Deixis used in the headlines of suara merdeka

ABSTRACT

This study is focused on analyzing the deixis on the headlines of Suara Merdeka using theory of Stephen c. Levinson. Deixis is a part of discourse analysis study and concerned with the meaning that is inferred from an utterance or sentence but that is not condition for the truth of the utterance or sentence. Deixis concerns the ways in which languages encode, features of the context of utterance and thus also concerns ways in which the interpretation of utterances depends on the analysis of that context of utterance. The headline is as the core of information in the newspaper written in the forms of sentence and messages are often conveyed implicitly. It is the information center, which should be written in short sentences, clearly and full of meaning, and also interesting. Based on that . background, the research on deixis used in the headline of Suara Merdeka is conducted with the proposed problem; ”how are the deixis expressed in the headlines of Suara Merdeka?”

This study is classified as a descriptive qualitative method, because the data of this study are in the forms of utterances or words in headlines of Suara Merdeka. The data were selected from the headlines of Suara Merdeka from May Ist to 31st, 2005 which contain of five part of deixis; person, place, time, discourse and social dexis. The data are explained descriptively.

Data analysis revealed the findings covering the proposed problem. The deixis used in the headlines of Suara Merdeka are in the form of person, place, time, discourse, and social deixis. The third person deixis is expressed when the journalist wants to show the people who do not refer to the speaker or addressee. Place deixis is expressed to describe a location relative to the location of participants on the headlines. Meanwhile, Time deixis is expressed when the journalists want to show the certain time when utterances occur on the headlines. In addition discourse deixis is expressed to refer to some portion of discourse that contains the utterance as a signal and its relation to surrounding text. Furthermore, social deixis is expressed to indicate the distinction social roles between participants.

Based on these findings, it is suggested for the journalist to comprehend and consider the deixis types when they write the headlines. In addition, it is also recommended for the future researchers to conduct the research using deixis in other fields, like in daily conversation or any literary work.