Linguistic Aspects Found In Riddles.

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Maranatha Christian University ii

ABSTRACT

Topik skripsi ini adalah Linguistic Aspects found in Riddles. Teka-teki dalam Bahasa Indonesia adalah teka-teki. Ketika membaca teka-teki, seringkali kita tidak menyadari keberadaan aspek-aspek bahasa. Melalui skripsi ini, saya akan menggali lebih dalam mengenai unsur-unsur linguistik yang ditemukan di dalam teka-teki sehingga para pembaca sadar akan keberadaan aspek bahasa dan mengerti makna dari teka-teki.

Saya mencari hubungan antara teori linguistik dengan analisis teka-teki. Saya mencari data yang dibutuhkan dalam penulisan skripsi ini. Akhirnya, saya mendapatkan data yang mengandung unsur-unsur bahasa yang kemudian dapat dianalisis dengan menggunakan teori-teori Semantics, Pragmatics, dan Phonology.

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27

APPENDICES

Spoken riddles:

1. Q. Where do you find giant snails? A. On the end of their fingers.

2. Q: What do you call a deer with no eyes? A: No idea

Written riddles:

1. Q. Why the man made a bow? A. Because of his shoelaces

2. Q. Why is number six afraid? A. Because seven eight nine

3. Q: Why did the tomato blush? A: Because it saw the salad dressing

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28 5. Q: Why is the A like a flower? A: Because the B is after it.

6. Q: What four letters frighten a thief? A: O.I.C.U.

Spoken and Written Riddle:

1. Q: Why did the golfer take an extra pair of pants for his Saturday round of golf?

A: In case he got a hole in one

2. Q: Why did Mickey Mouse go to outer space? A: To find Pluto

3. Q: What vegetable goes in a cake that you bake for Lassie? A: Collie flour……..

4. Q. What is the difference between here and there? A. The letter T

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29 6. Q. How many letters are in the alphabet?

A. 11

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Maranatha Christian University 1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1Background of the Study

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game. It is not easy to create riddles; many people have difficulty in creating riddles because it involves some linguistics aspects” (http://www.geocities.com/d_champions_hall/ezine/article2.htm).

The topic of my thesis is Linguistic Aspects found in Riddles. Since people have language perception which enables them to analyse and identify words or sentences with certain meanings, I choose this topic to make people realize the existence of linguistic aspects in riddles. Linguistic aspects can help the readers to analyze and to identify words which have a certain meaning in riddles; as a result, the readers will understand the riddles more.

In understanding riddles we need language perception. An accomplishment of our perceptual system is based on figure/ground segregation. Figure/ground segregation is the basic theory in understanding riddles.

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Schmid: 157). According to Ungerer and Schmid, the picture above confirms the perceptual prominence of the picture. The factor in making the choice of the figure is up to the observer because it is the matter of personal taste (p.157). If the observer can easily switch between the two ways of looking at the picture than they will find the amusing thing in the picture (Ungerer and Schmid: 156).

This topic belongs to Semantics, Pragmatics and Phonology. “Semantics is the study of the linguistic meaning of morphemes, words, phrases, and sentences” (Fromkin and Rodman: 158). According to them, there are two subfields of Semantics: Lexical Semantics (Word Meaning) and Sentential Semantics (p.158). “Pragmatics is the study of meaning as communicated by a speaker and interpreted by a listener” (Yule: 3). “Phonology is the study of the sound system of human languages” (Fromkin and Rodman: 253/303). In writing this thesis, I relate the data to the language perception which is the part of language processes. Language perception will help the reader to get the idea and to understand the meaning of the riddles.

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I choose Semantics, Pragmatics, and Phonology as the theories of my thesis because those theories play a dominant role in creating riddles. Therefore, I think those linguistic fields are important theories in riddles. The words or phrases in riddles which contain Semantics, Pragmatics and Phonology are used to trick the listener’s ears and make the riddles become unique and funny.

In analyzing the data I choose homophone, homograph, syntactic ambiguity, juncture, reference, and background knowledge as the specific theories. Through those theories the readers can see the whole content of the riddles; thus the readers will be able to understand the meaning of the riddles. The readers will know that different words can have same pronunciation, while the same word can have a different pronunciation and meaning. We will know that sentences and phrases can be interpreted in more than one meaning. Through those theories we will understand about the relationship between one sound and the sounds that immediately precede and follow it and we will also know that someone or something can be referred to a certain meaning. We are able to find the amusing answer to the riddles if we understand those theories.

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that they find not only funny things but also some linguistic aspects from Semantics, Pragmatics, and Phonology.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The problems that I am going to analyze in my research are:

1. Which words / phrases in the riddles undergo linguistic processes?

2. What are the linguistic aspects that occur in the phrases and words in the riddles?

3. How do these aspects make the riddles unique and funny?

1.3 Purpose of the Study

In this thesis I would like:

1. To show the words / phrases in the riddles that undergo linguistic processes.

2. To know the linguistic aspects that occur in the phrases and words in the riddles

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1.4 Methods of Research

In doing this research I follow some steps: First of all, I search for some riddles in the Internet, and then I classify them based on the linguistic processes. After that, I analyze the data by using the theory of Semantics, Pragmatics, and Phonology. Finally, I write a research report.

1.5 Organization of the Thesis

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CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

As we know, riddle is a guessing game which has an amusing answer and involves skills when reading it. The readers have to be careful in answering the riddle. Some people have difficulties in appreciating riddles because they involve some linguistic aspects. In reading riddles sometimes we do not realize that there are some linguistic fields involved, such as Semantics, Pragmatics and Phonology.

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In my opinion, language perception not only helps readers get the meaning of riddles but also creates an amusing and unique thing in riddles.

As it is explained in Chapter I, an accomplishment of our perceptual system is based on figure/ground segregation. It is important for us to understand figure and ground; because they also help the readers find the unique thing in riddles. The reason why figure and ground are important in riddles is that through figure and ground the readers can see the two sides of the riddles, and if they can easily switch between the words, then the riddles will become unique and enjoyable.

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From the analysis, we know that riddles deal with pun in both questions and answers, and most of them use linguistic fields such as: Semantics, Pragmatics and Phonology. After I have analyzed the role of linguistic aspects in riddles, I conclude that linguistic aspects have an important role in riddles. Most of riddles are based on the linguistic aspects, especially homophones, homographs, syntactic ambiguity, reference, background knowledge, and juncture. Through linguistic aspects, the readers will understand riddles more and they also help the readers find the idea of riddles.

Since linguistic aspects have an important role in riddles, I think the readers have to understand them. I conclude that linguistic aspects are important for us in understanding the idea of riddles. If we understand the idea of each word in riddles, we will understand the whole idea of riddles and we will find the unique and funny things in riddles. If we do not know the idea of each word in riddles, certainly we will find difficulties in understanding the whole idea of riddles.

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have wrong interpretations. It is better for the readers to understand linguistic aspects, because they will help them find the idea of the riddles and find amusing answers.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Caron, Jean. An Introduction to Psycholinguistics. UK: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1992.

Clark, H.H. and Clark, E.V. Psychology and Language: An Introduction to Psycholinguistics. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc, 1977.

Fromkin, Victoria and Rodman, Robert. An Introduction to Language. USA: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1998.

Riddles.com:NIEHS Kids Riddles. 2007. 08 September 2007 <http://www.kidworkers.com/kidz_downloads/KidZ%20Musi

Roach, Peter. English Phonetics and Phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Ungerer, F and Schmid, H.J. An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics. UK: Addison Wesley Longman Limited, 1996.