CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter explains about the background of the study, the problems of

the study, objectives of the study, and definition of the key terms.

1.1 Background of the Study

Communication is an important aspect of human life and language is the

tool to perform a communication. In everyday life, people perform

communication to achieve their goal, such as gathering information or making

social interaction. In order to carry on a communication in social interaction,

people use particular word choices depend on who they are talking to and what

they are talking about.

Sometimes people encounter taboo which is expression that people try to

not mention it directly. Ham (2005, p.228) noted that the taboo word contains

particular issues such as religion, politics, beliefs or culture, and people may

found taboo as impolite words, if the speaker expresses it directly. There are some

cases when people manage to bring the taboo topic or hateful idea without disturb,

offend, or annoy the listener. This phenomenon creates language expression

which can be used to soften the harsh word, therefore that the speaker can discuss

their ideas without hurting the listener or even the speaker can criticize the listener

without upsetting them. Such language expression is called euphemism.

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According to Merriam Webster Dictionary (2015) euphemism is defined

as the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may

offend or suggest something unpleasant, or it is practically an expression that used

to make inappropriate word sounds polite and acceptable. The use of euphemism

is by replacing the taboo word with another expression which is more polite.

Indeed, euphemism cannot be separated from the relation between language and

culture. Most of euphemism is usually created because people are aware of their

culture, they decide which is appropriate and which is inappropriate in order to

protect their face from embarrassment.

A euphemism can have different functions. It may have function to soften

a harsh word, or in the other hand, it may have function to make light of a serious

subject or make it seem less serious. For example, a prewar word such as “slump”

which contains negativity can be replaced by a word “downturn” to sound

acceptable in society nowadays (Qi Pan, 2013, p.2110). In this case, the

researcher conducted a research to describe how a euphemism was formed and to

discover the intended word which replaced by the euphemistic term.

Nowadays euphemism is a common expression that frequently used in

every conversation. For instance, the use of euphemism in a movie entitled The

Iron Lady. The Iron Lady movie is an adaptation from the story life of Margaret

Thatcher, it tells about her past life and her political career as the first female

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The researcher decided to choose The

Iron Lady movie as the object, because the conversation in the movie that

contained political aspect and the social culture which affect the use of
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euphemism. Margaret had taken a position more or less ten years as the Prime

Minister of the United Kingdom, because she was phenomenal figure that affected

the politic condition at that time. The other reason that she could be the longest

served prime minister because of the use of language that she chose. As a

politician, Margaret realized that the use of language is important, because public

and people always judge and oversee the way how politician acts and delivers

their opinion. That is why Margaret used euphemism as the way to communicate

and deliver her opinion to public without hurting someone else, since the function

of euphemism is to soften the harsh word and to be polite.

The example of the euphemism use can be found at one of conversations

within The Iron Lady movie script, in which a character said “...a seat in

Parliament‟. Regarding this, the word “seat” does not depict the physical object.

According to oxforddictionaries.com, the word “seat” describes a position in

parliament, which is „a place in an elected legislative‟. The word “seat” is used

instead of “a position in parliament” because the speaker considers that the phrase

“a position in parliament” contains political issue. By replacing it with the word

“seat” the speaker expects to reduce the political issues in her speech and expect

to sound more polite.

In order to comprehend a euphemism, it is necessary to analyze the origin

of euphemism and its meaning. That is why the researcher intends to conduct the

research entitled The Semantic Analysis of Euphemism used in The Iron Lady

Movie to give information to the reader about the type of euphemism in The Iron

Lady movie script by using theory from Warren, and to discover the meaning of
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euphemism by using semantic theory such semantic field and componential

analysis.

Semantic field explains about how two or more lexemes have some

semantic relationships; it is beneficial for the researcher to use semantic field that

describe the lexical relation, such as synonym, antonym, hyponym, etc., in

figuring out the word which related to a euphemism. The researcher applies

semantic field, along with componential analysis which was established by some

researchers such as Kreidler and Edward to find out the meaning of a euphemism

since componential analysis is a device to analyze or study the meaning through

its semantic features. By applying the theory that is mentioned above, the

researcher has an access to analyze a euphemism through its relation with other

word. Furthermore, the following explanation about the theory was described in

the chapter II.

1.2 Problems of the Study

The research questions that the researcher wants to analyze are about:

1. What is the type of euphemism found in The Iron Lady movie script?

2. a. What is the intended word or phrase of euphemisms found in The Iron

Lady movie script based on the semantic field approach?

b. What is the meaning of euphemisms found in The Iron Lady movie script

based on componential analysis approach?

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1.3 Objectives of the study

The objectives of this study are based on the research question, as follows:

1. To classify the type of euphemism found in The Iron Lady movie.

2. a. To find the intended word of euphemism in The Iron Lady movie based on

the semantic field approach.

b. To study the meaning of euphemism in The Iron Lady movie based on

componential analysis approach.

1.4 Definitions of Key Terms

1. Euphemism : an “inoffensive substitute” introduced to

occupy the space left by the prohibited word according to the underlying

psychological motivation (fear, courtesy, decency or decorum). (Ullmann,

1962, p. 231).

2. The semantic field : A set of words with an identifiable

semantic affinity (Edward, 2008, p.546).

3. Componential Analysis : a technique for describing interrelation of

meaning by breaking concept down into minimal components, or features,

which are distinctive in terms of a semantic opposition or dimension of

contrast (Geoffrey Leech, 1997, p.124)

4. The Iron Lady : a British biographical film based on the life

of Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013), the longest-serving Prime Minister of

the United Kingdom of the 20th century. (Ben Hoyle, 2007)