CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Semantics Theory
Semantics is a branch of Linguistics. Semantics is generally defined as the study of
meaning. Semantics (Greek Semantikos, to signify, giving signs, significant, symptomatic
from sema, sign) refer to the aspects of meaning that are expressed in a language, code or
other from representation (Peregrine, 2003:3).
Semantics has long been an object of study within the philosophy. It is that said that
the term semantics itself was introduced into English at the end of the 19th century. It means
that Semantics in term of historical or the study about the historical changes of meaning.
Then it is change until the publication of Bearl’s book in 1900. Since then Semantics has
been recognized as one of the linguistics studies and knows as a scientific study of meaning
in language
There are some definitions of Semantics proposed by the linguistics as follows:
1. Katz (1972) says; “Semantics is the study of linguistics meaning. It is concerned with
what sentences and other linguist object express, not with the arrangement of their
syntactic parts or with their pronunciation”.
2. Palmer (1976:1) says;”semantics is the technical term used to refer to the study of
meaning”
3. Leech (1976:ix) defines; “Semantics as the study of meaning is central to the study of
communication; and as communication becomes more and more a crucial factor in
Semantics is also the centre of the study of human mind thought processes,
cognitions, and conceptualization”
4. Saeed (1974:3) defines; “Semantics is the study of meaning communicated through
language and Semantics is the study of meanings of words and sentences”.
The explanation by this entire expert, I conclude that Semantics is the branch of
linguistics which is studying about the meaning in a language where as the meaning have
relation between the sentence and other linguistics.
The subject of semantics by a method of elimination informally paraphrased as
follow:
a. The aim of linguistics is to give an account of a person’s mastery his
native tongue,
b. Semantics has to account for those aspects of this mystery not
accounted for its grammar,
c. The following skills fall into the category that is mentioned in the
2.2 The Scope of Semantics
The scope of semantics is about the meaning itself in linguistics. Meaning of
linguistics object can be various. Some peoples may have different analysis on the meaning
of linguistics object because there is no general agreement about the nature of meaning or the
way in which it should be described. No one knows facts of meaning are relevant to
semantics when adequate Semantics description of a natural language must record the first of
the meaning.
The study of meaning become significant at the early twentieth century, many
linguists study language without reference to meaning. A linguist description tends to reduce
into three are the least two major approaches to the way in which meaning in language is
studied, each of which is often very influential in determining which facts of meaning are
relevant for Semantics.
There are various approaches to semantics but there are three basic terms that have
been widely mention in each of the approaches, they are: meaning, sense, and reference.
2.3 Meaning
Meaning plays a very important role in communication. There would be no language
without meaning. The word meaning has a number of definitions by the Semanticist. Some of
them are as follows;
Leech (1976) notes three points of meaning, they are;
1) Meaning involves to the speaker’s attention to convey a certain meaning that
may be or may not be evidence from the meaning itself.
3) Meaning in the sense is something, which is performed rather than something
that exists in a static way. It involves action (the speaker produces and effect
on the hearer) and interaction (the meaning being negotiated between the
speaker and the hearer on the basis of their mutual language.)
Richard (1985:172) states “meaning is what language expresses about the world we
live in or any possible or imagery word”.
Lyons (1977:2) says that “the meaning can be distinguished by the technique of
substituting other words in the same context and enquiry whether the resulting
sentences are equivalent”.
2.4 Sense and Reference
Word and phrases normally both have sense and reference. In order to have a better
understanding of word and references, there should be a distinction between its sense and
reference. According to Frege, a German philosopher and mathematician, the sense of a word
is the additional meaning attached to the word. Other linguists who contributed the meaning
of sense and reference in his book Lyons (1997:197) says “sense is the term used by a
number of philosopher for what others would describe simply as their meaning or perhaps
more their cognitive or descriptive meaning”.
According to Palmer (1976:30), “reference deals with the relationship with between
the linguistic elements, words, sentence, etc, and the nonlinguistic world of experience. Sense
related to the complex system of relationships that hold between the linguistics elements
The difference of sense and reference can be seen in the phrase “the man who is my
father” and “the man who married my mother”. Both of these sentences have the same
reference; they refer to ‘my mother’s husband’. Nevertheless, the sentences of those phrases
are difficult. The first phrase refers to ‘the person who is my (biological) father’, while the
second one refers to ‘the person who necessarily my father’.
Another example is:
‘The present King of Indonesia is bald’
We have no trouble comprehending the meaning of this sentence has a sense, but
hasn’t reference.
2.5 Goal of Semantics
According to Leech (1981:20-21), there are two questions which must be answered
concerning with the goals of semantics theory; what should a semantics theory do and how
should it do it?
A semantics theory should attribute to each expression in the language which the
semantics properties and relations.
The answer to the second question is that a semantics theory should have at least two
kinds of constraints:
1. Semantics theory of natural language should be finite; people are capable of
storing only a finite amount of formation but they nevertheless learn the
2. Semantics theory of natural language should reflect the fact, except for the
idioms, expression are compositional. This means that their meaning is
determined by the meaning of its constituents and their grammatically
relations.
2.6 Varieties of Meaning
The linguists have classified the meaning based on different point of view and
deliberation. These varieties of meaning can be explained in the following explanations:
2.6.1 Linguistic Meaning
Linguistic meaning is a kind of meaning which is used to express the simple meaning
of the expression in the some form of language. For example, in one form of language, which
is knows as a Standard English, the word “run” means something different in each of the
sentences below:
I like to run (run means walk fast)
Don’t worry, I can run my own race (run means I can solve the problem without
others help)
According to those examples above of the words “run” has more than one linguistics
meaning. The linguistics meaning is divided into two meaning; they are idiolect and dialect
meaning. Idiolect meaning of a word is a meaning that relates to particular person who utter
it. Dialect meaning is meaning which the differences depend on the regional and the social
2.6.2 Speaker Meaning
The speaker meaning is a kind of meaning to express what speaker means in
producing an utterance. For example in saying “you are clever” the speaker may mean “you
are bright (intelligent) because the word “clever” means “bright mentally” or “have
intelligence” in English or he may means the opposite of the word means examples “you are
stupid”
Based on the people’s way of speaking, we can divide speaker meaning into two
different types, they are: Literal and Non-literal meaning.
2.7 Literal and Non-literal Meaning
Literal meaning is a kind of meaning which the meaning is what the word means or a
meaning without any other meaning besides its meaning. Therefore, there will be no
differences between the linguistic meaning and speaker’s meaning. Sometimes, a listener is
easy to understand what someone means, but in particular condition, there are possibilities
that the listener might have difficulties to understand the utterance although what the
speaker’s means is what the word really means lexically because there are limitation of the
hearer’s ability. The particular reason is related to whether the speaker uses his/her sentence
without any hidden meaning in his/her sentences. It is reasonable to call it literal meaning.
In other word, literal meaning is also mean true meaning. For example, someone is
saying “she is a stupid girl”. In case of literal meaning, the speaker really means that the girl
is lazy or not smart. The speaker means exactly what his word means without having hidden
meaning or particular intention when saying the words. As long as the speaker does not have
Non-literal meaning is a kind of meaning which means something different from
what the word means. Non-literal meaning occurs when the speaker means different from the
word or sentences really means. In the other words, when a speaker speak a word or a
sentence, which implies the different meaning from its real meaning and that is the time for
the speaker to speak non literally. In addition, the word or sentence which is spoken by the
speaker had hidden meaning besides the lexical meaning.
Saeed (1974:16) Says: “non-literal uses of language are traditionally called figurative
and are described by a host of rhetorical terms including Metaphor, irony, metonymy,
synecdoche, hyperbole, and litotes.
Figurative language is used to express or utter an idea or thought in order to make the
sentences attractive to be read and it can stimulate the emoticon of the reader or listener and
also to make the sentence beautiful and flowery.
There are several types of non-literal meaning or figurative language expression,
namely: personification, irony, simile, litotes, hyperbole and metaphor.
2.7.1 Personification
Personification consists of giving the human characteristic to an object.
Personification originally come from Latin word ‘persona’ meaning ‘person’, ‘actor’ or mask
used in the theater and ‘fic’ means to make.
Shaw (1927 : 283) says, “Personification is a figure of speech which abstraction,
Keraf ( 1980 : 244) states, “Personifikasi adalah gaya bahasa yang melekatkan
sifat-sifat insane kepada barang yang tidak bernyawa dan ide yang abstrak”
For example:
“The stars are envious of your eyes”. The word ‘stars’ is the inanimate object is
depicted as human. Stars are envious of your eyes, because her eyes are more beautiful than
the stars which shine in every night.
“The wind speaks in the whisper”. The word “speak” is the characteristic of human,
and to be able to speak it need the mouth to make we can speak, while the wind is not have a
mouth so that it is impossible that the wind can speak in whisper.
2.7.2 Irony
Irony is facetious, sarcastical way of speaking. Gray says (1984 : 108), irony is a
manner of speaking or writing that is dispered through all kinds of literature. Irony consists of
saying one thing while it means other.
Keraf (1980 : 240) states, “irony adalah gaya bahasa yang mengatakan makna yang
betentangan dengan maksud berolok-olok. Irony is a figure of speech when an expression
used is the opposite of the thought in the speaker’s mind, thus conveying a meaning.
Etymologically, the word ‘irony’ derived from the Greek word ‘eironeia’ meaning
‘deception’ or trick’
There is some argument about what qualities as ironic, but all senses of irony revolve
around the perceived notion of an incongruity between what is said and what is said and what
For example:
“Your room is clean”
The expression above can be considered above can be considered as Irony when the
expression above is uttered to the person who has the dirty room.
2.7.3 Simile
Simile is a kind of figurative meaning comparing two essentially unlike things. Simile
expresses a direct comparison between things, which have one or more points in common and
be recognized by the use of the word ‘like’ and ‘as’. The word simile comes from the same
Latin word ‘simile’, which mean ‘like’.
Tarigan (1985 : 9) says that “kata simile berasal dari kata latin yang bermakna
‘seperti’. Simile adalah perbandingan dua hal yang pada hakekatnya berlainan dan yang
dengan sengaja kita anggap sama”.
Barnhart (1995:118) says, “A simile is figurative of speech in which two quite
different things are compared because they appear to be similar in at least on characteristic”.
Simile is also used to add clarify to the language or make it more careful.
For example:
“Her smile was like the sun”
In the expression above consists of simile. Simile and sun is comparing as a subject. Because
the girl was very happy at the time, like the sun shine in the morning, ‘sunny’. It comparison
2.7.4 Litotes
Litotes is a figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is
expressed by negative or opposite. Litotes is a form of understatement always deliberate and
with the intention of subtle emphasis. However, the interpretation of litotes can depend on
context, including cultural context. In speech, it may also depend on intonation and emphasis.
Tarigan (1985 : 58) says that “Litotes adalah sejenis gaya bahasa yang mengandung
pernyataan yang dikecil-kecilkan, dikurangi dari kenyataan yang sebenarnya, misalnya yang
merendahkan diri”.
For example:
“Please come to my little house”
In the expression above the speaker lies about his house because the expression above
shows less than actually the case because actually he has a big and beautiful house.
2.7.5 Hyperbole
Hyperbole is one exaggerated way which consists of an exaggerated statement which
is not meant to be taken literally. Hyperbola is also known as overstatement. The word
hyperbole itself is derived from Greek words ‘hyper’ means over, and, ‘ballein’ means throw.
Hyperbole is usually used to emphasize certain point with a statement containing exaggerates
the number, size or even the quality of something in other to emphasize certain points in
Webster’s Dictionary (1971:112) defined that hyperbole is an extravagant
exaggeration that represent something as much greater or lest, better of worse or more intense
that it really is depicts the impossible as actual.
According to Keraf (1991:135), “Hyperbole adalah semacam gaya bahasa yang
mengandung suatu pernyataan yang berlebihan, dengan membesar-besarkan sesuatu hal”
For example:
- I’m doing over 8000 things right now.
- These books weight a ton.
In the first expression consist of the exaggeration, because the phrase ‘doing over 8000
things’ means she or he is busy.
And in the second expression, the phrase ‘weight a ton’ indicates an exaggeration. Through
the phrase, the speaker wants to emphasize those books are heavy.
2.7.6 Metaphor
Metaphor is a kind of figurative expressions, which a comparison is made between
two objects by identifying one with the other. Etymology metaphor is derived from Greek
words “Metaphor”. Metaphor derives from two words, i.e. ‘meta’ which mean ‘over’ and
‘pherein’ which means to carry. Metaphor simply means carrying from one place to another.
According to Keraf (1980 : 242) states, “Metafora adalah gaya bahasa perbandingan
yang implicit – jadi tanpa kata seperti atau sebagai – diantara dua hal yang berbeda”.
Kennedy (1991:587) “metaphor, a statement that one thing is something else, which,
in a little sense, it is not”. In other words, metaphor compares the two unlike things directly,
different from simile which explicitly shows the similarity between the comparable things by
using conjunctions, like and as. So, instead of saying “Your eyes like the stars”, in metaphor
we say, your eyes are star’.
Barnhart (1995 : 118) says, “A metaphor is figure of speech in which a word or
phrase is taken out of its usual setting and placed with another word to suggest a likeness”. It
is made more vivid by transferring to it the name or attributes of some other objects.
For example:
Christiano Ronaldo is a star for his club Real Madrid
In this sentence, Christiano Ronaldo is directly compared with A star. Christiano
Ronaldo is the best player foot ball that has a good skill and performance in every
competition. Star is used to describe Christiano Ronaldo for his popularity. Therefore he is
considered as a star.
2.8 Advertising
2.8.1 The Understanding of Advertising
Advertising is a business tool used for the promotion of a product, service or even to a
particular group of people. Copywriters create advertising and graphic designers complete it
with their art skill. Media, TV broadcasts, banners, hoardings, etc. are the various means of
advertisement promotion. Internet advertising also is emerging as a popular means of
advertisements.
According to Burke (1980:6) says advertising is a sales message, directed at a mass
audience that seeks through persuasion to sell the goods, services, or ideas on behalf of the
paying sponsor.
According to Sandage, Fryburger and Rotzoll (1983 : 5) says advertisement are most
commonly associated with the mass media of newspaper, magazines, cinema, television, and
radio, although they frequently flourish in other forms such as billboards, posters, and direct
mail as well.
A good advertisement can fulfill our need that are interest to read, look, and even to
buy it. In an idea world every manufacturer would be able to talk one-on-one with every
consumer about the product or service being offered for sale.
Although advertising delivered through interactive technology might be considered
personal rather than mass communication, it is still a far cry from personal selling.
Advertisers can provide more customization through interactive media such as the World
product or service. The key point is that interactive advertising reaches a large audience, just
like traditional advertising.
2.8.2 Types of Advertising
There are six types of advertising, they are: product or brand advertising, sales
promotion advertising, trade advertising, corporate advertising, classified advertising and
retail advertising.
1) Product or Brand Advertising
It is designed to provide consumer with information about a product or service
and translate the product concept into an appealing consumer benefit. Sometimes it
referred to as display advertising because it displays the product for everyone to see.
2) Sales Promotion Advertising
It is attended to create immediate announcement of sale, contest, coupon, or
some other offer.
3) Trade Advertising
Trade advertising for consumer products is directed to the retail trade and
designed to help gain distribution or enlist retail production in a product promotion.
4) Corporate Advertising
Corporate advertising may be undertaken for several reasons, including
financial, political, or public relations, and directed to a variety of publics.
5) Classified Advertising
Classified advertising is the recruitment of employees for specific job
openings. It sometimes referred to as non displaying advertising. It usually segregated
6) Retail Advertising
It is a term reserved for the advertising done by retail stores, usually in the
local media. It generally appears in the form display of advertising which focuses on
the store as a product, or sales promotion advertising which features prices and sales.
2.8.3 Roles of Advertising
Advertising also can be explained in terms of the four roles it plays in business and in
society.
a) The Marketing Role
The marketing role is the process a business uses to satisfy consumer needs and wants
through goods and services. Marketing communication consist of several related
communication techniques, including advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and
personal selling.
b) The Communication Role
A communication role is a form of mass communication. It transmits different types
of market information to match buyers and seller in the market place. Advertising both
informs and transforms the product by creating an image that goes beyond straightforward
facts.
c) The Economic Role
The economic role is the other approach, based on the economics of information
information model is that advertising provides information about alternatives and increases
price elasticity so that a small change in price creates a large chance in product demand.
d) The Social Role
The social role of advertising also has a number of social roles. It informs us about
new and improved products and teaches us how to use these innovations. It helps us
compares products and features and makes informed consumer decisions.
2.8.4 Functions of advertising
An important function of advertising is the identification function, that is, to identify a
product and differentiate it from others; this creates an awareness of the product and provides
a basis for consumers to choose the advertised product over other products this creates an
awareness of the product and provides a basis for consumers to choose the advertised product
over other products. The identification function of advertising includes the ability of
advertising to differentiate a product so that it has its own unique identity or personality.
Advertising permeates the Internet, network television, daily newspapers and roadside
billboards. Products, services and ideas are sold through advertising, enabling businesses to
attract customers for their wares. Internet advertising is rapidly displacing print advertising,
2.8.5 The Media of Advertising
A successful advertising campaign will spread the word about the products and
services attract customers and generate sales.
a) Newspaper
Newspaper advertising can promote business to a wide range of customers.
Display advertisements are placed throughout the paper, while classified listings are
under subject headings in a specific section.
b) Magazine
Advertising in a specialist magazine can reach the target market quickly and
easily. Readers tend to read magazines at their leisure and keep them for longer,
giving your advertisement multiple chances to attract attention.
c) Radio
Advertising on the radio is a great way to reach the target audience. If the
target market listens to a particular station, then regular advertising can attract new
customers. However, sound has its limitations. Listeners can find it difficult to
remember what they have heard and sometimes the impact of radio advertising is lost.
The best way to overcome this is to repeat the message regularly - which increases the
costs significantly.
d) Television
Television has an extensive reach and advertising this way is ideal to a large
market in a large area. Television advertisements have the advantage of sight, sound,
e) Online
Advertising on the internet can be a cost-effective way to attract new
customers. Many customers research businesses online before deciding whom to buy
from.
2.9 Magazines
2.9.1 The Advantage of Magazine
The advantage of magazine advertising are aplenty since advertising techniques are
designed in such a way where the audience is the primary and obvious focus. Who buys
magazines? They see it as a medium that businessmen, well-off people and young adults buy
on a regular monthly basis, because they can afford to, since there is something appealing
about the magazine that draws them to it. Advertisement exposure scores big ones when it
comes to magazines because there are people who buy them and can afford to splurge on
what it is they come across. The advantages are described as follows:
1) A magazine has considerable reach either globally or nationally, appealing to a fan
following that is ready to buy/subscribe to these reads be it monthly or every
quarterly.
2) The advantage of magazine advertisements is the fact that ads can look realistic and
can jump out at readers, because of their glossy detailing and show of colors that calls
for attention.
3) No matter what event date is a fast approaching, magazine know that the focal point
lies now in brands and services that will give consumers a reason to attain these
4) Not all magazines will have random ads splashed across their pages, especially those
with big names in the business. It is a well-planned strategy of assigning only certain
kinds of issues with the right sponsors. For example, youth magazines will have
affordable services / products from brand houses; fashion magazines will have
expensive jewelry and clothes from well-known designers around the world, and so
on.
5) It is true that a lot of people collect magazines therefore lengthening the lifespan of an
ad, which is one of the many objectives of advertising. It gives it the benefit to be
looked upon again and again.
2.9.2 The Disadvantage of Advertisement
Magazine advertising should be a small part of the overall marketing strategy.
Advertising in a consumer magazine allows targeting a specific audience for the products or
services. For example, a fashion magazine geared towards women tends to be a good place to
sell products or services that women will purchase. Magazine advertising should not be the
only source of advertising that use for the product and service. Focusing all of attention on
magazines can cause to miss other segments of target audience. The disadvantages are
described as follows:
1) Advertising in consumer magazines can be costly. The cost for prime space in
a magazine with a high readership can be too costly for start-up businesses and
those with small advertising budgets.
2) In magazines, it is necessary to plan and prepare advertisements months in
will not see the advertisement for months after we have committed the time
and money to the advertisement.
3) When advertising in magazines, we will not have control of the placement of
our advertisement in relation to features and stories contained in the
publication. This lack of flexibility can affect the way readers of the
publication view our advertisement.
