SPEECH FUNCTIONS IN SLOGAN OF TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENT.

ABSTRACT

Sembiring,Yfnita. Registered Nu mber : 05501016.4. Speecb Function in Slog•a of
Television Advertisement. A Thesis. Post Gmdu.atc School. English Applied

Linguistics. State Univezsity of Mcdan. 2007.

This study deals wilh speech functions and speech functions used in the slogan of
television advertisement. Speech function is an action or perfom1ancc done by language
users such as asking, commanding. and answering. It is used as !he medium exchange the
experiences among speakers and listeners in order to fulfill their needs. The data for Ibis
research study are the slogans of shampoo products. Slogan is a word or phrase used by a
business. club. political party or the like to advertise its purpose.The slogans were
collected by doing television observation. The slogans are : Clear Men: Tak ada lagi
kerombe Clear Active Care: Mencegah Kttombc J)atang Kemba/1, Dove : Se/embut
Sutera,Emeron : Naturally Different. Head & Sboulders : Untuk Rumbut Lebih Kuar,
Lifcbouy Shampoo :Rambut Sellar Slap Aksi, Lifebooy shampoo : Lifebouy Shampoo Anti
Ketombe, Pantcne: /Jerki/au/alr l'antene. Rejoice Family: lfanya Rp.JOO, Sunsil.k Anti
Dandruff: Hidii]J Bebas Tanpa Ketombe: Zink: Ahlirrya Masa/ah Ketombe. The study was
conducted by descriptive qualitative design and the supporting theories are gathered by
doing library researcb. The fmding of this study is that speech function used in slogan of

shampoo product is giving statement/give information. The slogan of shampoo products
succeeds io doing their functioo, since the function of the slogan is 10 give information of
the products they advertised.

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

..
1.1. Tbe Background of Study
Language is an inscpnrable element of hlll1lllll life. It plays a very important role

in human beings communication. It is said so because language can accommodate
various needs of human beings, startS from the very basic one such as to
communicate v.ith other people until the anificial one such as to show one's status in
a community.
Based on the explanation above, it is understood why language serves many
functions. Some of them are to give information, to deliver message ( s ), to express
feeling, to persuade people to do something or to believe us, to entertain others, to
share opinion of the world and to share one's thought.
Considering those vnrious functions of language mentioned above, in a simple
way it can concluded that language ftmctions as a tool of communication. According
to Hornby, communication itself is the activity or process of expressing ideas and
feelings or of giving information ( 2000 : 225 ). The previous statement shows that in
communicating with others, one can express wbat she/be knows and what she/be
feels and also gives information to other people.

Giving infonnation means transferring knowledge, fact or news by the speakers
as the doers to the listeners as the receivers. When they are interacting, the speakers

..

want to express themselves clearly, effectively retrieve a clear and informative

•

Halliday ( 1985 } has sought to create an approach to linguistics that treat'S

message. All those which are mentioned before is the essence of communication.

language as foundational for the building of human experience. The work of Halliday
is concerned with tbe meaning. A language can not be disassociated from the
meaning. His insight and publications from an approach called Systemic F'unctional
Linguistics ( SFL). SFL is an approach to linguistics developed by Halliday which
sees language in social context. lbis approach is based on the theory of grammar
which considers language as a resource used for communication and not a set rules.
Halliday's metafunction and system of language consider language a.5 having three
main functions, they are: I) the ideational function which organizes the speaker's
experience of the real or imaginary world. It means that language refers to real or
in1aginary persons, things, actions, events, states, etc: 2) the textual function is to
create written or spoken text which cohere within themselves and which fit the
particular situation in which they are used,: lhe interpersonal function is to indicate,

•••

establish, or maintain social relationship bet\oveen people which includes fonns of
address, speech function and modality (Martin, 1992: 8-13).
Saragih ( 2000: 9 ) states that interpersonal function is needed because human
beings cannot live alone or isolation due to the fact that ( I ) an individual is a social
product or socially produced, ( 2 ) an individwal eannot fulfill his/her own needs and

2

( 3) only human beings are destined with capacity to transmit and store infonnatioo.
Those reasons are extremely needed as the consideration of human beings existence
as tho social product that needs communication to fulfi ll their occds.

.

Tbe interpersonal function is realized at two levels namely at the level of

semantics (discourse) and lcxicogrammllr which is termed mood. At the level of

•

semantics human being perform two roles namely giving and demanding. lbe
commodity excbMged may be either information or goods and services. When the
roles and commodities are cross classified, four specific activities or speech function
11re derived as summarized in the table 1 below:
Table 1:
COMMODITY
ROLES

JNFODtATION

GOOD& SERVICES

GIVES

Statement

Offer

DEMANDING

Question

Command

Source: (Saragih : 2006)

~ J\ '! !1 ••".-\ 1"'='..·"'\lV.. ~

\_~

"•

. At· ~ ~M

.

ED

I

(a) (Giving/infonnation)
~

St:atemcnt

They clean the house

( b ) [ Demanding/ Information )

5

Question

Do they clean the house?

( c ) [ Giving/goods/services]

-

Offer

Let me clean the bouse

Command

Clean the house!

(d ) [Demanding/goods& services) -

3

Basically. communication takes two forms, namely spoken and written
communication. Spoken communication means that the process of expressing ideas
and feeling or of giving information done in oral way. While written communication
done in writing activity such as magazine, newspaper. brochures, letters, and etc. But

•

due to the highly demanded of information and the enormous advance of technology
nowadays, spoken and written communication often used nt the same time when
giving information.
One of the transmitting media of communication which

uses both spoken and

written fom1 of communication in transferring information is television. Television
bas a great influence in giving information to the people. It is said so because it is
found that many people nowadays spend a lot of time to watch television rather than
paying more attention to other sources of information. It is also because television is
an interesting source of information. Television has some devices which touches the
feelings of the viewers. Hornby ( 2000: 1211) defines thm television is a piece of
electrical equipment with screen on whiclt we cnn watch program witb moving
pictures and sound. This is the reason why watching television and getting
information from it, is more interesting rather than from other sources of information
because through television the reality can be taken as wbnt it is.
Information published on television is divided into few segments called program.
There are some kinds of programs published on television. Such as neWli program,

entertainment program aod etc. Tbe content of television programs maybe factual, as
in documentaries, news, and reality television, or fictional as in comedy and drama. It

4

may be topical as in the case of news and some made-for-television movies or

bislorical

story

as in the case of such docurnen1aries or tictional series. It is maybe

primarily inslructiooal as in the case educational of program. or entertaining as in the

case of situational comedy, reality show, or for profit taking as advertisements.

•

Advertisement is the single most persuasive force in the world. Billions of people

spend trillions of money on new products each year because they were amused,
reminded, convinced or odlerwise persuaded by advertisement. If advertisements

v.-ere designed to publici7..e a product or sen-iQe in order to sell it, the desire outcome
an ad-nser looks for would be the response
~r·n

buy that". This function of

persuasioo in advertisements is realized through a text with aesthetic of \-erbal
communication and fashion of the day dominant in a panicular culture in order to

promote a product.
Advertisement is the product of advertising which one party used to tell public
about products or services in order to encourage people to buy or to use the product
being advertised. Advertisement which functions to tell the public about products or
services\$ called by commercial advertisement. BIISically, the function of commercial
ad-nsemeot is to give infonnalion of the products or services being advertised. The

information conveyed can be viewed through the whole copy which is constructed by

•

two elements namely headline Md slogan.

Headline is the most important part of M advettisemenL It functions to arouse the
interest of the consumers so !hot the persen wants to know more about the products
being advertised, while slogan is a brief message crystallizing 1111 important idea about

s

the product or the reason why someone should buy the product. SlogWl is mostly used
in televi.sion advertisement rather than in print media, because in television

,.

advenisement the copy of advertisements is dominated by illustration. The viewers
maybe only interested of the demonstration performed by the actors or the actresses

•

or things in the demonstration. This is the reason why, they sometimes do not pay
much attention on what information actually delivered in the whole copy. To avoid

this. the copywriters then create slogans in order to make the viewers remember the
brand of the products along with the informatiotl delivered in the products advertised.
From linguistics point of view, advertisements seem, in effect to constitute a
genre with distinct features which function is not only to inform but also to persuade
and influence by using the linguistic system as a toolkit in a creative manner. The
previous statement suggests that advertisement bas its own typical linguistic pattern.
It is due to the fact that one of the clements of advertisement; slogan should be
coostructcd in clear, brief and in practical form o f language.
This research study is planned to analyze speech function used in slogan of
advenisement. The writer will try to investigate tbc speech function used in slogan
language, deriving the dominant used of speech function and will tty to draw the
cau.w of the dominant used.
Q

6

1.2. Tbt Problems of Study

In relation to the background of study, the problems are fonnulated as
follows:

•
•

I. How the speech functions are linguistically coded in sloganJ of television
advertismn~

2. Wluu types of speech functions used in sloganfo>f television advertisements?
3. What is the dominant type of speech functions used in slogan of television
advertisement?
4. Why is the speech function dominanl.ly used?

1.3. The Objef tive3 of the Study
In relation to the problems stated above, The objectives of the study arc :

I. to describe the speech functions linguistically coded in slogan of television
advertisement.
2. to examine out the types of speech funC1ions used in slogan of television
advertisements.
3. to derive out the dominant types of speech functions used in slogan of
television advertisements.

•

4. to explain reasons for the use of the dominant speech function.

7

1.4. Th e Scope of Study

Tllis study deals wilh the interpersonal function of language. The analysis will
be based on the four primary speech functi·ons namely offering, commanding, giving
statement and questioning. The writer will choose television cot:nmercial

•

advertisement as the object of her study. Commercial advertisement is advertisement
which sells products or services. The writer realizes that it is extremely bard to
analyze all the products at the same time for ber object. Thus, the writer then limits

her object on products advertisements. Products advertisement itself includes various
products. Finally, the writer chooses shampoo as her object of study.
The names of the shampoo along with the slogan are as following:
I. Nwnc of Brand

Sloglln

2. Name Of Brand
Slogan

3. Name of Brand
Slogan
4. Name of Brand

Slogan
0

5. Name of Brand
Slogan

6. Name of Brand
Slogan

:Clear Men
: Talc ada lagi ketombe
: Clear Active Care
: Mencegah Ketombe .Datang Kembali
:Dove
: &lembut Su1era
:Emeron
: Na1ura/ly .Different
: Head & Shoulders
: Umuk Rombut Lebih Kuot
: Lifebouy Shampoo
: Rambut Sehar Siap Aksi

8

7. NameofBrund

..

Slogan

: Ufe/)ouy S~

8. Name of Brand

•

: Lifebouy shampoo

Slogan

Altti Ketombe

: Panteoe
: Berldlaulah Pamene

9. Nome of Brand
Slogan

: Rejoice Family
: Hanya Rp.JOO

l 0. Name of Brand
Slogan

: Sunsilk Anti Dandruff
: Hidup Bebas Tanpa Ketombe

II. Name of Brand

Slogan

: Zi.nk
: Ahlin}'U Masalah Ketombe

l.S. Tbe Significance of Study
The filtd.ings of the study are expected to give relevant contributions to the
following:
I. Theoretically,

..

this systemic furu:tionat

Linguistic observation gives

contribution to the language of slogan.

2. Practically, the results of this study arc expected to be useful for.

•

2.1 Another researcher who wants to conduct the same research as the writer

does.
2.2. Advertisement makers, as a contribution for them in producing a perfect
language of slogan advertisement

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CHAPTERS
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

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5.1. Conclusion

After analyzing the datil, the data analyzed by the four procedures of data
analysis made by the writer can be summarized as follows:
No NaDK Of Brand

Slogan

Speech F•nction

s

•

Talc ada lagi ketombe

I

Clear men

2

v

3

Sunsilk
Anti Hldup Bebas Tanpa Ketombe
Dandruff
Lifebouy Shampoo Rambul sellar siap alcsi

4

llead & Shoulders

Untuk Rambut l.ebih Kuat

v

5

Pantene

Berlcilaulah Pan/ene

v

6

Rejoice family

Hanya Rp.300

v

7

ClearActive Care

v

8

Lifebouy shampoo
Anti dandruff

Mencegah
Ketombe
Datang
Kemball
Llfebouy Shampoo Anti Ketombe

v

9

Emeron

NatUI8lly different

v

10

Dove

Selembut Stllera

v

11

Zink

Ahlinya Mase~/h

Total

Ketombe

Q

0

c

v

v

v
11

•'

67

In conclusion, based on the table above, the findings of the research are:
I. The speech function of all slogan of shampoo product statement. It can
observed from the analysis of each shampoo products below:

•

I. Clear men

: Talc adJJ /agi ketombe (Statement)

2. Sunsik anti Dandruff

: Hidup bebas tanpa k.etombe
( Statement)

3. Zi.nk

: .Ah/inya masalah lretombe

( Statement)
4. Head & Shoulders

: Untuk rambutlebih kua1 (Statement )

5. Pantene

: Berldlaulah Pantene ( Statement)

6. Rejoice Family

: Hanya Rp. 300

7. Clear Active Care

: Menccgah k.etombe datang lrembali

(Statement)

( Statement )
8. Lifebouy Shampoo Anti Dandruff: Lifebouy Shampoo anti k.etombe
( Statement )

•

9. Emcron

: Nalura/ly different ( Statement)

10. Dove

: &lembut sutera ( Statement )

II . Lifcbouy Shampoo

: .Rambut sehat slap alai

2. The dominant type of speech function used in slogan of shampoo product is
statcm.ent.

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3. Th.e possible cause of the domioant speech function used (statement) arc:
I. The speech function which used to give information to others is

statement

•

2. The function of slogan which sums up the theme for a product's

•

benefits to deliver ao easily remembered message in a few "''ords

3. lbe ....~

of the two elements of advertisements, namely headline

and subhead line due to the leng1h of the copy
4. The struggle of the advertisers in confronting the avoidance of the
television viewers to watch commercial break so that that need to
cons1r110t advertisement in short, clear, attractive form but still do their
function that is as a source of information to the consumers of the
product they advertised. This condition directs them to create a short,
clear, attmctive and informative slogan of advertisement as shown in
the slogan of shampoo product stated above.

5.2. Suge&tioDI

•
•

After concluding the findings, the suggestion of this research are made as the
following.
I. It is suggested that the product advertised especially the slogan of the product
should use the speech function; statement wbeo they want to be an effective
source of information of the product they advertised.

69

2. It is suggested to the all advertising agency to use the speech function;
statement in delivering their message of the product to the consumers.

3. It is suggested to the consumers to be careful in purchasing the product of
t

their choice, if they are much influenced by slogan. They must be aware of
misleading slogan ( slogans which do not deliver any infonnation or any

message from the product they advertised )
4. It is suggested to other studies related to use spc=h function as the researehc:t

has done

•
•

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