CHAPTER II REVIEW of RELATED LITERATURES in This Chapter, The
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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURES In this chapter, the researcher presents some related theories in order to support the research. It consists of Sociolinguistics, taboo, taboo words, taboo act, types of taboo words, song lyrics, and Rich Brian “The Sailor” album. 2.1 Sociolinguistics Sociolinguistics is an exceptionally spacious field of study that can be used to depict several ways of learning languages (Meyerhoff, 2011). Abdurrahman (2011) states that in Sociolinguistics it will be explained about language character, language variety, the use of language, and also the language function in society; where the language itself is a media to deliver and express ideas to other people. Furthermore, Sociolinguistics also has a purpose in the discussion of language literature, which is to furnish an overview of the language in certain social conditions. Wardaugh (2015) elucidates that Sociolinguistics examines humans in everyday lives – the way language works in society as well as the existence of social norms, policies, and also laws that related to the language. Furthermore, in Sociolinguistics, language is not only seen as an individual symptom, but it also can be seen as a social phenomenon because humans are social creatures that cannot be separated from their social groups. From the statement above, it can be concluded that Sociolinguistics constitutes an interdisciplinary study that discusses language relationships with social, situational, and also cultural aspects. 8 Hence, people have to pay attention to these aspects if what they want to speak in society, it will diminish the mistakes of language use when communicating with others, for example not uttering impolite language such as taboo (Abdurrahman, 2011). 2.2 Taboo According to Allan & Burridge (2006), everything that is related to the interdiction of behavior that affects daily life is called taboo. The emergence of taboo comes from social constraints on individual behavior constraints that can cause discomfort, danger, or even injury. Taboo can be formed through numerous things such as people who have a relationship with several things like a saint, sacred place, holy grail, people who are very powerful, and have great influence, dangerous creatures, and also diseases. It can also make people put their souls at physical risk, metaphysical, moral, and the actions that can infringe polite behavior. Violation of the taboo will cause illness or death, as well as physical punishment, detention, social exclusion, or just disapproval. Even if someone inadvertently violated taboo, they are at risk of criticism and reproach. As a result, people are more careful in uttering a few words and choosing the appropriate language to use in communication, they also examine politeness and immodesty when they interact with others. 2.2.1 Taboo Words Taboo words are indecorous words that are not allowed to utter in everyday conversation because it relates to harsh meaning. Also, some people assume that taboo words are something that has a negative meaning and emotions 9 to express negative feelings towards others (Putri, D.E., Sembiring, B., Imranuddin, 2019). Furthermore, Fairman (2009) has another idea regarding taboo words: The English word taboo comes from the Tongan word tabu. In the 1770s, Captain James Cook explored the Pacific islands and observed the behavior of the Polynesian people. In their journals, Captain Cook and fellow shipmates recorded taboo as a significant local word meaning forbidden, such as when a thing was not to be eaten, entered, or touched. Likely due to this origin, taboo is a trait often associated with so-called primitive cultures. This is a mistake. Taboo exists in primitive societies and western contemporary ones alike. (p.27) Wardaugh (2006) states that the subjects deemed taboo varied widely, i.e. sex, death, excretion, bodily functions, religious matters, and politics. On the other hand, objects that are taboo or that must be avoided include the mother-in-law, certain game animals, and the use of your left hand (the origin of sinister). Every language has its own restrictions and rules, including the English language. When someone breaks the rules by uttering taboo words, there will be various comments in society. Sometimes, linguistics taboos are broken for several reasons, namely to draw attention to oneself, to show contempt, to be aggressive or provocative, or to mock authority. 10 2.2.2 Taboo Act The concept of taboo is not only in the form of words but also in the form of action. There are various kinds of taboo act that sometimes appear in society. As mentioned by Fairman (2009), taboo act constitute things that are not allowed to be done. Cannibalism, incest, eating or touching effluvia, seeing or imaging bodily fluids (urine, blood, etc.), and plating with feces are several examples of taboo acts. Talking about taboo acts, it has a close relationship with taboo words, because some of the taboo acts are compatible with taboo words. In addition, taboo act can also transform into taboo words, one of the examples is “shit” (emerging from taboo acts which relate to handling feces). 2.2.3 The Types of Taboo Words Battistella (2005) classifies taboo words into four types: epithets, profanity, vulgarity, and obscenity which are explained below. 1. Epithet Epithet is a taboo term that refers to numerous kinds of slurs, for instance, wop, raghead, bitch, and fag. It also refers to race, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality, appearance, disabilities, and other characteristics, i.e. midget, gimp, nigger, and retard (Battistella, 2005). Meanwhile, Jay (2009) explains that epithet constitutes offensive emotional language used to express someone‟s rage, aggravation, frustration, or even surprise in the form of words or phrases. 11 2. Profanity Profanity is defined as a type of taboo words that are based on religious terms. The reason why this type of taboo called religious terms is because profanity is included the foul-mouthed utilization of what is measured to be sacred. Hell, damn, and goddamn are several examples of profanity (Battistella, 2005). Being more detail, Jay (1992) as cited by Ria, Kurniawati, & Hardjanto (2019) assert that this religious taboo used without being worried about the actual religious aim of the words, and people who use this type of taboo do not mean to belittle God or other religious aspects. 3. Vulgarity Vulgarity constitutes a type of taboo words that has the same reference as the other types of taboo words, namely obscenity, where both refer to the words or even expressions related to sex-distinguish anatomy or sexual and excretory function in a coarse way (Battistella, 2005). In vulgarity, taboo words explicitly mention private organs. In addition, Jay (1992) as cited by Jdetawy (2019) states that vulgarity is a word that refers to harsh words that are often associated with the language of under- educated people or reflect the crudeness of street language, such as kiss my ass, dick, etc. 4. Obscenity Obscenity is an expression or words which contain sexual activity and excretory function in a rough way, for example like shit and fuck. 12 Furthermore, Jay (1992) as cited by Jdetawy (2019) states that obscenity categorized as the most offensive word if it is used in public places. 2.3 Song Lyrics According to Cox (2000) song is a combination of words with a melody in a certain rhythmic structure. The words in this context can be arranged into lines of lyric with specific rhyme scheme. Meanwhile, Yastanti & Setiawati (2018) explain about the lyrics as follows: Lyric is a collection of verses and choruses which can be finding in poetry and song. The term lyric originates from Greek word “Lyre”, French “Lyrique”, Classical Latin “Lyricus” and from classical Greek “Lyrikos” which those all have meaning an instrument used by the Grecians to play when reading a poem. By lyrical, a poets or song writers demonstrate specific moods and emotions through words, such as mood to express a range of emotions about life, love, death, or the experience of life. (p. 4) All in all, lyrics are a collection of words or sentence lines arranged based on rhythm and rhyme which are used to express a strong emotion from within a person in an imaginative way. Usually, the lyrics are presented by combining them with certain instruments or melodies to become a song. In short, that lyrics and song can be called as a song lyric. 13 2.4 Rich Brian, “The Sailor” Album According to Wikipedia (2020), Brian Imanuel Soewarno or known as Rich Brian is an Indonesian rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer who was born on September 3, 1999. He is recognized for his viral debut single Dat $tick which was released in 2016. This song caught worldwide attention including the American rappers, i.e. Ghostface Killah, 21 Savage, Tory Lanez, MadeinTYO, and Desiigner through their reaction video uploaded on YouTube. In addition, this song has also received a gold certification from RIAA (The Recording Industry Association of America) on August 22, 2017. Dat $tick is not only the single released by Rich Brian. There are many other singles that have been released by him. Besides, he also released 3 albums; the first album entitled “Amen” was released in 2018, the second album entitled “The Sailor” released in 2019, and the third album entitled “1999” was released in 2020. In this research, researcher will examine taboo words contained in Rich Brian‟s song lyrics on album “The Sailor”. “The Sailor” is Rich Brian‟s second album which has a total of 12 songs in it. These songs are The Sailor, Rapapapa, Yellow, Kids, Drive Safe, Confetti, Vacant, No Worries, 100 Degrees, Slow Down Turbo, Curious, and Where does the time go. This album portrays Rich Brian‟s coming-of-age story, his journey to come out to a new world and look for an opportunity to live a better life.