TYPES AND MEANINGS OF IDIOMS IN TWENTIES GIRL
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TYPES AND MEANINGS OF IDIOMS
IN TWENTIES GIRL
By:
NI PUTU RIZKY INDAYANI
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LETTERS AND CULTURE, UDAYANA UNIVERSITY
Abstract
Skripsi yang berjudul “Types and Meanings of Idioms in Twenties Girl” bertujuan untuk menjawab dua pertanyaan pokok: Apa jenis dan arti dari Idiom yang ditemukan dalam novel Twenties Girl. Idiom adalah kesatuan makna yang memiliki arti berbeda pada setiap satuan katanya. Beranjak dari fenomena inilah penulis merasa tertarik untuk memilih idiom sebagai topik dari penelitian ini.
Data dalam penelitian ini diambil dari novel yang berjudul Twenties Girl. Data dibaca dengan teliti, dicatat dan diklasifikasi sedemikian rupa untuk mencari idiom containing parts of the body. Data yang sudah terkumpul dan terklasifikasi dianalisis secara kualitatif dan deskriptif dengan memakai teori Seild and Mcmordie (1980) untuk mengklasifikasi jenis idiom dan teori basic triangle yang ditulis oleh Odgen and Richard (1976) untuk menganalisis arti dari idiom tersebut. Disamping itu teori Leech (1974) ditambahkan sebagai pendukung untuk menganalisa jenis makna dari idiom yang diteliti.
Berdasarkan analisis dan pemaparan terdapat lima jenis idiom containing parts of the body yang ditemukan di novel “Twenties Girl”. Idiom yang sudah diklasifikasi kemudian dianalisis untuk mencari maknanya menggunakan basic triangle. Kemudian kembali diklasifikasi menurut jenis makna berdasarkan theory Leech (1974). Ditemukan empat jenis makna yang terkandung dalam makna idiom.
Kata kunci: idiom, jenis idiom, makna, jenis makna
Idiom is a group of words whose meaning is different from the meaning of the individual words. Novel which is known as a literary work applies idioms in order to make the story more colorful and interesting to read. Mostly, the people who like reading the novel feel confused about the words which have been read that contains the idioms. The reader still get confuse to find or understand what the meaning or expression that formed from the novel although the readers understand every single word in the text or sentence in all about. In this study, English idioms were analyzed more specifically. It focused only on idioms containing parts of the body. They are more predictable than other idioms, simply because as human beings we are completely familiar with our perceptions of the shape, size, and functions of individual parts of our own bodies because we experience them every day. This is why it is easier for us to interpret the meaning of English idioms containing parts of the body than other idioms.
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1. What types of idioms were used in Twenties Girl?
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2. What the meaning of the idioms employed in Twenties Girl?
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1. To identify the types of idioms in Twenties Girl
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2. To explain the meaning of the idioms employed in Twenties Girl
This study used a mixed method, that is, a combination of primary and secondary research. Based on primary research, qualitative method was used, which means that the data were described using words or sentences based on the original data. Meanwhile, in the secondary research both library research and literature reviews were conducted.
The data of this study were taken directly from the novel. The novel which was chosen entitled Twenties Girl written by Sophie Kinsella published in USA July 2009. The novel “Twenties Girls” talks about some surprising truths from and about each other.
This study focused on the types and meanings of English idioms containing parts of the body used in this novel “Twenties Girl”. This novel was chosen because it has many idioms containing parts of the body could be found. They really gave chance to imagine about something causing us to understand the meaning of idioms hidden within the story.
Practically, there were five steps of collecting data as seen in the following:
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1. First step was found the novel containing many idioms
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2. Second, was read the novel carefully and attentively in order to understand every single word and get good understanding at the content of the story.
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3. Third, were noted down words or phrases which were considered as idioms
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4. The collected data were checked to the source that provides the information and list of English idioms. The sources are the books entitled Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th Edition (Oxford University Press, 2005) and Oxford Dictionary of Idioms (Oxfords University Press, 1999).
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5. The last step, those idioms were noted down in a paper to be analyzed
In brief, the stages of analyzing the data can be presented as follows:
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1. Categorizing the types of idioms based on the theory proposed by Seild and Mc Mordie (1980).
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2. After finding the types of idiom, then the meaning of each idiom was described based on the theory of Odgen and Richard in Palmer (1976) with their semantic basic triangle and supported by seven types of meaning based on the theory proposed by Geoffrey Leech (1974).
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3. Relating the meaning of each idiom to the story, therefore, it could be easier to understand the message of the story.
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4. Finally, those problems were solved and the result of the research could be shared and learnt by others who read this.
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5. Types and Meanings of Idioms in Twenties Girl
The first analysis used the theory proposed by Seild and McMordie (1980) who categories idioms into ten types. They are Seild & McMordie (1980), they are particular words with special idiomatic uses, idioms with adjectives and nouns in combination, idioms with prepositions and adverbs, adjectives with prepositions, verbs with preposition or adverbial particles, idioms from special situations or categories, idioms of comparison, verbal idioms, idioms with different forms and structures and the last one is proverb.
The second analysis used the Basic triangle of Odgen and Richard in Palmer (1976) to explain the meaning of the idiom. The basic triangle consisted
of three components: symbol, thought or reference, and referent. Besides, the meaning of idioms applied to this study was identified from the theory of Leech (1974) with his seven different types of meaning. They are conceptual, connotative, stylistic, affective, refrected and the last one thematic meaning.
Below is a sample of analysis of one of the five types of idioms and their meaning found in the novel Twenties Girl.
This category deals with a selection of single words which are often difficult to interpret because of specific idiomatic meanings. Since many expressions often appear in informal language, it is important to learn the typical situations in which these idioms are used. It is divided into adjective with special idiomatic uses, noun with special idiomatic uses and particular word with special idiomatic meaning. (Seild and McMordie, 1980: 21)
Data 1 “I don’t care what she thinks. Don’t tell her anything you don’t want everybody else to know. She has a big mouth.” (Kinsella, 2009:79)
The expression A big mouth is categorized as a particular word with special idiomatic uses. It is more classified into adjective with special idiomatic uses. This idiom consists of determiner a, adjective big and noun mouth. The adjective big in this idiom is considered as adjective with special idiomatic uses. It means that big can mean many different things when it is used idiomatically.
Affective meaning expresses personal feeling, attitude to the listener or subject matter of the discussion.
People will get confused to understand the meaning of the idiom A big mouth although they understand the single words that built it up. Mouth is one of our parts of the body which is used for speaking. But when, the mouth is combined with the word big it makes us confused. Meanwhile big is an adjective which is used very widely to describe something and it can be meant many different things.
To capture the meaning of the idiom, we need to resolve it into its main component, as shows in the basic triangle of Odgen and Richard in Palmer (1976) below:
Thought or reference
Symbol Referent
(A big mouth)
The symbol is the idiom itself a big mouth. It brings us to ‘the thought or reference’. The idiom a big mouth as what has stated previously consists of the adjective big and the noun mouth. Mouth is part of the body which is used to speak. While, big means in large in size, degree, amount, etc. or it can be seen has the connotation which refers to characteristic of somebody. It will be nice to hear people who have a nice mouth, but in this case is a big mouth. It means that this idiom stands in negative sense. If people have a big mouth it may mean that they
are talking too much. Then, the image created in our mind (referent) is the characteristic of someone who talks too much.
The real meaning of this idiom can be understood by understanding its context:
“I don’t care what she thinks. Don’t tell her anything you don’t want everybody else to know. She has a big mouth.” (Kinsella, 2009:79)
From the context above, it can be concluded that the real meaning of the expression a big mouth refers to the characteristic of someone who talks too much to others and cannot keeping secret. It can be seen from the context that one of the characters in this novel prohibits someone not to tell anything to her because she cannot keep the secret.
The expression of a big mouth belongs to affective meaning since it reflects the personal feeling of someone to someone else. Including her manner to something she is talking about (Leech, 1974). It also can be classified having the connotative meaning for the reason that the meaning of the expression cannot be predicted by looking up the literal meaning of the words in the dictionary.
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6. Conclusion
Based on the foregoing analysis and discussion, the following points can be drawn as conclusion:
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1. In the novel entitled Twenties Girl by Shopie Kinsella there were five types of idioms used. Those types of idioms could be presented as follows: particular word with special idiomatic uses, idiom with adjective and noun in combination, idiom with preposition and adverb, verbs with preposition
and adverbial particles and the last one was verbal idiom
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2. Talking about the meaning, meaning of idiom cannot be easily understood by looking up the meaning of each words that built it up. It needs a classification of meaning from its components using the basic triangle to guide the reader of understanding through the thought or reference (concept in mind) and supported with the theory of Leech. Some words that belong to idiom can construct the meaning of idioms which considerably refers to the context of the sentence in the novel. In this case, there were four types of meaning used in this novel; they were affective, conceptual, stylistic and connotative meaning.
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7. Bibliography
Leech, G. 1974. Semantics. Auckland: Penguin Books.
Palmer, F.R. 1976. Semantics: A New Outline. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Seild, J. and McMordie. 1980. English Idioms and How to Use Them. Jakarta: PT. Intermasa.
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