Analysis Of Public Signs At I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport.
ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC SIGNS
AT I GUSTI NGURAH RAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
G. TEGUH BALADEWA
1201305072
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF ARTS AND CULTURE
UDAYANA UNIVERSITY
2016
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Ida Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa because by His blessing I
was able to complete this study and enjoy all the happiness, protection, affection and
luck which He gives to me in my life. I am very grateful to Dr.I Wayan
Resen,M.A.,M.App.Ling. and Drs.I Made Winaya,M.Par as my supervisors. Without
their guidance, advice, and encouragement, I would not be able to finish this study.
Also, I would like to express my gratitude to Prof.Dr.Ni Luh Sutjiati Beratha,M. A. as
the dean of Faculty of Arts and Culture Udayana University and I Gusti Ngurah
Pratama, S.S.M.Hum. as the head of English Department, my beloved department.
I would like to thank my beloved mother Ni Nyoman Handayani who had
passed away on 5 December 2014 for her unending support, affection and prays, I
dedicated my bachelor degree to her. And I would to thank you my father I Nengah
Sudana as my hero for his support, affection, prays, and protection. Also to my sister
I Kadek Dwi Pelitayani and my brother I Komang Ari Pradana for the support too, I
hope you can continue your study in university everywhere you want. Then, I would
to say thank you very much to all my friends in English Department 2012, Agus
Mahendra, Agung Mahadipa, Gowinda Prasada,S.S., Putri Yamayanti,S.S., Yasinta
Mariantini, Dewa Adnyana, Rico, Donos, Erik, Krisna, Ode, Paul, Widi, Arik,
Sidanes, Budi, Wahyu, Teguh Setiawan, Cahya, Dwik, Alvine, Andika, Ade, Sila,
Endah, Dekmo, Triana, Kim, Sawitri, Ratna, Rina, Rezy, Tanti, Dodik, Laksmi,
Yuyun, Vaundra, Amara, Devi, Ita, Mandala for the support and helps when I made
ii
this study and did the exam. Maybe I would not be able to get all of these without you
guys. Especially for my best friends, Agus Mahendra, Agung Mahadipa, Putri
Yamayanti and Gowinda Prasada, thank you for everything. I will always remember
how fantastic time we spent as the students in English Department. Also, thank you
for my seniors in English Department, Wiba, Jana, Ari, and Benny for the support
and helps. And the last thanks to Ns.Pande Kadek Desi Karismawati,S.Kep. for your
understanding, love, time and support to finish this study as soon as possible.
Denpasar, Mei 2016
G. Teguh Baladewa
iii
ABSTRACT
The title of this study is Analysis of Public Signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai
International Airport. The discussion of this study is mainly focused on the analysis
of the meanings and functions of the public signs and the representation of public
signs in seven of public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International airport. The data of
this study were taken from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport using a camera
to take the pictures of public signs that produced by PT. Angkasa Pura (persero). The
theories applied to support this study are theory of semiotic purposed by Saussure to
analyze the first problem about meaning of the signifiers and signified of the public
signs, and theory of meanings and functions by Leech also to analyze the first
problem about the meanings and functions of the public signs, and then, theory of
little texts purposed by Halliday to analyze the second theory about representation of
the public signs at the airport.
Through the analysis of this study, the signifiers of the public signs indicated
the signified of each signs, all of them consist of texts or word and a picture to
support the meaning of the texts. They all have the function to give information about
the public facilities in the airport to the people or visitors. In addition, the public signs
at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International airport are using little texts as the information
signs, as the result they can be installed in very limited space.
Keywords: public signs, meaning, function and little text
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
APPROVAL SHEETS .............................................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT ..............................................................................................................iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS .........................................................................................v
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study .......................................................................... 1
1.2 Problems of the Study ............................................................................... 3
1.3 Aims of Study ........................................................................................... 3
1.4 Scope of Discussion .................................................................................. 3
1.5 Research Methods ..................................................................................... 4
1.5.1 Data Source ................................................................................... 4
1.5.2 Method and Technique of Collecting Data ................................... 4
1.5.3 Method and Technique of Analyzing Data ................................... 5
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURES, CONCEPTS, AND
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Review of Literatures ................................................................................ 6
2.2 Concepts .................................................................................................. 10
2.2.1 Semiotic ...................................................................................... 10
2.2.2 Signs ............................................................................................. 11
2.3. Theoretical Framework .......................................................................... 11
2.3.1 Theory of Semiotics .................................................................... 12
2.3.2 Theory of Meaning ...................................................................... 14
2.3.3. Theory of Function .................................................................... 17
2.3.4. Theory of Little Texts ................................................................ 20
CHAPTER III ANALYSIS
3.1 Data Analysis .......................................................................................... 25
3.2 Data 1 ....................................................................................................... 26
3.2.1 Meanings and Functions .............................................................. 28
3.2.2 Representation of Public Sign...................................................... 32
3.3 Data 2 ....................................................................................................... 34
3.3.1 Meanings and Functions .............................................................. 36
3.3.2 Representation of Public Sign...................................................... 38
3.4 Data 3 ....................................................................................................... 40
3.4.1 Meanings and Functions .............................................................. 41
3.4.2 Representation of Public Sign...................................................... 43
3.5 Data 4 ....................................................................................................... 44
v
3.5.1 Meanings and Functions .............................................................. 45
3.5.2 Representation of Public Sign...................................................... 46
3.6 Data 5 ....................................................................................................... 48
3.6.1 Meanings and Functions .............................................................. 50
3.6.2 Representation of Public Sign...................................................... 51
3.7 Data 6 ....................................................................................................... 53
3.7.1 Meanings and Functions .............................................................. 54
3.7.2 Representation of Public Sign...................................................... 55
3.8 Data 7 ....................................................................................................... 56
3.8.1 Meanings and Functions .............................................................. 57
3.8.2 Representation of Public Sign...................................................... 59
CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 61
BIBLIOGRAPHY
vi
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
From a long time ago signs become our parts of life, we can see the
signs everywhere, such as at the library, on the street (traffic signs), on the
cartoon, comic, advertisement, etc. A sign usually consist of verbal and visual
signs in producing the meaning. The study about sign and its meaning is
known as semiotics. Semiotics is focused with anything that can be taken as a
sign. Saussure (cited in Chandler, 2001) defines semiotics as the science of
signs in society.
The form of signs is texts or words, images, gesture and object. Then,
language is the system of signs to communicate. The system of signs in
language has arbitrary and meaning of language object. Humans use the signs
or symbols to communicate to each other that have the same idea, feeling, and
desire. In terms of communication, there are sign systems and symbols agreed
by communicator.
This study is about public signs, which are widely used throughout of
the world. In a sign there are a signifier and signified always related to each
other to illustrate important messages used by someone or a company.
1
2
A symbol of language is manifested by everyone in many forms. It is
used in university symbol, logos, billboard, and slogan in advertisement. All
of a symbol in that form designed a meaning or an icon of design that made.
The symbol of the design give a message or meaning to their viewer, reader,
or user itself. The public signs are used because the pictures and texts in the
public signs are drawn or illustrated in complex pictures to convey the
meanings and functions of the signs.
From the previous studies, no one has used public signs as a data for
the study, most of them prefer to used caricature, advertisement, memes,
emoticon (cartoon expression), or cartoon as the data to be analyzed based on
the semiotics theory. Therefore, this study analyzes the public signs at I Gusti
Ngurah Rai international airport as its data.
The reason public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport
were used because the signs in the airport are very unique, it presented a
picture (visual) and also there are texts or words beside or below the pictures
(verbal). The combination between the pictures and the texts in public signs at
the Airport used to attract the people to read the signs.
According to Saussure (1983), a sign must have both signifier and
signified. Therefore, the signifiers and signified of the public signs at I Gusti
Ngurah Rai International Airport are analyzed in this study. This topic is very
interesting because it can be seen the public signs at the airport that informed
3
where the people must go or what the people must do as indicated by a picture
and texts or words.
1.2 Problems:
Based on the explanation above, the problems of this study are
formulated as follows:
1. What are the signifiers, signified and function of public signs found at I
Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport?
2. How are the public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport
represented?
1.3 Aims of the Study
According to the problems that have been obtained before, the aims of
this study are:
1. To find out the signifiers, signified and function of public signs found at I
Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport.
2. To analyze representation of public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai
International Airport.
1.4 Scope of Discussion
Scope of discussion in this study is limited to the analysis of signifiers
and signified (meanings) and functions. Ferdinand de Saussure‟s semiotics
theory about the signifiers and signified was applied to find out the signifiers
and signified of public signs in the airport. Then, theory of meanings and
functions by Leech were applied to find out the meanings and functions of
4
public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. And the last, theory
of little text by Halliday was applied to analyze representation of public signs
at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport.
1.5 Research Methods
There are some steps being done in this research. Those steps include
data source, method and technique of collecting data, and the last is method
and technique of analyzing data. This study applied field and library research
as method to collect and to analyze the data.
1.5.1 Data Source
The data source used in this study is public signs that are used by PT.
Angkasa Pura (persero) at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. This data
was taken from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport using a camera to
take the pictures of public signs as the data sources. Public signs at I Gusti
Ngurah Rai International Airport consist of pictures (visual) and texts or
words (verbal) to convey the messages to the readers in Airport area. The
languages that used of public signs at the Airport are English and Indonesian,
because the status of the Airport is international, therefore, the company used
two languages, Indonesian is used in the public signs for local people and
English for international or foreign people.
1.5.2 Method and Technique of Collecting Data
The method and technique of observation and note taking were
employed in two steps in collecting the data. First is field research applied to
5
collect the data from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. The data that
were collected from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport are the pictures
of public signs that are posted by the company. Second is library research use
to obtain information about semiotic data based on the concepts of signs,
meanings, functions, and little texts. The data identified then were note down
and classify based on theory of semiotics, meanings, functions, and little text.
1.5.3 Method and Technique of Analyzing Data
In the method of analyzing data, this study uses qualitative descriptive
method. This method was applied because the results obtained in this study
are in the forms of texts or pictures. The theories used are theory of semiotics
from Saussure, theory of meanings and functions by Leech, and theory of little
texts by Halliday. Meanwhile, in the technique of analyzing data, several steps
were used in this study. First, the data was analyzed by Saussure‟s semiotic
theory to find out the signifiers and signified of the public signs posted in the
airport. And then, for the second, theory of meaning and function by Leech
was applied to analyze the meaning and function of public signs at I Gusti
Ngurah Rai International airport. And the last, theory of little text by Halliday
was applied to analyze representation of public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai
International airport.
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURES, CONCEPTS,
AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Review of Literatures
There are many studies which have focused on semiotic analysis that give
inspiration in conducting this study. In the previous studies, they present some
weaknesses and strengths of some relevance for this research. These studies
are reviewed belong.
The undergraduate thesis entitled “Connotative Meaning of Verbal and
Visual Sign on Car Advertisement” by Hidayat (2011) gives an inspiration to
write this study. It described the connotative meaning of verbal and visual
signs in car advertisement and analyzes the relationship of verbal and visual
signs in producing connotative meaning. The theories that are applied in this
study are Dyadic theory from Saussure (1983), and second theory is theory by
Dyer (1982) in his book entitled “Advertising as Communication” and it is
combined with the theory of Leech (1996) in his book entitled “ English in
Advertising: a Linguistic Study of Advertising in Great Britain”. The last
theory is by Peirce (1990). The result of this study is shows that the
connotative meanings of verbal signs in the advertisement often occur in short
and simple sentences. And to attract the attention of the readers the advertiser
6
7
also chooses the sentences that are easy to remember. The previous study
is focused on the analyzing the connotative meaning of verbal and visual
signs.
The undergraduate study reviewed is the study by Sayani (2012) entitled
Semiotic Analysis of Memes in 9gag.com. It analyzed the signifier and
signified of each memes, the function of them, and how they emphasize the
condition or situation of the posts are the topics in the study. The theories used
in the study are the theory of sign and semiotic from Saussure and Chandler,
and theory of context of situation from Hymes. The theory from Saussure
about semiotics and Chandler about semiotics and signs are used to analyze
the meaning and function of each meme. In analyzing the meanings of the
memes, the features of each memes were analyzed using semiotic theory from
Saussure while the function of each memes was analyzed using the theory
from Chandler. Then, the analysis about how the memes emphasize the
situation or condition in the posts was analyzed using the theory from Hymes.
The strength of previous study is used theory of context situation by Dell
Hymes. Further, compared with Sayani‟s study, this study also used the theory
of Semiotics by Ferdinand de Saussure. Unlike with this study, the previous
study used meme as the data, whereas this study uses public signs as the data.
The other thesis entitled “The Analysis of Verbal And Visual Aspects
In Watch Advertisements” by Oktayana (2010). It described the way of signs
presented on the watch to support the selling point of the product, and also
8
analyzes the meanings and functions of verbal and visual aspects in two
different types of watches, and the last, analyze the similarities and
differences of signs shared by the two different types of watches. The theories
applied in this study are theory of discourse by Cook‟s (1994, as cited by
Wandia) and theory of meaning and function by Leech (1974) to analyze the
problems. Based on the analysis, concluded that verbal aspect is realized by
the text, it mostly conveys conceptual meaning and this kind of meaning is
easy to understand. The other aspect is visual, which is realized by the
attractive pictures to attract the attention of target audience. The weakness of
previous study is using advertisements as the data, since there are many
researchers used advertisement as the data. The relevance of previous study
with this study is using the same theory by Leech to analyzing the meanings
and functions in the data analysis.
The semiotic articles entitled “A Semiotic Analysis of Magazine
Advertisement for Men‟s Fragrances” by Clare (1998) concerned with a
semiotic analysis of advertisements whose similarity was based on fact that all
were concerned with the advertising of men‟s fragrances, and all were found
within the textual context of print advertising.
In more specific terms, the advertised products included Dune, Polo
Extreme Sport, Xeryus Rouge, and Cool Water. The advertisements were
located within recent editions of the popular men's magazines, namely Sky,
FHM, and Esquire. Thus previous study was individually analyzes these
9
advertisements in terms of their status as signs, whose associative meanings
not only give a favorable impression of the product, but are also compatible
with, and complementary to, the masculine context in which they are situated,
thus illustrating Umberto Eco's claim that the medium and message may be
‟charged with cultural signification‟. The previous study is interesting because
all of the advertisements do not physically represent the product, they provide
an important iconic representation of both the product and what the product
should stand for. Thus, analysis of all of the advertisements was strongly
focused upon the advertisements‟ photographic imagery, and the ways in
which this imagery generates the appropriate signified concepts (or emotional
overtones) which promote the image of the product. And this review also
gives more inspiration for conducting this study.
The last article entitled “Male Perfume Advertising in Men‟s
Magazines and Visual Discourse in Contemporary Britain: a Social Semiotic
Approach” from Image & Narrative Journal by Godeo (2005) is reviewed in
this study. Gedeo explores about the construction of the visual discourse of
male-perfume advertising in British men‟s magazines. Thus the particularities
of visual discourse are discussed first. The drawing upon social semiotics as
an analytical framework focuses on such visual dimensions as the visual
structure of representation, the position of the viewer, aspects of modality and
the meaning of composition.
10
From those previous studies, it can be concluded that the differences
are mostly found in the data used. The data of the previous studies are
advertisements, cartoons, pictures, and memes while the data of this study is
public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. The similarities are
mostly found in the applying of semiotic theory from Saussure. The applying
of Saussure‟s theory is to analyze the signifier and signified of the data.
The strength of this study is the new theory of Halliday was applied.
Since the data is public signs, the theory applied is the theory related to
analysis of little texts in public signs. Then, from the previous studies, no one
has used public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport as the data
for the study, most of them prefer to use caricature, advertisement, videos,
films, emoticon (cartoon expression), or cartoon as the data to be analyzed
based on the semiotics theory. Therefore, this study is something new
compared to the literary studies under review.
2.2 Concepts
There are two concepts that need to be considered in analyzing the data
related to this study, “Semiotic Analysis of Public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai
International Airport”. Those are concept of semiotic, and concept of sign as
explained below:
1.2.1 Semiotics
Semiotic is the study of cultural sign processes, analogy, metaphor,
signification and communication, signs and symbols. Semiotic is focused with
11
anything that can be taken as a sign. Semiotics is often employed in the
analysis of texts (although it is far more than just a mode of textual analysis).
1.2.2 Sign
Sign are objects, qualities, or events whose presence or occurrence
indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. In a sign,
there are a signifier and signified. A signifier is a form which the sign takes. It
is something that can be touched, listened, or seen that is used to represent
what people want to express in communication. Meanwhile, signified is a
concept it represents. It is an abstract concept of what the signifier means.
This study will analyze public signs, its mean the verbal text or picture in
public area for conveying information for people. It is useful for people to
give right direction or rules that are produced by the state or company.
2.3 Theoretical Framework
Regarding to concepts stated above there are three theories adopted to
analyze the problem, such as theories from Saussure, Leech and Halliday.
Saussure‟s theory about signs (semiotics) was applied to analyze and to find
out the signifiers and signified of public signs. Then, Leech‟s theory was
applied to analyze meaning and functions of public signs at I Gusti Ngurah
Rai International Airport. Meanwhile, Halliday‟s theory about little texts was
applied to analyze representation of the public signs at airport.
12
2.3.1 Theory of Semiotics
Semiotic is the study of cultural sign processes, analogy, metaphor,
signification and communication, signs and symbols. Semiotic is focused on
anything that can be taken as a sign. Meanwhile, Saussure (cited in Chandler,
2001) defines semiotics as the science of signs in society.
Saussure (1983) as cited in Chandler (2001) defines a sign as being
composed of signifiers and signified.
1. A signifier (significant): a form which the sign takes. It is something that
can be touched, listened, or seen that used to represent what people want
to express in communication.
2. A signified (signifie): a concept it represents. It is an abstract concept of
what the signifier means. It also can be interpreted as the concept of the
meaning of what people want to express in communication.
In a diagram the structure of the sign can be presented as follow:
The sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier
with the signified (Saussure 1983, 67; Saussure 1974, 67). The relationship
between the signifier and the signified is referred to as 'signification', and this
13
is represented in the Saussurean diagram by the arrows. The horizontal line
marking the two elements of the sign is referred to as 'the bar'. Saussure
suggested that the sign must have both a signifier and a signified. The
following diagram shows this signifier and signified relationship.
Nowadays, whilst the basic 'Saussurean' model is commonly adopted,
it tends to be a more materialistic model than that of Saussure himself. The
signifier is now commonly interpreted as the material (or physical) form of the
sign - it is something which can be seen, heard, touched, smelt or tasted. For
Saussure, both the signifier and the signified are purely 'psychological'
(Saussure 1983, 12, 14-15, 66; Saussure 1974, 12, 15, 65-66).
Saussure was focusing on the linguistic sign (such as a word) and he
'phonocentrically' privileged the spoken word, referring specifically to the
image acoustique ('sound-image' or 'sound pattern'), seeing writing as a
separate, secondary, dependent but comparable sign system (Saussure 1983,
15, 24-25, 117; Saussure 1974, 15, 16, 23-24, 119). Within the ('separate')
system of written signs, a signifier such as the written letter 't' signified a
sound in the primary sign system of language (and thus a written word would
14
also signify a sound rather than a concept). Thus for Saussure, writing relates
to speech as signifier to signified. Most subsequent theorists who have
adopted Saussure's model are content to refer to the form of linguistic signs as
either spoken or written.
2.3.2 Theory of Meanings
Leech (1974), in his book ‘Semantics: The Study of Meaning’ describes
there are seven types of meaning, such as:
A. Conceptual Meaning
Conceptual meaning is also called logical or cognitive meaning. It is the
basic propositional meaning which corresponds to the primary dictionary
definition. Conceptual meaning is the literal meaning of the word indicating
the idea or concept to which it refers. The concept is minimal unit of meaning
which could be called „sememe‟. As we define phoneme on the basis of binary
contrast, similarly we can define sememe „Woman‟ as = + human + female +
adult.
The aim of conceptual meaning is to provide an appropriate semantic
representation to a sentence or statement. A sentence is made of abstract
symbols. Conceptual meaning helps us to distinguish one meaning from the
meaning of other sentences. Thus, conceptual meaning is an essential part of
language. A language essentially depends on conceptual meaning for
communication. The conceptual meaning is the base for all the other types of
meaning.
15
B. Connotative Meaning
Connotative meaning is the communicative value of an expression over
and above its purely conceptual content. It is something that goes beyond
mere referent of a word and hints at its attributes in the real world. It is
something more than the dictionary meaning. Thus purely conceptual content
of „woman‟ is +human + female+ adult but the psychosocial connotations
could be „gregarious‟, „having maternal instinct‟ or typical (rather than
invariable) attributes of womanhood such as „babbling‟,‟ experienced in
cookery‟, „skirt or dress wearing „etc. Connotative meaning is regarded as
incidental, comparatively unstable, in determinant, open ended, variable
according to age, culture and individual.
C. Social Meaning:
Social meaning is the meaning conveyed by the piece of language
about the social context of its use. The decoding of a text is dependent on our
knowledge of stylistics and other variations of language. We recognize some
words or pronunciation as being dialectical i.e. as telling us something about
the regional or social origin of the speaker. Social meaning is related to the
situation in which an utterance is used. It is concerned with the social
circumstances of the use of a linguistic expression. For example, “I ain‟t done
nothing” some dialectic words inform us about the regional and social
background of the speaker. In the same way, some stylistic usages let us know
something of the social relationship between the speaker and the hearer
16
D. Affective or Emotive Meaning
In affective meaning, language is used to express personal feelings or
attitude to the listener or to the subject matter of his discourse. According to
Leech affective meaning refers to what is convey about the feeling and
attitude of the speak through use of language (attitude to listener as well as
attitude to what he is saying). Affective meaning is often conveyed through
conceptual, connotative content of the words used.
E. Reflected Meaning
At the lexical level of language, Reflected meaning arises when a word
has more than one conceptual meaning or multiple conceptual meaning. In
such cases while responding to one sense of the word we partly respond to
another sense of the word too.
Reflected meaning is also found in taboo words. For examples are
terms like erection, intercourse and ejaculation. The word „intercourse‟
immediately reminds us of its association with sex (sexual intercourse). The
sexual association of the word drives away its innocent sense, i.e.
„communication‟. The taboo sense of the word is so dominant that its nontaboo sense almost dies out. In some cases, the speaker avoids the taboo
words and uses their alternative word in order to avoid the unwanted reflected
meaning.
F. Collocative Meaning
Collocative meaning is the meaning which a word acquires in the
17
company of certain words. Words collocate or co-occur with certain words
only e.g. big business not large or great. Collocative meaning refers to
associations of a word because of its usual or habitual co-occurrence with
certain types of words. „Pretty‟ and „handsome‟ indicate „good looking‟.
Collocative meanings need to be invoked only when other categories
of meaning don‟t apply. Generalizations can be made in case of other
meanings while collocative meaning is simply on idiosyncratic property of
individual words. Collocative meaning has its importance and it is a marginal
kind of category.
G. Thematic Meaning:
It refers to what is communicated by the way in which a speaker or a
writer organizes the message in terms of ordering focus and emphasis. Thus
active is different from passive though its conceptual meaning is the same.
Various parts of the sentence also can be used as subject, object or
complement to show prominence. It is done through focus, theme (topic) or
emotive emphasis. Thematic meaning helps us to understand the message and
its implications properly.
2.3.3 Theory of Functions
According to Leech (1974:47-50), as a means of communication,
language has five functions. They are as explained below:
18
A. Informational Function
The informational function tends to be the most important one which
convey the information from „speaker or writer‟ to listener or reader'. Conceptual
meaning is predominant in the information use of language. In fact, this
function concentrates on the message. It is used to give new information. It
depends on truth and value. For example, the building is big large, the room is
empty.
B. Expressive function
Language has expressive function. It can be used to express its
originator feeling and attitudes. Swear words and exclamations are most
obvious instances of this. For this function, affective function is clearly all
important. The speaker or writer of this function tries to express his feelings.
They reflex their impression. This function could give a clear image for the
personality of the speaker or writer. The best example of this kind is Poetry
and literature. In fact, this function evokes certain feelings and express
feelings. For examples, they are very happy or I live in wonderful place. We
can see from these examples that they reflex the feelings of the speaker or the
writer.
C. Directive Function
The aim of this function is to influence the behavior or attitudes of
others. The most straightforward instances of the directive function are
commands and requests. This function of social control places emphasis on
19
the receiver's end, rather than the originator's end of the message: but it
resembles the expressive function in giving less importance, on the whole, to
conceptual meaning than to other types of meaning, particularly affective and
connotative meaning". Examples of this kind are, I want a cup of coffee or
open the window. It is clear hear that, we use the language in a direct way. We
ask someone to do something. Sometimes we can use a sentence to express
two functions. For example, I am thirsty. The previous example could be used
to show the condition of the speaker or writer or to express the feeling. In a
way that a person asks someone to give him water.
D. Aesthetic Function
The fourth function is the aesthetic function, it can be defined as the
use of language for the sake of the linguistic artifact itself, and for no other
purpose. This aesthetic function can have at least as much to do with
conceptual as with affective meaning. The function associated with the
message-the vehicle-is the poetic or aesthetic function: the sign taken as an
end in itself. All art understood as art is taken to embody this function, and
any object valued for its beauty rather than for its ideological value or
usefulness-whether a gorgeous car, an elegant teapot, or some acreage of
untouched real estate-takes on this function.
E. Phatic function
The phatic function is at furthest remove from the aesthetic function, in
that here the communicative work done by language is at its higher it is not
20
what one says, but the fact that one says it at all, that matters, i.e. the function of
keeping communication lines open, and keeping social relationship in good
repair (in British culture, talking about weather is a well-known example of
this). We can say about this function that it is used for normal talks. For
example of this, when two people are meet each other accidently in a place.
They start talking about something unimportant for the sake of
communication like, how are you? How is your child? And so on. We can say
that it is a kind of daily talking.
2.3.4 Theory of Little Text
According to M.A.K Halliday (1985, 373-377), little texts can be
found in telegrams and newspaper headlines, public signs, titles, certain kinds
of instruction (some recipes for examples), etc. Little texts means simple text
that represent the full sentence, so the readers know the full messages that
want to be conveyed by the writers only by reading the little text.
There are certain texts which the context of situation determines have
to be short, since they have to achieve quite a lot in that very limited space,
they tend to have their own grammar for doing so, which differs in certain
respects from the grammar of their register of English not constrained by such
limitations. A first approximation to the grammar of little texts might be to say
that they retain all the lexical words and leave out all the grammatical ones;
According to Halliday (in 1985, 373-377), little text can be divided
into four categories, such as:
21
1. Nominals without deixis. Both nominal groups and verbal groups tend to
shed those elements of structure that serve to link them with the here-&-now.
Thus nominal groups occur without determiners; for example:
BANDIT THREATENS TO KILL MAN
If we were to „translate‟ it into general English we should probably
write a bandit threatens to kill a man. But we cannot simply equate these two
one with the other, because there is no overall equivalence of function. If we
were reporting this sensational event as a piece of news we would probably
break it up into various quanta of information, beginning perhaps with an
existential there was this bandit. . .
2. Verbal without deixis. In similar fashion, verbal groups occur without the
Finite element:
CABINET SEARCHING FOR A WAY OUT
LAWYERS TO STAND FIRM ON FEE RISE
PUBLIC CONFIDENCE SHAKEN
Here the primary, deictic tense is omitted, the effect being that the
verbal group becomes non-finite. The reworded forms would presumably be
the cabinets are searching for a way out, the lawyers are to stand firm . . .
public confidence has been shaken. Note that the second of these. Lawyers to
stand firm, represents, in non-finite form, the old future form are to, more
usually now are going to.
22
We cannot in fact tell whether to equate the second with lawyers are
(going) to stand firm or with lawyers will stand firm. The third one might be
either confidence has been shaken or confidence was shaken. It may be part of
the meaning to avoid selecting in these systems, which in the grammar would
be obligatory in an independent clause; cf. The point made about the use of
non- finite forms in dependent clauses
3. Mood, A clause element which is obligatory in the general grammar may
be omitted in a little text. This may be because the feature it realizes can
readily be supplied, or because the reference is intended to apply to all cases,
or to cases that are clearly defined. For example,
USE SPOOL AS IS FOR THESE MACHINES
SPIN DRYER WANTED, WILL PICK UP SAME DAY
WHATEVER THE WEATHER BRIMSHADE PROTECTS
In the first there is a Finite but no Subject; the meaning is clearly „as it
(the spool) is‟; likewise in the second, „the advertiser will pick it up‟. In the
second and third there is no Complement. The former presupposes spin dryer
from the previous clause; note that although formally it appears as ellipsis,
functionally this corresponds to reference in the general grammar (there is no
ellipsis of a Complement alone). With the latter the sense is „protects you and
your property‟, or „protects everything that needs protecting‟. Perhaps the
most common of all omission is that of Finite (/ Predicator) be in attributive
clauses, e.g.
23
MARKET BUOYANT
CORRECT WEIGHT GUARANTEED
TURNER UNFIT TO PLAY
Here the principle is: supply the unmarked verb for the clause in question.
4. Unattached nominals. Many little texts consist of just a nominal group in
ABSOLUTE function, announcing simply that „this is a / the ... or „there is /
must be . . . Examples of these are product names, public announcements,
headings, nameplates, street and building signs; for instance,
NEW RAIL LINE
NO DECISION YET
QUALITY TOMATOES
DENTAL SURGERY
A CHRISTMAS WISH
CITY VIA HARBOUR BRIDGE
One important class of such nominal is those that constitute instructions. Since
a nominal group has no mood potential, it might seem difficult for it to
function as an instruction; but there are grammatical means for ensuring that it
does so. One that works for prohibitions is by adding an appropriate negative
Deictic, sometimes also making the Thing a verbal noun:
NO THROUGH ROAD
NO WAITING
Positive nominals can however be equally effective as prohibitions,
e.g. shavers only („no other appliances must be plugged in‟), bus zone („so
don‟t park!‟). Flammable („don‟t strike light!‟), private property ('so keep
off!‟), dead slow (don‟t drive fast!‟). And some are positive injunctions, such
as litter („put it here!‟), interstate bookings („apply here for a ticket').
AT I GUSTI NGURAH RAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
G. TEGUH BALADEWA
1201305072
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF ARTS AND CULTURE
UDAYANA UNIVERSITY
2016
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Ida Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa because by His blessing I
was able to complete this study and enjoy all the happiness, protection, affection and
luck which He gives to me in my life. I am very grateful to Dr.I Wayan
Resen,M.A.,M.App.Ling. and Drs.I Made Winaya,M.Par as my supervisors. Without
their guidance, advice, and encouragement, I would not be able to finish this study.
Also, I would like to express my gratitude to Prof.Dr.Ni Luh Sutjiati Beratha,M. A. as
the dean of Faculty of Arts and Culture Udayana University and I Gusti Ngurah
Pratama, S.S.M.Hum. as the head of English Department, my beloved department.
I would like to thank my beloved mother Ni Nyoman Handayani who had
passed away on 5 December 2014 for her unending support, affection and prays, I
dedicated my bachelor degree to her. And I would to thank you my father I Nengah
Sudana as my hero for his support, affection, prays, and protection. Also to my sister
I Kadek Dwi Pelitayani and my brother I Komang Ari Pradana for the support too, I
hope you can continue your study in university everywhere you want. Then, I would
to say thank you very much to all my friends in English Department 2012, Agus
Mahendra, Agung Mahadipa, Gowinda Prasada,S.S., Putri Yamayanti,S.S., Yasinta
Mariantini, Dewa Adnyana, Rico, Donos, Erik, Krisna, Ode, Paul, Widi, Arik,
Sidanes, Budi, Wahyu, Teguh Setiawan, Cahya, Dwik, Alvine, Andika, Ade, Sila,
Endah, Dekmo, Triana, Kim, Sawitri, Ratna, Rina, Rezy, Tanti, Dodik, Laksmi,
Yuyun, Vaundra, Amara, Devi, Ita, Mandala for the support and helps when I made
ii
this study and did the exam. Maybe I would not be able to get all of these without you
guys. Especially for my best friends, Agus Mahendra, Agung Mahadipa, Putri
Yamayanti and Gowinda Prasada, thank you for everything. I will always remember
how fantastic time we spent as the students in English Department. Also, thank you
for my seniors in English Department, Wiba, Jana, Ari, and Benny for the support
and helps. And the last thanks to Ns.Pande Kadek Desi Karismawati,S.Kep. for your
understanding, love, time and support to finish this study as soon as possible.
Denpasar, Mei 2016
G. Teguh Baladewa
iii
ABSTRACT
The title of this study is Analysis of Public Signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai
International Airport. The discussion of this study is mainly focused on the analysis
of the meanings and functions of the public signs and the representation of public
signs in seven of public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International airport. The data of
this study were taken from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport using a camera
to take the pictures of public signs that produced by PT. Angkasa Pura (persero). The
theories applied to support this study are theory of semiotic purposed by Saussure to
analyze the first problem about meaning of the signifiers and signified of the public
signs, and theory of meanings and functions by Leech also to analyze the first
problem about the meanings and functions of the public signs, and then, theory of
little texts purposed by Halliday to analyze the second theory about representation of
the public signs at the airport.
Through the analysis of this study, the signifiers of the public signs indicated
the signified of each signs, all of them consist of texts or word and a picture to
support the meaning of the texts. They all have the function to give information about
the public facilities in the airport to the people or visitors. In addition, the public signs
at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International airport are using little texts as the information
signs, as the result they can be installed in very limited space.
Keywords: public signs, meaning, function and little text
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
APPROVAL SHEETS .............................................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT ..............................................................................................................iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS .........................................................................................v
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study .......................................................................... 1
1.2 Problems of the Study ............................................................................... 3
1.3 Aims of Study ........................................................................................... 3
1.4 Scope of Discussion .................................................................................. 3
1.5 Research Methods ..................................................................................... 4
1.5.1 Data Source ................................................................................... 4
1.5.2 Method and Technique of Collecting Data ................................... 4
1.5.3 Method and Technique of Analyzing Data ................................... 5
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURES, CONCEPTS, AND
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Review of Literatures ................................................................................ 6
2.2 Concepts .................................................................................................. 10
2.2.1 Semiotic ...................................................................................... 10
2.2.2 Signs ............................................................................................. 11
2.3. Theoretical Framework .......................................................................... 11
2.3.1 Theory of Semiotics .................................................................... 12
2.3.2 Theory of Meaning ...................................................................... 14
2.3.3. Theory of Function .................................................................... 17
2.3.4. Theory of Little Texts ................................................................ 20
CHAPTER III ANALYSIS
3.1 Data Analysis .......................................................................................... 25
3.2 Data 1 ....................................................................................................... 26
3.2.1 Meanings and Functions .............................................................. 28
3.2.2 Representation of Public Sign...................................................... 32
3.3 Data 2 ....................................................................................................... 34
3.3.1 Meanings and Functions .............................................................. 36
3.3.2 Representation of Public Sign...................................................... 38
3.4 Data 3 ....................................................................................................... 40
3.4.1 Meanings and Functions .............................................................. 41
3.4.2 Representation of Public Sign...................................................... 43
3.5 Data 4 ....................................................................................................... 44
v
3.5.1 Meanings and Functions .............................................................. 45
3.5.2 Representation of Public Sign...................................................... 46
3.6 Data 5 ....................................................................................................... 48
3.6.1 Meanings and Functions .............................................................. 50
3.6.2 Representation of Public Sign...................................................... 51
3.7 Data 6 ....................................................................................................... 53
3.7.1 Meanings and Functions .............................................................. 54
3.7.2 Representation of Public Sign...................................................... 55
3.8 Data 7 ....................................................................................................... 56
3.8.1 Meanings and Functions .............................................................. 57
3.8.2 Representation of Public Sign...................................................... 59
CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 61
BIBLIOGRAPHY
vi
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
From a long time ago signs become our parts of life, we can see the
signs everywhere, such as at the library, on the street (traffic signs), on the
cartoon, comic, advertisement, etc. A sign usually consist of verbal and visual
signs in producing the meaning. The study about sign and its meaning is
known as semiotics. Semiotics is focused with anything that can be taken as a
sign. Saussure (cited in Chandler, 2001) defines semiotics as the science of
signs in society.
The form of signs is texts or words, images, gesture and object. Then,
language is the system of signs to communicate. The system of signs in
language has arbitrary and meaning of language object. Humans use the signs
or symbols to communicate to each other that have the same idea, feeling, and
desire. In terms of communication, there are sign systems and symbols agreed
by communicator.
This study is about public signs, which are widely used throughout of
the world. In a sign there are a signifier and signified always related to each
other to illustrate important messages used by someone or a company.
1
2
A symbol of language is manifested by everyone in many forms. It is
used in university symbol, logos, billboard, and slogan in advertisement. All
of a symbol in that form designed a meaning or an icon of design that made.
The symbol of the design give a message or meaning to their viewer, reader,
or user itself. The public signs are used because the pictures and texts in the
public signs are drawn or illustrated in complex pictures to convey the
meanings and functions of the signs.
From the previous studies, no one has used public signs as a data for
the study, most of them prefer to used caricature, advertisement, memes,
emoticon (cartoon expression), or cartoon as the data to be analyzed based on
the semiotics theory. Therefore, this study analyzes the public signs at I Gusti
Ngurah Rai international airport as its data.
The reason public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport
were used because the signs in the airport are very unique, it presented a
picture (visual) and also there are texts or words beside or below the pictures
(verbal). The combination between the pictures and the texts in public signs at
the Airport used to attract the people to read the signs.
According to Saussure (1983), a sign must have both signifier and
signified. Therefore, the signifiers and signified of the public signs at I Gusti
Ngurah Rai International Airport are analyzed in this study. This topic is very
interesting because it can be seen the public signs at the airport that informed
3
where the people must go or what the people must do as indicated by a picture
and texts or words.
1.2 Problems:
Based on the explanation above, the problems of this study are
formulated as follows:
1. What are the signifiers, signified and function of public signs found at I
Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport?
2. How are the public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport
represented?
1.3 Aims of the Study
According to the problems that have been obtained before, the aims of
this study are:
1. To find out the signifiers, signified and function of public signs found at I
Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport.
2. To analyze representation of public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai
International Airport.
1.4 Scope of Discussion
Scope of discussion in this study is limited to the analysis of signifiers
and signified (meanings) and functions. Ferdinand de Saussure‟s semiotics
theory about the signifiers and signified was applied to find out the signifiers
and signified of public signs in the airport. Then, theory of meanings and
functions by Leech were applied to find out the meanings and functions of
4
public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. And the last, theory
of little text by Halliday was applied to analyze representation of public signs
at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport.
1.5 Research Methods
There are some steps being done in this research. Those steps include
data source, method and technique of collecting data, and the last is method
and technique of analyzing data. This study applied field and library research
as method to collect and to analyze the data.
1.5.1 Data Source
The data source used in this study is public signs that are used by PT.
Angkasa Pura (persero) at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. This data
was taken from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport using a camera to
take the pictures of public signs as the data sources. Public signs at I Gusti
Ngurah Rai International Airport consist of pictures (visual) and texts or
words (verbal) to convey the messages to the readers in Airport area. The
languages that used of public signs at the Airport are English and Indonesian,
because the status of the Airport is international, therefore, the company used
two languages, Indonesian is used in the public signs for local people and
English for international or foreign people.
1.5.2 Method and Technique of Collecting Data
The method and technique of observation and note taking were
employed in two steps in collecting the data. First is field research applied to
5
collect the data from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. The data that
were collected from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport are the pictures
of public signs that are posted by the company. Second is library research use
to obtain information about semiotic data based on the concepts of signs,
meanings, functions, and little texts. The data identified then were note down
and classify based on theory of semiotics, meanings, functions, and little text.
1.5.3 Method and Technique of Analyzing Data
In the method of analyzing data, this study uses qualitative descriptive
method. This method was applied because the results obtained in this study
are in the forms of texts or pictures. The theories used are theory of semiotics
from Saussure, theory of meanings and functions by Leech, and theory of little
texts by Halliday. Meanwhile, in the technique of analyzing data, several steps
were used in this study. First, the data was analyzed by Saussure‟s semiotic
theory to find out the signifiers and signified of the public signs posted in the
airport. And then, for the second, theory of meaning and function by Leech
was applied to analyze the meaning and function of public signs at I Gusti
Ngurah Rai International airport. And the last, theory of little text by Halliday
was applied to analyze representation of public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai
International airport.
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURES, CONCEPTS,
AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Review of Literatures
There are many studies which have focused on semiotic analysis that give
inspiration in conducting this study. In the previous studies, they present some
weaknesses and strengths of some relevance for this research. These studies
are reviewed belong.
The undergraduate thesis entitled “Connotative Meaning of Verbal and
Visual Sign on Car Advertisement” by Hidayat (2011) gives an inspiration to
write this study. It described the connotative meaning of verbal and visual
signs in car advertisement and analyzes the relationship of verbal and visual
signs in producing connotative meaning. The theories that are applied in this
study are Dyadic theory from Saussure (1983), and second theory is theory by
Dyer (1982) in his book entitled “Advertising as Communication” and it is
combined with the theory of Leech (1996) in his book entitled “ English in
Advertising: a Linguistic Study of Advertising in Great Britain”. The last
theory is by Peirce (1990). The result of this study is shows that the
connotative meanings of verbal signs in the advertisement often occur in short
and simple sentences. And to attract the attention of the readers the advertiser
6
7
also chooses the sentences that are easy to remember. The previous study
is focused on the analyzing the connotative meaning of verbal and visual
signs.
The undergraduate study reviewed is the study by Sayani (2012) entitled
Semiotic Analysis of Memes in 9gag.com. It analyzed the signifier and
signified of each memes, the function of them, and how they emphasize the
condition or situation of the posts are the topics in the study. The theories used
in the study are the theory of sign and semiotic from Saussure and Chandler,
and theory of context of situation from Hymes. The theory from Saussure
about semiotics and Chandler about semiotics and signs are used to analyze
the meaning and function of each meme. In analyzing the meanings of the
memes, the features of each memes were analyzed using semiotic theory from
Saussure while the function of each memes was analyzed using the theory
from Chandler. Then, the analysis about how the memes emphasize the
situation or condition in the posts was analyzed using the theory from Hymes.
The strength of previous study is used theory of context situation by Dell
Hymes. Further, compared with Sayani‟s study, this study also used the theory
of Semiotics by Ferdinand de Saussure. Unlike with this study, the previous
study used meme as the data, whereas this study uses public signs as the data.
The other thesis entitled “The Analysis of Verbal And Visual Aspects
In Watch Advertisements” by Oktayana (2010). It described the way of signs
presented on the watch to support the selling point of the product, and also
8
analyzes the meanings and functions of verbal and visual aspects in two
different types of watches, and the last, analyze the similarities and
differences of signs shared by the two different types of watches. The theories
applied in this study are theory of discourse by Cook‟s (1994, as cited by
Wandia) and theory of meaning and function by Leech (1974) to analyze the
problems. Based on the analysis, concluded that verbal aspect is realized by
the text, it mostly conveys conceptual meaning and this kind of meaning is
easy to understand. The other aspect is visual, which is realized by the
attractive pictures to attract the attention of target audience. The weakness of
previous study is using advertisements as the data, since there are many
researchers used advertisement as the data. The relevance of previous study
with this study is using the same theory by Leech to analyzing the meanings
and functions in the data analysis.
The semiotic articles entitled “A Semiotic Analysis of Magazine
Advertisement for Men‟s Fragrances” by Clare (1998) concerned with a
semiotic analysis of advertisements whose similarity was based on fact that all
were concerned with the advertising of men‟s fragrances, and all were found
within the textual context of print advertising.
In more specific terms, the advertised products included Dune, Polo
Extreme Sport, Xeryus Rouge, and Cool Water. The advertisements were
located within recent editions of the popular men's magazines, namely Sky,
FHM, and Esquire. Thus previous study was individually analyzes these
9
advertisements in terms of their status as signs, whose associative meanings
not only give a favorable impression of the product, but are also compatible
with, and complementary to, the masculine context in which they are situated,
thus illustrating Umberto Eco's claim that the medium and message may be
‟charged with cultural signification‟. The previous study is interesting because
all of the advertisements do not physically represent the product, they provide
an important iconic representation of both the product and what the product
should stand for. Thus, analysis of all of the advertisements was strongly
focused upon the advertisements‟ photographic imagery, and the ways in
which this imagery generates the appropriate signified concepts (or emotional
overtones) which promote the image of the product. And this review also
gives more inspiration for conducting this study.
The last article entitled “Male Perfume Advertising in Men‟s
Magazines and Visual Discourse in Contemporary Britain: a Social Semiotic
Approach” from Image & Narrative Journal by Godeo (2005) is reviewed in
this study. Gedeo explores about the construction of the visual discourse of
male-perfume advertising in British men‟s magazines. Thus the particularities
of visual discourse are discussed first. The drawing upon social semiotics as
an analytical framework focuses on such visual dimensions as the visual
structure of representation, the position of the viewer, aspects of modality and
the meaning of composition.
10
From those previous studies, it can be concluded that the differences
are mostly found in the data used. The data of the previous studies are
advertisements, cartoons, pictures, and memes while the data of this study is
public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. The similarities are
mostly found in the applying of semiotic theory from Saussure. The applying
of Saussure‟s theory is to analyze the signifier and signified of the data.
The strength of this study is the new theory of Halliday was applied.
Since the data is public signs, the theory applied is the theory related to
analysis of little texts in public signs. Then, from the previous studies, no one
has used public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport as the data
for the study, most of them prefer to use caricature, advertisement, videos,
films, emoticon (cartoon expression), or cartoon as the data to be analyzed
based on the semiotics theory. Therefore, this study is something new
compared to the literary studies under review.
2.2 Concepts
There are two concepts that need to be considered in analyzing the data
related to this study, “Semiotic Analysis of Public signs at I Gusti Ngurah Rai
International Airport”. Those are concept of semiotic, and concept of sign as
explained below:
1.2.1 Semiotics
Semiotic is the study of cultural sign processes, analogy, metaphor,
signification and communication, signs and symbols. Semiotic is focused with
11
anything that can be taken as a sign. Semiotics is often employed in the
analysis of texts (although it is far more than just a mode of textual analysis).
1.2.2 Sign
Sign are objects, qualities, or events whose presence or occurrence
indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. In a sign,
there are a signifier and signified. A signifier is a form which the sign takes. It
is something that can be touched, listened, or seen that is used to represent
what people want to express in communication. Meanwhile, signified is a
concept it represents. It is an abstract concept of what the signifier means.
This study will analyze public signs, its mean the verbal text or picture in
public area for conveying information for people. It is useful for people to
give right direction or rules that are produced by the state or company.
2.3 Theoretical Framework
Regarding to concepts stated above there are three theories adopted to
analyze the problem, such as theories from Saussure, Leech and Halliday.
Saussure‟s theory about signs (semiotics) was applied to analyze and to find
out the signifiers and signified of public signs. Then, Leech‟s theory was
applied to analyze meaning and functions of public signs at I Gusti Ngurah
Rai International Airport. Meanwhile, Halliday‟s theory about little texts was
applied to analyze representation of the public signs at airport.
12
2.3.1 Theory of Semiotics
Semiotic is the study of cultural sign processes, analogy, metaphor,
signification and communication, signs and symbols. Semiotic is focused on
anything that can be taken as a sign. Meanwhile, Saussure (cited in Chandler,
2001) defines semiotics as the science of signs in society.
Saussure (1983) as cited in Chandler (2001) defines a sign as being
composed of signifiers and signified.
1. A signifier (significant): a form which the sign takes. It is something that
can be touched, listened, or seen that used to represent what people want
to express in communication.
2. A signified (signifie): a concept it represents. It is an abstract concept of
what the signifier means. It also can be interpreted as the concept of the
meaning of what people want to express in communication.
In a diagram the structure of the sign can be presented as follow:
The sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier
with the signified (Saussure 1983, 67; Saussure 1974, 67). The relationship
between the signifier and the signified is referred to as 'signification', and this
13
is represented in the Saussurean diagram by the arrows. The horizontal line
marking the two elements of the sign is referred to as 'the bar'. Saussure
suggested that the sign must have both a signifier and a signified. The
following diagram shows this signifier and signified relationship.
Nowadays, whilst the basic 'Saussurean' model is commonly adopted,
it tends to be a more materialistic model than that of Saussure himself. The
signifier is now commonly interpreted as the material (or physical) form of the
sign - it is something which can be seen, heard, touched, smelt or tasted. For
Saussure, both the signifier and the signified are purely 'psychological'
(Saussure 1983, 12, 14-15, 66; Saussure 1974, 12, 15, 65-66).
Saussure was focusing on the linguistic sign (such as a word) and he
'phonocentrically' privileged the spoken word, referring specifically to the
image acoustique ('sound-image' or 'sound pattern'), seeing writing as a
separate, secondary, dependent but comparable sign system (Saussure 1983,
15, 24-25, 117; Saussure 1974, 15, 16, 23-24, 119). Within the ('separate')
system of written signs, a signifier such as the written letter 't' signified a
sound in the primary sign system of language (and thus a written word would
14
also signify a sound rather than a concept). Thus for Saussure, writing relates
to speech as signifier to signified. Most subsequent theorists who have
adopted Saussure's model are content to refer to the form of linguistic signs as
either spoken or written.
2.3.2 Theory of Meanings
Leech (1974), in his book ‘Semantics: The Study of Meaning’ describes
there are seven types of meaning, such as:
A. Conceptual Meaning
Conceptual meaning is also called logical or cognitive meaning. It is the
basic propositional meaning which corresponds to the primary dictionary
definition. Conceptual meaning is the literal meaning of the word indicating
the idea or concept to which it refers. The concept is minimal unit of meaning
which could be called „sememe‟. As we define phoneme on the basis of binary
contrast, similarly we can define sememe „Woman‟ as = + human + female +
adult.
The aim of conceptual meaning is to provide an appropriate semantic
representation to a sentence or statement. A sentence is made of abstract
symbols. Conceptual meaning helps us to distinguish one meaning from the
meaning of other sentences. Thus, conceptual meaning is an essential part of
language. A language essentially depends on conceptual meaning for
communication. The conceptual meaning is the base for all the other types of
meaning.
15
B. Connotative Meaning
Connotative meaning is the communicative value of an expression over
and above its purely conceptual content. It is something that goes beyond
mere referent of a word and hints at its attributes in the real world. It is
something more than the dictionary meaning. Thus purely conceptual content
of „woman‟ is +human + female+ adult but the psychosocial connotations
could be „gregarious‟, „having maternal instinct‟ or typical (rather than
invariable) attributes of womanhood such as „babbling‟,‟ experienced in
cookery‟, „skirt or dress wearing „etc. Connotative meaning is regarded as
incidental, comparatively unstable, in determinant, open ended, variable
according to age, culture and individual.
C. Social Meaning:
Social meaning is the meaning conveyed by the piece of language
about the social context of its use. The decoding of a text is dependent on our
knowledge of stylistics and other variations of language. We recognize some
words or pronunciation as being dialectical i.e. as telling us something about
the regional or social origin of the speaker. Social meaning is related to the
situation in which an utterance is used. It is concerned with the social
circumstances of the use of a linguistic expression. For example, “I ain‟t done
nothing” some dialectic words inform us about the regional and social
background of the speaker. In the same way, some stylistic usages let us know
something of the social relationship between the speaker and the hearer
16
D. Affective or Emotive Meaning
In affective meaning, language is used to express personal feelings or
attitude to the listener or to the subject matter of his discourse. According to
Leech affective meaning refers to what is convey about the feeling and
attitude of the speak through use of language (attitude to listener as well as
attitude to what he is saying). Affective meaning is often conveyed through
conceptual, connotative content of the words used.
E. Reflected Meaning
At the lexical level of language, Reflected meaning arises when a word
has more than one conceptual meaning or multiple conceptual meaning. In
such cases while responding to one sense of the word we partly respond to
another sense of the word too.
Reflected meaning is also found in taboo words. For examples are
terms like erection, intercourse and ejaculation. The word „intercourse‟
immediately reminds us of its association with sex (sexual intercourse). The
sexual association of the word drives away its innocent sense, i.e.
„communication‟. The taboo sense of the word is so dominant that its nontaboo sense almost dies out. In some cases, the speaker avoids the taboo
words and uses their alternative word in order to avoid the unwanted reflected
meaning.
F. Collocative Meaning
Collocative meaning is the meaning which a word acquires in the
17
company of certain words. Words collocate or co-occur with certain words
only e.g. big business not large or great. Collocative meaning refers to
associations of a word because of its usual or habitual co-occurrence with
certain types of words. „Pretty‟ and „handsome‟ indicate „good looking‟.
Collocative meanings need to be invoked only when other categories
of meaning don‟t apply. Generalizations can be made in case of other
meanings while collocative meaning is simply on idiosyncratic property of
individual words. Collocative meaning has its importance and it is a marginal
kind of category.
G. Thematic Meaning:
It refers to what is communicated by the way in which a speaker or a
writer organizes the message in terms of ordering focus and emphasis. Thus
active is different from passive though its conceptual meaning is the same.
Various parts of the sentence also can be used as subject, object or
complement to show prominence. It is done through focus, theme (topic) or
emotive emphasis. Thematic meaning helps us to understand the message and
its implications properly.
2.3.3 Theory of Functions
According to Leech (1974:47-50), as a means of communication,
language has five functions. They are as explained below:
18
A. Informational Function
The informational function tends to be the most important one which
convey the information from „speaker or writer‟ to listener or reader'. Conceptual
meaning is predominant in the information use of language. In fact, this
function concentrates on the message. It is used to give new information. It
depends on truth and value. For example, the building is big large, the room is
empty.
B. Expressive function
Language has expressive function. It can be used to express its
originator feeling and attitudes. Swear words and exclamations are most
obvious instances of this. For this function, affective function is clearly all
important. The speaker or writer of this function tries to express his feelings.
They reflex their impression. This function could give a clear image for the
personality of the speaker or writer. The best example of this kind is Poetry
and literature. In fact, this function evokes certain feelings and express
feelings. For examples, they are very happy or I live in wonderful place. We
can see from these examples that they reflex the feelings of the speaker or the
writer.
C. Directive Function
The aim of this function is to influence the behavior or attitudes of
others. The most straightforward instances of the directive function are
commands and requests. This function of social control places emphasis on
19
the receiver's end, rather than the originator's end of the message: but it
resembles the expressive function in giving less importance, on the whole, to
conceptual meaning than to other types of meaning, particularly affective and
connotative meaning". Examples of this kind are, I want a cup of coffee or
open the window. It is clear hear that, we use the language in a direct way. We
ask someone to do something. Sometimes we can use a sentence to express
two functions. For example, I am thirsty. The previous example could be used
to show the condition of the speaker or writer or to express the feeling. In a
way that a person asks someone to give him water.
D. Aesthetic Function
The fourth function is the aesthetic function, it can be defined as the
use of language for the sake of the linguistic artifact itself, and for no other
purpose. This aesthetic function can have at least as much to do with
conceptual as with affective meaning. The function associated with the
message-the vehicle-is the poetic or aesthetic function: the sign taken as an
end in itself. All art understood as art is taken to embody this function, and
any object valued for its beauty rather than for its ideological value or
usefulness-whether a gorgeous car, an elegant teapot, or some acreage of
untouched real estate-takes on this function.
E. Phatic function
The phatic function is at furthest remove from the aesthetic function, in
that here the communicative work done by language is at its higher it is not
20
what one says, but the fact that one says it at all, that matters, i.e. the function of
keeping communication lines open, and keeping social relationship in good
repair (in British culture, talking about weather is a well-known example of
this). We can say about this function that it is used for normal talks. For
example of this, when two people are meet each other accidently in a place.
They start talking about something unimportant for the sake of
communication like, how are you? How is your child? And so on. We can say
that it is a kind of daily talking.
2.3.4 Theory of Little Text
According to M.A.K Halliday (1985, 373-377), little texts can be
found in telegrams and newspaper headlines, public signs, titles, certain kinds
of instruction (some recipes for examples), etc. Little texts means simple text
that represent the full sentence, so the readers know the full messages that
want to be conveyed by the writers only by reading the little text.
There are certain texts which the context of situation determines have
to be short, since they have to achieve quite a lot in that very limited space,
they tend to have their own grammar for doing so, which differs in certain
respects from the grammar of their register of English not constrained by such
limitations. A first approximation to the grammar of little texts might be to say
that they retain all the lexical words and leave out all the grammatical ones;
According to Halliday (in 1985, 373-377), little text can be divided
into four categories, such as:
21
1. Nominals without deixis. Both nominal groups and verbal groups tend to
shed those elements of structure that serve to link them with the here-&-now.
Thus nominal groups occur without determiners; for example:
BANDIT THREATENS TO KILL MAN
If we were to „translate‟ it into general English we should probably
write a bandit threatens to kill a man. But we cannot simply equate these two
one with the other, because there is no overall equivalence of function. If we
were reporting this sensational event as a piece of news we would probably
break it up into various quanta of information, beginning perhaps with an
existential there was this bandit. . .
2. Verbal without deixis. In similar fashion, verbal groups occur without the
Finite element:
CABINET SEARCHING FOR A WAY OUT
LAWYERS TO STAND FIRM ON FEE RISE
PUBLIC CONFIDENCE SHAKEN
Here the primary, deictic tense is omitted, the effect being that the
verbal group becomes non-finite. The reworded forms would presumably be
the cabinets are searching for a way out, the lawyers are to stand firm . . .
public confidence has been shaken. Note that the second of these. Lawyers to
stand firm, represents, in non-finite form, the old future form are to, more
usually now are going to.
22
We cannot in fact tell whether to equate the second with lawyers are
(going) to stand firm or with lawyers will stand firm. The third one might be
either confidence has been shaken or confidence was shaken. It may be part of
the meaning to avoid selecting in these systems, which in the grammar would
be obligatory in an independent clause; cf. The point made about the use of
non- finite forms in dependent clauses
3. Mood, A clause element which is obligatory in the general grammar may
be omitted in a little text. This may be because the feature it realizes can
readily be supplied, or because the reference is intended to apply to all cases,
or to cases that are clearly defined. For example,
USE SPOOL AS IS FOR THESE MACHINES
SPIN DRYER WANTED, WILL PICK UP SAME DAY
WHATEVER THE WEATHER BRIMSHADE PROTECTS
In the first there is a Finite but no Subject; the meaning is clearly „as it
(the spool) is‟; likewise in the second, „the advertiser will pick it up‟. In the
second and third there is no Complement. The former presupposes spin dryer
from the previous clause; note that although formally it appears as ellipsis,
functionally this corresponds to reference in the general grammar (there is no
ellipsis of a Complement alone). With the latter the sense is „protects you and
your property‟, or „protects everything that needs protecting‟. Perhaps the
most common of all omission is that of Finite (/ Predicator) be in attributive
clauses, e.g.
23
MARKET BUOYANT
CORRECT WEIGHT GUARANTEED
TURNER UNFIT TO PLAY
Here the principle is: supply the unmarked verb for the clause in question.
4. Unattached nominals. Many little texts consist of just a nominal group in
ABSOLUTE function, announcing simply that „this is a / the ... or „there is /
must be . . . Examples of these are product names, public announcements,
headings, nameplates, street and building signs; for instance,
NEW RAIL LINE
NO DECISION YET
QUALITY TOMATOES
DENTAL SURGERY
A CHRISTMAS WISH
CITY VIA HARBOUR BRIDGE
One important class of such nominal is those that constitute instructions. Since
a nominal group has no mood potential, it might seem difficult for it to
function as an instruction; but there are grammatical means for ensuring that it
does so. One that works for prohibitions is by adding an appropriate negative
Deictic, sometimes also making the Thing a verbal noun:
NO THROUGH ROAD
NO WAITING
Positive nominals can however be equally effective as prohibitions,
e.g. shavers only („no other appliances must be plugged in‟), bus zone („so
don‟t park!‟). Flammable („don‟t strike light!‟), private property ('so keep
off!‟), dead slow (don‟t drive fast!‟). And some are positive injunctions, such
as litter („put it here!‟), interstate bookings („apply here for a ticket').