The Intricacies of Lexical Cohesion in Eminem's Album: Music To Be

Murdered By

Mohammad Alfan
English Department
Faculty of Literature
Universitas Nasional
Jakarta, Indonesia

ABSTRACT

This research explores the lexical cohesion in Eminem's album "Music To Be Murdered By."
Using descriptive qualitative research, the study aims to identify and describe the types of
lexical cohesion employed in the album's lyrics. Following Sugiyono's approach (2005), the
descriptive method is utilized to collect, organize, and analyze data, focusing on presenting a
detailed account of the lexical cohesiveness found in Eminem's impactful album.

Keywords: discourse analysis, lexical, cohesion, lexical cohesion, Rap, Hip-hop, Lyrics,
Eminem, Music To Be Murdered By.
 CHAPTER I

Introduction

1.1 Background

Language is a crucial component of human aspect in life. According to Fromkin

(2009) stated that the source of human life and power is a language. Language facilitates the
conveyance of information by making it easier to understand. There are scientific ways to
learn a language. We simply refer to our understanding of language as linguistics expertise.
Human would undoubtedly struggle to communicate with one another without language. A
precise definition of language is not easy to provide, because the language phenomenon is
complex. Slightly modifying a definition provided by Finegan and Besnier (1989).

The study of linguistics has generated a lot of interest in the discipline of discourse
analysis over the past few decades. As a linguistic level, discourse has phonemes,
morphemes, words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs as its linguistic basic elements.
According to Burr (2003) points out some significance in learning discourse analysis. One of
them is to build a good communication between the speaker and the listener in the spoken
utterance. Due to the fact that discourse needs situational knowledge beyond just the words
said, the study of discourse is completely dependent on context. Since there are many
semantic factors at play in genuine conversation, meaning is frequently difficult to infer from
an encounter based alone on its spoken utterances.

Discourse is one of the most complex linguistic elements because discourse is the
linguistic level that has the most complete language unit and is the highest and largest
grammatical unit (Chaily, 2011). In using a discourse to communicate, cohesion—the
symmetry of one part to another that results in a thorough understanding—is necessary.

In linguistics, coherence is what gives a text its semantic meaning, while cohesion is
the relationship between the grammatical and lexical elements of a text or phrase. The
connections that bind a text together and give it meaning are known as cohesion. According
to Halliday and Hasan (1976:5) cohesion in text can be achieved through grammatical and
lexical cohesions. A type of cohesiveness known as grammatical cohesion is expressed
through the four components of grammar: reference, substitution, ellipsis, and conjunction.
Lexical cohesion, which can be further broken down into the two components of repetition
and collocation, is the cohesiveness exhibited through the relationship on vocabulary.
 Lexical cohesion refers to the relation of meaning that exists by the selection of
vocabulary within the text (Halliday & Hasan, 1976). It means that cohesion can appear from
the semantic relationship between words. Halliday and Hasan (1976) then presented two
functions of lexical cohesion. Firstly, it aims to connect word and word, phrase and phrase in
a spoken and written discourse. Secondly, it signifies the co-occurrence of words whose
meanings are similar in the same scope

1.2 Limitation

Due to the researcher's time and knowledge constraints, this research will focus on
analyzing the usage of lexical cohesion in Eminem's album.

1.3 Research questions

1. What are the types of Lexical Cohesion found in Eminem’s album?

2. How are the lexical cohesion devices used in Eminem’s album?

1.4 Objective of the Research

1. To identified the types of Lexical Cohesion in Eminem’s album

2. To describe the lexical cohesion used in Eminem’s album
 CHAPTER II

Review of Related Literature and Theories Framework

2.1 Previous Studies

There are some researchers will be the references for this research. In order to find
potential links between this study and earlier research that has the same theme and subject
matter as the researcher's chosen theme, the researcher uses earlier research as a source of
reference.

The first researcher is Usman Sidabutar, The research design of this research is
qualitative research because the results of this study identified and analyzed students' lexical
cohesion in narrative text. This research aims at finding lexical cohesion in high and low-
graded lexical cohesion types on the students' narrative writing. The researcher wants to
reveal the reasons why the writing problems exist in lexical cohesion and also to find out
what way that the students will use to solve the lexical types in writing narrative text. The
present research uses the types of lexical cohesion as proposed by Halliday and Matthiensen
(2014). The lexical cohesion items consist of repetition, synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy,
and meronymy. The data of this research are derived from students' writing through writing
research papers. The results show that repetition becomes the highest occurrence in the
students' writing as there are 240 occurrences (64%) in total types of lexical. Nevertheless,
the least kind of lexical cohesion is hyponymy. There are only 20 occurrences (6,6%)

The second researcher are Vivi Yulia Pratiwi, Yeni Dwi Jayanti, Isry Laila Syathroh
(2019) The purpose of this study is to describe kinds of lexical cohesion and to know frequent
lexical cohesion used to support the cohesiveness of discourse in Justin Bieber and Jaden
Smith’s song entitled “Never Say Never”. The subject of this study is “Never Say Never”
song lyrics. This study uses descriptive qualitative that focuses on lexical cohesion in
particular synonym, repetition (anaphora and epistrophe repetition) and antonym. The
instrument that the researchers used are books, earphone, Youtube and other supporting tools.
From this study, the result shows that the lyrics of “Never Say Never” song contains eleven
forms of lexical cohesion, consisting of two synonyms, seven repetitions, and two antonyms.
So the most frequent occurrence in the data is repetition. The function of lexical cohesion is
to make the lyrics have harmonization that makes the lyrics more meaningful.
 The third researcher are Dinda Amalia, Didin Nuruddin Hidayat (2020) This study
aims to examine the use of lexical elements in kid talks. The researchers are interested in
Mila Stauffer because her Instagram videos have many viewers and comments. The data of
the study were collected through the Instagram account, Kcstauffer. The researchers applied a
quantitative method in analyzing the lexical cohesion. Furthermore, the lexical cohesion
analysis proposed by Halliday & Hasan has been used in the present study. The study
revealed that, as analyzed from Mila’s talk, there are differences between kids and adults in
terms of the use of repetition. Further, repetition plays an important role in kids talk; one of
which is to achieve cohesiveness in speaking. On the other hand, the least lexical cohesive
devices used in a kid talk is superordinate.

The fourth researcher is Ni Putu Dyah Damayanti Irawan, this research aims to
examine the use of lexical elements in the lyrics of The Script’s song. Descriptive qualitative
is used in this research. This research describes the types of cohesion lexical, namely the
reiteration and collocation contained and uses the theory of lexical cohesion according to
Halliday and Hasan (1979). The results of the study concluded that in In the lyrics there are
sixteen elements of lexical cohesion, consisting of forms repetition, synonymy, hyponymy,
common words and collocations. Function of use the lexical cohesion is to make the text have
harmonization as well as binder so that the text has meaning.

The fifth researcher are Nico Harared, Irfan Hadi (2021) This research aims at
describing semantic relation in Nadiem Makarim speech on Teacher’s Day in 2019. The
method of the research employs qualitative descriptive which is describing some matters
relating to the problem found in the data source. The data was taken from Nadiem Makarim’s
speech. Observational method with note-taking, watching are used to collect data. The writer
uses semantic relation’s theory that covers synonymy, antonymy, metonymy, polysemy,
hyponymy and collocations. The result shows semantic relation in Nadiem Makarim’s speech
on Teacher’s Day 2019 in general. There are six semantic relations such as synonymy,
antonymy, metonymy, polysemy, hyponymy and collocations. For the details, in the form of
12 synonymy, 10 antonymy, 7 metonymy,6 polysemy, 6 hyponymy and 8 collocations. This
speech shows the existence of semantic relation in theoretically and practically.

The sixth researcher are Episiasi, Wuri Syaputri, Suramto, Destina Kasriyati (2022)
This research aims to determine the lexical and grammatical cohesion of abstracts of STKIP
PGRI Lubuklinggau students. The method used is a qualitative case study. The results
showed that students made ungrammatical sentences, wrong prepositions, spelling errors, and
improper cohesive devices. In conclusion, lexical and grammatical cohesion is used in the
abstract. The repetition of words in lexical cohesion keeps the reader on track, while
grammatical cohesion is used to describe available references, conjunctions, substitutions to
make a good abstract.

2.2 Related Theories

A. Discourse

Phonemes, morphemes, words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs are all linguistic support
units found at the discourse level of language. According to Nunan (1993: 6), some people
argue that discourse represents language in action, while a text is the written record of
interaction. In addition, Chaily (as citied in Vivi Yulia Pratiwi, Yeni Dwi Jayanti, Isry Laila
Syathroh, 2019) stated that discourse is one of the most complex linguistic elements because
discourse is the linguistic level that has the most complete language unit and is the highest
and largest grammatical unit.

Discourse is the way that people in a culture use language to communicate with one another
on a daily basis. The way language is used in speech can be used to identify the unspoken
social norms that determine appropriate communication. Discourse can take on any form,
including simple words, chats, announcements, and texts. According to Crystal (citied in
Jamilah 2009) discourse is a continuous stretch of (especially spoken) language larger than a
sentence, often constituting a coherent unit, such as a sermon, argument, joke or narrative

B. Lexical Cohesion

In order to have cohesion, a text's meanings must be related. Because a text is a unit of
meaning rather than a form, it establishes what is and is not a text. Cohesion provides the
textual means for initiating comprehension or sense (Taboada, 2004). Cohesion is the obvious
relationship between ideas stated in phrases. Without reference to the illocutionary acts being
used, cohesion is a propositional relationship between sentences that is established by formal
syntactic and semantic signals.

Lexical cohesion is the term used to describe the relationship between meaning and
vocabulary used in a writing. Moreover, Halliday and Hasan (as citied in Ni Putu Dyah
Damayanti Irawan) stated that Lexical Cohesion is a group of words which is lexically
cohesive when all of the words are semantically related; for example, when they are all
concerned with the same topic.

There are two functions of lexical cohesion. First, it aims to connect word and word, phrase
and phrase in a spoken and written discourse. Second, it signifies the co-occurrence of words
whose meanings are similar in the same scope (Halliday and Hasan, 1976). In this research,
mostly based on Halliday and Hasan (1976), lexical cohesion is separated into seven
components: repetition, synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, hypernymy, meronymy, and
holonymy.

2.3 Theoretical Framework

The researcher aims to identify lexical elements in the lyrics Eminem’s Music To Be
Murdered By. Basically, the lyrics are parts of the discourse too and the researcher realized
there are lexical cohesion elements contained in the lyrics. The writer introduces a unique
comparison to help reader understand Eminem's way of writing songs. It's like comparing
Eminem’s lyrics to a complicated maze, rather than a simple line of words. This research
explains the main idea by focusing on how complex and multi-layered the words in his album
"Music To Be Murdered By" are. It suggests that Eminem's lyrics are more than just words
put together randomly. Instead, they are carefully planned and have many layers of meaning
that are interesting to explore. This different perspective makes it stand out from other
research and encourages people to study Eminem's lyrics more deeply for educational
purposes.
 CHAPTER III

Research Method

3.1 Research Approach

This research method is descriptive qualitative research since it was able to identify and
analyze lexical cohesiveness in the lyrics from Eminem's "Music To Be Murdered By"
album. The method of descriptive qualitative research includes collecting, arranging, and
analyzing data. According to Sugiyono (2005) states that descriptive method is a method used
to describe or analyze a research result but not used to make broader conclusions.

3.2 Data & Source of Data

The data for this research was derived from the lyrics of the Eminem's "Music To Be
Murdered By" album. The data source was used to display the many types of lexical cohesion
and how they are applied in the lyrics of Eminem's song.

3.3 Technique of Collecting Data

The data were collected from the internet the lyrics of the Eminem's "Music To Be Murdered
By" album. This research does not require any participants to interact.

3.4 Technique of Analyzing Data

The data in this study were qualitatively examined using Halliday and Hasan's theory of
cohesion from their book Cohesion in English (1976). Based on descriptive qualitative
method and the data that used, the researchers use document analysis technique to collect the
data. Procedure of this study are : 1) Looking for the data that will be the object of the
research. 2) Determine the object of the research. 3) Identify the data which is a marker of
lexical cohesion 4) Classify markers of the data 5) Analyzing and create the description use
of lexical cohesion.
 CHAPTER IV

Analysis

In this chapter the researcher analyzed types of lexical cohesion in Eminem's "Music To Be
Murdered By" album. Song tends to use repetitive words to make the song sound catchy,
which is one of the features in Lexical Cohesion.

Data 1

Eminem – Unaccommodating (1:22 - 1:25)

“Get the plunger (plunger) 'cause Marshall and M.A go plum crazy”

In this data, "plunger" and "plum" may not necessarily create lexical cohesion by itself, but it
is a form of sound-based repetition or phonological repetition. This type of repetition
emphasizes the sound of the words rather than their meaning, and it can create a pleasing or
attention-grabbing effect in the listener. "Plunger" refers to a tool used to unclog drains, while
"plum" refers to a type of fruit. By repeating these words, Eminem creates a playful and
humorous effect, and the reference to the tool "plunger" fits with the metaphorical idea of
Eminem and M.A. clearing out the competition with their rhymes. In the case of "plunger"
and "plum," the repetition serves to create a wordplay or pun, as both words have a similar
sound but different meanings.

Data 2

Eminem – Unaccommodating (1:25 – 1:27)

“Call us liquid plumber, 'cause even Dre know”

In this data, "liquid plumber" made up of two words that are used together to create a new
concept. the two words "liquid" and "plumber" are combined to refer to a brand of drain-
cleaning product. Eminem uses this collocation as a play on words to emphasize the potency
of his rapping style, suggesting that his lyrics can unclog even the toughest blockages in the
music industry.

Data 3

Eminem – Unaccommodating (1:20 – 1:22)

“On my petty shit but I don't paint toes (yeah)”

In this data, "Petty shit" and "paint toes" can be considered an example of lexical cohesion
through collocation. While they don't have an obvious semantic connection, they are
commonly used together in the slang term "painting toes" which refers to a pedicure or the
act of applying nail polish to the toes. "Petty shit" in this context can be interpreted as
something trivial or insignificant, such as painting one's toes. In the context of the lyrics,
Eminem is saying that he is focused on more important things than painting his toes or other
trivial matters, as he is "on his petty shit" but not "painting toes." This juxtaposition
highlights his commitment to his craft and his disdain for those who focus on superficial or
unimportant matters.

Data 4

Eminem – Unaccommodating (1:17 – 1:19)

“Game over, Thanos on you H-O's”

In this data, "Game over" and "Thanos on you H-O's" form a collocation that creates a
cohesive device in the text. "Game over" is a phrase commonly used to signal the end of a
game or competition, while "Thanos" is a fictional character from the Marvel universe who is
known for his immense power and ability to eliminate his enemies with a snap of his fingers.
In the context of the lyrics, the phrase "Thanos on you H-O's" can be interpreted as a boastful
declaration that the speaker (Eminem) and his collaborator (M.A) have defeated their
opponents and come out on top, much like how Thanos would eliminate his enemies. The use
of these two phrases together creates a cohesive effect, as they both express the idea of
winning or being victorious. This cohesive effect contributes to the overall message of the
song, which is that Eminem and M.A are at the top of their game and are not to be
underestimated.

Data 5

Eminem - Marsh (0:05-0:07)

"startin' to sound like ALF a bit"

In this data, the phrase "startin' to sound like ALF a bit" creates cohesion device which is
synonymy between "A-B-C shit" and "ALF." ALF was a character on a TV show who spoke
in a strange language, so the comparison implies that the speaker is also speaking in a strange
way due to the "A-B-C shit."

Data 6

Eminem – Marsh (0:33 – 0.36)

“But the word, "Fuckin' ain't meant to be a descriptive word”

In this data, The term ain't (a colloquial contraction of "is not") is used in conjunction with
the word "Fuckin'," creating an antonymous relationship. While "Fuckin'" is likely intended
for emphasis or as a strong expression, the subsequent statement negates its role as a
descriptive word. This antonymous connection contrasts the expectation that "Fuckin'" might
serve a descriptive purpose, contributing to the cohesion by playing with the reader's
assumptions and creating a nuanced meaning.

Data 7

Eminem – Darkness (

“It's like the walls are closin' in"

In this data, the use of the phrase "walls are closin' in" establishes lexical cohesion through
synonymy. In this context, "walls" are used as a metaphor for confinement or pressure. The
synonymy lies in the similar meaning conveyed by "closin' in" and "closing in." This
repetition or synonymous expression creates a cohesive tie by reinforcing the idea of
increasing encumbrance or emotional distress. The lexical cohesion contributes to the vivid
portrayal of a challenging or claustrophobic situation.