INDIRECT SPEECH ACT OF SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS THE

IJEAL (International Journal of English and Applied Linguistics)

Volume : 1 | Number 3 | December 2021 | E-ISSN : 2787-9482 | DOI: doi.org/ijeal.v1n1.1220

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INDIRECT SPEECH ACT OF SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS THE

MOVIE

Ima Frafika Sari

Institute Agama Islam Negeri Ponorogo

email: ifrafika@gmail.com

Received: 05/12/2021

Accepted: 07/12/2021

Publication: 08/12/2021

Abstract

Direct and indirect speech acts are the two types of speech acts. This study aims to know

how indirect speech acts are employed in the movie "SpongeBob SquarePants." It employs

descriptive qualitative research to explain the main character's speech act types. There is currently a

scarcity of studies examining speech act types in cartoon or animation films; yet, it is necessary.

According to this study, the result of this article is: first, there are seventy-four discussions of

indirect speech acts obtained from all characters in the movie SpongeBob SquarePants. Each

dialogue in the film SpongeBob SquarePants can be deduced to reveal the meaning of indirect

speech acts. Second, The reader can use the domain analysis indirect speech acts summary to help

them understand each dialogue in this movie that has a different meaning. This stage permitted the

main characters to say literal things to the listener. The main character did not make a difficult-to-

understand statement to the listener. This research looks at Yule's theory's utterances of indirect

speech activities. As a result, the outcome differed from the prior study, despite the same issue.

Keywords: Indirect, SpongeBob SquarePants, Speech Act, Movie.

Introduction

The term "communication" refers to social interactions that involve more than one person.

Usually, it is between the speaker and the listener (receiver). The words they utter are the language

forms. Linguistics is a field of study that deals with language. Linguistic fields include phonology,

morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Pragmatics is an important branch of linguistics.

(Levinson, 1995: 1) defined that pragmatics is the study of "The relation of sign to interpreters". It

means that pragmatics is interested in understanding how a speaker (or writer) communicates

meaning and how a listener interprets it (or reader).

According to Austin (Pamela, 1962: 466) speech act theory is offers an unparalleled

contribution to the linguistic investigation. It means that language had previously been concerned

chiefly as an instrument for representation and broken into units such as sentences or words for its

study. Instead of taking a structural approach, speech act theory focuses on action theoretic units,

focusing on how the issuance of specific linguistic entities constitutes a means for interpersonal

action.

Language and literary works such as poetry, short tales, novels, movies, and music can all

benefit from speech act analysis. We can study conversations in the literature by speech act since we

know that the essential point of speech actions is the utterance or conversation. As a result, this

research aims to identify some of the movie's speaking acts. It will, of course, be discussed in the

movie during a dialogue. Direct and indirect speech acts are the two types of speech acts.

When speaking daily, people will naturally express themselves in various ways. They do not

always employ a command expression when requesting something or making an utterance, and the

IJEAL (International Journal of English and Applied Linguistics)

Volume : 1 | Number 3 | December 2021 | E-ISSN : 2787-9482 | DOI: doi.org/ijeal.v1n1.1220

This is a Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons

Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

204

intention of what they say to each other and each other is not always evident. This phenomenon can

be observed in the actual world and literary works such as movies. This study aims to determine how

indirect speech acts are employed in the movie "SpongeBob SquarePants."

Literature Review

Any language's speech actions provide culture-specific categories of verbal communication to

its speakers. Nunan (1993: 65) defines "Identifying the speech act can be performed by a particular

utterance can only be done if we know the context in which the utterance takes place". It means that,

the speech act is an action that is performed by utterance, then people will understand the meaning of

cultural context from the performed utterances.

By relying on their mutually shared background information, both linguistic and non-linguistic,

and the hearer's general powers of logic and inference, the speaker communicates to the hearer more

than he says through indirect speech acts. The three fundamental sentence forms in English give a

reasonably straightforward structural distinction between three general sorts of speech acts. The three

structural forms (declarative, interrogative, imperative) and the three general communicative

functions (statement, question, command/request) have a clear link. According to Yule (1996: 55)

defined that "whenever there is a direct relationship between a structure and a function, we have a

direct speech act, and whenever there is an indirect relationship between structure and a function, we

have an indirect speech act."

Method

It is a type of qualitative research that seeks to uncover the indirect speech act of SpongeBob

SquarePants the movie. The researcher explained the application of theories in finding and discussing

findings in qualitative research. The supporting sources are drawn from books, journals, and various

other sources relevant to the topic.

Result and Discussions

SpongeBob SquarePants movie utterances included indirect speech acts. In this section, all

characters in the movie SpongeBob SquarePants performed indirect speech acts, in contrast to the

main character's classification of speech acts. SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick Star, Squidward

Tentacles, Eugene H. Krabs, Sheldon J. Plankton, Gary the Snail, King Neptune, Mindy, Karen, Mrs.

Puff, David Hasselhoff, Pearl, Perch Perkins, cyclops, and Dennis are the characters in the

SpongeBob SquarePants movie.

There were 74 dialogues of indirect speech acts from all characters in the duration 01:27:23.

The data show that the duration is the shortest. The character in this film speaks a lot and cracks many

jokes. This explains the focused research of the indirect speech act in SpongeBob SquarePants. The

meaning of the dialogues of indirect speech acts in the movie SpongeBob SquarePants can be

deduced from each dialogue. The summary of domain analysis indirect speech acts can assist the

reader in understanding each dialogue in this movie that has a different meaning.

Table 1. Analysis of indirect Speech acts

Cont

Tim

Part

F. Research

Spongebob, mr.

Krabs, and phill

were in Krusty

Krab Restaurant.

Phill, as a

customer order a

Krabby Patty no

cheese, then

spongebob come to

(00:03:10)

(00:03:59)

Mr. Krabs:

Spongebob:

Please settle down. We've

got a situation in there.

I'd rather not discuss 'til

me manager gets here.

That's what it's all about. I

want you to do me a

favor, Phil.

IJEAL (International Journal of English and Applied Linguistics)

Volume : 1 | Number 3 | December 2021 | E-ISSN : 2787-9482 | DOI: doi.org/ijeal.v1n1.1220

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205

help.

Spongebob,

squidward, and

patrick were in

their house.

Spongebob feel

happy because mr

krabs will

announce the new

manager, so he say

to their friends

about their

promotion.

(00:04:38)

(00:04:56)

Spongebob:

Hooray! Gary! I had that

dream again!

Who's it gonna be,

Gary?

The researcher used the question mark as a pointer during the data analysis procedure to

identify this category. The main characters utilized this type to get information or determine the

current status of an object. Imperative is the second most common category among the others. In this

situation, the main character's utterance leads to a directive or command directed at the audience.

The primary characters were the ones who made the fewest declarative speaking acts. This type of

utterance is used to indicate one that has a lot of information; in other words, the main character

states a fact or an opinion in this utterance.

Table 2. Summary of Domain Analysis of Indirect Speech Acts

F. Research

Explanation

Please settle down. We've

got a situation in there. I'd

rather not discuss 'til me

manager gets here.

Based on the structural form, the utterance is

identified as a declarative. This conversation is

used to command the people to help mr krabs

meet with customer asks a simple order a Krabby

Patty without cheese. It is a requirement the

people who want be a new manager in Krabby

Patty 2. This utterance means asking the hearer to

do something. Indirectly, he asks the people to

help him by using this utterance.

That's what it's all about. I

want you to do me a favor,

Phil.

Based on the linguistic form, the utterance is a

declarative sentence. In this conversation, it is

used as a request. Request is an act of people used

to make people do something as the speaker

wants. Spongebob wants the customer to help him

be a manager in Krabby Patty 2. Indirectly, he

wants the customer to give up and use cheese in

his Krabby Patty.

This point allowed the key characters to say things that the listener may understand literally.

The main character did not make a difficult-to-understand statement to the listener. Another reason

characters use such direct speech acts is the sincerity conditions. The key characters in this film

stated their words in how they were meant. When you ask a question, your true goal is to get an

answer; when you give an order, your real goal is to get the listener to do something.

The application of Speech Acts in some subjects such as movies or daily interaction resembles

the previous studies and this research. However, the evaluated data yielded a different outcome. The

previous researcher used Searle's Theory to analyze utterances in Illocutionary Acts. This study is

IJEAL (International Journal of English and Applied Linguistics)

Volume : 1 | Number 3 | December 2021 | E-ISSN : 2787-9482 | DOI: doi.org/ijeal.v1n1.1220

This is a Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons

Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

206

solely concerned with examining the utterances of indirect speech actions by Yule's theory. As a

result, the outcome differed from the previous study even though the topic was the same.

Conclusion

Seventy-four conversations of indirect speech acts are acquired from all SpongeBob

SquarePants' movie characters. The researcher summarizes domain analysis indirect speech acts in

this section to clarify what each dialogue means. The researcher describes structural forms as well as

communication in general. The use of Speech Acts in many subjects, such as movies or everyday

interactions, is a similarity between prior studies and this research. However, the data that was

analyzed produced a different result. The previous researcher analyzed utterances regarding

Illocutionary Acts using Searle's Theory. This research looks at the utterances of indirect speech

activities by Yule's theory. As a result, the outcome differed from the prior study, despite the same

issue.

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