THE ANALYSIS OF SLANG WORD FORMATION USED IN EASY A MOVIE.

(1)

THE ANALYSIS OF SLANG WORD FORMATION

USED IN “EASY A” MOVIE

A THESIS

Submitted to Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

By:

HERVINA ZUHRA

Reg. Number: 209220019

ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS

STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN

2013

(2)

ABSTRACT

Zuhra, Hervina. 209220019. The Analysis of Slang Word Formation Used in “Easy A” Movie. A Thesis. Faculty of Languages and Arts. State University of Medan. 2013.

The study was deal with the word formation for forming slang found in the first 45 minutes of Easy A Movie. The objectives of study was to describe the meanings of those slang words found in the first 45 minutes of Easy A Movie and the types of Word Formation for forming them, also derived the dominant type of Word Formation appeared in Easy A Movie. The data were analyzed by identifying the utterances found in the dialogue spoken by all characters in Easy A Movie which is the script was downloaded from the internet. The findings show that there were seven types of word formation found in the first 45 minutes of

Easy A Movie. The seven types were: a) Coinage (58,8%), b) Borrowing (0,9%), c) Compounding (0,9%), d) Clipping (30,6%), e) Conversion (3,2%), f) Derivation (3,2%) g) Multiple processes (2,4%). The dominant type of word formation for forming slang words used by characters in the first 45 minutes of

Easy A Movie was Coinage 73 utterances (58,8%). The reason of Coinage became the dominant type for forming slang words in Easy A Movie was because the characters in Easy A Movie loved to make-up new words with new meanings or just re-used the old words contained of totally new meanings. The characters in

Easy A Movie who were dominantly teenagers believed that it became more impressive to use those kinds of words.

(3)

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE PAGE

Table 2.1 ...12 Table 2.2 ...16 Table 4.1 ...43

(4)

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX PAGE

Appendix A ... 48 Appendix B ... 64 Appendix C ... 100

(5)

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. The Background of the Study

The slang wordshare ungrammatical words or phrases which are used by a particular group. In the pertinent literature, most definitions of slang show a tendency towards a sociological view of the phenomenon. This view is accepted among others, by Eble (1996) and Munro who basically regard slang “as a social means of identification and cohesiveness within a group”. Slang first was known as thieves cant. Hotten (1859:5) in his book The Slang Dictionary says that slang is the secret language of Gipsies, accordance with Eble (1996) who states that slang is said to serve anti-social purpose such as marking social differences and hiding secret information or improper behavior from them. In particular, slang is viewed as in group vocabulary that certain subclasses in society, like criminals, drug addicts, thieves, professional beggars and other groups operating on the fringes society as their secret language to keep the content of their conversation private.

Today slang is used by everyone in daily conversations of informal situations due to the condition that slang is inappropriate using in formal situations. In addition, the language users will find that native speakers are not speaking like textbooks do except in very formal situations. This is why it is very useful to learn slang and informal languages, especially if language users want to sound like a native speaker rather than a foreigner. It is also useful for the listeners

(6)

to understand what natives say because slang has been take part of everyday language especially for the youth. For examples, the speakers will say “I’ll catch

ya later” instead of “I’ll see you later” or “Look that hottie!” instead of “Look!

There is a handsome man!” If these two sentences are translated literally, the

listeners or the readers will get confused with the meanings. Slang sometimes give the language users new words or the old words to the new uses.

Speaking in general, slang is a sociocultural practice that speakers use for such social purposes such as showing the same speech-level with audience, showing social intercourse, and showing friendliness or intimacy. Slang typically consists of new words or wide meanings, and develops to find fresh, spirited, colorful, harsh or humorous expressions.

There are a lot of variations within languages, and as the consequence is that the speakers do not speak in the same way to the listeners in all situations. If people only speak textbook language, people might sound too formal in some situations. An important part of learning a language is learning the different styles or list of a language and when to use them. The language users will easily find slang expressions around, like in daily conversations, song-lyrics, or movie but the language users have no idea about what is the meaning of these words and what are the processes for forming them. Linguistically, the processes for forming these slang words can be called as slang word formation which is same with the word formation in Standard English.

(7)

45 minutes of “Easy A” Movie. Frommer and Finegan (2004:243) write that

“The slang terms are often found in movies and music reviews, lifestyle pieces,

and people columns. ”The writer chooses “Easy A” as her content of discussion because it is assumed that the use of slang can be found easily in this movie. The other reason for choosing this movie as the discuss topic because the movie is

story about teen’s life in America. Krapp (1925:1) stated that according to

Sherman, “British style is more structured because it derives from study of the classics, while American is more free and impulsive.” Because of the freedom of

American people in using language, made American people used slang more than British people did. British people used standard and formal English much more than American people. In this case, British people speak more polite than American people do. Slang may act as euphemismsor teaser and may be used as identifier with one's peers. That is why slang is more popular in teenager’s environment.

B. The Problems of the Study

Based on the Background of The study, the problems of this study are as follows:

1. What are the slang words and their meanings used in the first 45 minutes of

(8)

2. What arethe types of word formation used for forming slang words in “Easy

A”?

3. What is the dominant linguistic process used in “Easy A”? C. The Objectives of the Study

The Objectives of this study are:

1. To describe theslang words and their meanings used in the first 45 minutes

of “Easy A.”

2. To derive the linguistics process forming the slang words used in “Easy

A.”

3. To state the dominant linguistic process of slang used in “Easy A.” D. The Scope of the Study

The scope of the study is focused on the linguistics processeswhich formed slang words used in the dialogue spoken by all charactersin the first 45 minutes of “Easy A”. The analysis is donebased on the theory of Yule (1985). E. The Significance of the Study

Theoretically, the research findings of this study are expected to be useful for the enrichment for the relevant theory which is started by Yule (1985).

Practically, the research findings of the study are expected to be useful for other people who are interested in English especially slang language. As the writer has described above, native speakers use slang or informal language more than the formal one especially in a particular group of peers because teenagers are more expressive to show their complains or sarcastic opinions. Also, the formal language usually used in a very formal situation. The natives also feel that these

(9)

slang words are more attractive and show the friendliness of their. The writer also expected this research can be useful for other researchers who want to take this kind of research as the additional reference.

(10)

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

A. Conclusions

After analyzed the data, the writer concluded that:

1. There are ten types of word formation based on the theory of Yule (1985:52) but the writer found only seven types of them used for forming slang in the first 45 minutes of “Easy A” Movie. They were Coinage, Borrowing, Compounding, Clipping, Conversion, Derivation and Multiple processes.

2. The dominant type of word formation for forming slang words used by characters in the first 45 minutes of “Easy A” Movie was Coinage 73 utterances (58,8%), followed by Clipping with 38 utterances (30,6%),then Derivation and Conversion with 4 utterances (3,2%), Multiple Processes with 3 utterances (2,4%), then the last were Borrowing and Compounding with only 1 utterance (0,9%).

3. The reason that Coinage is became the dominant type for forming

slang words in “Easy A” Movie was because language users loved to

make-up new words with new meanings or just re-used the old words contained of totally new meanings. The language users believed that it became more impressive to use those kinds of words, the informal one especially for teenagers.

(11)

B. Suggestions

1. The slang words are such inappropriate words because it usually give rude meanings but it is common to use them in America. So, the listeners needed to know how do these words formed because slang could be make-up words or just came from the old to the new uses. It was also possible that slang is formed by compounding two words become one, borrowed it from the other languages, cut off an exist word or changed the function of a word. It is important for giving the listener a clear explanation so that the listeners would not make a mistake in understanding the meaning of those slang words which usually appear in movies.

2. This thesis could be an additional material for other researchers who are interested to study about Non-standard English especially slang and what are the processes for forming them based on theory of word formation by Yule (1985:52).

(1)

to understand what natives say because slang has been take part of everyday language especially for the youth. For examples, the speakers will say “I’ll catch ya later” instead of “I’ll see you later” or “Look that hottie!” instead of “Look! There is a handsome man!” If these two sentences are translated literally, the listeners or the readers will get confused with the meanings. Slang sometimes give the language users new words or the old words to the new uses.

(2)

Movies are the most popular entertainment besides books or games. Movies give the viewers new experiences and knowledge through its story in audio-visual way. The writer will describe about the slang words used in the first 45 minutes of “Easy A” Movie. Frommer and Finegan (2004:243) write that “The slang terms are often found in movies and music reviews, lifestyle pieces, and people columns. ”The writer chooses “Easy A” as her content of discussion because it is assumed that the use of slang can be found easily in this movie. The other reason for choosing this movie as the discuss topic because the movie is story about teen’s life in America. Krapp (1925:1) stated that according to Sherman, “British style is more structured because it derives from study of the classics, while American is more free and impulsive.” Because of the freedom of American people in using language, made American people used slang more than British people did. British people used standard and formal English much more than American people. In this case, British people speak more polite than American people do. Slang may act as euphemismsor teaser and may be used as identifier with one's peers. That is why slang is more popular in teenager’s environment.

B. The Problems of the Study

Based on the Background of The study, the problems of this study are as follows:

1. What are the slang words and their meanings used in the first 45 minutes of “Easy A”?

(3)

2. What arethe types of word formation used for forming slang words in “Easy A”?

3. What is the dominant linguistic process used in “Easy A”? C. The Objectives of the Study

The Objectives of this study are:

1. To describe theslang words and their meanings used in the first 45 minutes of “Easy A.”

2. To derive the linguistics process forming the slang words used in “Easy A.”

3. To state the dominant linguistic process of slang used in “Easy A.” D. The Scope of the Study

The scope of the study is focused on the linguistics processeswhich formed slang words used in the dialogue spoken by all charactersin the first 45 minutes of “Easy A”. The analysis is donebased on the theory of Yule (1985). E. The Significance of the Study

Theoretically, the research findings of this study are expected to be useful for the enrichment for the relevant theory which is started by Yule (1985).

(4)

(5)

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

A. Conclusions

After analyzed the data, the writer concluded that:

3. The reason that Coinage is became the dominant type for forming

slang words in “Easy A” Movie was because language users loved to

(6)

B. Suggestions

THE ANALYSIS OF SLANG WORD FORMATION USED IN EASY A MOVIE.