The study of meaning extension of compound Boy - USD Repository
THE STUDY OF MEANING EXTENSION OF COMPOUND BOY
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
NINA MEGAWATI
Student Number: 06 4214 087
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
THE STUDY OF MEANING EXTENSION OF COMPOUND BOY
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
NINA MEGAWATI
Student Number: 06 4214 087
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
MOTTO YOUR WORKS SPEAK FOR YOU LABOR OMNIA VINCIT
, WORK CONQUERS ALL
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The writer believes that she would not be able to finish this undergraduate thesis if there were no supports from others. She is very glad to express her gratitude to those who have been so kind to her during her study in the college. She would like to dedicate her gratitude to particular names below.
First of all, she thanks God for all blessings and balance goodness and badness to learn the writer about life and how to appreciate them all.
She thanks her advisor Dra. B. Ria Lestari, M.S, for all kindness and patience in guiding her in the process of finishing this thesis, for the advice to develop her analysis, and for the information on the reference books. She would also express gratitude to her co-advisor Linda Valentina Budiman, S.S., M.Hum for her willingness to read and review this thesis. She thanks also to Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka M.Hum, Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani S.S, M.Hum, RM. Hary Susanto S.J and all of her lecturers and also USD staffs who always support and guide her during her study in Sanata Dharma University.
She expresses her unlimited gratitude to her beloved parents. Bpk. Sudargo and mama Suharti, her brother Panji and also her sister Tenty, Mbah Ibu, all uncles and aunts. Thanks for all prayers, loves, cares, and support to motivate the writer to finish this thesis.
She would like to thanks all friends; Sukma, Gali, Yesti, Paul, Lisa, Jonathan Brown, Christine Brown, Mando, Anton, Leni, Wayne, Ank, Andien, Anggie, KKR Family and Bintang Family, for all loves, supports and kindness in many ways.
Finally, she would like to express her gratitude to all co workers, bosses, companies that have been giving her lots of opportunities to work and at the same time motivate her to finish the duty that she has started, her study.
Nina Megawati
TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE i APPROVAL PAGE ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE iii MOTTO PAGE iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS viii
TABLE OF TABLES x ABSTRACT xii ABSTRAK xiii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
1 A. Background of the Study
1 B. Problem Formulation
4 C. Objectives of the Study
4 D. Definition of Terms 4 CHAPTER
II: THEORETICAL REVIEW
6 A. Review of Related Studies
6 B. Review of Related Theories 8
C. Theoretical Framework
15
CHAPTER
III: METHODOLOGY
17 A. Object of the Study 17
B. Approach of the Study
19 C. Method of the Study 21 CHAPTER
IV: ANALYSIS
24 A. Semantic Features of Lexicon Boy
24 B. The Additional Semantic Features of Lexicon Boy in the Field of Profession
31 C. Meaning Extension Development of Lexicon Boy 56
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION
66 BIBLIOGRAPHY
69 APPENDICES
72 Appendix 1 The Definitions of Each Compound Words Boy Appendix 2 New York Times
LIST OF TABLES TABLE 4.1.Semantic Features of Lexicon Boy
25 TABLE 4.2.Conceptual Meaning of Boy
28 TABLE
4.3. Barrow boy
29 TABLE
4.4.Bus boy
31 TABLE
4.5.Cabin boy 32 TABLE
4.6.Office Boy 34 TABLE
4.7.Paperboy
35 TABLE
4.8.Bell boy
37 TABLE
4.9.Delivery boy
39 TABLE
4.10.Cowboy
42 TABLE
4.11.Plough Boy
43 TABLE
4.12.Ball boy
45 TABLE
4.13.Waterboy 47 TABLE
4.14.House boy
49 TABLE
4.15.Errand boy
51 TABLE
4.16.Pin boy
53 TABLE
4.17.Grocery boy
54 TABLE 4.18.Classification of Job & Profession (Occupation)
62 TABLE 4.19.Componential Analysis on Compound Words Boy
64
ABSTRACT
NINA MEGAWATI. The Study of Meaning Extension of Compound Boy Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011
This thesis presents a componential analysis of the semantic features and shifting meanings of the lexicon boy. Boy is defined as a very young man. The shifting meaning of boy can be seen after it is compounded and formed into new compound words. These compound words include: barrow boy, bus boy, cabin
boy, office boy, paperboy, delivery boy, house boy, bell boy, cowboy, plough boy,
water boy, grocery boy, pin boy. This research has three objectives. Firstly, to show the semantic features of lexicon boy. Secondly, this research attempts to show semantic features that result from compounding boy in various fields of profession, as well as the shifted features of age from [-adult] into [±adult] that extend its meaning. Thirdly, this research compares compounding words containing boy and man based on findings about the etymology of boy and the development of its meaning from past to present.
The writer applies Linguistic theories that cover the theory of word meaning, the theory of synonym and componential analysis theory to support the data analysis. The writer uses Mentalistic Aprroach by Ogden and Richard in the form of a table with semantic component compositions; reference as the common concept assumed by people, referent is the description of symbol (word) that is shown in a form of picture and componential analysis to support the analysis and its findings.
Based on the analysis of semantic features, three points are found to answer the problems formulated. Firstly, based on the componential analysis it is found that lexical boy contains [-adult] extended after compounded become [±adult]. Secondly, based on the analysis it is concluded that the some profession compounded with lexical boy depicted from the reference table are seem to have lower prestige. Thirdly, meaning extension of boy is influenced by the meaning development based on the etymology.
ABSTRAK
NINA MEGAWATI. The Study on Meaning Extension of Compounds Boy Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Sanata Dharma University, 2011
Skripsi ini membahas tentang analisis komponen fitur semantis dan pergeseran makna kata boy dimana secara independen kata boy berarti anak laki- laki dan man laki-laki dewasa. Pergeseran makna kata boy dapat dilihat pada saat kata boy disandangkan dengan beberapa kata lain sehingga terbentuk kata majemuk baru. Kata-kata majemuk tersebut adalah back room boy, barrow boy,
bus boy, cabin boy, office boy, paperboy, delivery boy, house boy, bell boy,
cowboy, plough boy, water boy, grocery boy and pin boyPenelitian ini memiliki tiga tujuan. Pertama adalah untuk menunjukkan temuan perbedaan fitur semantis kata dasar boy sehingga dapat terlihat perbedaan mendasarnya. Kedua, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menunjukkan temuan hasil analisis fitur semantis kata boy setelah disandangkan dengan kata-kata baru dan membentuk kata majemuk dibidang profesi serta perubahan fitur semantis usia yang menimbulkan pergeseran makna kata boy dari [-adult] menjadi [+adult].Yang ketiga adalah menunjukan perbandingan kata-kata majemuk profesi yang disandangkan dengan kata boy berdasarkan temuan definisi dasar makna kata boy dan sejarah perkembangannya dari masa lalu dan perkembangannya hingga masa kini.
Penulis menggunakan teori Linguistik yang mencakup arti kata, teori sinonim, teori analisa komponen untuk mendukung analisa. Penulis menggunakan pendekatan Mentalistic Ogden dan Richard dalam bentuk table dengan komposisi komponen semantic; reference sebagai konsep yang diasumsikan oleh masyarakat, referent adalah deskripsi simbol (kata) yang diwujudkan dalam bentuk objek gambar dan analisa komponen untuk menguatkan analisis dan temuannya. Berdasarkan analisis fitur semantis, ditemukan tiga poin utama untuk menjawab rumusan masalah. Pertama, berdasarkan analisis komponen ditemukan kata boy mengandung komponen [-adult] namun terjadi perubahan setelah kata
boy disandangkan dengan kata lain membentuk kata majemuk dibidang profesi
menggeser komponen fitur semantis menjadi [±adult]. Kedua, berdasarkan analisis pemikiran umum profesi-profesi yang di sandangkan dengan boy terlihat kurang prestisius. Ketiga pergeseran makna boy dipengaruhi oleh perkembangan makna etimologis.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of Study Interaction and socialization has been preserved as one of basic needs of
human beings. They need to communicate with others to deliver their ideas and understand each other. Language is one of the media to deliver the ideas. Human being needs to know and understand what language is and how it works. Aitchison defines language as the specialized sound signaling system which seems to be genetically programmed to develop in humans to communicate (Aitchison, 2003:13). This definition is also supported by Ronald Wardhaugh as he defines as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication (Wardhaugh, 1977:3).
Language and meaning are inseparable and connected to each other. The basic similar understanding of meaning is required to achieve a good way of communication. Therefore, people have to learn about meaning and it can be developed. Kreidler stated that Language is creative, the communication is not restricted to a fixed set of topic; human being constantly produce and understand new messages in response to new situations and new experiences (Kreidler, 1998:7). It means that language has always undergone the improvement in line with experiences of human being and it can be learned.
People learn that there are three parts of language to be learned through; phonology, syntax, and semantics. Phonology is the study of sound pattern.
Syntax is the study of the arrangement and the forms of words. Semantics is the study of meaning. (Aitchison, 1982:17) The writer studies semantics because the writer is interested to examine the meaning as the basic knowledge and to observe the meaning development from past to present. In this research, the writer analyzed the list of words that compounded with the lexicon boy. It is interesting because the meaning was shifted from time to time and it influences the sense of the word boy till nowadays. Lexically, the word boy means a young man. In semantic features it will be determined as [-adult]. However, after the word boy was compounded, such as
paperboy for example, the meaning is shifted become [+adult]. The word boy
undergoes the significant derogatory changes. This thought arouse based on the finding of the fact about some elder people who were working as paperboy discussed in an article in New York Times which is titled Men and Women
Replacing the Paperboy Tradition on March 1, 1992. The writer found an
interesting part about a 40-year-old-man working as a paperboy. Though adults work as paperboy, the term does not change into paper-man or paper-seller for example. Based on this finding the writer starts to question and find the reason how does the meaning shift and how does it develop. This fact has guided the writer to find the reason why it happens. Hopefully this study will be useful for other students to improve any information relate to this topic.
The writer used semantic features to identify the features and compare the differences of both lexicon boy. Componential analysis is also applied to compare the lexicon as the root and after the lexical boy is compounded. To analyze the components relations of lexicon boy, the writer used the study of synonyms.
Synonyms are words that have one or more meaning in common and are interchangeable within certain context (Dees, 2003: 3). The synonymous words share the common meaning.
The writer decided to limit the problems to avoid broadened problems. The writer selected the basic definitions of lexicon boy in the Oxford Advanced
Learner’s Dictionary . It states that the meaning of the word boy is a young male
person (Hornby, 1995:131) and the word man is an adult male human being (Hornby, 1995:711). The writer decided to analyze fifteen selected words compounded with lexicon boy that form several list of profession terms to see the meaning senses extend. They are: barrow boy, bus boy, cabin boy, office boy,
paperboy, delivery boy, house boy, bell boy, cowboy, plough boy, ball boy, water
boy, grocery boy, errand boy, pin boy.B. Problem Formulation
As guidance, the writer has formulated three problems in order to reach deeper understanding about the compounding words boy and the meaning extension.
1. What are the semantic features of the lexicon boy?
2. What are the additional semantic features of lexicon boy in the field of profession?
3. How does the meaning of the lexicon boy extend?
C. Objectives of the Study
The objectives of study of the semantic analysis are to answer the problems formulated. First, is to show the semantic feature of the lexicon boy before compounded and second is to show the additional semantic features of the lexicon boy in the field of profession and third to see how the meaning is shifted from past to present.
D. Definition of Terms
This research uses several terms to examine the problems and support the findings. Some terms are defined below.
1) Compound Word In Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics, Richard, Platt and Weiber defined it as a combination of two or more words which functions as a single word. For example self-made (a compound adjective) as in He was a self-
made man and flower shop. Compound words are written either as a single word
(eg headache) as hyphenated words (eg self-government), or as two words (eg police station) (1985: 54).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW This chapter contains the review of related studies and the review of
related theories. The reviews of related studies present the studies that had been done by the previous writers and it is related to the study of semantics. The review of related theories presents the list of theories that applied to support the writer’s analysis.
A. Review of Related Studies 1. An undergraduate thesis written by Sigid Bintoro entitled The Semantic Features of English Words Meaning “Good Looking”.
Bintoro did the study of semantic features of English words meaning “Good Looking”. The objectives of his study were to find the definitions of the English adjective meaning and the semantic features of the words. He found fifteen words that have the meaning “good looking”. They are; beautiful, handsome, fine,
charming, graceful, attractive, pretty, elegant, lovely, sexy, cute, gorgeous, exquisite, fair, and breathtaking. He used four dictionaries, such as: Oxford advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Webster’s Encyclopedia Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, and
Bintoro’s study emphasizes his analysis on the synonym of ‘good looking’. His study contributed the writer to analyze other different words with more various data. It is about the semantic features. In this thesis, the writer attempts to examine the compounding boy. He used componential analysis approach to guide the analysis. The writer of this thesis also uses componential analysis for the approach to examine the semantic features and the meaning extension.
There are some differences between Bintoro’s study and this thesis. First, the writer of this thesis attempts to analyze the words by comparing both lexicon boy meanings before and after compounded then examine the meaning extension based on the semantic features shift, while Bintoro’s study only analyze ‘good looking’ synonymous term without examining the meaning extension.
2. An undergraduate thesis written by Dwi Ratri Indriyana entitled The
Semantics and Syntactic Features of the Intransitive Verb Related to Visual Sense.
Indriyana in this thesis focuses her analysis on the semantic features of the intransitive verb related “to visual senses”. Her objectives were to find out the words denoting visual sense, to find the semantic properties of these words and to know the syntactic properties of the verbs. In her thesis, she finds sixty three verbs denoting visual activities that twenty four of them are in the intransitive verb category. They are: crane, discern, gape, gawk, gaze, glance, glare, glint, gloat,
squint, stare, and watch. She used four dictionaries to define these verbs; Meriam Webster’s College Dictionary Unabridged, Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture, Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary. She also used these
dictionaries to find the semantic features of each verb. Besides, she also used the syntactic features to show the similarities and the differences that were owned by the verbs.
In her thesis, Indriyana focuses on the intransitive verbs related “to visual senses” to be analyzed and finds the denotative visual sense. This analysis contributes the writer of this thesis to analyze the compounding boy using the semantic features and componential analysis.
There are several differences between Indriyana’s study and this thesis study. First, this thesis analyzes the lexicon boy before and after it is compounded and the meaning extension, while Indriyana emphases her analysis on the synonymous words.
B. Review of Related Theories
The writer applied several theories that relate to the thesis topics and to support the analysis on this thesis. The theories applied can be explained in the following part.
1. Theory on Linguistic Meaning.
Semantics is the study of meanings. Fromkin, Blair, and Collins states that semantics concerns with the meaning of words, and the meaning relationships among words, phrasal, or sentential meaning. (2000:151).
a. Theory on Word Meaning
Richard, Platt, and Weiber define word as the smallest linguistic units which can occur on its own in speech or writing (1985:311). This statement is also supported by Nida as she states that a single word may have a number of quiet different meanings. However, in most instances, a word has central meaning from which a number of other meanings are derived. There will be a connection between each of these meanings and the apparent central meaning (1975:11).
The same word may have different meanings, and different words may have closely related meanings. For instances, the adjectives beautiful, pretty, and graceful have the same meaning as good looking (Bintoro, 2007:31). There are four types of relations between related meanings of different terms according to Nida. They are: inclusion, overlapping, complementation, and contiguity (1975:15). Inclusion is the meaning of one word that is included into meaning of another word. For example, the meaning of poodle is included into the meaning of
dog ; the meaning of dog is included into meaning of animal. Overlapping is the
meaning of one word that can be substituted with other words in certain context without significant change in the conceptual content of an utterance, for example, opposite meaning with another word meaning, such as good/bad, beautiful/ugly,
much/little , and many/few. Contiguity is the components/features of meaning that
represent the relations between closely related meanings. It means that although a word has similar meaning with others, there is a distinct feature to differentiate with others. For example, walk, run, hop and skip (1975:18). These verbs share the features of movement by an animate being by using the parts of body but they are different in the number of part of body that is used and the order of movement.
i.
Theory on Synonym
Words that have the same meaning in a given context are called synonym. In another word, the words are called synonym when they have the same value for all of their semantic features, for example man and boy, big and large.
There are three kinds of synonym in language system; near synonymy, partial synonymy, and absolute synonymy. Near synonymy are the expressions that are more or less similar but not identical in meaning (Lyons, 1995:60). In other words, near synonym is the words that have the same concepts but it cannot substitute each other for examples, mist and fog, stream and brook, dive and
plunge, man and boy. Man and boy both refer to male human. The meaning of boy
includes the additional semantic properties ‘youth’ and the meaning of ‘man’ includes the semantic properties ‘adult’. Partial synonymy is the expressions that have a part of meaning because there is a shifting of meaning. It means two words that have similar meaning. Sometimes both can be used in certain context such as the informal exclamation boy to address some adults. Absolute synonymy is the expression identical in all their condition, semantically equivalent on all dimensions of meaning, descriptive and non descriptive, and synonymous in all contexts (Lyons, 1995:61). For example, the word sofa and couch both refer to the same object and both have the same semantic properties.
ii.
Theory on Componential Analysis
Kempson mentions that “componential analysis is used to give an explicit representation of the systematic relation between words, not as unitary concepts but as complexes made up of components meaning” (1989:18). For example,
spinster has the components [+FEMALE], [+NEVER MARRIED], [+ADULT],
[+HUMAN]. This kind of analysis is used to account for the kinship terminology in various cultures. However, componential analysis is not limited to kinship terms; it can be applied in many areas of the vocabulary. It is used to contrast the component. For example, the differences of the word murder and kill (1989:18).
Murder has the component of [+intention], [+causation], and [+death]. Kill has the
component of [+causation] and [+death]. Besides, there is another component that can be shared. The word murder has another component of [+human].
To establish a word meaning, some ways can be conducted, including by looking at its semantic features. Semantic features itself, according to Radford, Atkinson, Britain, Clahsen, and Spencer, in Linguistics: An Introduction, should be decomposable (1999:200). It means that the meaning of a word should be separated or broken up into constituent parts, especially as parts that build up the words. For examples, ram, ewe, lamb (1999:201). They mean sheep. The fundamental distinction lies on the gender, whether it is male or female, and the maturity, whether it is adult or non-adult. Thus the semantic features of these words are ram –[male,adult…], ewe –[female,adult…], lamb –[none, adult….]. These features express the semantic relation between different lexical items that have different main meaning.
To understand the degree of similarity between words, it can be easily measured by the number of features they have in common. According to Parker in Linguistics for Non-Linguists, Lexical decomposition is a method that is used to characterize the sense/meaning of words (1986:30). There are several advantages of using lexical decomposition. It is easy to characterize the meaning of additional words by adding features and it can explain the intuitions as English speaker such as man and boy (1986: 30). Both are more closely related than the meaning of man and girl, man and boy have the same value [+male]. Meanwhile, man and girl do not have the same value. Although the linguists have used lexical decomposition, they cannot account exactly how many and which features constitute the universal set of semantic features.
Nida states that componential analysis does not attempt to describe in detail all the various features or characteristics of each type of related event, but only to point out the distinctive contrast which serve to separate one meaning or set of meanings from the others (1975:60-61). For example, the English words whisper,
(1975:61). The verb whisper has semantic features [+verb,-musical pitch,
murmur
- voices] and the verb murmur has semantic features [+verb,-musical
iii. Theory on Meaning Extension
Adrian Akmajian, Richard A. Demers, Robert M. Harnish in Morphology state that speakers often take an existing one and extend
and Semantic Theories,
its meaning in a recognizable way when a language does not seem to have just the right expression for certain purposes. The language does not add a new word as such, but since a word is being used in a new way, the language has been improved, as if a new word has been added.
According to Akmajian, meaning extension can be classified into three parts; Metaphorical Extension, Broadening, and Narrowing. Metaphorical Extension dealing with some certain objects, ideas, or events from one situation but it is described with words from a different situation of objects ideas and events. For example, such as: Let me chew on these ideas for a while. The word chew is not literally defined as we are eating and chew foods with our teeth. However, the word chew is indeed taken from the literal meaning of chewing activity. The other samples are: They just wouldn’t swallow that idea. 3) She’ll give us time to digest that idea (86:1984).
Metaphorical extension is not the only instrument that can be put to new uses to the existing words. Sometimes the use of existing words can become broader. jazz musicians and referred to a specific artistic style of jazz. As the time changes, the word can be applied to another thing, not just music; and it is not only refers to a certain music genre or style, but it is a general term that indicate the approval of the thing being questioned. (87:1984)
Conversely, the use of a word can narrow as well. A typical example is the word meat. At one time in English it meant any solid consumable food (a meaning that persists in the word nutmeat), but now it is used to refer only to the edible solid flesh of animals. (87:1984)
b. Theory of Phrasal Meaning i.
Theory of Compounding
Adrian Akmajian, Richard A. Demers, Robert M Harnish in Morphology
and Semantic Theories states that “new words can be formed from already
existing words by a process known as compounding, in which individual words can be “joined together” to form a compound word” (71: 1984). For example, the noun ape can be joined with the noun man to form the compound noun ape-man; the adjective sick can be joined with the noun room to form the compound noun
sick-room; the adjective red can be joined with the adjective hot to form the compound adjective red-hot.
Generally speaking, Akmajian states that the part of speech of the whole compound, which is also called as the head of the compound (Selkirk, 1982). For example if (the “head”) of the compound high chair is a noun (the noun chair) then the whole compound high chair is also a noun. If the member of the compound overdo is a verb (the verb do); therefore the whole compound is also a verb”. (71: 1984)
Heinz J. Giegerich in Lexical strata in English: morphological causes, argues that the difference between compounding and noun
phonological effects
phrase can be seen on the stress. Fore-stressed is indicated as compounding related to the semantic attribution and end-stressed is indicated as noun phrase that related to the syntactic attribution. Giegerich stated that NN compounds are said to have fore-stress, NN phrases end-stress. His statement was also supported by Bloomfield (1933: 228). For example: paper boy (‘p
еΙpə(r)bοΙ) and bellboy (‘belbo Ι). Both are considered as compound because they are fore-stressed.
Giegerich stated that NN compounds are said to have fore-stress, NN phrases end-stress. His statement was also supported by Bloomfield (1933: 228)
C. Theoretical Framework
The objectives of this thesis are to show the meaning of the lexicon boy before and after compounded and to analyze the meaning of the compounded word boy and man and see how the meanings are extent.
Three questions presented in problem formulation are the main guideline for further analysis. The first question concerns about the meaning of the lexicon boy before compounded which can be seen through the semantic features analysis. The second question is to examine the additional semantic features of the word boy in the field of profession after compounded and the third is to explain the development of the shifted meaning of the words boy. The writer attempted to apply theories on linguistic meaning that consist of word meaning, componential analysis and theory on meaning extension to answer the questions in problem formulation.
The writer applies the theory on word meaning, componential analysis to examine the first and second problem formulations and also theory on compounding to determine the meaning of the lexicon boy before and after it compounded. To explain the third question, the writer applies the theory meaning extension, the theory of semantic change and theory of word formation to see how the meaning of lexicon boy is extent.
The review of related studies is functioned as the ground for further analysis to describe the semantic features of English lexicon containing meaning boy. The review of related studies has also functioned as the guideline to direct the writer to avoid plagiarism in the analysis.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY This chapter consists of three parts including the object of the study, the
approach of the study, and method of the study. The object of the study discusses the object being analyzed, which are the lexicon boy. The approach of the study contains the approach that is used to analyze the object and the method of study presents data collection and data analysis.
A. Object of The Study
The data in this study are the lexicon boy and the compounds. They are 15 compounds; barrow boy, bus boy, cabin boy, office boy, paperboy, delivery boy,
bell boy, cowboy, plough boy, errand boy, groceries boy, ball boy, water boy,
house boy, pin boy.. Therefore, only these lexicons are analyzed. Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary states the meaning of boy as “a young male person” (Hornby AS,
1995:131) and man as “an adult male human being (Hornby AS, 1995:711). This definition is also supported by other definitions. Collins COBUILD English
Dictionary for Advanced Learners third edition states a boy is a child who will
grow up to be a man (2001:174) and a man is an adult human being (2001:940).
The new International Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of the English a male servant, especially a personal servant; often used of Orientals or Africans. (1996:160) and Man as: 1) a member of the genus, Homo (family hominidae class mammalia), the most highly developed of the primates, 2) the human race, 3) an adult male of the human kind (1996:772). This definition is also closely related to the definition of the word boy found in Webster’s Third New International
Dictionary which defined boy as; a) a male servant, b) one who does light work
especially in the service fields, c) a male member of a race felt to be inferior (1976: 264). In Random House Webster’s College Dictionary also stated that boy as: 1) a male child, from birth to full growth. 2) a young man who lacks maturity, judgment (2001:160) and man as: 1) an adult male person, as distinguished from a boy or a woman (2001: 805). To examine the sense changes from past to present, the writer also consider the definition based on the terminology. In The Oxford
Dictionary of English Etymology the word boy is defined as male servant; youth or
man of low estate; ‘fellow’, ‘knave’ XIII; young male child XIV; native servant, negro slave XVII. (1966:112). The definitions are limited to lexicon boy and some other words compounded with it.
The change in meaning sense instantly influences the meaning shift resulting from the changes of semantic features. The complete definitions show the distinctive elements more clearly, since both words share the similar semantic features and they are relatively closed, such as [+HUMAN], [+ANIMATE], [+MALE]. There is only one component significantly different which is the component of age or the determination of adult category that signified boy as [- when they are applied in some various contexts. It can be seen from the compound boy.
The writer used The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Compass to collect the data in a form of CD software and compiled them in a list. The writer also uses the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Collins COBUILD English Dictionary
for Advanced Learners third edition, the new International Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Webster’s
because they are effectively used for learners and easier to
College Dictionary understand.
B.
The Approach of the Study This thesis focuses its subject on semantics which is the study of meaning.
Therefore, the writer applies semantics as the approach, specifically Mentalistic approach. Wagiman Adisutrisno in Semantics and Introduction to the Basic explains that the Mentalistic approach to meaning in language views
Concepts
meaning as concepts, ideas, images, and associations which are stored in the long- term memory of the human brain; meaning is inside the brain. According to Carroll (1986:257), concept, ideas, images, and associations are derived from mentalese-the mental representation of world reality. (2008: 8)
The mentalistic approach to the study of meaning in language centers on the bundles of semantic components which lie in the long-term memory of the human brain. Ogden and Richards (in Parmer, 1986; in Kreidler, 1998) describe their mentalistic approach to meaning in the following diagram.
Reference Symbol Referent Between the symbols and its referent in the world there is mediation of concept in the human mind which is called reference. According to the Mentalistic approach to meaning in language, meaning involves the relationship among the words in the language, their referents in the real world, and their references in the long-term memory of the human brain. (2008: 10-11)
This approach is suitable to analyze the data since it is related to meaning that closely related to the symbol and the referent such as providing pictures as the symbol of each compounding words and determine the semantic features to show the reference (concept) and the referent (word).
The data, in this case the compounding words, are analyzed further after finding the components: reference (concept), referent and the symbol (word) then compare it with the definition. From this examination, the writer finds the meaning of each word and the finding guides the writer to analyze how are the meanings shifted.
C.
Method of the Study 1. Data Collection
In writing this thesis, the writer conducts some relevant procedures or steps. The first step defines the lexicon boy based on dictionaries. The second step selects the compound boy from The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Compass. The writer only selects some of relevant compounding as the data. Only those which are related to the analysis are chosen. The writer conducts double checking to make sure that the lexical definitions are correct and compare them with peoples’ ideas to define those words, because most of language case shows that what preserve on peoples’ mind sometimes can be different. Therefore, the writer consider this case as one of the first assumption as the bridge to guide into problem formulations. To select the lexicon, the writer defined each of lexical by finding at Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Compass. Based on that selection, the writer can decide which word could be considered. The third step, the writer uses five dictionaries to define the nouns and compares them. They are;
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Collins COBUILD English Dictionary for Advanced Learners third edition, the new International Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Webster’s College Dictionary . The writer decides to use those five dictionaries because they are
commonly used by the learners, the words are easier to find and to understand, and also the definitions complete each other. Based on the definitions, the writer is able to conclude the features, the writer also examines carefully the sentences used from dictionaries and articles in website. The destination websites that are used were www.nytimes.com and www.yahoonews.com . They include the articles as the examples and evidence.
2. Data Analysis
In analyzing the data and answering those three problem formulations, the writer conducts the following steps. First problem formulation contains the description of semantic features of the lexicon boy. To answer that first question, the writer applies the componential analysis to show the semantic features of lexicon boy. The second problem formulation contains the description of additional semantic features of lexicon boy in the field of profession. To answer the second problem formulation, the writer examines the list of compounding boy, by applying the componential analysis to re-identify the semantic features. All of the compounds form some lexicon in the field of profession such as paperboy,
office boy, bellboy , etc. By applying componential analysis for both problem
formulations, the writer can show the semantic features changes of lexical boy.The changes explain how the meaning can be extent. Therefore it answers the third problem formulation which is how the meaning of the word boy is extent.
In relation to the method described above, it can be concluded four things: First, the objects of this study are some lexicons compounded with the word boy.
There are fifteen lexicons that are selected and analyzed which compounded with
Third, the collection of data was taken from the Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary Compass. The writer selects the lexicon boy and attempt to examine
the meaning shift through the data gathered based on the dictionaries. Next, the writer attempts to find the definitions of selected lexicons based on five dictionaries followed with finding out the semantic features and finally describing the meaning shift through the examination of the New York Times article.
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS This chapter is divided into three sub parts. First, it contains the semantic
features of English lexicon boy. Second, it consists of the examination of some lexicon compounded with boy. It shows some significant changes mainly on the semantic features. The findings on semantic features guide the writer into deeper analysis related to the development of the meaning from past to present and how it influences the meaning of compound boy. The details are analyzed more on the third sub chapter. On the third sub chapter, the writer describes more about the meaning shift of lexical boy based on the etymology and how it is used recently.
A. Semantic Features of Lexicon Boy
Through decades, people distinguish the idea of Boy based on the aspect of age. People will spontaneously restore their ideas with the picture or representation of a young man who are believed less than 20 years old, immature, and still living with parents when someone mentions the lexical boy. Most of the representations are to indicate the physical or biological distinction. However, in some linguistic cases it does not always work that way, for example when the word boy compounded with other words and form new words. It also shifts the meaning such as a paper boy.
To give more explicit representation of lexicon boy, we can use componential analysis to examine the semantic features of lexicon boy.
Componential analysis is used to give an explicit representation of the systematic relation between lexicons, not as unitary concepts but as complexes made up of components meaning. (Kempson, 1989:18) This kind of analysis is used to account for the kinship terminology in various cultures as presented in the form of table below.
Semantic No Lexicals Features
[+human] [+male] [-adult]
1 Boy [-mature]
Table 4.1. Semantic Features of the Lexicon BoyBased on the table 4.1 above, it is shown that the lexical boy share components such as [HUMAN], [MALE], but they do not share the [ADULT] and [MATURE] components. Those components are general ideas that represent the lexical boy on peoples’ minds. However, some other aspects such as social constructions or history may influence the meaning of the lexicon. People believe that boy is a human being, the biological or physical sex is identified as male, it is believed that most boys age are less than 20 years old. That is the reason why they are not called as adult, which implies that they have lack of maturity. There is no specific numeral limit to determine on what certain age a boy is supposed to be called as a man or begin to be called as an adult.
In Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary, adult is defined as 1) one that has arrived at full development or maturity especially in size, strength, or intellectual capacity, 2) a human male or female after a specific age (as 18 or 21)
th
and in Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10 Edition is defined as 1) a person who has attained maturity; a grown up, 2) a mature fully grown animal or plant, 3) law compare infant a person who has attained the age of legal majority (18 years for most purposes).
Based on those definitions, being ‘adult’ is legally started from the age 18 or 21. It means that a [human], [male] under that age is identified as boy.
Nevertheless, in the development of the meaning of boy, social construction may influence the meaning shift through some processes. The additional meanings of
boy can be seen based on the definitions gathered from dictionaries.
Lexically, the word boy means a young man. In semantic features it is determined as [-adult]. In the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, it is stated that the meaning of the word boy is a young male person (Hornby, 1995:131) and the word man is an adult male human being (Hornby, 1995:711). This definition is also supported by other definitions. Collins COBUILD English Dictionary for
Advanced Learners third edition states a boy is a child who will grow up to be a