CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Transcription
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE This chapter discusses the underlying theories related to the nature of themes and idiomatic expressions. The major issues raised here are the definition of theme, the general overview of idiomatic expressions, learning idioms and idiomatic expressions. A. Definition of Theme The theme of a literary work is the central insight or main idea that the writer conveys. Writers express themes in various ways through the plots, character, symbols, or other aspects of the fiction they create. According to several dictionaries, theme can be defined as : (1) (in literature, music, art, etc) a unifying idea, image of motif, repeated or developed throughout a work, (2) A topic of discourse or discussion, often expressible as a phrase, preposition, or question, (3) (in music) a group of notes forming a recognizable melodic unit, often used as the basis of the musical material in aa composition, (4) (linguistics) the first major constituent of a sentence, usually but not necessarily the subject, (5) the dominant or the central idea of the story, or the point the writer is trying to make. 9 In conclusion, the theme of a song can be defined as a unifying idea, image of motif, repeated or developed throughout the song. In determining a theme in a song, keywords can be used. Example 1 It's All Coming Back To Me There were nights when the wind was so cold That my body froze in bed If I just listened to it right outside the window It's all coming back to me (It's all coming back, it's all coming back to me now) There were moments of gold And there were flashes of light There were things I'd never do again But then they'd always seemed right There were days when the sun was so cruel That all the tears turned to dust And I just knew my eyes were drying up forever There were nights of endless pleasure It was more than any laws allow, baby, baby, baby I finished crying in the instant that you left And I can't remember where or when or how And I banished every memory you and I had ever made If I kiss you like this And if you whisper like that It was lost long ago But it's all coming back to me When you touch me like this And you hold me like that I just have to admit That it's all coming back to me If you want me like this And if you need me like that It was dead long ago But it's all coming back to me When I touch you like this And I hold you like that It's so hard to believe but It's so hard to resist And it's all coming back to me I can barely recall But it's all coming back to me now It’s all coming back to me is one of Celine Dion‟s songs in her album Taking Chance which was released in 2007. It tells about someone who hopes that his/her sweet memory with his/her love will come back. There are key words 10 which can be used in determining the theme, e.g. it’s all coming back to me (repeated seven times), baby, there were moment of gold, etc. Example 2 Because You Loved Me Lyrics For all those times you stood by me For all the truth that you made me see For all the joy you brought to my life For all the wrong that you made right You saw the best there was in me Lifted me up when I couldn‟t reach You gave me faith „cause you believed I‟m everything I‟m Because you loved me For every dream you made come true For all the love I found in you I‟ll be forever thankful, baby You were always there for me, The tender wind that carried me the light in the dark shining your love into my life you have been my inspiration through the lies you were the truth My world is a better place because of you You are the one who held me up Never let me fall You‟re the one who saw me through Through it all You were my strength when I was weak You were my voice when I couldn‟t speak You were my eyes when I couldn‟t see You saw the best there was in me you were my strength when I was weak you were my voice when I couldn‟t speak you were my eyes when I couldn‟t see you saw the best there was in me Lifted me up when I coudn‟t reach You gave me faith „cause you believed I‟m eveerything I‟m Becaused you loved me,ooh,baby Lifted me up when I couldn‟t reach You gave me faith „cause you believed I‟m everything I‟m because you loved me You gave me wings and made me fly You touched my hand I could touch the sky I lost my faith, you gave it back to me You said no star was out of reach you were my strength when I was weak you were my voice when I couldn‟t speak you were my eyes when I couldn‟t see you saw the best there was in me You stood by me and I stood tall I had your love, I had it all I‟m grateful for each day you gave me Lifted me up when I couldn‟t reach you gave me faith „cause you believed I‟m everything I‟m because you loved me Maybe, I don‟t know that much But I know this much is true I was blessed because I was loved by you 11 You were my strength when I was weak You were my voice when I couldn‟t speak You were my eyes when I couldn‟t see I‟m everything I‟m becaused you loved me This song (because you loved me) is one of Celine Dion‟s song in her album Taking Chance. This song is about what people feel when they were loved by someone. The keywords that indicate this theme are because you loved me (five times), I was loved by you, the strengthen of love, etc. B. General overview of Idiomatic Expressions 1. Definition of Idiom Idiomatic Language is that which follows the patterns of the everyday discourse of native speakers. In every language there are hundreds of combinations of words, often used figuratively and each having a special significance, which it is very difficult for foreigner to understand because she / he has no similar expression in his / her own language (Storrie, 1991 : 84 ). An idiomatic expression is unique since each language favors certain patterns in the creation of new idioms. However, often it is not subject to any grammatical rule although there are some linguists trying to analize them (Setriatri, 1998 : 10 ). Ball ( 1958 : 1 ) also states that an idiom is a form of expression peculiar or belonging exclusively to the language. And as a result, it is not easy to translate idioms to other language. It is common knowledge that English is highly idiomatic language. It is unique character as an object of study has been the persuit of keen students of 12 English. Particularly those are coming from non English speaking backgrounds. When people still could not speak and understand a foreign language like their native language, it would be difficult for them to learn and use idioms of the foreign language. For example, a foreigner who has learned what hard and upon mean in English will still be confused by the idiom hard upon. Since idioms are conventional rather than logical, they can be learned only by experiencing them not by knowing the rule. For example, there is no rule that will tell us about what verbs will govern what preposition. We can say aim at, abide by, account for, arise from, and adhere to. A dictionary definition of get will be of little use in understanding such phrases as get ahead, get by, get over. It is arbitrary nature of idioms that causes trouble. Usualy, idiom has an informal tone ( Toner, 2003 : 19 ). For example, ‘ I am over the moon to have Miss Cristie as my English teacher,‟ Emily said. Emily is expressing her happines about her teacher. The moon does not have any literal place in what she says. Emily is using an informal, and rather overused, idiomatic expression which is peculiar to English. Idiomatic Expressions sometimes seem to break the accepted rules of grammar, but they are not necessarily to be discarded on this account ( Storrie, 1991 : 86 ). We can say ‘ the play acted so admirably that the author’s fame was assured.’ Here the active verb acted is used in a passive sense ( the play was admirable when it was acted ). Idiom often preserve words and meanings of words that have now passed out of use. For example ‘ to bear in mind .’ Here mind really means memory, which was the original meaning. There are many 13 idiomatic phrases whose origin cannot be traced, yet they are frequently used, for example : to beat hollow, the bitter end. Idioms grammatically as well as semantically, have a special characteristics ( Fromkin, 2003 : 207 ). They must be entered into the lexicon or mental dictionary as single items with their meanings specified, and speakers must learn the special restrictions on their use in sentences. Most idioms originate as methaphorical expressions thatestablish themselves in the language and become frozen in their form and meaning. Idioms and idiomatic phrases are terms used by grammarians, philologists, and lexicographers to explain or to classify the unusual, the illogical, or the peculiar expressions in a language ( Harman, 1950 ). Idiomatic expressions frequently ignore grammatical analysis, and therefore, are not easily translated into other words or phrases in the same language, or into other languages word by word without losing some of its unique meaning. Had better in you had better go at once is an idiomatic expressions. It in it is snowing, there in there is a loaf of bread on the table, and how in how do you do ? in a formal salutation are all idimatic expressions that occur very often in English. It should be understood that the terms idiom and idiomatic expressions describe expressions accepted through custom in usage as good English, eventhough these expressions may not always be used in the general and traditional rules of the English grammar. A traditional definition of idiom runs roughly as follows : an idiom is an expression whose meaning cannot be inferred from the meaning of its parts (Cruse, 1986 : 37). Fortunately it is possible to define an idiom precisely and non 14 circularly using the notion of semantic constituent. We shall require two things of an idiom : first, that it be lexically complex. It should consist of more than one lexical constituent; second, that it should be a single minimal semantic constituent. Briefly, according to Ball (1958 ) there are seven features of language that are embraced by a definition of idiom. (1) Ordinary grammatical usages. Consider, for instance, the tenses used in the following two sentences : It‟s time we went home When you come tomorrow I‟ll pay you back the $ 1 I owe you. Went is a past tense ; come is a present time. But both refer in the context to future situations. The use of do is often highly idiomatic, as, for instance : Do oranges grow on trees? Yes, they do The inversion of verb and suppression of „if‟ in the next sentence is also idiomatic (though the use is not colloquial) : Had you come earlier, you would seen her. (2) Deviations from strict grammar. Many colloquial users are strictly speaking „ungrammatical‟ English. But it must not be assumed that all deviations from grammar are „bad English‟. Thus we normally say „He‟s a friend of mine‟ and not „He‟s a friend of me‟. 15 (3) Allusive expressions. There is a kind of expression that appears to have a straightforward interpretation, but idiomatically means something different. It is usually impossible to guess its meaning, e.g. She‟s quite well-to-do (=She is wealthy). (4) Conventional phrases of many kinds. Most of these are phrases which we use unthinkingly. There is no reason why we should dig deeper into their meaning, but if we did we should find something „peculiar‟ about them. The greeting ‘How do you do?’ (to which the correct response is the same phrase) does not tell us about your health or how you are gretting on. (5) Many uses of phrasal verb. A few eamples of this very important feature of colloquial idiom must suffice : I can‟t make out what he is doing (=understand). How did you make out in your last French examination? (=succeed, do) Will you help me get down those dishes of that shelf. (=bring down) The medicine was so bitter that I couldn‟t get it down. (=swallow) 16 (6) The phenomenon of English word order. Some English sentences have to rely on word order for meaning. For instance, the meaning in the following pairs of sentences. The words are the same but a small alteration in word order makes a big difference in meaning: It may well be ahead of time. (May well be = probably is) It may be well ahead of time. (Well ahead = well in advance of the scheduled time). (7) The picturesque and methaporical types of idiom. Ball (1958 :5 ) states that : “Most foreign students are all too familiar with these. For many students, indeed, idiom is synonymous with the picturesque phrase and the more heavily charged their conversation is with it the better they are pleased. This is a mistake, of course, since English people are less fond of the pictureque idiom than foreign student believe.” Examples of this type of idiom are to beat about the bush (=to delay coming to the point); to be in clover (=to be lucky, in happy circumstance), etc. 2. Types of Idiom Since it is easier to notice verbal idiomatic expressions, the researcher decided to use eight types of idioms by XTAG Research Group (1997). The XTAG Research Group is an Institute For Research in Cognitive Science of University of Pennsylvania. It is an on-going project to develop a wide coverage grammar for English. Those eight types are as follows. 17 (1) Idiom type A consisting of a verb and a noun This type of idiom is composed by a verb and a noun, for example : draw blood (= cause the blood to flow; wound ) v n cry wolf (= give a false alarm) v n (2) Idiom type B consisting of a verb, an adjective, and a noun This type of idiom is composed by a verb, an adjective, and a noun, for example : break new ground (=start to excavate for the foundation or a new building) v adj n have no business (=have no right; prohibit) v adj n (3) Idiom type C consisting of a verb, a determiner, and a noun This type of idiom is composed by a verb, a determiner and a noun, for example : kick the bucket ( =die ) v det n bury the hatchet (=stop quarrelling) v det n (4) Idiom type D consisting of a verb, a determiner, an adjective,and a noun This type of idiom is composed by a verb, a determiner, an adjective and a noun, for example : have a green thumb (=have a marked ability to cause plants to grow) v det adj n 18 sing a different tune (=express a different opinion) v det adj n (5) Idiom type E consisting of a verb, a noun, and a preposition This type of idiom is composed by a verb, a noun, and a preposition, for example : look daggers at v n prep (=to look with hatred or fury at someone) keep track of (=maintain a record) v n prep (6) Idiom type F consisting of a verb, an adjective, a noun, and a preposition This type of idiom is composed by a verb, an adjective, a noun, and a preposition, for example : make short work of v adj n prep turn blind eye to v adj n prep (7) (=do quickly) (=pretend not to notice or know about) Idiom type G consisting of a verb, a determiner, a noun, and a preposition This type of idiom is composed by a verb, a determiner, a noun, and a preposition, for example : Keep an eye on (=keep a watch on) v det n prep talking my baby down (= stop somebody speaking by talking loudly) v det n prep 19 (8) Idiom type H consisting of a verb, a determiner, an adjective, a noun, and a preposition, for example : Make a good fish of v det adj n prep (= write well about ) put a brave face someone) v det adj n prep on (= pretend not to be afraid of something / C. Learning Idioms and Idiomatic Expression Idiomatic expressions give English its color and vitality. They are indispensable to the daily speech of the people and to the language of newspapers and books, television and movies. Whenever someone hear a phrase whose meaning can not be understood even if they know the definitions of the separate words involved, they have probably encountered an idiom. Mastering idioms requires a great deal of listening, studying, practice, and usage. Idiomatic expressions and more grammar should also be given in equal time (Gaines, 2011). Idiomatic expressions have long played an important role in the English language. In fact, the use of idioms is so widespread that an understanding of these expressions is essential to successful communication, whether in listening, speaking, reading or in writing. One of the most effective ways for students to incorporate new words and expressions into their language is through the study of idioms and idiomatic expressions (Friedman, 2011). Indeed, the Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms (1993) states in its introduction that : 20 “The accurate and appropriate use of English expressions which are in the broadest sense idiomatic is one distinguishing mark of a native command of the language and a reliable measure of the proficiency of foreign learners.” That is, once of students learn to use the English expressions, such as idiomatic expressions, they are expected not only to understand but also to produce them. Students are always interested in learning new idioms (Thonasulas, 1999 ). However, learning a list of them is not enough since idioms are frequently used in any language. They display their rich ethnic and cultural diversity. For example : In Indonesian language we have an expression gulung tikar but we can not translate it into folding the mat in English. So if we want to learn them, we have to learn them in context. 21