An Analysis Of Non-Literal Meaning In “The Pearl” By John Steinbeck

CHAPTER II THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

2.1 Semantics Theory

  Semantics is the study of meaning in language which does not only concern with the meaning, but also other relationship of meaning including language and cultures. Palmer (1981:1) stated that semantics is the technical term used to refer to

  

the study of meaning, and since meaning is a part of language . In addition, he stated

  that ‘meaning’ covers a variety of aspects of language and there is no general agreement about the nature of meaning, or about the way in which it should be described.

  Semantics has long been an object of study within the philosophy. It is said

  th

  that the term semantics itself was introduced into English at the end of the 19 century. Before the introduction of the term in 1984, the word semantick was once used in the phrase semantick philosophy to mean ‘divination’ of which meaning, of course has nothing to do with ‘meaning’. The use of this term in English, perhaps can be traced back to the use of the French term semantique which was coined from the Greek in the previous year. In fact, the term semantics (or semantique in French) was not simply to refer to meaning but its development. Such as a concept of semantics

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  has been even in use until the 20 century as can be evident from ‘The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English’, published in1972, which defines of words.

  Semantics is the study of the linguistic meaning of morphemes, words, phrases and sentences. The basic areas of study are the meaning of signs and the study of relation between different linguistics units. Traditionally, semantics has included the study of connotative sense and denotative reference, truth conditions, argument structure, thematic roles, discourse analysis and the linkage of all of these to syntax.

  There are some definitions of semantics proposed by the linguists as follows: 1.

  Lyons (1977:1) says, “Semantic is generally defined as the study of meaning ”.

  2. Palmer (1976:1) says, “Semantics is the technical term used to refer to the study of meaning”.

  3. Hornby (1974:775) says, “Semantics is branch of linguistics concerned with studying the meaning of words and sentences”.

  4. Katz (1972:1) says, “Semantics is the study of linguistic meaning. It is concerned with what sentences and other linguistic objects express, not with the arrangement of their syntactic parts or with their pronunciation”. It means that generally the basic principle of semantics is about the meaning.

2.2 Scope of Semantics

  Semantics is the study of linguistics meaning. It is not very general agreement either about the nature of meaning or about the way in which meaning in language is studied, each of which if often very influential in determining which facts of meaning are relevant for semantics.

  The first is the linguistic approach. The students of language or linguists have long been interested in the way in which meaning in a language is structured. There have been studies of the meaning of words and the semantic structure of the sentences. Some of them also have distinguished between different types of meaning in the language.

  The second is philosophical approach. Philosophers have investigated the relation between linguistic expressions, such as the words of language, persons things, and events in the world to which these words refer. Although there may be different approaches to semantics, three basic terms seem to be widely mentioned in each of these approaches, i.e. meaning, sense, and reference.

2.3 Goals of Semantics

  According to Leech (1981:20-21), there are two questions which must be answered concerning with the goals of semantics theory; what should a semantics theory do and how should it do it?

  A semantics theory should attribute to each expression in the language which the semantics properties and relations.

  The answer to the second question is that a semantics theory should have at least two kinds of constraints: a)

  Semantics theory of natural language should be finite; people are capable of storing only a finite amount of information but they nevertheless learn the semantics of natural languages. b) Semantics theory of natural language should reflect the fact, except for idioms, expression are compositional. It means that their meaning is determined by the meaning of its constituents and their grammatical relations.

2.4 Sense and Reference

  Palmer (1976:30) has defined the reference and the sense as follows:

  

“Reference deals with the relationship between the linguistic elements, words,

sentences, etc., and the non linguistic world of experience. Sense relates to the

complex system of relationships that hold between the linguistic elements themselves

(mostly the words); it is concerned only with intralinguistic relations.

  ”

  The sense of a word is the additional meaning attached to the word. When people speak of the meaning of a word, they are usually speaking about one of its senses, usually what they believe is the primary or central sense. It is not always obvious, however how many different senses should be discriminated for a word.

  There are many kinds of sense relations, e.g. those exemplified by narrow/wide, male/female, buy/sell.

  Phrases, like words, normally both have sense and can be used to refer. Thus the phrase The man who is my uncle refers to a certain individual and has a certain sense which is different from that of The man who married my aunty, although both expressions usually have the same reference. Phrases may, however, have sense, but no reference. Another example is The present King of Indonesia is bald. We have no trouble comprehending the meaning of this sentence, eventhough Indonesia now has no King. This sentence has a sense, but hasn’t reference.

  2.5 Meaning

  There are some opinions about meaning. For instances: 1. Bloomfield (1933:139) says, “Meaning of a linguistics form as a situation in which the speakers utter it and response which it c alls forth in the hearer.” 2.

  Lyons (1977:2) says, “ The meaning can be distinguished by the technique of substituting other words in the same context and enquiry whether the resulting sentences are equivalent.” 3. Crystal (1980:222) states, “This basic notion is used in linguistics both as datum and as a criterion of analysis: linguists study meaning and also use meaning as a criterion for studying other aspects of language (especially through such notions as contrastivity and distinctiveness).” By the definitions above, so semantics meaning depends on the grammatical structure of the sentence. The meaning that the speakers say have to express their ideas, minds and feelings.

  2.6 Types of Meaning

  There are two kinds of meaning, they are linguistic meaning and speaker meaning (Siregar:1992).

2.6.1 Linguistic Meaning

  Linguistic meaning is simply the meaning of an expression in some form of language. In linguistics, meaning is expressed by the writer or speaker and what is conveyed to the reader or listener provided that they talk about the same thing. The knowledge of the reader or listener will determine how much or whether he or she understands the message of the speaker or the writer.

  For examples: 1. I like to run.

  2. The engines run well.

  3. They run a mail – order house.

  In standard British English, the word run means something different in each of the sentences. In other words, the word of run has more than one the linguistics meaning based on the context of the sentence or dictionary.

2.6.2 Speaker Meaning

  Speaker meaning is what speaker means in producing an utterance. Although words can’t be used to mean something what they do not mean, there is a tendency of a speaker to use a word to mean something different from what words mean literally. In saying, you are clever the speaker may mean ‘you are bright’ (intelligent). Because the word clever means ‘bright mentally’, ‘have intelligence’ in English or he may mean the opposite of what the word means. i.e.

  ‘you are stupid’.

  The speaker meaning is classified in two parts, they are literal meaning and non literal meaning.

2.6.2.1 Literal Meaning

  Siregar (1992) says, “If we are speaking literally, then we mean what our

  words mean

  ”. Literal is actual words, or the real means not use figurative or symbolic. When the speaker speaks literal, he or she doesn’t have hidden meaning in his or her words. The following examples illustrate the literal meaning: 1. I am standing now.

  2. My little brother goes to school everyday.

  3. They are playing football in the yard.

  All the sentences above are easily understood as long as the speakers mean what they say lexically. In literal meaning there is no misunderstanding or misinterpretation between the speaker and the listener.

2.6.2.2 Non Literal Meaning

  Siregar (1992:10) says,

  “We sometimes mean something different from what our mean, in other words, we sometimes speak non- literally”. People sometimes

  speak non literal. When the speaker speaks non literally, therefore, means something different from what the words mean. It is the opposite of literal meaning. In additional the words or sentence which is spoken by the speaker have hidden meaning beside the lexical meaning.

  Everyday people may find many non literal meaning such as in novel, lyrics of song, the Holy Bible, etc. Non literal meaning is very needed to make our sentences or language more beautiful. The following example illustrate the non literal meaning is My pen is dancing on paper now. This sentence has non-literal meaning and it means I am writing on paper now.

  There are so many terms of non literal meaning, such as figure of speech, figurative expression and figurative language. Seed (1997:16) says,

  “Non literal

language is traditionally called figurative language which is described including by

irony (facetious way of speaking), hyperbole (exaggerated way of speaking),

metaphor, simile, personification and litotes .

  And the term ‘figurative language’ will be used in this thesis.

  2.7 Figurative Language

  Figurative language is language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation. When a writer or speaker uses literal language, he or she is simply stating the facts as they are. The writer or speaker uses particular symbols to express the ideas.

  Beckson & Ganz (1975:80) says,

  “Figurative language is language which makes use of certain devices called figure of speech .” Most of which are techniques

  for comparing dissimilar objects, to achieve effects beyond the range of literal language. Figurative language uses figures of speech, a way of saying something other than the literal meaning of the words.

  There are two purposes of using figurative language namely pragmatic purpose and referential purpose. The referential purpose of using figurative language is to describe mental process or state, a concept, a person, an object, a quality or an action more comprehensively and concisely. And the pragmatic purpose of using figurative language is to appeal the sense or interest, to clarify, to please, to delight and to surprise.

  2.8 Kinds of Figurative Language

  There are many kinds of figurative language. In this case, hyperbole, metaphor, simile, litotes, personification and irony will be discussed. They are:

  2.8.1 Hyperbole

  Hyperbole is a large exaggeration. Exaggerated way is an expression to make something bigger or greater than it really is. Kennedy (1978:496) says,

  “Most of us from time to time emphasize a point with a statement containing exaggeration.

  ”

  Etymologically, the word ‘hyperbole’ derived from the Greek word. It is from two words; ‘hyper’ means ‘over’ and ‘ballein’ means ‘to throw’. It means hyperbole is an extravagant exaggeration that represents something as much greater or less, better or worse or more intense that it really is depicts the impossible as actual.

  Examples: 1. He give me wings to fly.

  2. He is breaking my heart again. In the first expression consists of the exaggeration, because as human we can’t fly. It means he gives me happiness. And in the second expression, it is hyperbole. It means he hurts me again.

  2.8.2 Metaphor

  Metaphor is a mapping between two domains. It used for an expression which to compare two unlike objects without using ‘like’ or ‘as’. Etymologically, the word ‘metaphor’ derived from Greek word, metaphor meaning ‘transfer’ or ‘carry over’. It is derivation from ‘meta’ meaning ‘over across and pherein’ meaning ‘to carry’.

  Barnhart (1995:118) says,

  “A metaphor is figure of speech in which a word

or phrase is taken out of its usual setting and placed with another word to suggest a

likeness .”

  Examples: 1. My mother is a strong tower.

  2. She is the lightening. In the first expression above, my mother is like a strong tower. It means my mother is a strong woman. And in the second expression, her face is bright. It means she is beautiful.

2.8.3 Simile

  Simile is a comparison between two objects using like or as. The word simile and similar derived from the same Latin word, ‘simile’ means ‘like’.

  Kennedy (1978:487) says,

  “A simile is a comparison of two unlike things, typically indicated by some connective, ‘like’ or ‘as’.” A simile is figurative of

  speech in which two quite different things are compared because they appear to be similar in at least one characteristic.

  Example: 1. His eyes was like the star.

  In the expression above consists of simile. Eyes and star is comparing as a subject. Literally, it means his eyes is beautiful.

  2.8.4 Litotes

  Litotes means saying less than is actually the case. Tarigan (1985:58) says,

  

“Litotes adalah sejenis gaya bahasa yang mengandung pernyataan yang dikecil-

kecilkan, dikurangi dari kenyataan yang sebenarnya, misalnya untuk merendahkan

diri.” In other words, a figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an

affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite.

  Examples: 1. She is not as young as she was.

  2. He is no oil painting. In the first expression above consists of litotes. The speaker wants to emphasize that she is old. And in the second expression, literally it means he is ugly.

  2.8.5 Personification Personification means giving an inhuman thing human qualities.

  Personification derived from Latin word, persona meaning person, actor or mask used in the theater and fic means to make.

  Keraf (1980:244) says,

  “Personifikasi adalah gaya bahasa yang melekatkan

sifat-sifat insani kepada barang yang tidak bernyawa dan ide yang abstrak. Juga

disebut penginsanan.” In other words, the object are likely considered as human

characteristics are attached to the objects themselves.

  Example: 1. My pen is dancing on paper now.

  In the expression above consists of personification, pen as the inanimate object is depicted as human. Literally, it means I am writing on paper now.

2.8.6 Irony

  Irony is facetious, sarcastical way of speaking. Irony means meaning the opposite of what is said. Etymologically, the word irony derived from the Greek word eironeia meaning deception or trick.

  Keraf (1991:143) says,

  “Ironi atau sindiran adalah suatu acuan yang ingin

mengatakan sesuatu dengan makna atau maksud berlainan dari apa yang

terkandung dalam ungkapan kata-kata .”

  Example: 1. Her kitchen is very clean.

  In the expression above consists of irony. The speaker wants to emphasize that she has the dirty kitchen.

2.9 Novel

  Literature can be divided into fiction and non-fiction. Novel included the form of fiction work. Novel is focuses on narrative or telling stories and has the form of narrative. The fictional narrative, the novel's distinct

  ‘literary’ prose, specific media requirements, a characteristic subject matter that creates intimacy and length can be seen as features that developed with the Western and modern market of fiction. The separation of the field of literary fiction from the field of historical narrative fueled the evolution of these features in the last 400 years.

  Novels are supposed to show qualities t, while historical accounts are written with the intention to fuel a public debate over responsibilities. A novel can deal with history. It will be analyzed, however, as a timeless work of art.

2.10 Previous Study

  There are some writers have analyzed figurative language in poetry, lyrics and the Holy Bible and they are: Ramadhan (2004) in her thesis

  ‘The Analysis of Non-Literal Meaning in Jascha Richter’s Lyrics in Michael Learns To Rock’s Songs’ she concluded that in the lyrics there are 14 cases of metaphor, 7 cases of simile, 6 cases of personification, 6 cases of euphemism, 1 case of facetious way (irony) and 17 cases of exaggerated way (hyperbole).

  Perangin- angin (2008) in his thesis ‘An Analysis of Figurative Expressions in The Holy Bible: Hebrew’ he concluded that in The Holy Bible there are 49 cases of the using of figurative expressions. There are 20 cases for metaphor, 9 cases for hyperbole, 5 cases of simile, 3 for synecdoche, 7 cases for irony, and 5 cases of personification. These findings show us that metaphor becomes the most dominant kinds of figurative expression that is used in Hebrew.

  I am very interested in the findings of two thesis results above, because it relates with title of my thesis. The equation is equally as discuss non-literal meaning.

  While the difference is in the data source. Ramadan analyzes data in song lyrics and Perangin-angin analyzes data in the Holy Bible. So, in this case I choose a novel “The Pearl” by John Steinbeck to analyze it.