Compliments in the Novel entitled P.S I Love You

THESIS

Submitted as a partial fulfillment of requirements for the Sarjana Sastra Degree of the English Department Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts Sebelas Maret University

BY: TINA STYANTI

C1307511

ENGLISH DEPARTEMENT FACULTY OF LETTERS AND FINE ARTS SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY SURAKARTA

Compliments in the Novel entitled P.S I Love You

By:

Tina Styanti

C1307511

Approved to be examined before the Board of Examiners Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts Sebelas Maret University

Thesis Supervisor

Agus Dwi Priyanto, SS, M.CALL NIP 19740818200012 1 001

The Head of Non Regular English Department

Drs. Budi Waskita, M.Pd NIP 19521108198303 1 001

“Compliments in the Novel entitled P.S I Love You”

By:

Tina Styanti

C1307511

Accepted and approved by the Board of Examiners

Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts Sebelas Maret University

The Board of Examiners June, 2 nd 2010

Chairman Drs. Budi Waskito, MPd ( )

NIP.195211081983031001

Secretary Dr. Djatmika, MA ( )

NIP. 196707261993021001

First Examiner Agus Dwi Priyanto, SS. M.CALL ( )

NIP.197408182000121001

Second Examiner Dr. Tri Wiratno, MA ( )

NIP.196109141987031001

Dean of Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts

Sebelas Maret University

Drs. Sudarno, M.A

PRONOUNCEMENT

I hereby state that I myself write this thesis entitled “Compliments in the novel entitled P.S I Love You ”. It is not a plagiarism, nor made by others. The belongings related to other people’s work are written in quotations and included within the bibliography.

If it is subsequently proved that I cheat, I am ready to take the responsibility, including the withdrawal of my academic degree.

Surakarta, June 2010

Tina Styanti (C1307511)

Motto

In everything give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

DEDICATION

I wholeheartedly dedicate this thesis to:

My beloved parents

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Praise and worship to the name of Jesus Christ, Almighty Father in heaven and Holy Spirit. This accomplishment is absolutely nothing without the blessing of God and His guidance. Finally, one of my dreams comes true. It was a challenging task for me to complete this thesis. It took a lot of time, energy, and patience. I realize that without supports from people surround me, I might not able to accomplish this thesis. Therefore, I would like to express my gratitude to all people as follow:

1. Drs. Sudarno, M.A as the dean of faculty of Letters and Fine Arts of Sebelas Maret University for approving this thesis.

2. Drs. S. Budi Waskita, M. Pd. as the head of English Department of Sebelas Maret for providing the opportunity to write this thesis.

3. Agus Dwi Priyanto, SS, M.CALL as my thesis consultant for his concern, guidance, and critical advice.

4. Dra. Endang Sri Astuti, MSi as my academic consultant for the advice and guidance during my study in Sebelas Maret University.

5. All the lecturers for the knowledge given through the lectures.

6. My beloved father and mother. I deeply give thanks and love for their never ending love and patience.

7. My two older brothers for their support and their kindness for fulfilling all my needs during my study.

8. Ci’ Irene for the novel. PS I Love You is the key of this project.

9. Rocky Ryandra for always supporting me to finish this thesis.

10. Naomi, Juli and Dewi for sharing the greatest and the craziest moments with me during the lectures and for always motivating me to finish this thesis.

11. All my friends of English Non-regular, especially in linguistics’07 Yetti, Budi, Supri, Rina, Pratama, Niken, Wening, Amy and Ehud thanks for the support and the friendship for the nice three years.

12. All people who have helped me in completing this thesis. Finally, I realize that this thesis is still far for being perfect but I hope this thesis can be beneficial for all.

Surakarta, June 2010

Tina Styanti

28 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

H. Review of Related Study……………………………………

31

A. Type of Research…………………………………………...

31

B. Data and Source Data……………………………………….

32

C. Research Design…………………………………………….

32

D. Technique of Collecting Data………………………………

32 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS

E. Technique of Analyzing Data………………………………

33

A. Introduction………………………………………………....

33

B. Data Analysis…………………………………………….....

65 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

C. Discussion…………………………………………………..

75

A. Conclusion………………………………………………….

76 BIBLIOGRAPHY

B. Suggestion……………………………………………..........

APPENDICES

ABSTRACT

Tina Styanti. 2010. Compliments in the novel entitled P.S I Love You. Thesis English Department of Non-regular Program. Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts. Sebelas Maret University.

This research was conducted to describe the types of topics of compliment employed by the characters in the novel entitled P.S I Love You, and the politeness strategy applied in the compliment expressions in this novel. I classified the type of topics of compliment based on Wolfson’s classification. Further, Geoffrey Leech’s Politeness Principles were used as the framework in analyzing the politeness strategy.

To achieve the goal, I applied library research in the form of descriptive qualitative research. This research was focused only on the dialogue that contained compliment expressions.

From the result of analysis, 4 types of topic of compliments are found in this novel. They are personal appearance, possession, general ability, and specific- act ability. Topic of personal appearance is used in 5 data; topic of possession is used in 6 data. Compliments on general ability are found in 8 data and topic of specific act ability is used in 3 data. It is found that the characters perform the compliments expression in various ways. From the politeness strategy, there are three politeness principle strategy found in the compliments expression: Tact Maxim, Approbation Maxim and Generosity Maxim. In delivering the compliments, the speakers already obey the maxim. From the data obtained, 20 data obey the approbation maxim, 1 data obeys the tact maxim and 1 data obeys the generosity maxim.

Based on the conclusions above, I hope that this research gives a contribution to the students in studying the speech act of compliments, especially the employment of politeness strategy in the compliments. There are still many cases on the study of compliments. I suggest to other researchers who are interested in compliments speech act to conduct a further research. They can focus on the employment of other maxims in compliments, for example they can limit their research about compliments which only apply agreement and sympathy maxim. Besides, they can analyze compliments from different point of view depicted in other novels or from other data source such as movie or drama..

PUJIAN DI DALAM NOVEL BERJUDUL PS I LOVE YOU

mematuhi prinsip maksim kebijaksanaan dan 1 data mematuhi peinsip maksim kedermawanan.

Tina Styanti 1 Berdasarkan kesimpulan diatas, saya berharap penelitian ini Agus Dwi Priyanto, SS, M.CALL 2 bermanfaat bagi mahasiswa dalam mempelajari tindak tutur pujian.

Masih ada banyak kasus dalam pembahasan pujian. Saya menyarankan bagi para peneliti yang tertarik pada masalah tindak

ABSTRAK

tutur pujian untuk melakukan penelitian lanjutan. Mereka bisa memfokuskan penelitian pada penggunaan maksim-maksim yang

2010. Skripsi: Jurusan Sastra Inggris Program Non Reguler lain yang digunakan dalam pujian, misalnya mereka bias Fakultas Sastra dan Seni Rupa Universitas Sebelas Maret.

membatasi penellitian mereka tentang pujian yang menerapkan Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan tipe-tipe topik yang

maksim persetujuan dan maksim simpati. Selain itu, mereka bisa terdapat di dalam pujian yang digunakan oleh tokoh-tokoh dalam

menganalisa pujian didalam novel-novel yang lain dari sudut novel berjudul PS I Love You dan mengungkapkan strategi

pandang yang berbeda. Mereka juga bisa menggunakan sumber kesopanan yang diterapkan di dalam ungkapan-ungkapan pujian

data yang lain seperti film atau drama.

didalam novel ini. Saya mengklasifikasikan tipe-tipe topik pujian berdasarkan klasifikasi Wolfson. Selanjutnya, prinsip-prinsip kesopanan dari Geoffrey Leech digunakan sebagai acuan dalam menganalisa strategi kesopanan. Metode penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode penelitian deskriptif kualitatif. Penelitian ini difokuskan hanya pada dialog yang mengandung ungkapan pujian. Dari hasil analisa ditemukan 4 tipe topik pujian yang digunakan dalam novel ini. Topik-topik tersebut yaitu penampilan personal, kepemilikan, kemampuan umum dan kemampuan tindakan khusus. Topik penampilan personal digunakan dalan 5 data, topik kepemilikan digunakan dalam 6 data. Pujian terhadap kemampuan umum ditemukan pada 8 data dan topik kemempuan tindakan khusus ditemukan alam 3 data. Tokoh-tokoh mengungkapkan pujian dengan berbagai cara. Berdasarkan strategi kesopanan yang digunakan, terdapat 3 prinsip strategi kesopanan yang ditemukan dalam ungkapan pujian, yaitu maksim kebijaksanaan, maksim pujian dan maksim kedermawanan. Dalam menyampaikan pujian, penutur sudah mematuhi maksim-maksim tersebut. Dari data-data yang diperoleh, 20 data mematuhi prinsip maksim pujian, 1 data

1 Mahasiswa Jurusan Sastra Inggris dengan NIM C1307511 2 Dosen Pembimbing

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Research Background

Within an interaction, people need the concept of politeness. Politeness becomes a major concern in pragmatics since it is very important in an interaction. Leech (1983) defines politeness as forms of behavior that establish and maintain comity. It is the ability of the participants in a social interaction to engage in interaction in an atmosphere of relative harmony. Politeness is a system of interpersonal relation designed to facilitate interaction by minimizing the potential for conflict and confrontation inherent in all human interchange. There are several ways to think of politeness. These may involve ideas like being tactful, modest and nice to other people.

Compliment can be one of the simple ways for the people to show their politeness when they communicate to one another. Besides, it can be used to maintain the relationship between them. It can be parents who compliment their

children on their good behavior. The expression of compliment such as “You‟re a good boy” shows that the parents appreciate the children attitude and it will encourage the children to keep on behaving in good way. Companions often

exchange compliment when they meet each other by saying “You always look beautiful” or give compliment on their new belonging. These simple expressions of compliment can create solidarity between them.

Compliment is formulaic in English; it represents a social strategy in that the speaker attempts to create or maintain rapport with the addressee by expressing admiration or approval Wolfson (in Wolfson and Judd, 1983). Moreover, Holmes (2003 : 177) defines a compliment as a speech act which explicitly or implicitly attributes credit to someone other than the speaker, usually the person addressed for some “good” (possesion, characteristic, skill, etc) which is positively valued by the speaker and the hearer. Compliments are intended to make the addresses feel good, but it may serve other function too in different interactions. Even in some contexts, compliment may be experienced negatively.

Since compliment has many variations, it is important for the people to know on what case people give compliment. Wolfson (in Wolfson and Judd, 1983) points out that what members of particular cultural groups thank or apologize for, or compliment on, usually reflects values because, in performing these speech acts, people are often implicitly assessing the behavior, possessions, accomplishments, character, or appearance of others. Moreover, specific relationship between the speaker and the addressee also affects the choice of type of compliment considered appropriate. It can be said that there is a basis for the people to deliver compliment, it may be base on the appearance, possessions, etc.

Novel as one of the literary works can be the reflection of the real life. The story often pictures the real condition faced by the people. In the novel entitled P.S I Love You which tells about the life of a young widow, Holly Kennedy living in Ireland society the researcher finds many expressions of compliment Novel as one of the literary works can be the reflection of the real life. The story often pictures the real condition faced by the people. In the novel entitled P.S I Love You which tells about the life of a young widow, Holly Kennedy living in Ireland society the researcher finds many expressions of compliment

„Wow!’ Daniel said, his mouth dropping open. ‘You look fabulous, Holly .‟ „I look like -,‟ Holly started to grumble and Sharon shot her a look. „But, thanks,‟ she quickly added. The conversation above occurs in Holly‟s house between Daniel and

Holly. Daniel picks Holly; he will be Holly‟s partner in the ball because Holly does not want to go there alone. Daniel is surprised to see how Holly is beautiful in her simple black dress. As someone having close relationship to Holly, Daniel gives compliment to show his admiration on Holly‟s appearance, he is amazed with Holly‟s appearance and he says that Holly looks fabulous. Therefore, it can

be categorized that the compliment has topic of personal appearance because Daniel gives compliment based on Holly‟s appearance. The approbation maxim is employed in the utterance ‘Wow!’ ‘You look fabulous Holly’ because Daniel, as the speaker maximizes the praise to Holly. His simple word ‘Wow’ and his facial expression when saying it show that he is really impressed by Holly‟s appearance. Holly, as the addressee seems to say something contrasts with the compliment. She does not continue her response ‘I look like -,’ because Sharon shoots a look at her and then Holly says ‘Thanks’. Saying „Thank You‟ can be identified as the way to show politeness.

Based on the example above, the researcher is interested in analyzing the compliments expression in this novel. Thus, the title of the research is

COMPLIMENTS IN THE NOVEL ENTITLED P.S I LOVE YOU

B. Problem Statements

Based on the research background, the research is conducted to cover several problems as formulated below:

1. What are the types of topics of compliments employed by the characters in the novel P.S I Love You?

2. What politeness strategies are applied in the compliments in the novel P.S

I Love You ?

C. Scope of Research

There are many kinds of speech acts found in the novel entitled P.S I Love You . However, the research is only focused on the speech act of compliment. This research is also limited on the topics of compliment and the using of politeness strategies in delivering the compliments.

D. Research Objectives

Related to the problem statements, the objectives of the research are:

1. To describe the types of topics of compliments employed by the characters in the novel P.S I Love you.

2. To describe the politeness strategies applied in the compliments in the novel P.S I Love you.

E. Research Benefits

This research is expected to give contribution as follows:

1. The readers

I hope that this research will give an understanding to the readers about the types of topics of compliments that they can use in complimenting others. Besides, it can help the readers to know about the employment of politeness strategy in the compliments. Since compliments are not only common in our society but occur in a wide variety of speech situation this research is important in order that people are capable in issuing the appropriate compliment to others because sometimes compliment may become an insult and hurt others‟ feel if it is not relevant

with the certain condition.

2. Other researchers This research is expected to be a reference for other researchers to conduct further research about the employment of politeness strategy in compliments.

F. Research Methodology

This research employs a descriptive qualitative method covering several steps namely collecting data, classifying data, analyzing data, and drawing the conclusion. The source of the data of this research is the novel entitled P.S I Love You .

G. Thesis Organization

The thesis organization is arranged as follows: CHAPTER I

: INTRODUCTION consists of Research Background, Problem Statement, Scope of Research, Research Objectives, Research Benefits, Research Methodology, and Thesis Organization.

CHAPTER II : LITERATURE REVIEW consists of Pragmatics, Speech Acts, Direct and Indirect Speech Act, Ethnography of Speaking, Compliment, The Politeness Principles, Synopsis of the Novel, and Review of Related Study.

CHAPTER III : RESEARCH METHODOLOGY consists of Type of Research, Data and Source of Data, Research Design, Technique of Collecting Data, and Technique of Analyzing Data.

CHAPTER IV

: ANALYSIS.

CHAPTER V : CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION.

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW

A. Pragmatics

Pragmatics is a branch of linguistics study that focuses on meaning of utterances. Levinson (1997: 24) defines that pragmatics is the study of the role of context that focuses on meaning of utterances. Meanwhile, Thomas, (1995: 1) states that pragmatics deals with meaning in use or meaning in context.

According to Yule, pragmatics is the study of the relationship between linguistic forms and the users of those forms. Pragmatics allows humans into the analysis. The advantage of studying language via pragmatics is that one can talk

about people‟s intended meanings, their assumptions, their purposes or goal, and the kinds of the actions that they are performing when they speak (1996: 4)

From the definitions above, pragmatics can be defined as a study which understands the utterances meanings of the speaker based on the situation when the utterances happened.

B. Speech Acts

Speech act is a part of pragmatics study. It focuses on how to do something by saying utterances. It means that the speaker uses a language to get the hearer to do something and the speaker expects that the hearer will understand his/her communicative intention.

According to Searle (1976: 16), speaking a language is performing speech acts, acts such as making statements, giving commands, asking questions, and making promises. While, Yule (1996: 47) defines speech acts as action performed via utterances such as apology, complaint, invitation, promise or request.

Austin (1962) divides three kinds of acts that are performed in which in saying something someone is doing something.

a. Locutionary act is the literal meaning of the utterance. It is the basic act of utterance.

b. Illocutionary act is the act of getting the audience to recognize the speaker‟s meaning.

c. Perlocutionary act is the bringing about of effect on the audience by means of uttering the sentence, such effect being special to the circumstances of utterance. In simple way, locutionary act is the act of saying something, illocutionary

act is what is done in the act of saying something, and perlocutionary act is the effect produced by saying something. The example below will give clear understanding of it.

A: You look beautiful tonight.

B: Thank you. The act of saying „You look beautiful tonight‟ is the locutionary act. A

complimenting B is the illocutionary act. The acceptance of the compliment by B is the perlocutionary act.

Searle in Leech (1983) provides classification of speech acts in which he calls as five macro-classes of illucotionary acts. They are:

1. Declarations are illocution whose „successful performance brings about the correspondence between the propositional content and reality‟; e.g.

resigning, christening, naming, appointing, etc. It consists of acts which affect immediate changes in the institutional state of affairs. For example: Priest: I baptize you….

I pronounce you husband and wife.

I name this baby “David”.

2. Assertives commit someone to the truth of the expressed proposition: e.g. stating, suggesting, boasting, complaining, claiming, and reporting. The point is expressing a belief, making words fit the words, and committing the speaker to the truth of what is asserted. For example: a. The earth is flat.

b. Today is cool.

c. Sophie is a beautiful girl.

3. Expressives are statements of psychological condition. It means that the speaker expresses his feeling; it can be statements of pleasure, pain, like and dislike. The examples of the speech act included in expressives are compliment, congratulating, thinking, apologizing, refusing, etc. For example: a. I really like your haircut.

b. Thank you for your help.

c. I am sorry I can‟t go with you.

4. Directives are all attempts done by the speaker to get the hearer to do something. Directives cover command, order, request, suggestion, etc. For example: a. Open the door, please!

b. Could you take me a drink, please?

c. Don‟t throw the rubbish to the river!

5. Commisives are all expressing an intention as a commitment for the speaker to engage in future course of action. The examples of speech act included in commisives are promise, threat, and pledge. For example: a. I‟ll be back.

b. I will finish my homework tomorrow.

c. I promise him I would come.

C. Direct and Indirect Speech Act

Direct and indirect speech act are concerned with the way the speaker uses various linguistic form with certain functions.

a. Direct Speech Act

It occurs when there is a direct relationship between a structure and a function. Example: a) You wear a black shirt.

b) Did you wear a black shirt?

c) Wear a black shirt!

In (a) the speaker states that the hearer wears a black shirt. In (b) the speaker ask a question to the hearer whether the speaker wear a black shirt or not. In (c) the speaker commands the hearer to wear a black shirt.

Thus, a declarative used to make statement, an interrogative used to make question and an imperative used to make a command are direct speech acts.

b. Indirect Speech Act It occurs when there is an indirect relationship between a structure and a function. Thomas states that indirectness occurs when there is a mismatch between the expressed meaning by the words and the implied meaning (1995: 119). Example: a) Don‟t be noisy!

b) Do you have to be so noisy?

c) You are so noisy. The sentences above have different structure but accomplish the same basic function that is a command. The speakers of all the utterances above want the hearer to be quiet. The interrogative structure in (b) and the declarative structure in (c) represent the indirect speech act of formulas.

D. Ethnography of Speaking

Ethnography of speaking or, more generally, the ethnography of communication deals with the use of language in general related to social and cultural values. Hymes in Fasold (1996) defines „The ethnography of speaking is Ethnography of speaking or, more generally, the ethnography of communication deals with the use of language in general related to social and cultural values. Hymes in Fasold (1996) defines „The ethnography of speaking is

The way of speaking can vary substantially from one culture to another. In order to study communicative behavior within a speech community – the group to which a particular ethnographic description applies – it is necessary to work with

a nested hierarchy of units called the speech situation, speech event and speech act. Speech acts are part of speech events which are, in turn, part of speech situation. Hymes describes speech situation as situations associated with (or marked by the absence of) speech. The examples given are ceremonies, fights or hunts. Speech situation may be composed of both communicative and other kinds of events.

Speech events are both communicative and governed by rules for the use of speech. A speech event is composed of one or more speech acts. The example is joke. It might be a speech act that is part of a conversation (a speech event) which takes place in a party (a speech situation).

Hymes in Wardhaugh (1998) proposes an ethnographic framework which takes into account the varios factors that are involved in speaking. Hymes uses the word SPEAKING as an acronym for the various factors he deems to be relevant:

a. Situation (S) Situation includes the setting and the scene. The setting refers to the concrete physical circumstances in which the speech takes place. It includes the scene and place. Scene refers to the abstract psychological setting, or cultural definition of the occasion. It may be formal or informal, serious or festive. For a. Situation (S) Situation includes the setting and the scene. The setting refers to the concrete physical circumstances in which the speech takes place. It includes the scene and place. Scene refers to the abstract psychological setting, or cultural definition of the occasion. It may be formal or informal, serious or festive. For

b. Participant (P) The participants include combinations of speaker-listener, addresser- addressee, or sender-receiver. They generally fill certain specific roles. It deals with who is speaking and who are they are speaking to. Their presence in communicative event may influence on what is said and how it is said. Each of them has his/her own behavior toward language and language choice according to the social and culture factor.

The description of participants includes not only their characteristics, but also their background information such as age, gender, social class, status, background, etc. The style of dress of participants may also be a determiner of their communicative behavior. For example, people will talk more formally to one wearing a formal dress than to one in a sporty dress.

c. Ends (E) Ends of a speech event are divided into outcome and goal. Outcome refers to the purpose of the event from a cultural point of view, e.g. trade, business, contract, interview, etc. Meanwhile, goal refers to the purpose of the individual participants. For example, the goal of seller in bargaining event is to maximize the price, while the customers want to minimize it.

d. Act Sequence (A) Act Sequence discusses the messages of an event. It comprises message form and message content. Message form refers to how thing is said by the d. Act Sequence (A) Act Sequence discusses the messages of an event. It comprises message form and message content. Message form refers to how thing is said by the

Furthermore, the topic of a conversation can determine how close the participants to each other. For example, individual does not normally ask strangers their age, marital status or salary in the first meeting in America or English.

Both message form and message content involved communicative skills that vary from one culture to another. Speakers should know how to formulate speech events and speech acts in their culture appropriately.

e. Key (K) Key refers to the tone, manner, or spirit in which a speech act is performed, whether it is serious, mocking, sarcastic, and so on. Key also refers to the feeling, atmosphere, and attitude. Furthermore, the key may be marked by non-verbal action such as wink, smile, gesture, or posture.

Key plays an important part in affecting the use of language. For example, one might show his/her annoyance by speaking with rude words in a high tone and bad manner. The aspect of key is as follows:

1. Tone refers to the general spirit of the scene such as angry, afraid, brave, etc.

2. Manner refers to the participant‟s way of behaving toward others, whether it is polite, impolite, formal, informal, serious, mocking, etc.

3. Feeling refers to emotion indicating happiness, shock, anger, anxiety, etc.

4. Atmosphere refers to the feeling that affects the mind in a place or condition, such as good, evil, etc.

5. Attitude refers to the participants‟ ways of thinking and behaving toward a situation whether it is sympathetic, pessimistic, etc.

f. Instrumentalities (I) Instrumentalities refer to channel and form of speech. Channel means the way a message travels from one person to another whether by oral or written. Message can also be transmitted by such means as telegraph, semaphore, smoke signal, or drumming. Meanwhile, the form of speech refers to language and their subdivision, dialect, codes, varieties, and register.

g. Norms (N) Norms include norms of interaction and norms of interpretation. Norms of interaction refer to non-linguistic rules of when, how, and how often speech occurs in the community. Norms of interaction are determined by the culture of the community. Norms of interpretation involves trying to implicate the belief system of a community. Interpretation involves trying to understand what is being conveyed beyond what is in the actual words used.

h. Genre (G) Genre refers the type of communicative event such as poems, myths, jokes, lectures, sermons, editorials, etc. Genre is performed for specific purposes in specific places with particular participants. For example, the lecture as a genre is typically identified with a certain place in a course. The lecturers and the h. Genre (G) Genre refers the type of communicative event such as poems, myths, jokes, lectures, sermons, editorials, etc. Genre is performed for specific purposes in specific places with particular participants. For example, the lecture as a genre is typically identified with a certain place in a course. The lecturers and the

E. Compliment

1. Definition of Compliment

Compliment as speech act, is classified as expressive expression of approval. It deals with taking account of the feeling of other people and making them comfortable. Compliment is typically a positive comment given to someone else. This positive comment can address different values such as possession, appearance, abilities, and skill as well as a combination of these. ( http://www.carla.umn.edu/speechacts/spa-pragmatics/compliments/compliments- home.html ).

In most speech communities, the speech act of complimenting is intended to make others feel good. A compliment is a speech act which explicitly or implicitly attributes credit to someone other than the speaker, usually the person addressed, for some „good‟ (possession, characteristic, skill, etc) which is positively valued by the speaker and the hearer (Holmes, 2003). Moreover, Wolfson (in Wolfson and Judd, 1983) states that in general; a compliment re quires adjectives to express the speaker‟s positive evaluation. Adjective is the frequently used in the compliment. Meanwhile, in a few compliments which do not make use of an adjective or verb, positive evaluations are carried by nouns (e.g. genius, angel, etc) or adverb well.

2. Types of Topics of Compliment Wolfson ( in Wolfson and Judd, 1983:90) divides the topics of compliment into two major categories, namely appearance and ability.

a. Topic of Appearance. The topic of compliments is divided into two types:

1. Personal appearance The type of topic compliment on personal appearance usually deals with apparel Example: That‟s a very elegant dress. Did you just get it?

I love that blouse.

There is also expression on other aspects of personal appearance other than apparel.

2. Possession The type of compliment on possession usually deals with material possession.

Example: The living room looks good. I haven‟t seen it this way.

I think your apartment is fantastic.

There are also favorable comments on something that appear to parallel comments concerning possession. Example: Your baby is adorable.

Your husband is such a nice guy.

b. Topic of Ability. Compliments concerning on ability are divided into two broad types: those, which are general, and those which refer to a specific act well done.

1. General ability

The general ability includes categorical reference to skill, talent, personal qualities, and taste. Example: You‟re so honest and you explain things so beautifully

You do this kind of writing so well. You have good taste.

2. Specific- act ability Specific-act ability contains all compliments which are specific-act. Example: You‟re being so nice about this.

You are really did a good job. This is really nice.

3. The Function of Compliment Wolfson (in Wolfson and Judd, 1983) defines several functions of compliment because compliments may play different roles on different occasion in the interaction. The speaker from higher status tends to make a compliment concerning some activities or piece of works of others who are in the lower positions. It frequently functions as encouragements. Moreover, the person of upper status commonly gives a compliment commenting on the quality of something p roduced through addressee‟s ability to an addressee of lower status. The compliment may also function to express a positive evaluation to the addressee. The addresser frequently uses the adjective nice and good to express a positive evaluation. However, the use of the compliment functioning to encourage other is not limited to the interlocutors having unequal status. Teammates and the same status of colleagues may use a compliment in order to encourage the 3. The Function of Compliment Wolfson (in Wolfson and Judd, 1983) defines several functions of compliment because compliments may play different roles on different occasion in the interaction. The speaker from higher status tends to make a compliment concerning some activities or piece of works of others who are in the lower positions. It frequently functions as encouragements. Moreover, the person of upper status commonly gives a compliment commenting on the quality of something p roduced through addressee‟s ability to an addressee of lower status. The compliment may also function to express a positive evaluation to the addressee. The addresser frequently uses the adjective nice and good to express a positive evaluation. However, the use of the compliment functioning to encourage other is not limited to the interlocutors having unequal status. Teammates and the same status of colleagues may use a compliment in order to encourage the

Compliments are kinds of flattery given in all attempts to gain some advantages for the speakers. In this case, the statuses of the participants are unequal. The person of lower status tends to make use of a compliment for the purpose of manipulating the addresses. However, the great majority of compliments which occur in interaction between unequal statuses are given by the person in higher position. For example, the boss gives a compliment on his employee‟s ability in order to encourage them to keep the good work. This type of

topics of compliment is used to make the addressee in workplace. Meanwhile, a true compliment generally has a great deal with apparel or appearance. In this case, women are far more likely to be the recipients of compliments than men. For example, the speaker gives a compliment on the addressee‟s appearance when the addressee wears an elegant dress.

In interaction between sexes where the setting is the workplace, women are most likely to be inferior in status to the men with whom they interact. The compliment from person of upper to those who are in some sense their inferiors tends to be related to ability or performance more often than to appearance. For example, a boss gives a compli ment on his employee‟s good work when the addressee does his/ her job well.

The major function of compliment is to create or to maintain solidarity between interlocutors. Compliment generally serves a powerful device for mutual support and solidarity. It is used as a means to create and to reinforce good social The major function of compliment is to create or to maintain solidarity between interlocutors. Compliment generally serves a powerful device for mutual support and solidarity. It is used as a means to create and to reinforce good social

In particular occasion, a compliment may have social function to replace or to strengthen other speech act formulas, for instance, apologies, thanks, greetings, etc. They are often accompanied by a compliment. For examples:

1. “Thanks for the flowers. We really like them.”

2. “Great dinner. Thanks for having us.” It can be seen as parts of expression gratitude. Compliment can also be a means to soften criticism, particularly when the participants are in the relationship still want to continue and to maintain a social harmony. This compliment is usually combined with but or though. This compliment such as “You‟re doing good job, but you put much time on it.” In this case, the criticism is uttered in polite manner, since it is combined with the compliment. It indicates that the speaker wants to minimize the irritating effect of the speaker‟s criticism.

Compliment may be used to modify the behavior of another has to do with sarcasm. In this case, a comment structured in the form of a compliment may quite easily be turned into a reprimand or even an insult. This kind of compliment is also called the left- handed compliment. For example, “You play a good game of tennis – for a woman.”

The other function of compliment is as a spontaneous expression of admiration and/ or approval. The spontaneity and the newness are usually linked with the originality of expression.

A compliment may serve more than one function. It depends on many aspects. The types of compliments, status, age, sex of the participants, and the context or setting are some factors influencing the interpretation of compliments

function. For example, the utterance “You are so kind”, this compliment may be interpreted as admiration and as an expression of gratitude of the speaker.

F. The Politeness Principles

The politeness principle is a series of maxims. Geoffrey Leech (1983) has proposed as a way of explaining how politeness operates in conversational exchanges. Leech defines politeness as forms of behavior that establish and maintain feelings of comity within the social group, that is the ability of the participants in a social interaction to engage the interaction in an atmosphere of relative harmony. It can be expressed by certain polite formulaic utterances like please, thank you, excuse me, sorry, etc.

According to Leech, the politeness principles concern with two participants of conversation those are self and other. The self conventionally is the speaker, while the other is the hearer or the addressee. The concept of other also refers to the third side. The speaker must show his politeness to a third side, either presented or not.

The politeness principles divided into six maxims, namely tact maxim, generosity maxim, approbation maxim, modesty maxim, agreement maxim and sympathy maxim. Below are the descriptions and the samples analysis of the six maxims occupied from the novel and other resources as Leech formulates them based on his assumption of politeness principles.

a. Tact Maxim Tact is the first maxim of the politeness principles. It requires the participants to minimize cost to other and maximize benefit to other. This maxim is implemented by directive/ impossitive and commissive utterances. Example:

Leo : „Ciara home?‟ Holly

: „Yeah, her and her pink hair.‟ Leo

: „Merciful hour! She‟ll stay away from me if she knows what‟s good for her. Right, missus, you look fab, you‟ll be the belle of the ball - have fun!‟

Leo is Holly‟s hairdresser; he makes a new hairdo for Holly because Holly will celebrate her birthday. At first, Holly does not want to make any change on

her hairstyle and she is lazy to go to her birthday party which has been prepared by her friends. But, Leo is able to convince her to go. In his compliment, Leo says that Holly looks fabulous and she will be the princess of the party, he asks Holly to go and have fun with her friends in her party. Leo does not bear any cost by asking Holly to go but Holly will get the benefit from it. Therefore, the her hairstyle and she is lazy to go to her birthday party which has been prepared by her friends. But, Leo is able to convince her to go. In his compliment, Leo says that Holly looks fabulous and she will be the princess of the party, he asks Holly to go and have fun with her friends in her party. Leo does not bear any cost by asking Holly to go but Holly will get the benefit from it. Therefore, the

b. Generosity Maxim Generosity maxim requires the participants to minimize the benefit to self and maximize cost to self. This maxim, like the tact maxim, is also expressed by the directive/ impossitive and commissive utterances. However, this maxim is self- centered maxim. Example:

Steve : „Can I buy you a drink, Holly?‟ Holly : „No thanks, I have one here.‟ Steve : „OK, well, I‟m just going to bring these drinks down to my table

and then I‟ll be back to buy the lovely Holly a drink.’ He smiled at her creepily as he walked away.

At first, Steve offers Holly some drinks but Holly refuses it. In his utterance, „I‟ll be back to buy the lovely Holly drink.‟ it can be seen that Steve admires Holly so much so that he forces to buy a drink for her. Steve gives Holly compliments by saying that Holly is lovely. In this compliment, Steve obeys generosity maxim because he will be someone who bears the cost by buying the drink for Holly. Steve minimizes the benefit and maximizes the cost of himself.

c. Approbation Maxim

Leech defines that approbation maxim requires the speaker to minimize dispraise to other. On the contrary, he must maximize praise to other. This maxim requires the speaker to avoid everything which hurts others, especially the addressee. This maxim is expressed by the expressive and assertive utterances. Example:

Patrick : „You‟re looking as lovely as always.‟ Holly : „Thank you.‟ In this conversation, Pattrick gives a good comment about Holly‟s

appearance in the Christmas Ball. The utterance uttered by Pattrick shows the expression of admiration. He maximizes the praise to Holly. Therefore, it can be categorized as the approbation maxim.

d. Modesty Maxim This modesty maxim requires the speaker to minimize praise of self and he must maximize dispraise of self. Like generosity maxim, this maxim is also expressed by the expressive and assertive utterances. Example:

William : „I brought these, but clearly..there are lots flowers in the room. ‟

Anna

: „Oh no, ho…these are great.‟

After greeting, William gives some flowers to Anna. William is afraid that Anna does not like the flowers because there are many great flowers in her room. Anna appreciates what William gives to her by delivering a compliment. In her compliment, Anna shows her modesty by saying „Oh no, ho…these are great.‟

She does not think that her flowers are more beautiful than the flowers from William, and she says that William‟s flowers are also great. Anna minimizes the

praise of herself in the compliment, therefore it can be identified that the compliment obeys the modesty maxim.

e. Agreement Maxim There is a tendency to increase an agreement and to minimize a

disagreement by declaring regret or partial agreement when someone speaks with other. The partial agreement is an agreement followed by a partial disagreement

implicating the speaker‟s disagreement toward the addressee. Example:

Rob : „Josie, you look so…..‟ Josie : „Rufus?‟ Rob : „Yes. Exactly. Major Rufus.‟ Rob is amazed by Josie who is wearing a lovely Elizabethan gown for the

prom night. Rob‟s expression suggests that he is surprised because Josie looks beautiful in her gown. As her brother, Rob knows that Josie is a type of old

fashion girl. So, when Josie comes up with new appearance, Rob cannot hide his admiration. He likes to say something about it but he can not find the right words.

Then Josie helps him by suggesting the slang word Rufus. The word Rufus is used to express something that is considered to be great. When Josie utters the word Rufus , Rob shows his agreement. Moreover, he upgrades the compliment by saying that Josie looks major rufus. Therefore, it can be said that Rob obeys the agreement maxim when he says the compliment because he shows his agreement to Josie.

f. Sympathy Maxim Sympathy maxim requires a speaker and a hearer to maximize sympathy and minimize antipathy between them. The obedience of this maxim is required for everyone who needs sympathizing to the achievement being reached or calamity happened to other. The achievement being reached by other must be given congratulation. Meanwhile, the calamity happened to other must be given sympathy or condolences if one of his families or relatives died. Example:

Bernie : „Well, obviously it‟s me, isn‟t it… I work in the city in a job I don‟t understand and everyone keeps getting promoted above me. I haven‟t had a girlfriend since.. puberty and, well, the long and short of it is, nobody fancies me, and if these cheeks get any chubbier, they neve r will.‟

Honey : „Nonsense. I fancy you. Or I did before you got so far.‟

Bernie confesses his bitterness of life to all his friends and the family. He says the worst thing of his life is nobody fancies him. Honey feels sorry to hear that. Then, she delivers her compliment in order to achieve solidarity and to show her sympathy. Honey feels that it is not right if Bernie says that nobody fancies him because she actually fancies Bernie. Honey knows who Bernie really is because they already know each other since they were children. Bernie is a professional worker; he just never has enough time for getting along with the family and friends. Honey‟s compliment obeys the maxim of sympathy because she maximizes her sympathy to Bernie.

G. Synopsis of the Novel ‘P.S I Love You’

P.S. I Love You is a novel written by Cecilia Ahern. It tells about a life of

a young widow, Holly Kennedy living in Ireland society. Holly Kennedy is beautiful, smart and married to the love of her life, an Irishman named Gerry. Unfortu nately, Gerry‟s life is taken away by an illness and it takes the life out of Holly. The only one who can help her is the person who is no longer there. Nobody knows Holly better than Gerry, so it‟s a good thing he planned ahead.

Before he died, Gerry wrote Holly a series of 10 letters that will guide her, not only through her grief but in rediscovering herself. The messages are Gerry‟s way

of informing Holly life goes on. The messages include various task and treats Gerry has left for Holly. This is his way of letting her know he will always be there for her. Each letter sends her on a new adventure and each signs off in the same way: “P.S. I Love You.”

In the first letter Gerry asks Holly to be brave and be strong in facing her new life without him and he also tells her that he has some list for her. It must be opened exactly when labeled and must be obeyed. The second letter which must

be opened in April, tells Holly to go shopping for an outfit as she‟ll need it for next month. The third letter lets Holly know why she must buy an outfit because