THE SPEECH ACT OF COMPLAINTS IN FORD’S NOCTURNAL ANIMALS: A PRAGMATIC STUDY

Devi Anisa Jekti

Abstract


Abstract

This research is a pragmatic study which focuses on the application of complaint speech act by the characters in Nocturnal Animals. The research objectives are to identify the strategies and to reveal the functions of complaint speech act. The pragmatic approach is used as it is concerned with the study of meaning as communicated by the speaker and interpreted by the listener.

This research uses qualitative method to examine data which were in the form of utterances spoken by the characters. It adopts the note taking and textual analysis for collecting and analyzing the data. Moreover, the research applies the data sheet as the instrument of this research; and data peer review triangulation to validate the data.

The results of the research are shown as follows. Firstly, there are four strategies employed by the characters in Nocturnal Animals, namely no explicit reproach, expression of annoyance and disapproval, accusation, and blame. Secondly, the functions of complaint act revealed in the movie are complaint acts as request for repair, as a threat, and as request for forbearance. Overall, the findings suggest that the characters’s complaint acts perform different functions depending on the situational context.

 

Keywords: Pragmatics, complaint act, Nocturnal Animals

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References


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