LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS USED BY THE MAIN CHARACTER IN SHERLOCK HOLMES II: A GAME OF SHADOWS MOVIE.
LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS USED BY THE MAIN CHARACTER IN
SHERLOCK HOLMES II: A GAME OF SHADOWS MOVIE
A THESIS
Submitted to Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Sastra
By:
SRI DEVI ARISTA
Registration Number: 2102220015
ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
2014
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Alhamdulillahirabbilalamin. First of all, the writer would like to say thank
to Allah SWT for the blessing, guarding, guidance, and everything that have been
given along her life until the writer accomplish this thesis.
This thesis is aimed to fulfill one of the requirements to obtain the S1 degree
of Sarjana Sastra at English Department in Faculty of Languages and Arts, State
University of Medan.
In completing this thesis, the writer has received a lot of assistances and
academic support from some people. Therefore, the writer would like to express
her sincere gratitude, love and special thanks to:
Prof. Dr. Ibnu Hajar Damanik, M.Si., the Rector of State University of
Medan.
Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum., the Dean of Faculty of Languages and
Arts for her leadership and administrative assistance during the process of
writing this thesis.
Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., the Head of English Department, Rika
S.Pd, M.Hum., Secretary of English Department, Dra. Meisuri, M.A.,
the Head of English Literature Department, and Dra. Masitowarni,
M.Ed., the Head of English Education Department.
Dr. Sri Minda Murni, M.S., her Thesis Advisor, for the advice, guidance,
constructive comment, valuable knowledge, and precious time she spent in
correcting and supervising the draft of writing during the completion of
this thesis. And also thanks to all beloved lecturers in English and
Literature Department who advised and guided the writer during academic
years.
All the Lecturers throughout her academic years at State University of
Medan that could not be mentioned one by one.
ii
Her beloved parents; her mother, Dewi Susanti and her father, Ir. Edison
for the pray, love, moral and financial support. And also thanks for the
love and support from her dearest sisters, Wika and Puput.
All her beloved classmates of Applied Linguistics Regular 2010
especially Zahrina Putri, Bintang Nopita, Rizky Meiyani, Nurhafizah,
Hisarmauli Desi, Dona Manalu and others that cannot be mentioned all.
Thank you for the support, information, encouragement, and beautiful day
spent together. And also thanks for the support from Habibullah, her man
and another best friend.
Maam Endah and Maam Euis, for helping the writer in preparing the
files for the purposes of this thesis.
Without their deep and sympathetic understanding, this thesis could not
complete. Over all, the writer hopes this thesis can give a bit contribution to the
Applied Linguistics. Therefore, comments, critics, suggestions, and advices are
expected from the readers.
Medan, March 2014
The writer,
Sri Devi Arista
iii
ABSTRACT
Sri Devi Arista. 2014. Language Functions Used by The Main Character in
“Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows” Movie. A Thesis. Faculty of
Languages and Arts. State University of Medan.
This research focused on language function used by the main character in
“Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows” movie. The research was conducted
by using descriptive qualitative method. The data were collected from the
transcript dialogue of the movie. The findings of the study show that there are 172
sentences which consists of six language functions which is expressive, directive,
referential, metalinguistic, phatic, and poetic. The most dominant type of language
function used by the main character is metalinguistic. It means that the main
character intended to convey code analysis by asking questions to the people so
that he might invent clue for the sake of his investigation.
.
Keyword: Language Function, Dialogue, Movie.
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
............................................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................. ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................. iv
LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................. vi
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study ......................................................... 1
B. Identification of the Problem ................................................... 4
C. Objective of the Study .............................................................. 5
D. Scope of the Study ................................................................... 5
E. Significance of the Study ......................................................... 6
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Theoretical Framework ............................................................ 7
1. Sociolinguistic ...................................................................... 7
2. Language Function ............................................................... 9
a. Type of Language Functions ............................................ 10
1. Expressive Function .................................................. 11
2. Directive Function ..................................................... 12
3. Referential Function .................................................. 13
4. Metalinguistic Function ............................................. 14
5. Poetic Function .......................................................... 14
6. Phatic Function .......................................................... 15
3. Movie ..................................................................................... 16
a. Movie Genres .................................................................... 17
b. Characters.......................................................................... 19
. c. Sherlock Holmes as a Character in Detective Movie........ 20
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHOD
A. Research Design….................................................................... 21
B. Source of Data .......................................................................... 21
C. Technique for Collecting Data ................................................. 21
D. Technique for Analyzing Data .................................................. 22
CHAPTER IV: DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS
A. Data… ....................................................................................... 23
B. Data Analysis ........................................................................... 23
1. The Types of Language Function
Used by The Main Character ................................................ 24
a. The Use of Expressive Function ...................................... 24
b. The Use of Directive Function .......................................... 25
c. The Use of Referential Function ....................................... 26
d. The Use of Metalinguistic Function ................................. 27
e. The Use of Phatic Function .............................................. 29
f. The Use of Poetic Function .............................................. 29
2. The Implication of The Dominant Kind of Language
Function Used by The Main Character.................................. 30
C. Research Findings… ................................................................. 31
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions… ........................................................................... 32
B. Suggestions .............................................................................. 32
REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 34
APPENDICES ................................................................................................... 36
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 2.1 Factors of Communications and Functions of Language… ........... 10
TABLE 4.1 The Distribution of Each Type of Language Functions… ............. 23
LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1 Table of Dialogue Transcription Analysis… ............................. 36
APPENDIX 2 Dialogue Transcriptions by The Main Character
in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game Of Shadows Movie… ............. 44
APPENDIX 3 Synopsis of Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows Movie… 57
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
People can fulfill their needs to survive by receiving and sending
language. They spend a large of part of their lives interacting with each other; in a
small group, in informal conversations with friends, in meeting with co-workers,
and in many other contexts. Language is primarily spoken, although it can be
transferred to another way, such as written. In other words, language is a
communication system; therefore, it as a means of communication plays important
roles in human’s life.
In any relationship, no matter the type, communication is central and
therefore unavoidable. Human beings are constantly involved in communication
processes with others. In every interaction that happens in society, of course,
communication is the basis of formation of successful human societies. It means
that communication is the bridge between people. It is through communication
that collaboration and cooperation occur. The ability to make the appropriate
communicative choices in a certain context is a part of a person’s communicative
competence. Different kinds or style of communicative competence can occur and
humans use their communicative strategies slightly differently for various reasons.
In doing communication, people may not realize that spoken or written
sentences also carry a function. As an example, if a man says, “Close the
windows!”, actually this sentences carries a function; directive function which is
used to show our command or asking someone to do something. From the
sentence above, people can see clearly that the sentence is directive because the
man asks the hearer to close the windows.
However, the hearer may get confused if people speak without a purpose.
Halliday (1997:7) states that:
“A functional approach to language means, first of all, investigating how
language is used; try to find out what the purpose that language serves
for us, and how people are able to achieve these purpose through
speaking and listening, reading and writing. But it also means more than
this. It means seeking to explain the nature of language in functional
terms: seeing whether language itself has been shaped by use, and if so,
in what ways – how the form of language has been determined by the
functions it has evolved to serve.”
It means that the language function refers to the purpose itself. The
language function leads the hearers to achieve the purpose of someone’s speech.
As a proof, from the example of the utterance “Open the book!”. This sentence
carries a function reflects clearly the purpose what the man’s speech. The purpose
of the function is asking the hearer to open the book.
Language itself consists of some functions which are to give information,
deliver message, express feelings, persuade people, entertain people, and share
opinion. The functions of language have also received scholarly attention in
functional diachronic. According to Roman Jakobson in Holmes (2001), language
functions include the expressive function (communicating the inner states and
emotions of the addresser), the directive function (using vocatives and imperatives
to call the attention of another or requiring them to carry out some action), the
phatic function (opening the channel and checking that it is working for social
reasons), the poetic function (choosing a particular form as the essence of
message), the referential function (giving information as the communication
essentially) and metalinguistic function (focusing attention on the code itself, to
clarify it or negotiate it).
Several studies on language functions have been done previously. Erwan
(2011) looks at “Language Functions Used in Andrie Wongso’s Book”. He
analyzed every utterance in Andrie Wongso’s book to find the most dominant
type of language function which is referential. It means that Andrie Wongso is
mostly giving information in his book to influence the readers.
Utami (2007) investigated language functions on SMS Broadcast on Flexi
between the company and the customer. After analyzing the data, the writer found
that the dominant speech function used in SMS Broadcast on Flexi is directive
function. It means the language has a function to get someone to do something.
Tania (2010) analyzed language function used in Advertising Texts. The
writer focuses that aim to change the human thinking about advertisement is not
only promote the product but also give information. After analyzing the data, the
writer found that the dominant language function is referential.
Other conducted by Kinanta (2008) who researched “A Study on
Language Functions Used by the Main Character in Detective Conan Movie” and
found out the main character in “Detective Conan” used metalinguistic function as
the dominant function. It means that the language has a function to reveal and
convey the truth to people in that movie.
In this research, the writer would like to analyze language functions used
by the main character in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows movie. It is the
popular action-mystery movie based on the titular character created by Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle where Sherlock Holmes as the main character. Although Holmes is
not the original fictional detective (he was influenced by Edgar Allan Poe's C.
Auguste Dupin and Émile Gaboriau's Monsieur Lecoq), his name has become a
byword for the part in literature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes).
The investigating detective became a popular genre with many authors such as
Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers after the demise of Holmes, with characters
such as Hercule Poirot and Lord Peter Wimsey.
The writer chooses the film to be observed because it is one of box office
movie which deals with a detective’s way and choice to use language as a
function to investigate someone, find out the clues along his investigation, and
also solve the crimes that are assigned to him. It is also considered as an
interesting discussion data to analyze how language is used by a detective and
relate it to the implication of the language functionally.
This research investigates language functions used by the main character
in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows movie. The transcription which has
been taken from the first forty minutes dialogue of conversation expressed by the
main character in that movie as a consideration that in the beginning of a movie
particularly with an action-mystery genre, the main character mostly appears and
takes role in order to introduce how the story is. These data then are analyzed by
using language function proposed by Jakobson (1960).
B. The Identification of the Problem
People may convey their message in communicating by knowing the
function of language itself. The writer formulates the questions of the research to
be answered as follow:
1.
What are the types of language functions used by the main character in
Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows movie?
2.
What is dominant kind of language function used by the main character in
Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows movie?
3.
What is the implication of the dominant type of language functions used by
the main character in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows movie?
C. The Objective of the Study
1. To find out the types of language function in communication used by the
main character in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadow movie.
2. To find out the dominant kind of language function used by the main
character in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadow movie.
3. To describe the implication of the most dominant type of language
function that is used by the main character in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game
of Shadow movie.
D. The Scope of the Study
This research is related to Sociolinguistics, focusing in language functions
particularly. The writer utilizes a theory which was proposed by Roman Jakobson
(1960). According to him, there are six major language functions; emotive,
conative, poetic, metalinguistic, referential, and phatic function. Specifically, the
writer takes a chunk of 40 minutes dialogues used by the main character in
Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadow movie. Hence, by Jakobson’s theory, the
dialogues in that movie will be analyzed rightly based on the aspects in the theory.
E. The Significance of the Study
The results of this research will be useful:
1. For English Department students, this research is expected that the students
may obtain more information about language function in particular used in a
movie with an action-mystery genre such as in a Sherlock Holmes II: A Game
of Shadows movie.
2. For readers, it will give the benefits to them who are interested in this field to
obtain deeper understanding in language function.
3. For further researchers, this study will become a useful reference in doing the
same kind of study.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions
After analyzing the using of language functions in Sherlock Holmes II: A
Game of Shadows movie, the conclusions can be drawn as follows:
1. There are six types of language function used in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game
of Shadows movie which are expressive, directive, referential, metalinguistic,
phatic, and poetic.
2. The dominant type of language function used in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game
of Shadows movie is metalinguistic function with the 65 occurrences (38%).
3. Metalinguistic function is the dominant type of language function used in
Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows movie. It has an implication that
Sherlock Holmes used that function mostly in his utterances because as a
detective, he established the agreement and conveyed the codes by asking
questions to the people in order to dig, find out, and connect information so
that he might invent clue for the sake of his investigation.
B. Suggestions
Related to the conclusions, it is well to suggest:
1. For the readers, it is better to understand the language function that is used by
Sherlock Holmes as the main character in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of
Shadows movie, so they will know the purposes or function of his utterances.
2. For other researches, this thesis can be used as reference when they decide to
discuss the same topic for their thesis.
REFERENCES
Bell, Roger T. 1976. Sociolinguistics: Goals, Approaches and Problems. London::
B.T. Batsford LTD.
Hutton, Chris. (2009). “Language, Meaning, and The Law”. Journal of
Sociolinguistics. 15(4): 532-537.
Downes, Zoltan. 2001. Teaching and Researching Motivation. London: Pearson
Education Limited.
Oishi, Etsuko. (2006). “Austin’s Speech Act Theory and the Speech Situation.”
Journal of Sociolinguistics. 1: 2-12.
Fromkin, et al.(1988). An Introduction to language. Third ed. Sidney : Hartcourt
Brace
Halliday, M. A. K. 1973. Explanation in the Functions of Language, United
Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Holmes, Janet. 2001. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. London: Pearson
Education Limited.
Horecky, J. (2007). “The Cintent and Form of Illocutionary Acts”. Journal of
Theoretical Linguistics. 63-68.
Lucas, Ceil. 2001. The Sociolinguistics of Sign Language. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Meleong, Lexy J. 2000. Metode Peneletian Kualitatif. Jakarta: PT. Remaja
Rosdakarya.
Neale, S. 2000. Genre and Hollywood. New York: Routledge.
Newmeyer, F. J. 2000. Language Form and Language Function. Massachusetts:
MIT Press.
Palvio, Allan. 1981. Psychology of Language. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Schielfelbusch, R.L. (1969). “An Introduction to The Functional Analysis of
Speech and Language”. Journal of Sociolinguistics. 1: 1-8.
Strong, J., Dowd, G., & Stevenson, L. (2003). Genre: Media, meaning and
definitions. Bristol, UK: Intellect.
34
Thompson, Neil. 2003. Communication and Language: A Handbook of Theory
and Practice. New York: Palgrave Macmillan
Trudgill, Peter. 1974. Sociolinguistics:An Introduction. Great Britain: Penguin
Books Ltd.
Wardaugh, Ronald. 2002. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Massachusetts:
Blackwell publishing.
Yule, George. 1996. Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes:_A_Game_of_Shadows. Accessed
on December 26th 2013.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1515091/synopsis?ref_=ttpl_ql_3. Accessed on
December 26th 2013.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes:_A_Game_of_Shadows. Accessed
on December 26th 2013.
http://www.bizymoms.com/entertainment/film-genres.html. Accessed on December
26th 2013.
http://www.moviesubtitles.org/subtitle-75668.html. Accessed on December 26th
2013.
35
SHERLOCK HOLMES II: A GAME OF SHADOWS MOVIE
A THESIS
Submitted to Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Sastra
By:
SRI DEVI ARISTA
Registration Number: 2102220015
ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
2014
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Alhamdulillahirabbilalamin. First of all, the writer would like to say thank
to Allah SWT for the blessing, guarding, guidance, and everything that have been
given along her life until the writer accomplish this thesis.
This thesis is aimed to fulfill one of the requirements to obtain the S1 degree
of Sarjana Sastra at English Department in Faculty of Languages and Arts, State
University of Medan.
In completing this thesis, the writer has received a lot of assistances and
academic support from some people. Therefore, the writer would like to express
her sincere gratitude, love and special thanks to:
Prof. Dr. Ibnu Hajar Damanik, M.Si., the Rector of State University of
Medan.
Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum., the Dean of Faculty of Languages and
Arts for her leadership and administrative assistance during the process of
writing this thesis.
Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., the Head of English Department, Rika
S.Pd, M.Hum., Secretary of English Department, Dra. Meisuri, M.A.,
the Head of English Literature Department, and Dra. Masitowarni,
M.Ed., the Head of English Education Department.
Dr. Sri Minda Murni, M.S., her Thesis Advisor, for the advice, guidance,
constructive comment, valuable knowledge, and precious time she spent in
correcting and supervising the draft of writing during the completion of
this thesis. And also thanks to all beloved lecturers in English and
Literature Department who advised and guided the writer during academic
years.
All the Lecturers throughout her academic years at State University of
Medan that could not be mentioned one by one.
ii
Her beloved parents; her mother, Dewi Susanti and her father, Ir. Edison
for the pray, love, moral and financial support. And also thanks for the
love and support from her dearest sisters, Wika and Puput.
All her beloved classmates of Applied Linguistics Regular 2010
especially Zahrina Putri, Bintang Nopita, Rizky Meiyani, Nurhafizah,
Hisarmauli Desi, Dona Manalu and others that cannot be mentioned all.
Thank you for the support, information, encouragement, and beautiful day
spent together. And also thanks for the support from Habibullah, her man
and another best friend.
Maam Endah and Maam Euis, for helping the writer in preparing the
files for the purposes of this thesis.
Without their deep and sympathetic understanding, this thesis could not
complete. Over all, the writer hopes this thesis can give a bit contribution to the
Applied Linguistics. Therefore, comments, critics, suggestions, and advices are
expected from the readers.
Medan, March 2014
The writer,
Sri Devi Arista
iii
ABSTRACT
Sri Devi Arista. 2014. Language Functions Used by The Main Character in
“Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows” Movie. A Thesis. Faculty of
Languages and Arts. State University of Medan.
This research focused on language function used by the main character in
“Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows” movie. The research was conducted
by using descriptive qualitative method. The data were collected from the
transcript dialogue of the movie. The findings of the study show that there are 172
sentences which consists of six language functions which is expressive, directive,
referential, metalinguistic, phatic, and poetic. The most dominant type of language
function used by the main character is metalinguistic. It means that the main
character intended to convey code analysis by asking questions to the people so
that he might invent clue for the sake of his investigation.
.
Keyword: Language Function, Dialogue, Movie.
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
............................................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................. ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................. iv
LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................. vi
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study ......................................................... 1
B. Identification of the Problem ................................................... 4
C. Objective of the Study .............................................................. 5
D. Scope of the Study ................................................................... 5
E. Significance of the Study ......................................................... 6
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Theoretical Framework ............................................................ 7
1. Sociolinguistic ...................................................................... 7
2. Language Function ............................................................... 9
a. Type of Language Functions ............................................ 10
1. Expressive Function .................................................. 11
2. Directive Function ..................................................... 12
3. Referential Function .................................................. 13
4. Metalinguistic Function ............................................. 14
5. Poetic Function .......................................................... 14
6. Phatic Function .......................................................... 15
3. Movie ..................................................................................... 16
a. Movie Genres .................................................................... 17
b. Characters.......................................................................... 19
. c. Sherlock Holmes as a Character in Detective Movie........ 20
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHOD
A. Research Design….................................................................... 21
B. Source of Data .......................................................................... 21
C. Technique for Collecting Data ................................................. 21
D. Technique for Analyzing Data .................................................. 22
CHAPTER IV: DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS
A. Data… ....................................................................................... 23
B. Data Analysis ........................................................................... 23
1. The Types of Language Function
Used by The Main Character ................................................ 24
a. The Use of Expressive Function ...................................... 24
b. The Use of Directive Function .......................................... 25
c. The Use of Referential Function ....................................... 26
d. The Use of Metalinguistic Function ................................. 27
e. The Use of Phatic Function .............................................. 29
f. The Use of Poetic Function .............................................. 29
2. The Implication of The Dominant Kind of Language
Function Used by The Main Character.................................. 30
C. Research Findings… ................................................................. 31
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions… ........................................................................... 32
B. Suggestions .............................................................................. 32
REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 34
APPENDICES ................................................................................................... 36
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 2.1 Factors of Communications and Functions of Language… ........... 10
TABLE 4.1 The Distribution of Each Type of Language Functions… ............. 23
LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1 Table of Dialogue Transcription Analysis… ............................. 36
APPENDIX 2 Dialogue Transcriptions by The Main Character
in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game Of Shadows Movie… ............. 44
APPENDIX 3 Synopsis of Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows Movie… 57
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
People can fulfill their needs to survive by receiving and sending
language. They spend a large of part of their lives interacting with each other; in a
small group, in informal conversations with friends, in meeting with co-workers,
and in many other contexts. Language is primarily spoken, although it can be
transferred to another way, such as written. In other words, language is a
communication system; therefore, it as a means of communication plays important
roles in human’s life.
In any relationship, no matter the type, communication is central and
therefore unavoidable. Human beings are constantly involved in communication
processes with others. In every interaction that happens in society, of course,
communication is the basis of formation of successful human societies. It means
that communication is the bridge between people. It is through communication
that collaboration and cooperation occur. The ability to make the appropriate
communicative choices in a certain context is a part of a person’s communicative
competence. Different kinds or style of communicative competence can occur and
humans use their communicative strategies slightly differently for various reasons.
In doing communication, people may not realize that spoken or written
sentences also carry a function. As an example, if a man says, “Close the
windows!”, actually this sentences carries a function; directive function which is
used to show our command or asking someone to do something. From the
sentence above, people can see clearly that the sentence is directive because the
man asks the hearer to close the windows.
However, the hearer may get confused if people speak without a purpose.
Halliday (1997:7) states that:
“A functional approach to language means, first of all, investigating how
language is used; try to find out what the purpose that language serves
for us, and how people are able to achieve these purpose through
speaking and listening, reading and writing. But it also means more than
this. It means seeking to explain the nature of language in functional
terms: seeing whether language itself has been shaped by use, and if so,
in what ways – how the form of language has been determined by the
functions it has evolved to serve.”
It means that the language function refers to the purpose itself. The
language function leads the hearers to achieve the purpose of someone’s speech.
As a proof, from the example of the utterance “Open the book!”. This sentence
carries a function reflects clearly the purpose what the man’s speech. The purpose
of the function is asking the hearer to open the book.
Language itself consists of some functions which are to give information,
deliver message, express feelings, persuade people, entertain people, and share
opinion. The functions of language have also received scholarly attention in
functional diachronic. According to Roman Jakobson in Holmes (2001), language
functions include the expressive function (communicating the inner states and
emotions of the addresser), the directive function (using vocatives and imperatives
to call the attention of another or requiring them to carry out some action), the
phatic function (opening the channel and checking that it is working for social
reasons), the poetic function (choosing a particular form as the essence of
message), the referential function (giving information as the communication
essentially) and metalinguistic function (focusing attention on the code itself, to
clarify it or negotiate it).
Several studies on language functions have been done previously. Erwan
(2011) looks at “Language Functions Used in Andrie Wongso’s Book”. He
analyzed every utterance in Andrie Wongso’s book to find the most dominant
type of language function which is referential. It means that Andrie Wongso is
mostly giving information in his book to influence the readers.
Utami (2007) investigated language functions on SMS Broadcast on Flexi
between the company and the customer. After analyzing the data, the writer found
that the dominant speech function used in SMS Broadcast on Flexi is directive
function. It means the language has a function to get someone to do something.
Tania (2010) analyzed language function used in Advertising Texts. The
writer focuses that aim to change the human thinking about advertisement is not
only promote the product but also give information. After analyzing the data, the
writer found that the dominant language function is referential.
Other conducted by Kinanta (2008) who researched “A Study on
Language Functions Used by the Main Character in Detective Conan Movie” and
found out the main character in “Detective Conan” used metalinguistic function as
the dominant function. It means that the language has a function to reveal and
convey the truth to people in that movie.
In this research, the writer would like to analyze language functions used
by the main character in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows movie. It is the
popular action-mystery movie based on the titular character created by Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle where Sherlock Holmes as the main character. Although Holmes is
not the original fictional detective (he was influenced by Edgar Allan Poe's C.
Auguste Dupin and Émile Gaboriau's Monsieur Lecoq), his name has become a
byword for the part in literature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes).
The investigating detective became a popular genre with many authors such as
Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers after the demise of Holmes, with characters
such as Hercule Poirot and Lord Peter Wimsey.
The writer chooses the film to be observed because it is one of box office
movie which deals with a detective’s way and choice to use language as a
function to investigate someone, find out the clues along his investigation, and
also solve the crimes that are assigned to him. It is also considered as an
interesting discussion data to analyze how language is used by a detective and
relate it to the implication of the language functionally.
This research investigates language functions used by the main character
in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows movie. The transcription which has
been taken from the first forty minutes dialogue of conversation expressed by the
main character in that movie as a consideration that in the beginning of a movie
particularly with an action-mystery genre, the main character mostly appears and
takes role in order to introduce how the story is. These data then are analyzed by
using language function proposed by Jakobson (1960).
B. The Identification of the Problem
People may convey their message in communicating by knowing the
function of language itself. The writer formulates the questions of the research to
be answered as follow:
1.
What are the types of language functions used by the main character in
Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows movie?
2.
What is dominant kind of language function used by the main character in
Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows movie?
3.
What is the implication of the dominant type of language functions used by
the main character in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows movie?
C. The Objective of the Study
1. To find out the types of language function in communication used by the
main character in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadow movie.
2. To find out the dominant kind of language function used by the main
character in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadow movie.
3. To describe the implication of the most dominant type of language
function that is used by the main character in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game
of Shadow movie.
D. The Scope of the Study
This research is related to Sociolinguistics, focusing in language functions
particularly. The writer utilizes a theory which was proposed by Roman Jakobson
(1960). According to him, there are six major language functions; emotive,
conative, poetic, metalinguistic, referential, and phatic function. Specifically, the
writer takes a chunk of 40 minutes dialogues used by the main character in
Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadow movie. Hence, by Jakobson’s theory, the
dialogues in that movie will be analyzed rightly based on the aspects in the theory.
E. The Significance of the Study
The results of this research will be useful:
1. For English Department students, this research is expected that the students
may obtain more information about language function in particular used in a
movie with an action-mystery genre such as in a Sherlock Holmes II: A Game
of Shadows movie.
2. For readers, it will give the benefits to them who are interested in this field to
obtain deeper understanding in language function.
3. For further researchers, this study will become a useful reference in doing the
same kind of study.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions
After analyzing the using of language functions in Sherlock Holmes II: A
Game of Shadows movie, the conclusions can be drawn as follows:
1. There are six types of language function used in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game
of Shadows movie which are expressive, directive, referential, metalinguistic,
phatic, and poetic.
2. The dominant type of language function used in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game
of Shadows movie is metalinguistic function with the 65 occurrences (38%).
3. Metalinguistic function is the dominant type of language function used in
Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of Shadows movie. It has an implication that
Sherlock Holmes used that function mostly in his utterances because as a
detective, he established the agreement and conveyed the codes by asking
questions to the people in order to dig, find out, and connect information so
that he might invent clue for the sake of his investigation.
B. Suggestions
Related to the conclusions, it is well to suggest:
1. For the readers, it is better to understand the language function that is used by
Sherlock Holmes as the main character in Sherlock Holmes II: A Game of
Shadows movie, so they will know the purposes or function of his utterances.
2. For other researches, this thesis can be used as reference when they decide to
discuss the same topic for their thesis.
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