A study on presupposition used in Weekender Magazine`s advertisements.

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vi ABSTRACT

Humardhiana, Ana. 2009. A Study on Presupposition Used in WEEKENDER Magazine’s Advertisements. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.

In communicating, people usually share the same knowledge with each other. They generally make indirect assertions, i.e. via presupposition. In the world of advertising, presupposition is frequently used. Even it is obliged for the advertisers to use presupposition since they are not allowed to make direct assertion about their products. Although presupposition is frequently used in our daily-life, it is not easy to understand it linguistically, especially those in advertisement. As students of English Language Department, we need to also have knowledge on it.

In this study on presupposition, there are two problems formulated. The first problem is how many types of presuppositions are used in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements. The second one is what the functions of presupposition are. Those lead to the aims of the study which are to find out the types of presuppositions used in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements and to find out the functions of presuppositions.

For this descriptive research, the writer applied a qualitative approach. In this study, document or content analysis technique was utilized to answer question number 1 and library research for question number 2. This study used 100 WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements as the objects to be analyzed. Since the study employed document analysis method, the researcher herself was the main instrument to gain the data, and helped by a checklist of presupposition in order to ease her analyzing.

The results of the study depicts that there were five types of presupposition in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements, namely existential presupposition, factive presupposition, lexical presupposition, structural presupposition, and non-factive presupposition. There were 51 existential presuppositions, 13 non-factive presuppositions, 28 lexical presuppositions, 6 structural presuppositions, and 2 non-factive presuppositions. There were also found four functions of presuppositions, such as presenting the existence of the product or service, implicit competition, making short and memorable message, and establishing a virtual poetic world.

Related to the future studies, it is suggested that the next studies are quantitative research. The study can analyze the correlation trend between presupposition used and the buying interest. Related to presupposition used, it is also suggested that the future researchers to conduct a study on presupposition in anecdotes or humorous text. This kind of study has never been analyzed by students of Sanata Dharma University. This study will be very interesting to be conducted since most of anecdotes or humorous text use background knowledge of the readers to trigger the humor. The study can be conducted descriptively.

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vii ABSTRAK

Humardhiana, Ana. 2009. Penelitian tentang Presuposisi dalam Iklan di Majalah WEEKENDER. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Dalam berkomunikasi, orang-orang biasanya saling berbagi pengetahuan yang sama. Pada umumnya, mereka membuat pernyataan secara tidak langsung, yaitu melalui presuposisi. Di dalam dunia periklanan, presuposisi sering digunakan. Bahkan pengiklan diharuskan menggunakan presuposisi karena mereka tidak diperbolehkan membuat pernyataan secara langsung tentang produk-produk mereka. Meskipun presuposisi sering digunakan dalam kehidupan kita sehari-hari, memahami presuposisi secara linguistik bukanlah hal yang mudah, khususnya dalam iklan. Sebagai mahasiswa jurusan Bahasa Inggris, kita juga harus mempunyai pengetahuan tentang presuposisi.

Dalam studi tentang presuposisi ini, ada dua rumusan permasalahan. Yang pertama adalah berapa banyak presuposisi yang digunakan di iklan-iklan majalah WEEKENDER dan apa saja itu. Yang kedua adalah apa fungsi dari presuposisi. Rumusan permasalahan tersebut merujuk pada tujuan dari studi ini, yaitu untuk menemukan jenis-jenis presuposisi dalam iklan di majalah WEEKENDER dan untuk menemukan fungsi-fungsi presuposisi.

Penulis menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif untuk penelitian deskriptif ini. Dalam studi ini, teknik document or content analysis digunakan untuk menjawab permasalahan nomor 1 dan teknik library research untuk nomor 2. Studi ini memakai 100 iklan di majalah WEEKENDER sebagai object yang dianalisa. Karena studi ini menggunakan metode document analysis, penulis sendiri yang menjadi instrumen utama untuk memperoleh data, tetapi dia juga dibantu dengan sebuah checklist presuposisi agar mempermudah penganalisaannya.

Hasil dari studi ini menunjukkan ada lima macam presuposisi, yaitu existential presupposition, factive presupposition, lexical presupposition, structural presupposition, dan non-factive presupposition. Mereka terdiri dari 51 existential presuppositions, 13 factive presuppositions, 28 lexical presuppositions, 6 structural presuppositions, dan 2 non-factive presuppositions. Ditemukan pula empat fungsi presuposisi, yaitu menunjukkan keberadaan suatu produk atau servis, kompetisi implisit, membuat pesan menjadi pendek dan mudah dingat, dan membangun suasana yang puitis.

Berkaitan dengan studi-studi yang akan datang, disarankan agar studi-studi berikutnya merupakan penelitian secara kuantitatif. Mereka dapat menganalisa garis tren antara presuposisi yang digunakan dengan keinginan membeli. Berhubungan dengan presuposisi yang digunakan, penulis juga menyarankan para peneliti yang akan datang melakukan sebuah studi tentang presuposisi yang digunakan di anekdot atau bacaan humor. Studi ini belum pernah dilakukan oleh mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma. Studi ini akan sangat menyenangkan untuk dilakukan karena sebagian besar anekdot atau bacaan humor menggunakan pengetahuan yang telah diketahui oleh si pembaca untuk memicu humor itu sendiri. Studi ini bisa dilakukan secara deskriptif.

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A STUDY ON PRESUPPOSITION USED

IN WEEKENDER MAGAZINE’S ADVERTISEMENTS

A THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

Ana Humardhiana Student Number: 041214044

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

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I dedicated this thesis to:

The One and Only Allah SWT

My beloved parents, Bp. Istuk Hadi Prihatno and Ib. Maryati

My inspiring sisters and brother, Mbak Edi Kusumawati, Mbak Ida

Istiarti, and Mas David Wahyudi

My very very best friend, Leoni Afikawati

And my biggest enemy, my own self,, “I defeated you here, girl. And

I’ll defeat you in my tomorrows…”

“NO ONE SURRENDERS.

ONLY CONTENDERS IN THIS FIGHT….”

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vi ABSTRACT

Humardhiana, Ana. 2009. A Study on Presupposition Used in WEEKENDER Magazine’s Advertisements. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.

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vii ABSTRAK

Humardhiana, Ana. 2009. Penelitian tentang Presuposisi dalam Iklan di Majalah WEEKENDER. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma.

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viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In every single step I take, I pray to Allah SWT to always bless and guide me in my path of life. And today, I praise Allah at the most for Allah’s blessing, grace, love, and guidance. I’m very little here below, but with Allah’s blessing and guidance I can make something big and even bigger than my own conceit. I love my God, Allah. I know I would not have been able to accomplish this thesis without Allah.

Conducting this thesis was a long journey for me. There were a lot of obstacles in every turn, slope, and even red lights that stopped me for awhile. However, I was sure there was no single deadlock I faced since I have my parents, sisters and brother who accompanied me with love, support, and encouragement so that I could finish my thesis and step forward. My Dad and my Mom are my shining stars. I would like to apologize to them for making it hard and difficult but I promise to be their best daughter they ever have. I love them and I thank them for their love, patience, and support in every breath that I take. Mbak Edi, Mbak Ida, and Mas David, they are my truly inspiration. I would like to say sorry for breaking my promise to accomplish my thesis at the promised time, but today I present this thesis for them. I thank them for their support, help, and encouragement throughout this thesis. I love them very much.

This thesis was a competition for me. I made this a competition so that I could be more enthusiastic and triggered to finish it. I fairly competed with my friends, the 2004 thesis fighters. I had been beaten many times by those who

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already graduated in 2008 or in early 2009, but I never stopped struggling. I never surrendered. Throughout these years, my friends and I help each other, we encourage each other, we support each other, but we actually are competing. I would like to say to my friends that this is the best I can do as a 2004 student. I hope they will be more motivated and encouraged. That’s the friends are for. Here, I would like to say thanks to my friends who helped me, gave their ideas, and encouraged me, Agung, Adi, Mbak Ajeng, Mas Arif, and my best friend Leoni Afikawati. Fika and I share good times and bad times. She is the best friend I ever have. I thank her for everything that I cannot even mention them because all my grateful words for her will never be able to depict what she have taught and given to me. I love her like a sister. There are also friends that were willing to help me in this thesis, but I cannot mention them one by one for they are so many. However, I will never forget their kindness to me. I know I owe them a lot.

Last but not least, I would like to give my deepest gratitude to all lecturers of English Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. I thank them for teaching and educating me throughout these years. I am very indebted to Carla Sih Prabandari, S.Pd., M.Hum. as the sponsor of my thesis and Drs. Concilianus Laos Mbato, M.A. as my previous sponsor before he left for Australia. I really thank them for their patience and guidance so that I could finish this thesis. I would also like to give my gratitude to the Board of Examiners of my Thesis Defense. I thank them so much for their trust to me in carrying the title Sarjana Pendidikan.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ……….…….…… i

APPROVAL PAGES………..……… ii

DEDICATION PAGE ……….………..…… iv

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ………..……… v

ABSTRACT ………...……...…… vi

ABSTRAK ………...…….….… vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………...…...…..………… viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ………...……… x

LIST OF APPENDICES ……….……… xiii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION A. Research Background ………. 1

B. Problem Formulation ………. 3

C. Problem Limitation ………...………. 3

D. Research Objectives ………..………. 4

E. Research Benefits …………..………. 4

F. Definition of Terms ...………. 5

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoretical Description ……….………. 7

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a. Definitions of Advertising and Advertisement ………. 7

b. Copy Parts of an Advertisement ………...………. 9

2. The Language of Advertising ………. 11

a. Attention Seeking Devices ………..………. 12

b. The Characteristics of the Language of Advertising ……...……. 13

c. Persuasion as the Language of Advertising ………. 15

3. Regulation of Advertising ……….……. 15

a. Deception and Unfairness ………...…………. 16

b. Competitive Issues ………..………. 17

c. Advertising to Children ………...………. 18

4. Theories on Presupposition ………...………. 19

a. What is Presupposition? ………..………. 19

b. Types of Presupposition ………..………. 21

c. Presupposition and the Negation Test ………. 24

d. Presupposition Triggers ………..…………. 25

e. The Functions of Presupposition in Advertising ………. 31

5. Magazines as the Printed Media ………...………. 32

B. Theoretical Framework ………...………. 35

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY A. Research Method ……….………. 37

B. Research Objects ………….………. 39

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D. Data Gathering Technique ………..………. 40 E. Data Analysis Technique ………. 40 F. Research Procedures ………...…. 41

CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

A. Types of Presupposition in Advertisement ……….……. 45 B. Functions of Presupposition in Advertisement …………...………. 60

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

A. Conclusions ……….………. 67

B. Suggestions ……….………. 68

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xiii

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Numbers of Presuppositions ………...……. 73

Appendix 2: Checklist of Presupposition Types ……….……. 74

Appendix 3: Note ………. 86

Appendix 4: Checklist of Presupposition Functions ………...……. 98

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1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter is divided into six sections. The first section presents detailed information about the background of the problem that leads to the study. The second is the problem formulation of the study which forms in questions. The next is the limitation of the problem that will make this study more specific. The answers of the problems formulated are presented in the fourth section, the research objectives. The benefits of the study become the fifth section; and the definition of terms that occur in this study is presented in the last section.

A. Research Background

For many years, advertising has fulfilled our lives; and for more years, our lives will never be separated from advertising. As the information, commerce, and technology are developing rapidly, advertising has grown up and nurtured very well. Seven days in a week, twenty four hours in a day, advertising – in any form – is there right on our face, just from the very first minutes we open our eyes until we lie over the blanket. Advertising surrounds us!

Advertising as a way of communication uses a language in order that its purposes can be conveyed very well. Its language is persuasive, even in many cases – provocative. Advertising tries to persuade as many people as possible to do what it wants whether buying the products advertised or following the ideas advertised. Advertisers, by all means, work hard to design the attractive and

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catchy advertisements to promote their products and ideas. The advertisements themselves can be profitable magic spells, hypnotizing people to buy the products advertised, even if they do not need them. This is exactly the role of the advertising language. The language of advertising is unique, regardless that it often breaks the grammar rules. Here is when presupposition takes its control.

People generally and advertisers especially “often make implicit assumptions about the real world, and the sense of an utterance may depend on those assumptions, which some linguists term presuppositions” (Brown, 1983: 229). Presuppositions are assumptions about the world whose truths are taken for granted in discourse.Consider this sentence: Would you have another coke? This sentence presupposes or implies that you have already had at least one glass/ bottle/ can of coke. Part of the meaning of the word another includes this presupposition (Brown, 1983: 229). Both the speaker and the listener presuppose the same. They share the same knowledge for they engage in a communication act. This also happens between the advertisers and the readers (in printed media) or the listeners (in radio) or the watchers (in TV). Usually, advertisers are not allowed to make direct assertion about their products. They generally make indirect assertions, i.e. via presupposition.

Under the field of pragmatics, presupposition has dragged the writer’s interest to do a study on it, especially that relates to advertising. Therefore, she tries to make a research on it. She will use descriptive method in her research in order that she goes deeper in it. Here, she tries to analyze what types of presupposition used in the advertisements of one of English magazines in

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Indonesia, WEEKENDER. This magazine is issued by The Jakarta Post newspaper industry. It is dedicated to give more value to subscribers and more space for advertisers. Thus, there will be many advertisements can be found. In this study, the writer also tries to find out the functions of presuppositions. Thus, A Study on Presupposition Used in WEEKENDER Magazine’s Advertisements becomes the best title for this research.

B. Problem Formulation

Considering the background presented above, the writer formulates the problems of the study as follows:

1. How many types of presuppositions are there used in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements?

2. What are the functions of presuppositions?

C. Problem Limitation

This study limits the discussion on how many types of presuppositions are used in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements and what the functions of presuppositions. This study is a descriptive research. It employs descriptive method which will analyze presupposition in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements. This study will analyze 100 English advertisements in one year editions of WEEKENDER magazine, from January – December 2007. Therefore, the writer limits her study and the theories underlying presuppositions in printed advertisements, magazines particularly.

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D. Research Objectives

There are two objectives that will be obtained in this study, namely: 1. To find out how many types of presuppositions are used in WEEKENDER

magazine’s advertisements.

2. To find out the functions of presuppositions.

E. Research Benefits

This study is expected to be able to give several contributions. They are formulated as follows:

1. For those who are interested in pragmatics:

The result of this study will supply another insight on pragmatics, especially dealing with presupposition used in advertisements. Advertising language is unique and it is worth knowing how it is used in the advertisements through presupposition.

2. For English teachers:

This study gives an understanding about English advertising language. It is expected to be an outline for English teachers to teach functional text, especially advertisement. They may use an advertisement in teaching-learning process. In reading class, the students may be asked to answer some questions based on the given English ad. The questions may be related to its information carried or the meaning of the content.

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3. For Sanata Dharma University:

The result of this study can be used as a reference to support future relevant studies done by students of Sanata Dharma University.

F. Definition of Terms 1. Advertisement

Advertisement is “a marketing tool that helps sell brands of products and helps to build confidence in companies and institutions by conveying accurate and compelling information to consumers about the brand or company or institution” (Weilbacher, 1984: 8). It is being compared to the term advertising, which is seen as an act of communication the purpose of which is to convey concepts about companies, goods, and services by means of words, pictures, diagrams, sounds, music, color, shapes, and symbols on two levels of significance; the rational and the emotional (Kelly, 1967: 404). If the advertising is an act of persuasive communication; advertisement is a tool of the act of advertising.

2. Advertising Language

Advertising is an act of persuasive communication conveying about a product, service, organization, or ideas. It is obvious that the language of advertising is persuasive. It is not, however, like the everyday-life-language. It is unique. Becoming more unique when the advertisers use their creativity in order to grab people’s attention through what we call advertisement.

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3. Presupposition

Presuppositions are the linguistic term for “implicit assumptions that the speakers make about the real world; and the sense of an utterance may depend on those assumptions” (Fromkin et al., 2003: 216). It means that presupposition is a background belief that the speaker shares to the listener. For instance, if someone says Mary’s car is red, the listener will take the understanding that Mary has a car without the speaker saying it explicitly.

4. WEEKENDER Magazine

WEEKENDER magazine is a printed monthly by The Jakarta Post, the famous English newspaper industry targeted at high-intellectuals. This magazine was launched in the beginning of year 2007. It is dedicated to give more value to subscribers and more space for advertisers. Since this magazine is targeted to high-intellectuals, which are middle-high community, WEEKENDER magazine has a little bit complicated and sophisticated language of advertising. WEEKENDER is a monthly magazine; it is usually published in the middle of the month. In this thesis, the writer will take the first year’s editions of the magazine in order to limit the subject of population.

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter is divided into two main parts, namely theoretical description and theoretical framework. In the theoretical description, the writer reviews the main theories which are used as the references in the study. In the second part of this chapter, the writer draws a theoretical framework based on the theoretical description which is used as the guideline to answer the problems formulated.

A. Theoretical Description

In the theoretical description, the writer discusses some theories which are used as the main references in this study. They are the theories on advertising, the language of advertising, regulation of advertising, theories on presupposition, and magazines as the printed media.

1. Theories on Advertising

In Indonesia, advertising and advertisement are translated into periklanan

and iklan. There is a slight difference between advertising and advertisement, yet they pursue the same goal. Considering the relation between both, some theories in advertising are used for theories of advertisements. The followings are theories from the experts about advertising and advertisement.

a. Definitions of Advertising and Advertisement

Clemente defines advertising as “one of the main action elements of the marketing communications mix that involves using paid media to communicate

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persuasive information about a product, service, organization or idea” (Clemente, 1992: 8). Here, he sees advertising as an action of communication in the marketing world. The action is persuasive and needs a paid media to inform about a product, service, organization or ideas. Persuasion is the key of advertising as he adds in his sentence, “the key benefits of advertising are providing product information and influencing attitude changes among consumers” (Clemente, 1992: 8). He also adds that “advertising can be targeted to consumers in either narrow or broad geographic areas” (Clemente, 1992: 8). It has three basic objectives:

(a) to inform consumers about new items, products uses, services

available, or other useful information; (b) to persuade an audience to buy

an item, change brand preferences, or perceive an item or service

differently; (c) to remind consumers about the need for an item or service

as where it can be bought.

Meanwhile, advertising decisions fall into two basic categories as follows (Clemente, 1992: 8):

1) Message development

It refers to what is to be said. Messages may be intended to create awareness of a brand that favorably predisposes consumers to the product. It may convey product benefits, built familiarity of the brand while reinforcing a unique selling proportion in the minds of consumers.

2) Media selection

This refers to determining where advertising communications will appear. Kelley (1967: 404) adds that the means of advertising may be in words, pictures, diagrams, sounds, music, color, shapes, and symbols on two levels of significance, which are the rational and the emotional.

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Advertising is an act of communication the purpose of which is to convey concepts about companies, goods, and services by means of words, pictures, diagrams, sounds, music, color, shapes, and symbols on two levels of significance; the rational and the emotional. (Kelley, 1967:404) If Clemente and Kelley see advertising as an act, Weilbacher (1984: 8) in the businessman’s perspective sees advertisement as a tool. Weilbacher says the businessman defines advertisement as “a marketing tool that helps sell brands of products and helps to build confidence in companies and institutions by conveying accurate and compelling information to consumers about the brand or company or institution” (1984: 8). Clemente specifies the media of advertisement, which is in print, in order to distinguish advertisement from commercial breaks. They are similar, but not the same.

Advertisement is a paid announcement appearing in a print media outlet that is designed to reach a large audience. The goal of an advertisement is to promote a product, service, organization, or idea. It is designed to persuade, inform, or otherwise influence consumer attitudes. Space for an advertisement is purchased by an advertiser who controls what information will appear. However, advertisement content is often subjected by the medium in which it appears. (Clemente, 1992:7)

From the theories presented, it is obvious that advertising and advertisement are different, yet have the same aim. Advertising is an act of persuasive communication conveying about a product, service, organization, or ideas; whereas advertisement is a tool of the act of advertising.

b. Copy Parts of an Advertisement

Advertisements are made up of numerous elements or components. These elements may be moved, enlarged, reduced, reversed, changed, or eliminated in order to achieve a new look or approach. According to Bovee and Arens (1986: 262-274), “the key elements in print advertisements are the headline, illustration,

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subhead, body copy, boxes and panels, slogans, logotypes (logos), seals, and signatures”.

1) Headline

Arens (2006: 417) states headline is the words in the leading position in the advertisement – the words that will be read first and are situated to draw the most attention. Thus, headlines usually appear in larger type than other parts of the ad in order to be eye-catching.

2) Subheads

The size of the subhead is smaller than the headline but larger than the body copy or text. Subhead may appear above the headline or below it. A subhead above the headline is called a kicker (or overline) and may be underlined. Subheads may also appear in body copy. Like a headline, the subhead transmits key sales points fast.

3) Body copy

Body copy or text tells the complete sales story. It is a logical continuation

of the headline and subheads. The body copy is set in smaller type than headlines or subheads.

4) Boxes and panels

Boxes and panels are usually used in advertisements that contain coupons, special offers, contest rules, and order blanks. The boxes and panels are used to

set these features apart from the rest of the advertisement. Specifically, a box is

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usually runs the whole length or width of an ad. Boxes and panels are used to draw greater attention to a specific element or message in the advertisement.

5) Slogans

Many slogans (also called themelines or taglines) begin as successful headlines. Through continuous use, they become standard statements, not just in advertising but for salespeople and company employees. Effective slogans are short, easy to understand, memorable, and easy to repeat. Good slogans help set the product apart from its competitors.

6) Seals, logotypes, and signatures

Seals are given only when a product meets standards established by the relevant institutions, for example the Good Housekeeping Institute, Underwriters Laboratorics, and Parents Institute. The term seal also refers to the company seal or trademark. These are actually called logotypes. Logotypes (logos) and signature cuts (sig cuts) are special designs of the advertiser’s name or product name. They appear in all advertisements and are like trademarks because they give the product individuality and provide quick recognition at the point of purchase.

2. The Language of Advertising

Advertising as an act of communication needs a language in order that its purposes can be conveyed. Its language is persuasive, even in many cases, provocative. It is provocative when it “hypnotizes” people to buy the products advertised, even if they do not need them. This is exactly the role of the

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advertising language. Advertising is the usage of language in such a way that advertising must be able to grab the readers’ attention.

a. Attention-Seeking Devices

It is not difficult to see why advertisers want to– in fact, should –make their advertisements capture the readers’ attention. The whole aim is to get the readers to register their communication either for purposes of direct action or indirect action. Thus, the copywriters have to find ways to shout at the readers from the page. Below are the attention-seeking devices used by the copywriters according to Angela Goddard (2003: 9-21).

1) Image

The startling image is one attention-seeking strategy to increase levels of sophistication. Deciding the best image to be used to present the product advertised can draw some extra attention.

2) Verbal text

Just as the way an image is presented can suggest certain ideas, the verbal language can also suggest particular qualities. It is because readers do not simply read images in isolation from the verbal text that accompanies them; nor do they read the verbal text without reference to accompanying images. The variation of verbal text created may be based on handwriting versus typed print, different fonts, different font styles, different font sizes, emboldened fonts or not, upper-case versus lower-upper-case letters, and features of punctuation.

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3) Layout

In addition to the effects that can be created by the choice of particular typographical features, writing can also be used to create larger textual shapes by means of different layouts. In this respect, adverts sometimes come very close to the way concrete poetry works – as verbal language making pictures of its own subject matter. Adverts may also use 3-D effect or empty spaces to create different layouts.

b. The Characteristics of the Language of Advertising

The language of advertising is unique, different from most of other languages people use in everyday lives. Over the years, the uniqueness has been influenced by the frequent changing of the texture of the advertising language. The changing includes the styles and the creative concept. According to O’Neil in Goshgarian (1987: 99), there are at least four distinct general characteristics of the language of advertising that make it different from other languages. Below are the characteristics:

1) It is edited and purposeful

The language of advertising is edited and purposeful. Advertising language cannot be aimless; it does have a specific purpose, which is to sell something (Goshgarian, 1987: 99). In addition, according to Asher (1994: 42-44), the language of advertising is the language that is used in efforts to persuade or otherwise entice people to purchase products or service.

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2) It is rich and arresting

The language of advertising is rich and arresting. The language is specifically intended to attract and grab the reader’s attention. Advertisements cannot succeed unless they capture the reader’s attention. Therefore, advertisement should contain a ‘hook’ in order to arouse the reader’s attention. The hook can take the form of strong visuals (photos or illustrations with emotional value) or a disarming, unexpected set of words. Besides, advertisements need a creative strategy based on some arresting idea or concept in order to be effective (Goshgarian, 1987:100).

3) It involves the readers

The language of advertising involves the readers. The copywriter must have ability to express such product differences and to exploit and intensify them after the reader’s attention has been captured. At this stage, an image is fixed in the consumer’s mind. Therefore, the advertising becomes powerful because the consumers are brought directly into the process. As we read an advertisement or watch it on television, we become more deeply involved. Our imagination is set through the attractive packaged message. Once we have been brought into an advertisement, we become the participants (Goshgarian, 1987:104).

4) It is simple

The language of advertising is simple. The difficult words are edited out and replaced by simple words in order to avoid misinterpretation (Goshgarian, 1987:107). Moreover, Crystal (1987: 390) adds that the language is generally

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laudatory, positive, unreserved; it emphasizes the uniqueness of a product; and its vocabulary tents to be vivid and concrete.

c. Persuasion as the Language of Advertising

The language of advertising is the language that is used in efforts to persuade or otherwise entice people to purchase products or service (Asher, 1994: 42-44). Here, advertisers use persuasion to convey their message through advertisements.

As quoted by Ross (1994: 8), Mary John Smith, a rule theorist, defines persuasion as “a symbolic activity whose purpose is to effect the internalization or voluntary acceptance of new cognitive states or patterns of overt behavior through the exchange of messages”. She believes that a process of persuasion has occurred when people internalize the meanings they assign to messages in an atmosphere of perceived choice. Herbert Simons (Ross, 1994: 8) adds it well, “persuasion is a form of influence that predisposes, but does not impose”. Ross (1994: 9) himself draws a conclusion that persuasion is “a process of skillfully and ethically using logical thoughts, affective appeals, credibility, and ethical proof to influence and motivate others to respond as you wish them to”.

For this study, Ross’ definition of persuasion fulfills the writer’s sea of understanding.

3. Regulation of Advertising

Advertising as business tools for advertisers to gain consumers remains a competition. Advertisers cleverly create ads that must attract the readers’ interest,

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competing with the other advertisers. Thus, in order to make the competition fair, some regulations must be made.

The theory of this segment is taken from Advertising and Integrated Brand

Promotion by O’Guinn, Allen, Semenik (2003). According to them, “there are three basic areas of advertising regulation: deception and unfairness in advertising, competitive issues, and advertising to children” (2003: 130).

a. Deception and Unfairness

Agreement is widespread that deception in advertising is unacceptable. There are three elements that declare an ad deceptive:

1) There must be a representation, omission, or practice that is likely to mislead

the consumer. It means that the message of advertising must not mislead the consumer.

2) This representation, omission, or practice must be judged from the perspective

of a consumer acting reasonably in the circumstance. It means that the advertising must not carry compulsion and coercion. The advertising is purely persuasive.

3) The representation, omission, or practice must be a “material” one. The basic

question is whether the act or the practice is likely to affect the consumer’s conduct or decision with regard to the product or service. If so, the practice is material, and consumer injury is likely because consumers are likely to have chosen differently if not for the deception.

In short, deception of the advertising material which can affect the decision of product purchasing is illegal.

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Unlike deception, the definition of unfairness in advertising has been left relatively vague until recently. Yet, there was a congress that ended a dispute by approving legislation that defines unfair advertising as “acts or practices that cause or are likely to cause substantial injury to consumers, which is not reasonably avoidable by consumers themselves, and not outweighed by the countervailing benefits to consumers or competition” (O’Guinn, Allen, Semenik, 2003: 131). This definition obligates the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to assess both the benefits and costs of advertising, and rules out reckless acts on the part of consumers, before a judgment can be rendered that an advertiser has been unfair.

b. Competitive Issues

Because the large money amounts spent on advertising may foster inequities that literally can destroy competition, several advertising practices relating to competition can result in regulation. Among them are cooperative advertising, comparison advertising, and using monopoly power. Vertical cooperative advertising is “an advertising technique whereby a manufacturer and dealer (either a wholesaler or retailer) share the expense of advertising” (O’Guinn, Allen, Semenik, 2003: 131).

Comparison advertisements are those in which an advertiser makes a comparison between the firm’s brand and competitors’ brand. There are certain guidelines for comparative advertising. The first guideline is the intent and connotation of the ad should be to inform and never to discredit or unfairly attack competitors. Second, when a competitive product is named, it should be one that

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exists in the marketplace as significant competition. Third, the competition should be fairly and properly identified, but never in a manner or tone of voice that degrades the competitive product or service. Fourth, the advertising should compare related or similar properties or ingredients of the product, dimension to dimension, feature to feature. Fifth, the identification should be for honest comparison purposes and not simply to upgrade by association. Sixth, if a competitive test is conducted, it should be done by an objective testing source, preferably an independent one, so that there will be no doubt as to the veracity of the test. Seventh, in all cases, the test should be supportive of all claims made in the advertising based on the test. Eighth, the advertising should never use partial results or stress insignificant differences to cause the consumer to draw an improper conclusion. Ninth, the property being compared should be significant in terms of value or usefulness of the product to the consumer. And the last, comparatives delivered through the use of testimonials should not imply that the testimonial is more than one individual’s thought unless that individual represents a sample of the majority viewpoint.

Finally, some firms are so powerful in their use of advertising that monopoly power by the virtue of the advertising can be come a problem. This issue normally arises in the context of mergers and acquisitions.

c. Advertising to Children

Critics argue that continually bombarding children with persuasive stimuli can alter their motivation and behavior. Thus, some guidelines are made for advertising directed at children. These guidelines emphasize that advertisers

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should be sensitive to the level of knowledge and sophistication of children as decision makers. The guidelines also urge advertisers to make a constructive contribution to the social development of children by emphasizing positive social standards in advertising, such as friendship, kindness, honesty, and generosity. Similarly, the major television networks have set their own guidelines for advertising aimed at children. The guidelines restrict the use of celebrities, prohibit exhortive language (such as “Go ask Dad”), and restrict the use of animation to one-third of the total time of the commercial.

4. Theories on Presupposition

Under the field of pragmatics, presupposition is an interesting topic to deal with. Pragmatics, which is “the general study of how context influences the way sentences convey information” (Brown, 1983: 227), gives a vast space for presupposition to us to study. Although pragmatics, presupposition particularly, becomes an additional topic in the subject of Semantics when the writer was in semester 6, the writer is attracted to explore further about presupposition and do a study on it.

a. What is Presupposition?

When we discuss about presupposition, we will discuss about pragmatics. Pragmatics deals with linguistic performance. It is the way people’s use of language in contexts. Context, according to ideaPivot.com, is the environment or situation in which something exists or occurs. The human mind uses context to manage a massive amount of information from a myriad of different situations,

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such as work, family, friends, and community. Using context, people quickly decipher what information is relevant in a given situation. As people, we can recognize the contexts we are in, know what information is applicable to each context, and derive information from each context. For an instance, if a customer

in a computer store says burner, the store clerk will take the customer to the CD

and DVD recorder section. Stove burners, Bunsen burners, and wood burners are all out of the dialogue for the interaction is in the context of a computer store.

In the term of presupposition, context cannot be neglected. Presupposition is the requirements that the context must satisfy so the utterance can be interpreted at all. It has the different territory with assertion. Assertion is the claims that are made, based on the context.

Some linguists term presupposition as the “implicit assumptions about the real world, and the sense of the utterance may depend on those assumptions” (Fromkin et al., 2003: 216). It means that presupposition is a background belief that the speaker shares to the listener. It is something that sits, unsaid, and helps provide meaning about what a person says. When a person says something – makes an utterance– the meaning of that sentence has to do with the words, but the meaning only exists within the context of what else is in the person's head that provides meaning.

When two people are trying to communicate, and their presuppositions are not known to each other, that's when misunderstanding takes place. Consider the

sentence below: Would you have another coke? This sentence presupposes or

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meaning of the word another includes this presupposition (Brown, 1983: 229). Both the speaker and the listener presuppose the same. They share the same knowledge for they engage in a communication act. The question makes no sense, however, without that supposition, since why would a person ask you to have another if you have had nothing yet?

Let’s have another example: Did you stop beating your wife? The above

sentence presupposes that you have a wife. It also presupposes that you WERE beating your wife. The communication, however, will not be intelligent if the background belief that the speaker share is different from the listener’s. What will happen is a nasty argument.

b. Types of Presupposition

The categorization of presupposition varies, depending on the linguist that explores it. In this thesis, the writer uses the theory from Yule (1996) in classifying presuppositions. His theory is also used by Christoph Haase, a lecturer and researcher in English linguistics (Chemnitz University of Technology: 2009), in his site about presupposition on the internet.

According to Yule (1996: 25-34), there are six types of presupposition, which are elaborated as follows:

1) Existential presupposition

This type of presupposition is a basic kind of presupposition. It typically presupposes the existence of something or some ideas. It is usually triggered by definite descriptions which are formed by using proper names, definite article, demonstrative pronoun and possessives.

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Example:

Mary’s car is red.

The sentence presupposes that Mary has a car.

2) Factive presupposition

Such presupposition is information following verbs like know, realize,

regret, surprise(d), stramge, and a fairly large number of other verbs, predicate adjectives, and predicate nouns which take a clause as subject or object. The information is considered as fact. In other words, this kind of presupposition presupposes truth of what is stated.

Examples:

• She didn’t realize John was ill.

It presupposes that John was ill.

• I regretted telling him.

It presupposes that the speaker told another person.

• I’m glad it’s over.

It presupposes that the situation (it) is over.

3) Lexical presupposition

A lexical presupposition is a presupposition, that another, non-asserted meaning is understood. Unlike factive presupposition, lexical presupposition presupposes an unstated concept.

Examples:

• Sarah managed to win in the contest.

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• Sarah didn’t manage to win the contest.

The sentence presupposes that Sarah failed in the contest. But if the two sentences above are combined, they presuppose that Sarah tried to win the contest.

• She stopped smoking.

The sentence presupposes that the person mentioned used to smoke.

• She started smoking.

The sentence presupposes that the person mentioned didn’t smoke before.

4) Structural presupposition

It presupposes that part of structure is already assumed to be true. Examples:

• When did he leave?

The question presupposes that someone mentioned has left.

• Where did you buy the cake?

The question presupposes that the listener (you) bought cake.

• How fast was the car when it ran the red light?

The question presupposes that the car ran the red light.

5) Non-factive presupposition

This type of presupposition is opposite to factive presupposition. The information carried is considered not true or unreal.

Examples:

• I dreamed I was rich.

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• He pretends to be ill.

The example above presupposes the person mentioned is not ill.

6) Counterfactual presupposition

The last type is in the distinct area, which is what is presupposed is not only not true but contra to what is true.

Example:

If you were my friend, I would go with you.

This presupposes the listener (you) are not the speaker’s (my) friend.

c. Presupposition and the Negation Test

As stated before, presupposition has different territory with assertion. Assertion is the claims that are made, based on the context. On the other hand, presupposition is the requirements that the context must satisfy so the utterance can be interpreted at all. The obvious distinction lays on the fact that assertion can be negated, while presupposition cannot. In order to get better understanding, let us see the examples below:

The present king of France is bald.

ASSERTION

The present king of France is not bald.

From the above examples, we can see that assertion is vulnerable with negation. However, presupposition is not. The both sentences carry the same

presupposition, which is there is at present a king of France. Thus, such a

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d. Presupposition Triggers

Where do presuppositions come from? Presuppositions are somewhat special among pragmatic categories in that they often have syntactic or lexical signals, also called presupposition triggers (Levinson, 1983: 181). These triggers are responsible for the occurrences of certain presuppositions. Linguists singled out the presuppositional component of utterances and classified presuppositional signals (presupposition triggers) in an utterance. Lauri Karttunen (Levinson, 1983: 181-182) has collected 13 kinds of such triggers, and the following list is a selection from these (the examples provide positive and negative versions separated by ‘/’ to allow the reader to check the inferences; the presupposition-triggers themselves are underlined; the symbol >> stands for ‘presupposes’):

1) Definite descriptions

John saw/ didn’t see the man with two heads.

>> There is a man with two heads.

2) Factive verbs

Martha regrets/doesn’t regret drinking John’s home brew.

>> Martha drank John’s home brew.

Frankenstein was/wasn’t aware that Dracula was there.

>> Dracula was there.

John realized/didn’t realize that he was in debt.

>> John was in debt.

It was odd/ it wasn’t odd how proud he was.

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Some further factive predicates: know; be sorry that; be proud that; be indifferent that; be glad that; be sad that.

3) Implicative verbs

John managed/didn’t manage to open the door.

>> John tried to open the door.

John forgot/didn’t forget to lock the door.

>> John ought to have locked, or intended to lock, the door.

Some further implicative predicates: X happened to V >> X didn’t plan or

intend to V; X avoided Ving >> X was expected to, or usually did, or ought to

V, etc.

4) Change of state verbs

John stopped/didn’t stop beating his wife.

>> John had been beating his wife.

Joan began/didn’t begin to beat her husband.

>> Joan hadn’t been beating her husband.

Kissinger continued/didn’t continue to rule the world.

>> Kissinger had been ruling the world.

Some further change of state verbs: start; finish; carry on; cease; take (as in X

took Y from Z >> Y was at/in/with Z); leave; enter; come; go; arrive; etc.

5) Iteratives

The flying saucer came/didn’t come again.

>> The flying saucer came before.

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>> You once could get gobstoppers.

Carter returned/didn’t return to power.

>> Carter held power before.

Some further iteratives: another time; to come back; restore; repeat; for the

nth time.

6) Verbs of judging

Agatha accused/ didn’t accuse Ian of plagiarism.

>> (Agatha thinks) plagiarism is bad.

Ian criticized/didn’t criticize Agatha for running away.

>> (Ian thinks) Agatha ran away.

7) Temporal clauses

Before Strawson was even born, Frege noticed/didn’t notice presuppositions.

>> Strawson was born.

While Chomsky was revolutionizing linguistics, the rest of social science was/wasn’t asleep.

>> Chomsky was revolutionizing linguistics.

Since Churchill died, we’ve lacked/we haven’t lacked a leader.

>> Churchill died.

Some further temporal clause constructors: after; during; whenever; as (as in

As John was getting up, he slipped).

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A cleft sentence is a complex sentence in which a simple sentence is expressed using a main clause and a subordinate clause. In English the prototypical cleft sentence has the following form:

it + be + X + subordinate clause. Take a look the examples:

It was/wasn’t Henry that kissed Rosie.

>> Someone kissed Rosie.

Unclefted sentence: Henry kissed Rosie.

What John lost/didn’t lose was his wallet.

>> John lost something.

Unclefted sentence: John lost his wallet.

9) Implicit clefts with stressed constituents

The particular presuppositions that seem to arise from the two cleft constructions seem also to be triggered simply by heavy stress on a constituent, as illustrated by the following examples where upper-case characters indicate contrastive stress:

Linguistics was/ wasn’t invented by CHOMSKY!

>> Someone invented linguistics.

(cf. It was/wasn’t Chomsky that invented linguistics.)

John did/didn’t compete in the OLYMPICS.

>> John did compete somewhere.

(cf. It was/wasn’t in the Olympics that John competed).

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Comparisons and contrasts may be marked by stress (or by other prosodic

means), by particles like too, back, in return, or by comparative constructions:

Marianne called Adolph a male chauvinist, and then HE insulted HER.

>> For Marianne to call Adolph a male chauvinist would be to insult him.

Adolph called Marianne a Valkyrie, and she complimented him back/in return/too.

>> to call someone (or at least Marianne) a Valkyrie is to compliment them.

Carol is/isn’t a better linguist than Barbara.

>> Barbara is a linguist.

Jimmy is/isn’t as unpredictably gauche as Billy.

>> Billy is unpredictably gauche.

11)Non-restrictive relative clauses

Note that there are two major kinds of relative clause in English – those that

restrict or delimit the noun phrase they modify (restrictive as in Only the boys

who are tall can reach the cupboard) and those that provide additional

parenthetical information (non-restrictive as in Hillary, who climbed Everest

in 1953, was the greatest explorer of our day). The later kind is not affected by the negation of the main verb outside the relative clause and thus gives rise to presupposition:

The Proto-Harrappans, who flourished 2800 – 2650 B.C., were/were not great temple builders.

>> The Proto-Harrappans flourished 2800 – 2650 B.C.

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If Hannibal had only had twelve more elephants, the Romance language would/would not this day exist.

>> Hannibal didn`t have twelve more elephants.

If the notice had only said ‘mine-field’ in English as well as Welsh, we would/would never have lost poor Llewellyn.

>> The notice didn’t say mine-field in English.

13)Questions

Questions will generally share the presuppositions of their assertive counterparts. However, interrogative forms themselves introduce further presuppositions, of a rather different kind. It is necessary to distinguish

different types of questions: yes/no questions will generally have vacuous

presuppositions, being the disjunction of their possible answers. There are the only kinds of presuppositions of questions that are invariant under negation.

WH-questions introduce the presuppositions obtained by replacing the

WH-word by the appropriate existentially quantified variable, e.g. who by

someone, where by somewhere, how by somehow, etc. These presuppositions are not invariant to negation.

Is there a professor of linguistics at MIT?

>> Either there is a professor of linguistics at MIT or there isn’t.

Is Newcastle in England or is it in Australia?

>> Newcastle is in England or Newcastle is in Australia.

Who is the professor of linguistics at MIT?

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e. The Functions of Presupposition in Advertising

Presupposition has a great deal of importance in persuasive language, particularly in advertising language. Usually advertisers are not allowed to make direct assertion about their products. They can generally make indirect assertions, however, via presupposition. Therefore, advertisers frequently use presuppositions in language to help advertising realize its functions.

There are some functions of presupposition in advertising language based on some experts. They are elaborated as follows:

(1) Presenting the existence of the product or service

According to Sells and Gonzalez (2002), “presuppositions are a crucial part of advertising as they can cause the reader to consider the existence of

objects, propositions, and culturally defined behavioral properties”. They state

“presuppositions typically involve the existence of some object or idea”. They also state that most product ranges have some cultural values imposed on them in this way.

(2) Implicit competition

Another function of presupposition is for the sake of implicit competition among advertisers. There is regulation that says “the intent and connotation of the ad should be to inform and never to discredit or unfairly attack competitors” (O’Guinn, et al., 2003: 131). Thus, in order to avoid breaking the law, presupposition can be used as comparative device to set implicit competition without directly discredit or unfairly attack competitors. This reflected in the text

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that Windows didn't work properly. In that advertisement, “the words do not directly assert that Windows does not work properly, but they presuppose this” (Sells and Gonzalez, 2002). This creates an implicit competition between Apple Computer and Windows.

(3) Making short and memorable message

According to Nilsen (1974), by using presupposition, information can be shared between the reader and advertiser without explanation or a need for convincing. Bovee and Arens also state “effective slogans are short, easy to understand, memorable, and easy to repeat” (1986: 262-274). Therefore, instead of making a long statement listing, advertiser can make a short and memorable statement via presupposition.

(4) Establishing a virtual poetic world

Advertisers largely rely on presuppositions to set up an economic emphatic poetic text. As stated by Goddard “adverts sometimes come very close to the way concrete poetry works” (2003: 9-21). Presupposition, as a vital device to express more than what is uttered literally, can build an aesthetic language of advertising. Thus, presuppositions in idioms, metaphors, or other figures of speech arrest the reader’s attention.

5. Magazines as the Printed Media

Among all the kinds of print media, newspapers and magazines are the most considerable space for advertisers to buy. However, unlike newspapers that are received by nearly every household in every country, magazines tend to reach

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a very selective audience. It makes magazines become the more reasonable media selected for the advertisers to reach the target audience.

According to Bovee and Arens (1986: 418-419), there are several special characteristics that attract advertisers to use magazines as an element of the creative mix. Below are the special features of magazines:

1) Selectivity

Magazines generally tend to reach a very selective audience. There are

magazines written for special-interest groups. “Golf Digest helps a golf club

manufacturers reach golfers; Business Week reaches business-people; Seventeen

reaches teenage girls; and Ebony, a black-oriented magazine, helps advertisers

reach the black market” (Bovee and Arens, (1986: 418).

2) Flexibility

Magazines offer flexibility in both readership and advertising. For advertisers, magazines dare to offer “a great deal of flexibility in terms of the type, size, and placement of the advertising material. Some magazines offer (often at extra charge) a variety of special options that can enhance the creative appeal of the ad and increase attention and readership. Examples include gatefolds, bleed pages, inserts, and creative space buys” (Belch and Belch, 1987: 403).

3) Color

Color sells. This fact can be seen through magazines. “Magazine color spreads a spectrum of exciting visual pleasure before the reader. Nowhere can better color reproduction be seen than in the slick magazines. Color enhances image and identifies the package” (Bovee and Arens, (1986: 418).

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4) Authority and Believability

People believe what magazines say. Their influence affects people’s ideas, opinions, and desires. This enables magazines to counsel people on daily issues and everyday-life topics.

5) Permanence

For the advertiser who wants to communicate lasting information and enjoyment, magazines give the reader more opportunity to appraise ads in considerable detail. Magazines also enable advertisers to generate reprints and materials, which further promote and merchandise their corporate advertising campaigns.

6) Prestige

Advertising a product in such magazines as Sports Illustrated, Time, and

House Beautiful provides the advertiser with prestige for the product. The professionalism that publishers strive to maintain can be a great asset in building

prestige through institutional advertising.

7) Cost Efficiency

By selecting the specific magazines and editions that reach prospects, the advertiser can keep wasted circulation to a minimum. The selling power of magazines has been proved and results are measurable, so they are the growing choice of many leading advertisers.

There are also other advantages of using magazines as the creative media, such as extensive “pass-along” or secondary readership, more prospects than salespeople do because of geographic or other reasons, and the possibility to reach

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the hard-to-reach occupational groups, such as doctors and entertainment personalities.

B. Theoretical Framework

The language of advertising is unique. It is different from the daily-life language. Its language is persuasive. The language of advertising is the language that is used in efforts to persuade or otherwise entice people to purchase products or service (Asher, 1994: 42-44), either for purposes of direct action or indirect action. Thus, the advertisers have to find ways to shout at the readers from the page.

In order to shout at the readers, the advertisers must use the attention seeking devices that the media provide, in this case print media, magazines particularly. Whether it is from the image, verbal text, or layout, the advertisers have to be very creative in designing the attractive and catchy advertisements to promote their products and ideas. Moreover, they are not allowed to make direct assertion about their products for there are regulations of advertising to be obeyed. They generally make indirect assertions, i.e. via presupposition. Thus, presupposition plays a big role in advertising language.

In this study, the writer tried to make research on presupposition in advertising language. She used descriptive method in her research in order that she went deeper in it. Using the guidelines of the theory presented earlier, here, she tried to analyze what types of presupposition used in the advertisements of

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also tried to find out the functions of presuppositions. There are two major theories in order to answer the problems formulated; they are The Types of Presupposition and The Functions of Presuppositions in Advertising. The former theory is based on Yule (1996), and the last theory is taken from some experts, such as Sells and Gonzalez (2002), O’Guinn, et al. (2003), Nilsen (1974), and Goddard (2003).

According to Yule (1996), there are six types of presupposition, namely, existential presupposition, factive presupposition, lexical presupposition, structural presupposition, non-factive presupposition, and counterfactual presupposition. Those presuppositions are triggered by 13 kinds of presuppositional signals (presupposition triggers). They are definite description, factive verbs, implicative verbs, change of state verbs, iteratives, verbs of judging, temporal clauses, cleft sentences, implicit clefts with stressed constituents, comparisons and contrasts, non-restrictive relative clauses, counterfactual conditionals, and questions (Levinson, 1983).

Since advertising works to persuade consumers to purchase some products or follow the idea and to gain the profits on it, there is an arena of business competition among advertisers. Thus, there must be laws that regulate them in order to make the competition fair. Here, advertisers are not allowed to use direct assertion in their advertisers, but to use presupposition. Based on the theory in Chapter II, there are four functions of presupposition in advertising. They are presenting the existence of the product or service, setting the implicit competition, making short and memorable message, and establishing a virtual poetic world.

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CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents detailed information about the methodology used to accomplish the study. This methodology was used to answer the two major questions. First is to find out how many types of presuppositions are used in

WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements. Second is to find out the functions of presupposition. Those problems were answered by using certain methodology that is divided into six sections namely: research method, object of the research, research instruments, data gathering technique, data analysis technique, and research procedures.

A. Research Method

This thesis is descriptive research. It uses the understanding of Best and Kahn (1986) and Sprinthall (1991) in defining what descriptive research is. According to Best and Kahn (1986: 24), descriptive research is a type of research

that describes what is, describing, recording, analyzing, and interpreting

conditions that exist. Sprinthall (1991) is more specific; he states “research is typically called descriptive when the primary purpose is description” (Sprinthall, 1991: 98). In this research, the writer tries to describe what is found or observed. Thus, the research is merely a description or explanation, not an experiment.

For this descriptive research, the writer applied a qualitative approach. Qualitative studies are “those in which the description of observations is not

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ordinarily expressed in quantitative terms”, which are numerical measures (Best and Kahn, 1986: 147). Bogdan and Biklen state in Fraenkel (1993: 381) that the data collected in qualitative study are in the form of statements or pictures rather than numerical or statistical data. It is not that numerical measures are never used but that other means of description are emphasized. Numerical data can be integrated in qualitative study to portray what have been observed, to make the result more understandable. Thus, this research covered both numerical data and non-numerical data. Numerical data portrayed how many types of presuppositions

occur in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements as formulated in the first

problem of this research. Non-numerical data explained the functions of presupposition, which becomes the second problem.

According to Gay (1992: 13), descriptive research involves “collecting data in order to test hypothesis or answering questions concerning the current status of the subject of the study”. In this study, the writer tried to answer two questions that become the problems in this research by using document or content analysis technique for question number 1 and library research for question number 2. Here, document analysis means the activity of analyzing the written or visual contents of a document (Fraenkel and Wallen, 1993: 389). The content of document to be analyzed here was the language of advertising, presupposition

specifically; and this study used WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements as the

object to be analyzed. Library research was utilized to gain the answer of the functions of presupposition, which becomes the second research problem. Here,

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the writer used the theory from Chapter II, The Functions of Presupposition in Advertising, as the basic foundation of her analyzing.

B. Research Objects

There are two kinds of medium used in advertising, namely: print medium and electronic medium. However, in order to focus, the writer only took magazine

as the print medium to be analyzed. Here, she chose WEEKENDER magazine

issued in one year editions, from January – December 2007, which are available in

the library of Sanata Dharma University. She chose WEEKENDER magazine

since WEEKENDER magazine is dedicated to give more value to subscribers and

more space for advertisers. Thus, there will be many advertisements can be found. However, the writer only limited to 100 advertisements that she chose randomly to be analyzed. This magazine is a monthly magazine that is usually published in

the middle of the month. It was launched in the beginning of year 2007 by The

Jakarta Post newspaper industry. Since this magazine is targeted to

high-intellectuals, which are middle-high community, WEEKENDER magazine has a

little bit complicated and sophisticated language of advertising.

C. Research Instrument

Since this research employed the document analysis method, the researcher herself was the main instrument to gain the data. This kind of instrument is termed as human instrument, where the writer is utilized to find out

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the data of the study. However, in this study, the writer was helped by a checklist of presupposition in order to ease her analyzing.

D. Data Gathering Technique

There are several steps involved in gathering the data. Determining the advertisements to be analyzed is the very first step. In this study, the writer only took the full-page advertisements to be investigated since the full-page advertisements draw the most attention of the readers. However, in order to limit the study, she only focused on 100 advertisements chosen randomly. Then, she gathered all the data by noting down the sentences, the phrases, or slogans in the advertisements. It would make her easier to go to the further step, which is analyzing the presuppositions in the advertisements.

E. Data Analysis Technique

In analyzing, the writer applied a descriptive method. This method suggests that the research to carry out is based on the existing fact or phenomenon which empirically exists in the speakers (Sudaryanto, 1988: 62). Therefore, the descriptive method is not concerned with whether the speakers (the advertisements) of the language use it correctly or not. This study on presupposition would not judge whether the advertisements used the correct language or not. Instead, it would analyze the types and the functions of presupposition in advertising. In this study, the writer utilized document or

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content analysis technique to analyze the presuppositions in WEEKENDER

magazine’s advertisements.

In order to answer the problems formulated, she used the theory from Yule (1996) in classifying presuppositions. There are six types of presupposition according to him, namely existential presupposition, factive presupposition, lexical presupposition, structural presupposition, non-factive presupposition, and counterfactual presupposition. The writer counted how many types of

presuppositions occur in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements. Here, she

needed a checklist to ease her job. Then, she found out the functions of presupposition in the advertisements by conducting library research. For the second problem, the answer was generated from the language of advertising by Angela Goddard and theory of regulation of advertising by O’Guinn, Allen,

Semenik in the book Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion.

F. Research Procedures

In order that the problems formulated in this study could be answered, the writer conducted five basic steps as the procedure of the research. The steps in an order are elaborated as follows.

1. Reviewing related literature

The very beginning step that the writer did is conducting library research. It was conducted earlier in order to find out the good topic for her research, which is a study on presupposition in advertising. It was also conducted to gather important theories needed in this study so that all the information gathered in this

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study would be much more reliable. Library research in this study involved reviewing books from the library, articles, and some other information on the internet. It could also be so called reviewing on the related literature. It was conducted not only at the beginning of the research, but throughout the research.

2. Deciding the advertisements

The second step that the writer did is deciding the advertisements to be

studied. In this research, the writer chose the advertisements in WEEKENDER

magazine issued in one year editions, from January – December 2007. She chose

WEEKENDER magazine since it is an English magazine published by The Jakarta Post which is dedicated to give more value to subscribers and more space for advertisers. Thus, there will be so many advertisements can be found. However, the writer only focused on 100 advertisements that she chose randomly to be analyzed. Since this magazine is targeted to high-intellectuals, which are

middle-high community, WEEKENDER magazine has a little bit complicated and

sophisticated language of advertising. Yet, the presuppositions in its advertisements are still interesting to be analyzed.

3. Gathering the data

The next step to be conducted is gathering the data. The presuppositions from the copy parts of the advertisements, whether they are in the headlines, subheads, bodycopies, or slogans, were read and gathered as the data. Then, the writer retyped the sentences or phrases containing presuppositions. Here, the writer prepared a sheet to note down the sentences, the phrases, or the slogans in

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the advertisements. It would make the writer easier to analyze the presuppositions in the language used.

4. Analyzing the data

In order to be able to answer the two problems formulated, after gathering the data, the writer then did the analysis. She made descriptive analysis. The first analysis to be conducted is analyzing how many presuppositions are used in

WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements and what they are. The writer used document or content analysis technique to gain the answer. Here, she took the theory from Yule in classifying presuppositions as the fundamental reference. There are six types of presupposition according to him, namely existential presupposition, factive presupposition, lexical presupposition, structural presupposition, non-factive presupposition, and counterfactual presupposition. Then, the writer simply counted how many types of presuppositions occur in

WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements. She put the sentences or phrases containing presupposition into provided table, which classified presuppositions based on their types, on the checklist. After that, in order to answer the functions of presupposition in advertisement, she did the library research. Here, she used the theory written in Chapter II, The Functions of Presupposition in Advertising, as the main foundation.

5. Drawing conclusion

After the four steps had been accomplished, now the writer came up to the last step, which is drawing conclusion for her thesis. The conclusion was based on the result of the analyzed data. The conclusion was drawn in order that the

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readers, or the writer herself, will take part in giving advice, criticism, and suggestion for the future learning and study.

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CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents the analysis of the study based on the formulated problems presented in Chapter I. The problems are, first, how many types pf presuppositions are used in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements, and second, what are the functions of presupposition. The data to answer those problems are obtained from 100 advertisements in WEEKENDER magazines issued in one year editions, from January – December 2007 by using the theories presented in Chapter II.

A. Types of Presupposition in Advertisement

This thesis applies descriptive research. In this research, the writer tries to describe what is found or observed. Thus, the research is a description or explanation, not an experiment. In this section, the writer tries to identify the types of presupposition that are used in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements by analyzing the content of the presupposition in the advertisements.

Here, the writer takes the theory from Yule in classifying presuppositions as the fundamental reference. According to Yule, there are six types of presupposition, namely existential presupposition, factive presupposition, lexical presupposition, structural presupposition, non-factive presupposition, and counterfactual presupposition. However, there are only five types of presupposition could be found in this study. There are existential presupposition,

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factive presupposition, lexical presupposition, structural presupposition, and non-factive presupposition.

The first type is existential presupposition. It typically presupposes the

existence of something or some ideas. It is usually triggered by definite descriptions which are formed by using proper names, definite article, demonstrative pronoun and possessives. Below are the ads seen in WEEKENDER magazine in year 2007 that carries existential presuppositions.

(1) FRED Lunettes (January 2007, p. 7)

(2) POLICE SUNGLASSES (February, p. 9)

(3) RAOUL (February, p. 17)

(4) KENZO AMOUR (March, p. 3)

(5) AIGNER (March, p. 5)

(6) bebe (April, p. 7)

(7) Massimo Dutti (April, p. 21)

(8) PARMIGIANI (April, p. 68)

(9) HUGO BOSS (May, p. 17)

(10) (May, p. 25)

(11) LOUIS VUITTON eyewear (June, p.5)

(12) Baker Furniture (June, p. 9)

(13) BCA Platinum Card (June, p. 13)

(14) TAG Heuer (June, p. 23)

(15) Folli Follie jewellery watches accessories (June, p. 23)

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(17) Cartier (July, p. 68)

(18) LOUIS VUITTON (August, p. 5)

(19) ckIN2U (August, p. 17)

(20) BOSS femme (August, p. 21)

(21) TOMFORD EYEWEAR (September, p. 21)

(22) Flower by Kenzo (October, p. 3)

(23) Pelotas by CAMPER (October, p. 19)

(24) LOEWE Ami Aire (November, p. 2)

There are twenty four ads in WEEKENDER 2007 that use the simplest way of existential presupposition. In ad (1) – (24), they all have the same characteristic that they presuppose the existence of the product by simply mentioning proper names, which are definitely the brand names. In order to specify the product, the advertisers use image or sometimes mention the type of the product, flavor, variant scent, or usage. In ad (9), the advertiser uses the startling image of two men and a woman in an elegant and classy outlook to advertise BOSS perfume. The perfume advertised becomes more specific in fragrance by putting a man in the center of the ad and mentioning the name of the fragrance, HUGO BOSS, which makes the readers decode that the perfume is for men; whereas in ad (20), it is presupposes the existence of feminine fragrance from BOSS perfume, by mentioning the name of the fragrance, BOSS femme, and the image of a gorgeous lady. It is nearly the same strategy with KENZO perfume in ad (4) and ad (22). The KENZO advertiser specifies the product by mentioning the fragrance of the perfume advertised, which are love (amour) and flower

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fragrance. Thus, ad (22), Flower by Kenzo, presupposes flower scent exists in Kenzo perfume.

In ad (1), (2), (14), (15), (17), (21), and (23), the advertisers mention the type of the product they advertised. FRED (1), POLICE (2), TAG Heuer (14), Cartier (17), and TOMFORD (21), they all mention their products which are

glasses. FRED uses French word to represent glasses, lunettes. The type of the

glasses they advertised are based on the images they present. They might be glasses for reading (FRED), glasses for sport (TAG Heuer), sunglasses (POLICE), or glasses for fashion (TOMFORD). Therefore, ad (1), FRED Lunettes, presupposes there are glasses for reading by FRED, and so do the rest ads. Ad (12), Baker Furniture, presupposes there are furniture products by Baker. Ad (15), Folli Follie jewellery watches accessories, presupposes there are jewellery, watches, and accessories by Folli Follie. Ad (23), pelotas by CAMPER, presupposes there are pelotas shoes by CAMPER. Pelotas is the model of the shoes; it is like sneakers.

The rest ads, RAOUL, AIGNER, bebe, Massimo Dutti, PARMIGIANI, (NIKE), LOUIS VUITTON (eyewear), BCA Platinum Card, Ermenegildo Zegna, LOUIS VUITTON (bags), ckIN2U, and LOEWE Ami Aire, are very confident by only mentioning their brand name and using images in advertising their products. This might be because they believe they have placed their ads in a magazine suitable for their market so that the readers can familiarly decode the message in the ads. For example, NIKE in ad (10) only uses the image

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A study on presupposition used in Weekender Magazine`s advertisements.

I dedicated this thesis to:

The One and Only Allah SWT

My beloved parents, Bp. Istuk Hadi Prihatno and Ib. Maryati

My inspiring sisters and brother, Mbak Edi Kusumawati, Mbak Ida

Istiarti, and Mas David Wahyudi

My very very best friend, Leoni Afikawati

And my biggest enemy, my own self,, “I defeated you here, girl. And

I’ll defeat you in my tomorrows…”

“NO ONE SURRENDERS.

ONLY CONTENDERS IN THIS FIGHT….”

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A study on presupposition used in Weekender Magazine`s advertisements.

I dedicated this thesis to:

The One and Only Allah SWT

My beloved parents, Bp. Istuk Hadi Prihatno and Ib. Maryati

My inspiring sisters and brother, Mbak Edi Kusumawati, Mbak Ida

Istiarti, and Mas David Wahyudi

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And my biggest enemy, my own self,, “I defeated you here, girl. And

I’ll defeat you in my tomorrows…”

“NO ONE SURRENDERS.

ONLY CONTENDERS IN THIS FIGHT….”

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