This thesis was defended in front of the examiners of the Faculty of Teaching Training and Education of University of Muhammadiyah Malang and accepted

as one of the requirements to achieve Sarjana Degree in English Education on April, 2014

Approved by:

Faculty of Teacher Training and Education University of Muhammadiyah Malang

MOTTO AND DEDICATION

Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration (Thomas Alva Edison)

Don’t shrink your dream, super-size you courage and abilities (Karen Salmansohn)

If you want to be success, just go doing hard work! (Mujito)

Dedication: I dedicated this thesis to: My Beloved Parents, My Sisters: Rahma&Rahmi, and

People who always support me,

SLANGS FOUND IN “MISSING YOU” NOVEL

WRITTEN BY MEG CABOT ABSTRACT

Language is used as a communication tool in the people’s social interaction.

Language has several variations. One of them is slang. Slang is the existence of a new vocabulary and its meaning that is created from an old word by a certain group of society related to their need in social communication. This study is specifically related to slang which has the following research problems: (1) What slangs are

found in “Missing You” novel written by Meg Cabot? (2) What are the contextual meaning of the slangs found in “Missing You” novel written by Meg Cabot? (3)

What kinds of slang are found in “Missing You” novel written by Meg Cabot?

The writer applied descriptive qualitative research design in conducting this study because the data were collected in the form of words, not number. The object of the

study was slangs found in “Missing You” novel written by Meg Cabot. The data were

collected based on the following steps: (1) reading and comprehending the novel under investigation; (2) identifying the slang used in the novel; (3) collecting the slangs found in the novel. Then, the procedure of data analysis included the following steps:(1) classifying the slangs into their kinds; (2) describing each kind of the slang; (3) describing the contextual meaning of the slang; (4) drawing conclusion.

Based on the data analysis, it was found that there were 45 slangs in the novel

“Missing You” by Meg Cabot. They were used in an informal context of teenagers’

daily conversation.The meaning of slang could be found out in slang dictionary based on its context. It was categorized as general slang. Also, there was a slang whose meaning could not be found out in the dictionary. It was categorized as specific slang which was only used by certain people or society. The reader had to comprehend the context of the story to get the meaning of a specific slang.From 45 slangs found in the novel, 44 were categorized as general slangs and only one of them was classified as specific slang.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

Alhamdulillah, the researcher would like to express her deepest gratitude to Allah SWT, for His blessing and mercy given to her, so that the she could conduct and finish this thesis. Sholawat and Salam are always sent to Muhammad SAW, the greatest person of all time who has brought us to the bright Islam.

The researcher is deeply indebted to her first advisor, Dr. Hartono M.Pd., who has wisely advised, taught, and encouraged the her in conducting this thesis; and her second advisor, LaelaHikmahNurbatra, MA.,who has patiently guided her in writing this thesis.

Furthermore, the researcher would like to express her special thanks to her beloved mother and father for each and every support, prayer, love, and care which are considered as encouragement to finish this thesis on time.

The writer also wants to deliver her thanks to her lovely friends of English Department UMM, MbakIcha, B1 Class year 2010, Risa, Aulia, Mita, and friends of 32A Boarding House, Eni, Butet, Fitri and the others; for motivating her in finishing this thesis. Moreover, for her partners in Peace Corps ID 8, thanks for giving her time to share and learn.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPROVAL ... iii

LEGALIZATION ... iv

MOTTO AND DEDICATION ... v

ABSTRACT ... vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... viii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study ... 1

1.2 Statements of the Problems ... 4

1.3 Purposes of the Study ... 4

1.4 Significance of the Study ... 4

1.5 Scope and Limitation ... 5

1.6 Definition of Key Terms ... 5

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 Sociolinguistic ... 7

2.2 Language Variations ... 8

2.2.1. Dialect ... 9

2.2.2 Colloquialism ... 10

2.2.3 Register ... 10

2.2.4 Jargon ... 10

2.2.5 Argot ... 11

2.3 The Contextual Meaning of Slang ... 12

2.4 The Kinds of Slang ... 12

2.4.1 Specific Slang... 12

2.4.2 General Slang ... 14

2.5 The Use of Slangs in Novel ... 15

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHOD 3.1 Research Design ... 16

3.2 Research Object ... 17

3.3 Data Collection... 17

3.4 Data Analysis ... 18

CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Research Finding ... 19

4.1.1 Slangs Found in the Novel “Missing You” Written by Meg Cabot ... 19

4.1.2 The Contextual Meaning of Slangs Found in “Missing You” Novel by Meg Cabot ... ... 22

4.1.3 The Kinds of Slang Found in “MissingYou” Novel by Meg Cabot . 24 4.1.3.1 Specific Slang... 24

4.1.3.2 General Slang ... 25

4.2 Discussion ... 29

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 5.1 Conclusion ... 31

5.2 Suggestion ... 32

5.2.1 Suggestion for the Sociolinguistic Lecturers ... 32

5.2.3 Suggestion for the Next Researchers ... 32 BIBILIOGRAPHY ... APPENDIX ...

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Andersson, Lars. 2000. Bad Language. Massachusetts: Basil Blackwell, Inc

Ary, Donald. 2002. Introduction to Research in Education. Canada: Wadsworth Thomson Learning

Asrifah, Diah. 2012. An Analysis of Jargon Used by the Teenagers Found in Facebook. Unpublished Thesis: University of Muhammadiyah Malang

Belhajjame et al. 2012. Workflow-Centric Research Objects: First Class Citizens in

Scholarly Discourse. Spain: khalidb@cs.man.ac.ukavailable at:

https://www.escholar.manchester.ac.uk/uk-ac-man-scw:192020 accessed date: 23 May 2014

Cabot, Meg. 2006. Where–R-U: Missing You. Available at: harpercollinsebooks.com. Accessed date: 5 October 2013

Cambridge Dictionaries Online. available at:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/argot . accessed date: 18 December 2013

Chambers, J.K and Peter Trudgill. 2004. DialectologyNew York: Cambridge University Press.

Cohen, Louis; Laurence Manion and Keith Morrison. 2007. Sixth Edition:Research Methods in Education. Canada: Taylor & Francis e-Library

Cresswell, John W. 2009. Research Design, Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. California: Sage Publication Inc.

Fromkin, Victoria; Robert Rodman and Nina Hyams. 2003. An Introduction to Language, Seventh Edition. Boston: Thomson Corporation.

Heinle, Thomson. 2003. An Introduction to Language. Canada: Wadsworth Cengage Learning

Jendra, Made IndraIrawan. 2010. Sociolinguistics: The Study of Societies’ Language. Yogyakarta: GrahaIlmu.

Lestari, Kanti. 2013. An Analysis of Register Used by Commentator of MOTOGP Program.Unpublished thesis: University of Muhammadiyah Malang.

Lewandowsky, Marcin. 2010. “Sociolects and Registers – a Contrastive Analysis of

Two Kinds of Linguistics Variation.” Vol. XX No. 4: 61-847. available at: http://www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~inveling/pdf/Lewandowski_20.pdfaccessed date: 16 December 2013

Luo, Zhaohui. 2011. Contextual Analysis of Meanings in Type-Theoretical Semantics.

London: Univ of London. Available at: zhaohui@cs.rhul.ac.uk accessed date: 4 Mei 2014

Lyons. 2004. What is Meaning. SIL International publishing. Available at:

http://www-01.sil.org/linguistics/glossaryoflinguisticterms/WhatIsMeaning.htm accessed date: 4 Mei 2014

Mattiello, Elisa. 2008. An Introduction to English Slang: A description of its Morphology, Semantics, and Sociology. Italy: Polimetrica

Milroy L. and Gordon M. 2003. Sociolinguistics Method and Interpretation. Malden: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Nurhidayat, Arif. 2009. An Analysis of American Slang Found in “Yahoo Chat. Unpublished thesis: University of Muhammadiyah Malang

Online slang dictionary. Available at: http://onlineslangdictionary.com/ Oxford University Press. 2013.

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/novelAcce ssed date: 20 November 2013

Prihayuniati, Siska. 2013. An Analysis of Slang Found in the Novel “A Streetcar

Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams. Unpublished thesis: University of Muhammadiyah Malang.

Radford et al. 2005. Linguistic: an Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Stenstrom, Anna-Brita., Andersen, Gisle.,Hasund, Ingrid Kristine. 2002. Trends in Teenage Talk: Corpus compilation, analysis and findings. London: Library of Congress Cataloging

Stewart JR., Thomas .W and Nathan Vailette (Ed). 2001. Language Files Materials for an Introduction to Language and Linguistics Eight Edition. Ohio: The Ohio State University Press Colombus

Urban Dictionary. Available at: http://www.urbandictionary.com

Wardhaugh, Ronald. 2002. An Introduction to Sociolinguistic4th Edition. Melbourne: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Widyarani, Ulfah. 2007. Slang Found in “Just Like Lizzie” Short Story by Jasmine

Jones.Unpublished thesis: University of Muhammadiyah Malang.

Wulandari, Ika.. 2005. Study on Slang Words Used in “The Last Picture Show” Novel. Unpublished thesis: University of Muhammadiyah Malang.

Yani, Achmad. 2005. A Study on Slangs Found in “Yahoo Chat. Unpublished thesis: University of Muhammadiyah Malang.

Yuli, Fajriyah. 2011. A study on Slangs Found in Akon “Konvicted” Album. Unpublished thesis: University of Muhammadiyah Malang.

1 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter discusses background of the study, statement of the problems, purposes of the study, scope and limitation, significance of the study, and definition of the key terms.

1.1Background of the Study

This study is generally in the area of language used as a means of social interaction. Radford et al. (2005) noted that language varies based on the social characteristic of the speaker (such as his social class, ethnic group, age and sex) as well as on the social context in which the language is used. Many social factors can come into play in controlling which variety from this verbal language is actually to be used on a particular occasion. For example, if a speaker is talking to the people he works with, his language is likely different from the language he uses at home with his family. That kind of difference in speaking context makes language varies.

Language varieties can be defined as the different dialect of a language. Steward Jr. et al (2001:302) defines language varieties as different dialects of the same language. People use different dialects to communicate with others in the same situation even in the same context. It makes every speaker in different areas or different communities tend to have a language variety.

2

Nurhidayat (2009) concluded that the existence of language variety cannot be denied. Variation in language occurs because of the different communities within the same language, different areas, and different social levels. These language varieties are used to make their interaction communicative. Moreover, these varieties characterize where people come from. These language varieties include dialect, register, style, jargon, argot, colloquial, and slang.

This study is more specifically concerned with slang. Slang is a popular new words or phrases as an informal language come from the combination of old words. According to Heinle (2003), slang may be defined as the introduction of many new words into the language by recombining old words into new meaning. Slang often introduces entirely new words such as barf, flub, and pooped and it can consider new meaning to old word. He added that slangs are often ‘invented’ in keeping with new idea and custom. Those may be value in attitude better than the more conservative items of the vocabulary.

Slang is almost inevitably used in informal context. When we talk about slang, we usually mean words, not grammar or pronunciation. This is more and less the correct view. English is a language, but slang is not. Slang expresses human behavior, certain slang expressions have come and gone over the years, some seem to return again, but others not. It responds to a need in people to be creative in their language use and to show group membership through their language use.

3

Slang commonly figures a unique attitude of convenient people. It is used by a speaker or a writer in his language choice because it can express whatever they feel and think. It is not only used in conversation, but it is also used in novels. Mostly, the author uses slangs to picture the story that he or she wants to create.

There are some research findings regarding slang. The previous researches about slang were conducted by Wulandari (2005), Widyarani (2007), and Yani (2005). Wulandari (2005) found out two types of slang words used in “Last Picture

Show.” Those kinds of slang were common slang and in-group slang which were used to describe the character and the situation of teenagers in the story. Also, Widyarani (2007) has found out 54 slangs in the short story “Just Like Lizzie”. In addition, the research related to slang was also conducted by Yani (2005).Yani (2005)

found48 slang words in “Ngalam” column of Malang Post published in October

2004. Out of the 48 slangs, 44 words were grouped as slang of reversion, one word was grouped as pure slang, and three words were grouped as slang of loan word. Furthermore, thirty five of them were adopted from Indonesian language and the rest were from Javanese.

Based on the above explanation, the researcher would like to investigate the slangs found in “Missing You” novel written by Meg Cabot. The writer chooses this novel as the object of this study because it contains slangs which are aimed at

describing the story of American teenagers’ life. More specifically, the researcher needs to analyze the types of slangs which are found in the novel and their meanings.

4 1.2Statements of the Problems

Based on the above background, the researcher formulates threeresearch problems as follows:

1. What slangs are found in “Missing You” novel written by Meg Cabot? 2. What are the contextual meaning of the slangs found in “Missing You” novel

written by Meg Cabot?

3. What kinds of slang are found in “Missing You” novel written by Meg Cabot?

1.3Purposes of the Study

This study is intended to get the answers of the research problems, they are: 1. To describe the slang found in “Missing You” novel written by Meg Cabot. 2. To know the contextual meaning of the slangs found in “Missing You” novel

written by Meg Cabot.

3. To describe the kinds of slang are found in “Missing You” novel written by Meg Cabot.

1.4Significance of the Study

Hopefully, the result of the study will be beneficial for both sociolinguistics lecturers and English Department students. For the sociolinguistic lecturers, the result of this study can be used as a reference to teach about slang. So, this study can broaden the vision about slang including its meaning and kind. For the English Department students, the result this study can increase the knowledge about slang including its meaning and kind. Thus, the students will not be confused while encountering slang in their learning. Also, the result of this study will be beneficial for the next researchers who are going to conduct the research related to

5

sociolinguistics subject, especially focusing on slang which is found in different setting.

1.5Scope and Limitation

Sociolinguistics discusses a lot about language, such as speech community, language variation, and also speech style that is divided into pronunciation, syntax, and vocabulary. From vocabulary use, we can recognize speech styles in the form of register, cant, argot, jargon, and slang. The scope of this study is focused on the analysis of the slangs found in the “Missing You” novel by Meg Cabot, their meaning and their kinds. This study limits the investigation only in the slang found in

“Missing You” novel by Meg Cabot.

1.6Definition of the Key Terms

In this section, any ambiguity is tried to be avoided. As a guidance in understanding the key terms used in this study, the researcher gives the definition of the following key terms.

1. Slang is human creativity in language to express their idea in an attractive way, especially of young and lively persons who want fresh, original, or racy terms with which they can rename ideas, actions, and objects that they feel strongly about (Anderson, 2000).

2. Novel is a fictitious prose narrative of book length, typically representing character and action with some degree of realism (Oxford dictionary, 2013).

6 3. Missing You is one of ‘Where R U’ novel series written by Meg Cabot. The novel tells about the life of Jessica Mastriani who tried to have an enjoyable work and life with her power as lightening girl and after being broke off with her boyfriend, Rob.

4. Meg Cabot or Meggin Patricia Cabot is an American author of romantic and paranormal fiction works for teens and adults. She has written and published over fifty books.

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter discusses background of the study, statement of the problems, purposes of the study, scope and limitation, significance of the study, and definition of the key terms.

1.1Background of the Study

This study is generally in the area of language used as a means of social interaction. Radford et al. (2005) noted that language varies based on the social characteristic of the speaker (such as his social class, ethnic group, age and sex) as well as on the social context in which the language is used. Many social factors can come into play in controlling which variety from this verbal language is actually to be used on a particular occasion. For example, if a speaker is talking to the people he works with, his language is likely different from the language he uses at home with his family. That kind of difference in speaking context makes language varies.

Language varieties can be defined as the different dialect of a language. Steward Jr. et al (2001:302) defines language varieties as different dialects of the same language. People use different dialects to communicate with others in the same situation even in the same context. It makes every speaker in different areas or different communities tend to have a language variety.

Nurhidayat (2009) concluded that the existence of language variety cannot be denied. Variation in language occurs because of the different communities within the same language, different areas, and different social levels. These language varieties are used to make their interaction communicative. Moreover, these varieties characterize where people come from. These language varieties include dialect, register, style, jargon, argot, colloquial, and slang.

This study is more specifically concerned with slang. Slang is a popular new words or phrases as an informal language come from the combination of old words. According to Heinle (2003), slang may be defined as the introduction of many new words into the language by recombining old words into new meaning. Slang often introduces entirely new words such as barf, flub, and pooped and it can consider new meaning to old word. He added that slangs are often ‘invented’ in keeping with new idea and custom. Those may be value in attitude better than the more conservative items of the vocabulary.

Slang is almost inevitably used in informal context. When we talk about slang, we usually mean words, not grammar or pronunciation. This is more and less the correct view. English is a language, but slang is not. Slang expresses human behavior, certain slang expressions have come and gone over the years, some seem to return again, but others not. It responds to a need in people to be creative in their language use and to show group membership through their language use.

Slang commonly figures a unique attitude of convenient people. It is used by a speaker or a writer in his language choice because it can express whatever they feel and think. It is not only used in conversation, but it is also used in novels. Mostly, the author uses slangs to picture the story that he or she wants to create.

There are some research findings regarding slang. The previous researches about slang were conducted by Wulandari (2005), Widyarani (2007), and Yani (2005). Wulandari (2005) found out two types of slang words used in “Last Picture Show.” Those kinds of slang were common slang and in-group slang which were used to describe the character and the situation of teenagers in the story. Also, Widyarani (2007) has found out 54 slangs in the short story “Just Like Lizzie”. In addition, the research related to slang was also conducted by Yani (2005).Yani (2005) found48 slang words in “Ngalam” column of Malang Post published in October 2004. Out of the 48 slangs, 44 words were grouped as slang of reversion, one word was grouped as pure slang, and three words were grouped as slang of loan word. Furthermore, thirty five of them were adopted from Indonesian language and the rest were from Javanese.

Based on the above explanation, the researcher would like to investigate the slangs found in “Missing You” novel written by Meg Cabot. The writer chooses this novel as the object of this study because it contains slangs which are aimed at describing the story of American teenagers’ life. More specifically, the researcher needs to analyze the types of slangs which are found in the novel and their meanings.

1.2Statements of the Problems

Based on the above background, the researcher formulates threeresearch problems as follows:

1. What slangs are found in “Missing You” novel written by Meg Cabot? 2. What are the contextual meaning of the slangs found in “Missing You” novel

written by Meg Cabot?

3. What kinds of slang are found in “Missing You” novel written by Meg Cabot? 1.3Purposes of the Study

This study is intended to get the answers of the research problems, they are: 1. To describe the slang found in “Missing You” novel written by Meg Cabot. 2. To know the contextual meaning of the slangs found in “Missing You” novel

written by Meg Cabot.

3. To describe the kinds of slang are found in “Missing You” novel written by Meg Cabot.

1.4Significance of the Study

Hopefully, the result of the study will be beneficial for both sociolinguistics lecturers and English Department students. For the sociolinguistic lecturers, the result of this study can be used as a reference to teach about slang. So, this study can broaden the vision about slang including its meaning and kind. For the English Department students, the result this study can increase the knowledge about slang including its meaning and kind. Thus, the students will not be confused while

sociolinguistics subject, especially focusing on slang which is found in different setting.

1.5Scope and Limitation

Sociolinguistics discusses a lot about language, such as speech community, language variation, and also speech style that is divided into pronunciation, syntax, and vocabulary. From vocabulary use, we can recognize speech styles in the form of register, cant, argot, jargon, and slang. The scope of this study is focused on the analysis of the slangs found in the “Missing You” novel by Meg Cabot, their meaning and their kinds. This study limits the investigation only in the slang found in

“Missing You” novel by Meg Cabot.

1.6Definition of the Key Terms

In this section, any ambiguity is tried to be avoided. As a guidance in understanding the key terms used in this study, the researcher gives the definition of the following key terms.

1. Slang is human creativity in language to express their idea in an attractive way, especially of young and lively persons who want fresh, original, or racy terms with which they can rename ideas, actions, and objects that they feel strongly about (Anderson, 2000).

2. Novel is a fictitious prose narrative of book length, typically representing character and action with some degree of realism (Oxford dictionary, 2013).

3. Missing You is one of ‘Where R U’ novel series written by Meg Cabot. The novel tells about the life of Jessica Mastriani who tried to have an enjoyable work and life with her power as lightening girl and after being broke off with her boyfriend, Rob.

4. Meg Cabot or Meggin Patricia Cabot is an American author of romantic and paranormal fiction works for teens and adults. She has written and published over fifty books.