Speech acts used by the Main Character of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie

ABSTRACT

A speaker who wants to speak does not simply use sentences that have certain sense and reference. Rather, it is to produce sentences with a view of contributing a particular type of interactional communication. It means that saying something, also doing something is called speech act. By taking account of Searle's theory of speech acts and felicity conditions, this study is focused on analyzing the speech act used by the main character of “Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince” movie.

This research is conducted using a descriptive qualitative method based on Searle’s speech act theory. The data are in the forms of utterances produced by the main character of “Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince” movie. The utterances produced are analyzed firstly by using the felicity condition theory including the propositional content, the preparatory condition, the sincerity condition and the essential condition. After that, the speech act are identified in term of the propositional act, the utterance act, illocutionary act, and the perlocutionary act.

Based on the findings in this research, it is found that type of speech acts used by the main character especially in the conversation of the main chaacter from “Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince” movie, are representatives, directives, expressive, declarative, verdictive, and commissive. The researcher also found the directives is the type of speech acts of question, command, recommend, expectation, inviting and permitting. Secondly, it is found commissive of refusing, agreeing, promising, consenting, threatening and guaranteeing. Thirdly is representatives (also known as “Assertives”), the researcher found representative of telling, explaining , stating, affirming, emphasizing, answering, confiding, insisting, attesting, claiming and remembering. Fourthly, expressives, the researcher found the types of expressive in the form of consoling, amazed, thanking and deploring. Fifthly, verdictives, I found this type in form of assessing. Sixty is declaratives are the prototypical speech act. The researcher found this type just in the form of resigning. Furthermore, in here, I only found the type of verdictive and declarative one of them.

I suggested to future researchers to continue in conducting the research about speech acts because there are areas which is possible to be investigated and it much better when the other researchers can found more example in other type of illocutionary especially in verdictive and declarative, in this research just found one of them.