Compliments in the Novel entitled P.S I Love You

THESIS

Submitted as a partial fulfillment of requirements

for the Sarjana Sastra Degree of the English Department

Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts Sebelas Maret University

BY:

TINA STYANTI

C1307511

ENGLISH DEPARTEMENT

FACULTY OF LETTERS AND FINE ARTS

SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY

SURAKARTA

2010

ii

Compliments in the Novel entitled P.S I Love You

By:

Tina Styanti

C1307511

Approved to be examined before the Board of Examiners

Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts

Sebelas Maret University

Thesis Supervisor

Agus Dwi Priyanto, SS, M.CALL

NIP 19740818200012 1 001

The Head of Non Regular English Department

Drs. Budi Waskita, M.Pd

NIP 19521108198303 1 001

iii

“Compliments in the Novel entitled P.S I Love You”

By:

Tina Styanti

C1307511

Accepted and approved by the Board of Examiners

Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts

Sebelas Maret University

The Board of Examiners

June, 2nd

2010

Position Name Signature

Chairman Drs. Budi Waskito, MPd ( )

NIP.195211081983031001

Secretary Dr. Djatmika, MA ( )

NIP. 196707261993021001

First Examiner Agus Dwi Priyanto, SS. M.CALL ( )

NIP.197408182000121001

Second Examiner Dr. Tri Wiratno, MA ( )

NIP.196109141987031001

Dean of Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts

Sebelas Maret University

Drs. Sudarno, M.A

NIP 19530314198506 1 001

iv

PRONOUNCEMENT

I hereby state that I myself write this thesis entitled “Compliments in the

novel entitled P.S I Love You”. It is not a plagiarism, nor made by others. The

belongings related to other people’s work are written in quotations and included

within the bibliography.

If it is subsequently proved that I cheat, I am ready to take the

responsibility, including the withdrawal of my academic degree.

Surakarta, June 2010

Tina Styanti

(C1307511)

v

Motto

In everything give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

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DEDICATION

I wholeheartedly dedicate this thesis to:

My beloved parents

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Praise and worship to the name of Jesus Christ, Almighty Father in heaven

and Holy Spirit. This accomplishment is absolutely nothing without the blessing

of God and His guidance. Finally, one of my dreams comes true. It was a

challenging task for me to complete this thesis. It took a lot of time, energy, and

patience. I realize that without supports from people surround me, I might not able

to accomplish this thesis. Therefore, I would like to express my gratitude to all

people as follow:

1. Drs. Sudarno, M.A as the dean of faculty of Letters and Fine Arts of

Sebelas Maret University for approving this thesis.

2. Drs. S. Budi Waskita, M. Pd. as the head of English Department of

Sebelas Maret for providing the opportunity to write this thesis.

3. Agus Dwi Priyanto, SS, M.CALL as my thesis consultant for his concern,

guidance, and critical advice.

4. Dra. Endang Sri Astuti, MSi as my academic consultant for the advice and

guidance during my study in Sebelas Maret University.

5. All the lecturers for the knowledge given through the lectures.

6. My beloved father and mother. I deeply give thanks and love for their

never ending love and patience.

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7. My two older brothers for their support and their kindness for fulfilling all

my needs during my study.

8. Ci’ Irene for the novel. PS I Love You is the key of this project.

9. Rocky Ryandra for always supporting me to finish this thesis.

10. Naomi, Juli and Dewi for sharing the greatest and the craziest moments

with me during the lectures and for always motivating me to finish this

thesis.

11. All my friends of English Non-regular, especially in linguistics’07 Yetti,

Budi, Supri, Rina, Pratama, Niken, Wening, Amy and Ehud thanks for the

support and the friendship for the nice three years.

12. All people who have helped me in completing this thesis.

Finally, I realize that this thesis is still far for being perfect but I

hope this thesis can be beneficial for all.

Surakarta, June 2010

Tina Styanti

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE………………………………………………………………. ii

APPROVAL BY THESIS CONSULTANT……………………….. iii

APPROVAL BY THESIS BOARD OF EXAMINERS…………… iv

PRONOUNCEMENT……………………………………………. v

MOTTO…………………………………………………………..... vi

DEDICATION……………………………………………………... vii

ACKNOWLEDGMENT…………………………………………… viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………….. x

ABSTRACT……………………………………………………….. xii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

A. Research Background……………………………………… 1

B. Problem Statement…………………………………………. 4

C. Scope of Research…………………………………………. 4

D. Research Objectives……………………………………….. 4

E. Research Benefit…………………………………………… 5

F. Research Methodology…………………………………….. 5

G. Thesis Organization………………………………………... 6

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

A. Pragmatics…………………………………………………… 7

B. Speech Acts…………………………………………………. 7

C. Direct and Indirect Speech Act…………………………….. 10

D. Ethnography of Speaking…………………………………… 11

E. Compliment ……………………………………………….... 15

1. Definition of Compliment…………………………... 15

2. Types of Topic of Compliment……………………… 16

3. The Functions of Compliment………………………. 17

F. The Politeness Principles…………………………………... . 20

G. Synopsis of the novel “PS I Love You”……………………. 26

x

H. Review of Related Study…………………………………… 28

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A. Type of Research…………………………………………... 31

B. Data and Source Data………………………………………. 31

C. Research Design……………………………………………. 32

D. Technique of Collecting Data……………………………… 32

E. Technique of Analyzing Data……………………………… 32

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS

A. Introduction……………………………………………….... 33

B. Data Analysis……………………………………………..... 33

C. Discussion………………………………………………….. 65

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion…………………………………………………. 75

B. Suggestion…………………………………………….......... 76

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDICES

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ABSTRACT

Tina Styanti. 2010. Compliments in the novel entitled P.S I Love You.

Thesis English Department of Non-regular Program. Faculty of

Letters and Fine Arts. Sebelas Maret University.

This research was conducted to describe the types of topics of compliment

employed by the characters in the novel entitled P.S I Love You, and the politeness

strategy applied in the compliment expressions in this novel. I classified the type

of topics of compliment based on Wolfson’s classification. Further, Geoffrey

Leech’s Politeness Principles were used as the framework in analyzing the

politeness strategy.

To achieve the goal, I applied library research in the form of descriptive

qualitative research. This research was focused only on the dialogue that

contained compliment expressions.

From the result of analysis, 4 types of topic of compliments are found in

this novel. They are personal appearance, possession, general ability, and specific-

act ability.

Topic of personal appearance is used in 5 data; topic of possession is used in 6

data. Compliments on general ability are found in 8 data and topic of specific act

ability is used in 3 data. It is found that the characters perform the compliments

expression in various ways. From the politeness strategy, there are three politeness

principle strategy found in the compliments expression: Tact Maxim, Approbation

Maxim and Generosity Maxim. In delivering the compliments, the speakers

already obey the maxim. From the data obtained, 20 data obey the approbation

maxim, 1 data obeys the tact maxim and 1 data obeys the generosity maxim.

Based on the conclusions above, I hope that this research gives a

contribution to the students in studying the speech act of compliments, especially

the employment of politeness strategy in the compliments. There are still many

cases on the study of compliments. I suggest to other researchers who are

interested in compliments speech act to conduct a further research. They can focus

on the employment of other maxims in compliments, for example they can limit

their research about compliments which only apply agreement and sympathy

maxim. Besides, they can analyze compliments from different point of view

depicted in other novels or from other data source such as movie or drama..

PUJIAN DI DALAM NOVEL BERJUDUL PS I LOVE YOU

Tina Styanti1

Agus Dwi Priyanto, SS, M.CALL2

ABSTRAK

2010. Skripsi: Jurusan Sastra Inggris Program Non Reguler

Fakultas Sastra dan Seni Rupa Universitas Sebelas Maret.

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan tipe-tipe topik yang

terdapat di dalam pujian yang digunakan oleh tokoh-tokoh dalam

novel berjudul PS I Love You dan mengungkapkan strategi

kesopanan yang diterapkan di dalam ungkapan-ungkapan pujian

didalam novel ini. Saya mengklasifikasikan tipe-tipe topik pujian

berdasarkan klasifikasi Wolfson. Selanjutnya, prinsip-prinsip

kesopanan dari Geoffrey Leech digunakan sebagai acuan dalam

menganalisa strategi kesopanan.

Metode penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah

metode penelitian deskriptif kualitatif. Penelitian ini difokuskan

hanya pada dialog yang mengandung ungkapan pujian.

Dari hasil analisa ditemukan 4 tipe topik pujian yang digunakan

dalam novel ini. Topik-topik tersebut yaitu penampilan personal,

kepemilikan, kemampuan umum dan kemampuan tindakan khusus.

Topik penampilan personal digunakan dalan 5 data, topik

kepemilikan digunakan dalam 6 data. Pujian terhadap kemampuan

umum ditemukan pada 8 data dan topik kemempuan tindakan

khusus ditemukan alam 3 data. Tokoh-tokoh mengungkapkan

pujian dengan berbagai cara. Berdasarkan strategi kesopanan yang

digunakan, terdapat 3 prinsip strategi kesopanan yang ditemukan

dalam ungkapan pujian, yaitu maksim kebijaksanaan, maksim

pujian dan maksim kedermawanan. Dalam menyampaikan pujian,

penutur sudah mematuhi maksim-maksim tersebut. Dari data-data

yang diperoleh, 20 data mematuhi prinsip maksim pujian, 1 data

1 Mahasiswa Jurusan Sastra Inggris dengan NIM C1307511

2 Dosen Pembimbing

mematuhi prinsip maksim kebijaksanaan dan 1 data mematuhi

peinsip maksim kedermawanan.

Berdasarkan kesimpulan diatas, saya berharap penelitian ini

bermanfaat bagi mahasiswa dalam mempelajari tindak tutur pujian.

Masih ada banyak kasus dalam pembahasan pujian. Saya

menyarankan bagi para peneliti yang tertarik pada masalah tindak

tutur pujian untuk melakukan penelitian lanjutan. Mereka bisa

memfokuskan penelitian pada penggunaan maksim-maksim yang

lain yang digunakan dalam pujian, misalnya mereka bias

membatasi penellitian mereka tentang pujian yang menerapkan

maksim persetujuan dan maksim simpati. Selain itu, mereka bisa

menganalisa pujian didalam novel-novel yang lain dari sudut

pandang yang berbeda. Mereka juga bisa menggunakan sumber

data yang lain seperti film atau drama.

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Research Background

Within an interaction, people need the concept of politeness. Politeness

becomes a major concern in pragmatics since it is very important in an interaction.

Leech (1983) defines politeness as forms of behavior that establish and maintain

comity. It is the ability of the participants in a social interaction to engage in

interaction in an atmosphere of relative harmony. Politeness is a system of

interpersonal relation designed to facilitate interaction by minimizing the potential

for conflict and confrontation inherent in all human interchange. There are several

ways to think of politeness. These may involve ideas like being tactful, modest

and nice to other people.

Compliment can be one of the simple ways for the people to show their

politeness when they communicate to one another. Besides, it can be used to

maintain the relationship between them. It can be parents who compliment their

children on their good behavior. The expression of compliment such as “You‟re a

good boy” shows that the parents appreciate the children attitude and it will

encourage the children to keep on behaving in good way. Companions often

exchange compliment when they meet each other by saying “You always look

beautiful” or give compliment on their new belonging. These simple expressions

of compliment can create solidarity between them.

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Compliment is formulaic in English; it represents a social strategy in that

the speaker attempts to create or maintain rapport with the addressee by

expressing admiration or approval Wolfson (in Wolfson and Judd, 1983).

Moreover, Holmes (2003 : 177) defines a compliment as a speech act which

explicitly or implicitly attributes credit to someone other than the speaker, usually

the person addressed for some “good” (possesion, characteristic, skill, etc) which

is positively valued by the speaker and the hearer. Compliments are intended to

make the addresses feel good, but it may serve other function too in different

interactions. Even in some contexts, compliment may be experienced negatively.

Since compliment has many variations, it is important for the people to

know on what case people give compliment. Wolfson (in Wolfson and Judd,

1983) points out that what members of particular cultural groups thank or

apologize for, or compliment on, usually reflects values because, in performing

these speech acts, people are often implicitly assessing the behavior, possessions,

accomplishments, character, or appearance of others. Moreover, specific

relationship between the speaker and the addressee also affects the choice of type

of compliment considered appropriate. It can be said that there is a basis for the

people to deliver compliment, it may be base on the appearance, possessions, etc.

Novel as one of the literary works can be the reflection of the real life. The

story often pictures the real condition faced by the people. In the novel entitled

P.S I Love You which tells about the life of a young widow, Holly Kennedy

living in Ireland society the researcher finds many expressions of compliment

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used by the characters. To give a clearer understanding, this following example is

included as follows:

„Wow!’ Daniel said, his mouth dropping open. ‘You look fabulous,

Holly.‟

„I look like -,‟ Holly started to grumble and Sharon shot her a look. „But,

thanks,‟ she quickly added.

The conversation above occurs in Holly‟s house between Daniel and

Holly. Daniel picks Holly; he will be Holly‟s partner in the ball because Holly

does not want to go there alone. Daniel is surprised to see how Holly is beautiful

in her simple black dress. As someone having close relationship to Holly, Daniel

gives compliment to show his admiration on Holly‟s appearance, he is amazed

with Holly‟s appearance and he says that Holly looks fabulous. Therefore, it can

be categorized that the compliment has topic of personal appearance because

Daniel gives compliment based on Holly‟s appearance.

The approbation maxim is employed in the utterance ‘Wow!’ ‘You look

fabulous Holly’ because Daniel, as the speaker maximizes the praise to Holly. His

simple word ‘Wow’ and his facial expression when saying it show that he is really

impressed by Holly‟s appearance. Holly, as the addressee seems to say something

contrasts with the compliment. She does not continue her response ‘I look like -,’

because Sharon shoots a look at her and then Holly says ‘Thanks’. Saying „Thank

You‟ can be identified as the way to show politeness.

Based on the example above, the researcher is interested in analyzing the

compliments expression in this novel. Thus, the title of the research is

COMPLIMENTS IN THE NOVEL ENTITLED P.S I LOVE YOU

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B. Problem Statements

Based on the research background, the research is conducted to cover several

problems as formulated below:

1. What are the types of topics of compliments employed by the characters in

the novel P.S I Love You?

2. What politeness strategies are applied in the compliments in the novel P.S

I Love You?

C. Scope of Research

There are many kinds of speech acts found in the novel entitled P.S I Love

You. However, the research is only focused on the speech act of compliment. This

research is also limited on the topics of compliment and the using of politeness

strategies in delivering the compliments.

D. Research Objectives

Related to the problem statements, the objectives of the research are:

1. To describe the types of topics of compliments employed by the characters

in the novel P.S I Love you.

2. To describe the politeness strategies applied in the compliments in the

novel P.S I Love you.

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E. Research Benefits

This research is expected to give contribution as follows:

1. The readers

I hope that this research will give an understanding to the readers

about the types of topics of compliments that they can use in

complimenting others. Besides, it can help the readers to know about the

employment of politeness strategy in the compliments. Since compliments

are not only common in our society but occur in a wide variety of speech

situation this research is important in order that people are capable in

issuing the appropriate compliment to others because sometimes

compliment may become an insult and hurt others‟ feel if it is not relevant

with the certain condition.

2. Other researchers

This research is expected to be a reference for other researchers to

conduct further research about the employment of politeness strategy in

compliments.

F. Research Methodology

This research employs a descriptive qualitative method covering several

steps namely collecting data, classifying data, analyzing data, and drawing the

conclusion. The source of the data of this research is the novel entitled P.S I Love

You.

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G. Thesis Organization

The thesis organization is arranged as follows:

CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION consists of Research Background,

Problem Statement, Scope of Research, Research

Objectives, Research Benefits, Research Methodology,

and Thesis Organization.

CHAPTER II : LITERATURE REVIEW consists of Pragmatics,

Speech Acts, Direct and Indirect Speech Act,

Ethnography of Speaking, Compliment, The Politeness

Principles, Synopsis of the Novel, and Review of

Related Study.

CHAPTER III : RESEARCH METHODOLOGY consists of Type of

Research, Data and Source of Data, Research Design,

Technique of Collecting Data, and Technique of

Analyzing Data.

CHAPTER IV : ANALYSIS.

CHAPTER V : CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION.

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CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW

A. Pragmatics

Pragmatics is a branch of linguistics study that focuses on meaning of

utterances. Levinson (1997: 24) defines that pragmatics is the study of the role of

context that focuses on meaning of utterances. Meanwhile, Thomas, (1995: 1)

states that pragmatics deals with meaning in use or meaning in context.

According to Yule, pragmatics is the study of the relationship between

linguistic forms and the users of those forms. Pragmatics allows humans into the

analysis. The advantage of studying language via pragmatics is that one can talk

about people‟s intended meanings, their assumptions, their purposes or goal, and

the kinds of the actions that they are performing when they speak (1996: 4)

From the definitions above, pragmatics can be defined as a study which

understands the utterances meanings of the speaker based on the situation when

the utterances happened.

B. Speech Acts

Speech act is a part of pragmatics study. It focuses on how to do

something by saying utterances. It means that the speaker uses a language to get

the hearer to do something and the speaker expects that the hearer will understand

his/her communicative intention.

8

According to Searle (1976: 16), speaking a language is performing speech

acts, acts such as making statements, giving commands, asking questions, and

making promises. While, Yule (1996: 47) defines speech acts as action performed

via utterances such as apology, complaint, invitation, promise or request.

Austin (1962) divides three kinds of acts that are performed in which in

saying something someone is doing something.

a. Locutionary act is the literal meaning of the utterance. It is the basic act of

utterance.

b. Illocutionary act is the act of getting the audience to recognize the

speaker‟s meaning.

c. Perlocutionary act is the bringing about of effect on the audience by means

of uttering the sentence, such effect being special to the circumstances of

utterance.

In simple way, locutionary act is the act of saying something, illocutionary

act is what is done in the act of saying something, and perlocutionary act is the

effect produced by saying something. The example below will give clear

understanding of it.

A: You look beautiful tonight.

B: Thank you.

The act of saying „You look beautiful tonight‟ is the locutionary act. A

complimenting B is the illocutionary act. The acceptance of the compliment by B

is the perlocutionary act.

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Searle in Leech (1983) provides classification of speech acts in which he

calls as five macro-classes of illucotionary acts. They are:

1. Declarations are illocution whose „successful performance brings about

the correspondence between the propositional content and reality‟; e.g.

resigning, christening, naming, appointing, etc. It consists of acts which

affect immediate changes in the institutional state of affairs.

For example: Priest: I baptize you….

I pronounce you husband and wife.

I name this baby “David”.

2. Assertives commit someone to the truth of the expressed proposition: e.g.

stating, suggesting, boasting, complaining, claiming, and reporting. The

point is expressing a belief, making words fit the words, and committing the

speaker to the truth of what is asserted.

For example: a. The earth is flat.

b. Today is cool.

c. Sophie is a beautiful girl.

3. Expressives are statements of psychological condition. It means that the

speaker expresses his feeling; it can be statements of pleasure, pain, like and

dislike. The examples of the speech act included in expressives are

compliment, congratulating, thinking, apologizing, refusing, etc.

For example: a. I really like your haircut.

b. Thank you for your help.

c. I am sorry I can‟t go with you.

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4. Directives are all attempts done by the speaker to get the hearer to do

something. Directives cover command, order, request, suggestion, etc.

For example: a. Open the door, please!

b. Could you take me a drink, please?

c. Don‟t throw the rubbish to the river!

5. Commisives are all expressing an intention as a commitment for the speaker

to engage in future course of action. The examples of speech act included in

commisives are promise, threat, and pledge.

For example: a. I‟ll be back.

b. I will finish my homework tomorrow.

c. I promise him I would come.

C. Direct and Indirect Speech Act

Direct and indirect speech act are concerned with the way the speaker uses

various linguistic form with certain functions.

a. Direct Speech Act

It occurs when there is a direct relationship between a structure and a

function.

Example: a) You wear a black shirt.

b) Did you wear a black shirt?

c) Wear a black shirt!

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In (a) the speaker states that the hearer wears a black shirt. In (b) the

speaker ask a question to the hearer whether the speaker wear a black shirt or not.

In (c) the speaker commands the hearer to wear a black shirt.

Thus, a declarative used to make statement, an interrogative used to make

question and an imperative used to make a command are direct speech acts.

b. Indirect Speech Act

It occurs when there is an indirect relationship between a structure and a

function. Thomas states that indirectness occurs when there is a mismatch

between the expressed meaning by the words and the implied meaning (1995:

119).

Example: a) Don‟t be noisy!

b) Do you have to be so noisy?

c) You are so noisy.

The sentences above have different structure but accomplish the same

basic function that is a command. The speakers of all the utterances above want

the hearer to be quiet. The interrogative structure in (b) and the declarative

structure in (c) represent the indirect speech act of formulas.

D. Ethnography of Speaking

Ethnography of speaking or, more generally, the ethnography of

communication deals with the use of language in general related to social and

cultural values. Hymes in Fasold (1996) defines „The ethnography of speaking is

12

concerned with the situations and uses, the patterns and functions, of speaking as

an activity in its own right‟.

The way of speaking can vary substantially from one culture to another. In

order to study communicative behavior within a speech community – the group to

which a particular ethnographic description applies – it is necessary to work with

a nested hierarchy of units called the speech situation, speech event and speech

act. Speech acts are part of speech events which are, in turn, part of speech

situation. Hymes describes speech situation as situations associated with (or

marked by the absence of) speech. The examples given are ceremonies, fights or

hunts. Speech situation may be composed of both communicative and other kinds

of events.

Speech events are both communicative and governed by rules for the use

of speech. A speech event is composed of one or more speech acts. The example

is joke. It might be a speech act that is part of a conversation (a speech event)

which takes place in a party (a speech situation).

Hymes in Wardhaugh (1998) proposes an ethnographic framework which

takes into account the varios factors that are involved in speaking. Hymes uses the

word SPEAKING as an acronym for the various factors he deems to be relevant:

a. Situation (S)

Situation includes the setting and the scene. The setting refers to the

concrete physical circumstances in which the speech takes place. It includes the

scene and place. Scene refers to the abstract psychological setting, or cultural

definition of the occasion. It may be formal or informal, serious or festive. For

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example, the seating arrangement of a meeting room, whether it is in straight rows

or in a circle, may signal the appropriate level of formality.

b. Participant (P)

The participants include combinations of speaker-listener, addresser-

addressee, or sender-receiver. They generally fill certain specific roles. It deals

with who is speaking and who are they are speaking to. Their presence in

communicative event may influence on what is said and how it is said. Each of

them has his/her own behavior toward language and language choice according to

the social and culture factor.

The description of participants includes not only their characteristics, but

also their background information such as age, gender, social class, status,

background, etc. The style of dress of participants may also be a determiner of

their communicative behavior. For example, people will talk more formally to one

wearing a formal dress than to one in a sporty dress.

c. Ends (E)

Ends of a speech event are divided into outcome and goal. Outcome refers

to the purpose of the event from a cultural point of view, e.g. trade, business,

contract, interview, etc. Meanwhile, goal refers to the purpose of the individual

participants. For example, the goal of seller in bargaining event is to maximize the

price, while the customers want to minimize it.

d. Act Sequence (A)

Act Sequence discusses the messages of an event. It comprises message

form and message content. Message form refers to how thing is said by the

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participants. Meanwhile, message content deals with what participants talk about;

it is simply called as topic of a conversation.

Furthermore, the topic of a conversation can determine how close the

participants to each other. For example, individual does not normally ask strangers

their age, marital status or salary in the first meeting in America or English.

Both message form and message content involved communicative skills

that vary from one culture to another. Speakers should know how to formulate

speech events and speech acts in their culture appropriately.

e. Key (K)

Key refers to the tone, manner, or spirit in which a speech act is

performed, whether it is serious, mocking, sarcastic, and so on. Key also refers to

the feeling, atmosphere, and attitude. Furthermore, the key may be marked by

non-verbal action such as wink, smile, gesture, or posture.

Key plays an important part in affecting the use of language. For example,

one might show his/her annoyance by speaking with rude words in a high tone

and bad manner.

The aspect of key is as follows:

1. Tone refers to the general spirit of the scene such as angry, afraid, brave,

etc.

2. Manner refers to the participant‟s way of behaving toward others, whether

it is polite, impolite, formal, informal, serious, mocking, etc.

3. Feeling refers to emotion indicating happiness, shock, anger, anxiety, etc.

15

4. Atmosphere refers to the feeling that affects the mind in a place or

condition, such as good, evil, etc.

5. Attitude refers to the participants‟ ways of thinking and behaving toward a

situation whether it is sympathetic, pessimistic, etc.

f. Instrumentalities (I)

Instrumentalities refer to channel and form of speech. Channel means the

way a message travels from one person to another whether by oral or written.

Message can also be transmitted by such means as telegraph, semaphore, smoke

signal, or drumming. Meanwhile, the form of speech refers to language and their

subdivision, dialect, codes, varieties, and register.

g. Norms (N)

Norms include norms of interaction and norms of interpretation. Norms of

interaction refer to non-linguistic rules of when, how, and how often speech

occurs in the community. Norms of interaction are determined by the culture of

the community. Norms of interpretation involves trying to implicate the belief

system of a community. Interpretation involves trying to understand what is being

conveyed beyond what is in the actual words used.

h. Genre (G)

Genre refers the type of communicative event such as poems, myths,

jokes, lectures, sermons, editorials, etc. Genre is performed for specific purposes

in specific places with particular participants. For example, the lecture as a genre

is typically identified with a certain place in a course. The lecturers and the

16

students as the participants may be involved in serious or humorous effect in other

situation.

E. Compliment

1. Definition of Compliment

Compliment as speech act, is classified as expressive expression of

approval. It deals with taking account of the feeling of other people and making

them comfortable. Compliment is typically a positive comment given to someone

else. This positive comment can address different values such as possession,

appearance, abilities, and skill as well as a combination of these.

(http://www.carla.umn.edu/speechacts/spa-pragmatics/compliments/compliments-

home.html).

In most speech communities, the speech act of complimenting is intended

to make others feel good. A compliment is a speech act which explicitly or

implicitly attributes credit to someone other than the speaker, usually the person

addressed, for some „good‟ (possession, characteristic, skill, etc) which is

positively valued by the speaker and the hearer (Holmes, 2003). Moreover,

Wolfson (in Wolfson and Judd, 1983) states that in general; a compliment

requires adjectives to express the speaker‟s positive evaluation. Adjective is the

frequently used in the compliment. Meanwhile, in a few compliments which do

not make use of an adjective or verb, positive evaluations are carried by nouns

(e.g. genius, angel, etc) or adverb well.

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2. Types of Topics of Compliment

Wolfson ( in Wolfson and Judd, 1983:90) divides the topics of compliment

into two major categories, namely appearance and ability.

a. Topic of Appearance. The topic of compliments is divided into two types:

1. Personal appearance

The type of topic compliment on personal appearance usually deals with

apparel

Example: That‟s a very elegant dress. Did you just get it?

I love that blouse.

There is also expression on other aspects of personal appearance other

than apparel.

2. Possession

The type of compliment on possession usually deals with material

possession.

Example: The living room looks good. I haven‟t seen it this way.

I think your apartment is fantastic.

There are also favorable comments on something that appear to parallel

comments concerning possession.

Example: Your baby is adorable.

Your husband is such a nice guy.

b. Topic of Ability. Compliments concerning on ability are divided into two broad

types: those, which are general, and those which refer to a specific act well done.

1. General ability

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The general ability includes categorical reference to skill, talent, personal

qualities, and taste.

Example: You‟re so honest and you explain things so beautifully

You do this kind of writing so well.

You have good taste.

2. Specific- act ability

Specific-act ability contains all compliments which are specific-act.

Example: You‟re being so nice about this.

You are really did a good job. This is really nice.

3. The Function of Compliment

Wolfson (in Wolfson and Judd, 1983) defines several functions of

compliment because compliments may play different roles on different occasion

in the interaction. The speaker from higher status tends to make a compliment

concerning some activities or piece of works of others who are in the lower

positions. It frequently functions as encouragements. Moreover, the person of

upper status commonly gives a compliment commenting on the quality of

something produced through addressee‟s ability to an addressee of lower status.

The compliment may also function to express a positive evaluation to the

addressee. The addresser frequently uses the adjective nice and good to express a

positive evaluation. However, the use of the compliment functioning to encourage

other is not limited to the interlocutors having unequal status. Teammates and the

same status of colleagues may use a compliment in order to encourage the

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addressee as well as to let them know that they are appreciated and they should

keep up good works.

Compliments are kinds of flattery given in all attempts to gain some

advantages for the speakers. In this case, the statuses of the participants are

unequal. The person of lower status tends to make use of a compliment for the

purpose of manipulating the addresses. However, the great majority of

compliments which occur in interaction between unequal statuses are given by the

person in higher position. For example, the boss gives a compliment on his

employee‟s ability in order to encourage them to keep the good work. This type of

topics of compliment is used to make the addressee in workplace. Meanwhile, a

true compliment generally has a great deal with apparel or appearance. In this

case, women are far more likely to be the recipients of compliments than men. For

example, the speaker gives a compliment on the addressee‟s appearance when the

addressee wears an elegant dress.

In interaction between sexes where the setting is the workplace, women

are most likely to be inferior in status to the men with whom they interact. The

compliment from person of upper to those who are in some sense their inferiors

tends to be related to ability or performance more often than to appearance. For

example, a boss gives a compliment on his employee‟s good work when the

addressee does his/ her job well.

The major function of compliment is to create or to maintain solidarity

between interlocutors. Compliment generally serves a powerful device for mutual

support and solidarity. It is used as a means to create and to reinforce good social

20

relationship and hence solidarity and sympathy among people in a wide range of

situations. The objects or actions complimented must be one which any member

of the speech community will recognize as positive.

In particular occasion, a compliment may have social function to replace

or to strengthen other speech act formulas, for instance, apologies, thanks,

greetings, etc. They are often accompanied by a compliment. For examples:

1. “Thanks for the flowers. We really like them.”

2. “Great dinner. Thanks for having us.”

It can be seen as parts of expression gratitude.

Compliment can also be a means to soften criticism, particularly when the

participants are in the relationship still want to continue and to maintain a social

harmony. This compliment is usually combined with but or though. This

compliment such as “You‟re doing good job, but you put much time on it.” In this

case, the criticism is uttered in polite manner, since it is combined with the

compliment. It indicates that the speaker wants to minimize the irritating effect of

the speaker‟s criticism.

Compliment may be used to modify the behavior of another has to do with

sarcasm. In this case, a comment structured in the form of a compliment may

quite easily be turned into a reprimand or even an insult. This kind of compliment

is also called the left-handed compliment. For example, “You play a good game of

tennis – for a woman.”

21

The other function of compliment is as a spontaneous expression of

admiration and/ or approval. The spontaneity and the newness are usually linked

with the originality of expression.

A compliment may serve more than one function. It depends on many

aspects. The types of compliments, status, age, sex of the participants, and the

context or setting are some factors influencing the interpretation of compliments

function. For example, the utterance “You are so kind”, this compliment may be

interpreted as admiration and as an expression of gratitude of the speaker.

F. The Politeness Principles

The politeness principle is a series of maxims. Geoffrey Leech (1983) has

proposed as a way of explaining how politeness operates in conversational

exchanges. Leech defines politeness as forms of behavior that establish and

maintain feelings of comity within the social group, that is the ability of the

participants in a social interaction to engage the interaction in an atmosphere of

relative harmony. It can be expressed by certain polite formulaic utterances like

please, thank you, excuse me, sorry, etc.

According to Leech, the politeness principles concern with two participants of

conversation those are self and other. The self conventionally is the speaker, while

the other is the hearer or the addressee. The concept of other also refers to the

third side. The speaker must show his politeness to a third side, either presented or

not.

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The politeness principles divided into six maxims, namely tact maxim,

generosity maxim, approbation maxim, modesty maxim, agreement maxim and

sympathy maxim. Below are the descriptions and the samples analysis of the six

maxims occupied from the novel and other resources as Leech formulates them

based on his assumption of politeness principles.

a. Tact Maxim

Tact is the first maxim of the politeness principles. It requires the participants to

minimize cost to other and maximize benefit to other. This maxim is implemented

by directive/ impossitive and commissive utterances.

Example:

Leo : „Ciara home?‟

Holly : „Yeah, her and her pink hair.‟

Leo : „Merciful hour! She‟ll stay away from me if she knows

what‟s good for her. Right, missus, you look fab, you‟ll be

the belle of the ball - have fun!‟

Leo is Holly‟s hairdresser; he makes a new hairdo for Holly because Holly

will celebrate her birthday. At first, Holly does not want to make any change on

her hairstyle and she is lazy to go to her birthday party which has been prepared

by her friends. But, Leo is able to convince her to go. In his compliment, Leo says

that Holly looks fabulous and she will be the princess of the party, he asks Holly

to go and have fun with her friends in her party. Leo does not bear any cost by

asking Holly to go but Holly will get the benefit from it. Therefore, the

23

compliment above obeys the tact maxim because Leo, the speaker, maximizes the

benefit and minimizes the cost to Holly.

b. Generosity Maxim

Generosity maxim requires the participants to minimize the benefit to self and

maximize cost to self. This maxim, like the tact maxim, is also expressed by the

directive/ impossitive and commissive utterances. However, this maxim is self-

centered maxim.

Example:

Steve : „Can I buy you a drink, Holly?‟

Holly : „No thanks, I have one here.‟

Steve : „OK, well, I‟m just going to bring these drinks down to my table

and then I‟ll be back to buy the lovely Holly a drink.’ He smiled at

her creepily as he walked away.

At first, Steve offers Holly some drinks but Holly refuses it. In his

utterance, „I‟ll be back to buy the lovely Holly drink.‟ it can be seen that Steve

admires Holly so much so that he forces to buy a drink for her. Steve gives Holly

compliments by saying that Holly is lovely. In this compliment, Steve obeys

generosity maxim because he will be someone who bears the cost by buying the

drink for Holly. Steve minimizes the benefit and maximizes the cost of himself.

c. Approbation Maxim

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Leech defines that approbation maxim requires the speaker to minimize

dispraise to other. On the contrary, he must maximize praise to other. This maxim

requires the speaker to avoid everything which hurts others, especially the

addressee. This maxim is expressed by the expressive and assertive utterances.

Example:

Patrick : „You‟re looking as lovely as always.‟

Holly : „Thank you.‟

In this conversation, Pattrick gives a good comment about Holly‟s

appearance in the Christmas Ball. The utterance uttered by Pattrick shows the

expression of admiration. He maximizes the praise to Holly. Therefore, it can be

categorized as the approbation maxim.

d. Modesty Maxim

This modesty maxim requires the speaker to minimize praise of self and he

must maximize dispraise of self. Like generosity maxim, this maxim is also

expressed by the expressive and assertive utterances.

Example:

William : „Hi.‟

Anna : „Hello.‟

William : „I brought these, but clearly..there are lots flowers in the

room.‟

Anna : „Oh no, ho…these are great.‟

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After greeting, William gives some flowers to Anna. William is afraid that

Anna does not like the flowers because there are many great flowers in her room.

Anna appreciates what William gives to her by delivering a compliment. In her

compliment, Anna shows her modesty by saying „Oh no, ho…these are great.‟

She does not think that her flowers are more beautiful than the flowers from

William, and she says that William‟s flowers are also great. Anna minimizes the

praise of herself in the compliment, therefore it can be identified that the

compliment obeys the modesty maxim.

e. Agreement Maxim

There is a tendency to increase an agreement and to minimize a

disagreement by declaring regret or partial agreement when someone speaks with

other. The partial agreement is an agreement followed by a partial disagreement

implicating the speaker‟s disagreement toward the addressee.

Example:

Rob : „Josie, you look so…..‟

Josie : „Rufus?‟

Rob : „Yes. Exactly. Major Rufus.‟

Rob is amazed by Josie who is wearing a lovely Elizabethan gown for the

prom night. Rob‟s expression suggests that he is surprised because Josie looks

beautiful in her gown. As her brother, Rob knows that Josie is a type of old

fashion girl. So, when Josie comes up with new appearance, Rob cannot hide his

admiration. He likes to say something about it but he can not find the right words.

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Then Josie helps him by suggesting the slang word Rufus. The word Rufus is used

to express something that is considered to be great. When Josie utters the word

Rufus, Rob shows his agreement. Moreover, he upgrades the compliment by

saying that Josie looks major rufus. Therefore, it can be said that Rob obeys the

agreement maxim when he says the compliment because he shows his agreement

to Josie.

f. Sympathy Maxim

Sympathy maxim requires a speaker and a hearer to maximize sympathy

and minimize antipathy between them. The obedience of this maxim is required

for everyone who needs sympathizing to the achievement being reached or

calamity happened to other. The achievement being reached by other must be

given congratulation. Meanwhile, the calamity happened to other must be given

sympathy or condolences if one of his families or relatives died.

Example:

Bernie : „Well, obviously it‟s me, isn‟t it… I work in the city in a job I

don‟t understand and everyone keeps getting promoted above

me. I haven‟t had a girlfriend since.. puberty and, well, the long

and short of it is, nobody fancies me, and if these cheeks get any

chubbier, they never will.‟

Honey : „Nonsense. I fancy you. Or I did before you got so far.‟

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Bernie confesses his bitterness of life to all his friends and the family. He

says the worst thing of his life is nobody fancies him. Honey feels sorry to hear

that. Then, she delivers her compliment in order to achieve solidarity and to show

her sympathy. Honey feels that it is not right if Bernie says that nobody fancies

him because she actually fancies Bernie. Honey knows who Bernie really is

because they already know each other since they were children. Bernie is a

professional worker; he just never has enough time for getting along with the

family and friends. Honey‟s compliment obeys the maxim of sympathy because

she maximizes her sympathy to Bernie.

G. Synopsis of the Novel ‘P.S I Love You’

P.S. I Love You is a novel written by Cecilia Ahern. It tells about a life of

a young widow, Holly Kennedy living in Ireland society. Holly Kennedy is

beautiful, smart and married to the love of her life, an Irishman named Gerry.

Unfortunately, Gerry‟s life is taken away by an illness and it takes the life out of

Holly. The only one who can help her is the person who is no longer there.

Nobody knows Holly better than Gerry, so it‟s a good thing he planned ahead.

Before he died, Gerry wrote Holly a series of 10 letters that will guide her, not

only through her grief but in rediscovering herself. The messages are Gerry‟s way

of informing Holly life goes on. The messages include various task and treats

Gerry has left for Holly. This is his way of letting her know he will always be

there for her. Each letter sends her on a new adventure and each signs off in the

same way: “P.S. I Love You.”

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In the first letter Gerry asks Holly to be brave and be strong in facing her

new life without him and he also tells her that he has some list for her. It must be

opened exactly when labeled and must be obeyed. The second letter which must

be opened in April, tells Holly to go shopping for an outfit as she‟ll need it for

next month. The third letter lets Holly know why she must buy an outfit because

Gerry asks Holly to join a karaoke contest at Club Diva in May. Gerry knows that

his wife is hate and fear of karaoke so he enlists her name in the contest in order

to make her braver. In June, Holly opened the fourth letter. Gerry tells her that she

doesn‟t need his belongings to remember him, she doesn‟t need to keep them as a

proof that he still exists in her mind. Gerry asks Holly to empty out his wardrobes.

The next letter is opened in July in which Gerry just says “Have a good Holly

day!” In this month, by the help of a travel agent, Gerry already arranges a

holyday for Holly and her two best friends, Sharon and Denise. Gerry books the

tickets and hotel for them in Lazaronte, Spain for two weeks.

At the edge of the beach in August, Holly opens the sixth letter. Gerry

knows that Holly loves dolphins; he asks her to go to the lighthouse to see them.

Not many people know that it is where the dolphins gather. In the seventh later,

Gerry asks Holly to find a job that she loves. In September, Holly starts to make a

list of possible jobs and hunts for the job. The beginning of October is the time to

open the eighth letter. This time, Gerry asks Holly to plant some more sunflowers

to brighten the dark October days she hate so much. He also asks her to pass a

birthday card to their best friend, John, Sharon‟s husband. In the ninth letter,

Gerry asks Holly to go to the Christmas ball which is held annually in the middle

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of November. In his last letter, Gerry tells Holly not to be afraid to fall in love

again. He asks Holly to open her heart for the other man.

Holly‟s mother and best friends, Sharon and Denise, begin to worry that

Gerry‟s letters are keeping Holly tied to the past, but, in fact, each letter is pushing

her further into a new future. With Gerry‟s words as her guide, Holly embarks on

a journey of rediscovery in a story about marriage, friendship and how a love so

strong can turn the finality of death into a new beginning for life.

H. Review of Related Study

A study about compliment has been done by previous researcher. This has

been done by Galih Endah Nurharjanti (2005) in her thesis entitled The Use of

Compliments as Positive Politeness Strategy in Speeches of Men and Women

Characters in the Film “Notting Hill”. This research is intended to describe the

compliments of women and men, to show the topics of compliments expression

and to describe the function of compliments as positive politeness strategy.

The result of the study covered by the findings that women receive more

compliments than men as their positive politeness strategy in language use.

Therefore, women are linguistically more polite than men. There are three topics

of compliments; appearances/ possession, performance/ skill/ abilities, and

personality traits/ friendliness topics. The functions of the compliments are to

increase and consolidate solidarity between interlocutors, to ease communication,

30

to express positive evaluation/ admiration and to replace other speech act

formulas.

The other research about politeness has been done by Eka Nurdianingsih

(2006) in her thesis entitled An Analysis of Tact and Approbation Maxim Based

on Leech Politeness Principles in the Movie “Maid in Manhattan”. It describes

how tact and approbation maxims employed in the conversation of the movie and

describes the aspect that make the utterances of the participants less or more

polite.

The findings of the research show that the employment of tact maxim

emphasizes cost and benefit of other, while the employment of approbation

maxim emphasizes the praise or dispraise of other. Approbation maxim requires

speaker to maximize praise to other. There are many aspects which make the

utterances of the participants less or more polite. For instance, it is influenced by

the scales of social relationship between participants including the social status/

authority scale and the social distance scale, for example, in the utterance

“Lavender! You‟re very creative Marissa.” Mrs. Burns as the superior gives the

compliment directly to Marissa as the subordinate. There is a social distance

between them since they are boss and maid but it is regard to be polite for Mrs.

Burns to deliver the compliment to her maid. In her utterance, Mrs. Burns

employs the approbation maxim because she maximizes the praise to Marissa by

giving a good comment about Marissa‟s appearance in presenting a bundle of

purple orchids with lavender scent; the degree of language used including the

choice of using words in delivering the utterance, the degree of indirectness and

31

the degree of optionality, and the way they are speaking by seeing the context of

situation. For example, in the utterance uttered by Marissa to her friend Stephanie

“Can I finish getting dressed, please? Thank you.” Marissa employs tact maxim in

her utterance since she minimizes the cost to Stephanie. It can be proved by seeing

the indirect utterance used by Marissa to Stephanie. This indirect utterance shows

that Marissa wants Stephanie to help her, but she makes an utterance as if she

does not ask Stephanie to help her wearing the uniform. It seems that she just

wants Stephanie to give more time to her to finish her dressing by herself.

Marissa‟s utterance is not force Stephanie to help her friend. It shows that Marissa

is being tactful in delivering a request to Stephanie.

The use of indirect utterances in the conversation between the higher status

participant and the lower status participant or between the equal status

participants, for example between Caroline as the superior and Marissa as the

subordinate or between Marissa and her friend may influence the degree of

politeness. In the way of delivering the utterance, most of the participants have a

tendency to use indirect utterance. They attempt to minimize the effect of an

impositive so that the utterance seems to be more polite. For the result, the more

indirect language used by the participant will increase the degree of politeness.

The choice of using words in delivering an utterance will bring the effect to the

degree of optionality. Here, if the speaker gives an option to the addressee in

choosing the response, the utterance will be more polite. From the data analyzed,

it can be seen that in using the language to deliver the some utterances, the

participants choose some words for softening the effect of an impositive. The

32

participants prefer to use indirect utterances in delivering such as command or

request because they think it is more tactful to give an option or freedom to the

addressee to choose the response. Therefore, their utterances are less of imposing

and this increase the degree of politeness. The various ways they are speaking can

also show whether they are polite person or not. In other words, we can say that

the way somebody talks to others reflects their politeness.

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CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODLOGY

A. Type of Research

In this research, the researcher applies a descriptive qualitative method,

since this research is objected to collect the data, to analyze the data and to draw

conclusion. This is stated by Surakhmad that a descriptive method is a kind of

research method using technique of searching, collecting, classifying, analyzing

the data, interpreting them, and finally drawing the conclusion (Surakhmad, 1994:

147). Furthermore, in a descriptive method, the collected data are in the form of

words and/ or pictures, not numbers.

B. Data and Source of Data

Arikunto (1998) defines “Data are all facts and numbers which can be

made into materials to find information, and source of data is the subject in which

data can be obtained”. Data can be in the forms of discourse, sentence, clause,

phrase or word which can be obtained from printed media or electronic media,

such as magazine, newspaper, book, television, radio or film. The data in this

research are the conversations containing compliments expressed by the

characters in the novel P.S I Love You.

The source of data is anything, such as human behavior, event, document,

article, etc which the data are taken from. According to Arikunto (1998), the

34

source of data refers to the object from which the data are obtained. The source of

data of this research is the novel entitled P.S I Love You

C. Research Design

This research is conducted based on several steps as follows:

a. Collecting the data, i.e. the conversations containing compliments in the

novel P.S I Love You.

b. Analyzing the data.

c. Drawing conclusion.

D. Technique of Collecting Data

The data of the research are collected by complementing the following

steps:

a. Reading the novel entitled P.S I Love You. Written by Cecilia Ahern.

b. Identifying the conversations containing compliments by giving marks.

c. Classifying the data based on the types of topic of compliment.

E. Technique of Analyzing Data

The collected data are analyzed by conducting the following steps:

a. Analyzing the context of situation in which the compliment is used in the

conversation, involving three variables namely participants, setting and the

relationship between the participants.

35

b. Interpreting the intentions of the speakers in expressing certain

compliments in the conversations of the novel P.S I Love You.

c. Describing the distribution of the compliments based on Leech’s

Politeness Principles.

d. Drawing conclusion from the data analysis and giving suggestions

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CHAPTER IV

DATA ANALYSIS

A. Introduction

The most important part of the research is data analysis. The analysis of

this research is aimed to reveal the use of compliments by the characters in the

novel P.S I Love You. The analysis conducted in three subchapters. They are

introduction, analysis of data and discussion.

B. Analysis of Data

This subchapter contains the analysis of type of topic of compliment. In

analyzing the data, Wolfson‟s classification of topic of compliment is used to

classify the types of topic of compliment expressed by the characters in the novel.

It is also describes the analysis of Politeness Principle which is applied in the

compliment expressions.

1. Topic of Appearance

a. Personal Appearance

Data 2

The conversation happens in Kennedy‟s house. Holly and Ciara are sisters;

they don‟t meet each other for long time because Ciara lives in Australia. When

Ciara comes home, the whole family gathers in their house.

„Hi, Ciara.‟ Holly approached her sister, who jumped up and gave her a

big hug, squeezing Holly a bit tighter than usual. ‘Nice Hair.’

37

„You like it?‟

„Yeah, pink is really your colour.‟

Ciara looked satisfied. „That‟s what I tried to tell them,‟ she said, squinting

at Richard and Meredith. „So how‟s my big sis?‟ Ciara asked softly, rubbing

Holly‟s arm affectionately.

When Holly sees Ciara for the first time, there is something that makes

Holly interested, she looks at Ciara‟s pink hair and then she spontaneously

delivers a compliment to Ciara‟s new hair style. Holly directly says “Nice hair” to

Ciara, she knows that her sister is an eccentric girl, who always wants to be up-to-

date and looks different from others. Before having pink hair, Ciara had ever dyed

her hair with blue color. Unlike her brother Richard and his wife Meredith, Holly

can understand Ciara so that it is not a big deal for her to see Ciara‟s pink hair. In

this case, the compliment has the topic of appearance, especially personal

appearance because the compliment is intended to Ciara‟s new appearance.

Besides, the compliment functions as a spontaneous expression on Ciara‟s

appearance.

Holly employs the approbation maxim in the utterances above since she

maximizes the compliment to Ciara. She chooses a positive adjective (nice) to

express her positive intention. Moreover, the utterance “Yeah, pink is really your

colour” means that Holly‟s compliment is appropriate with the condition that the

color „pink‟ is match with her sister.

As the addressee, Ciara gives a verbal response to the compliments. The

first response “You like it?” disobeys the maxim of modesty because the utterance

indicates that Ciara wants to say that her hair is really nice; it shows that she

maximizes the praise of herself. Moreover, when Holly convinces her that her

38

pink hair is good on her, she says “That‟s what I tried to tell them” in this

utterance, Ciara also gives maximal praise to herself again. She feels confident to

tell Richard and Meredith about her appearance. Ciara breaks the modesty maxim

because this maxim requires the speaker to minimize praise of self and to

maximize dispraise of self. In contrast, Ciara does not maximize the dispraise of

herself but she maximizes the praise of herself. She tries to say to Richard and

Meredith that she has nice pink hair. She does it because she knows that Richard

and Meredith are a kind of old-fashioned people. They have very different point

of view about hair style and fashion. Ciara wants to open their mind and convince

them that having pink hair is not something weird. It is nice as long as it is match

with her. Moreover, Ciara is still young and she likes to up date her style.

Data 14

After having the job interview, Holly decides to go to Hogan‟s pub. She wants

to have lunch and also to meet Ciara who works there. The pub is packed with

people dressed smartly on their lunch breaks from work. Holly finds a small table

in the corner and settles down. Holly also meet his friend, Daniel, who is also the

owner of the pub and the have a chat there.

‘You are looking very smart today,‟ Daniel said, studying her outfit.

„Yes, that was the impression I was trying to give. I was just at a job

interview,‟ Holly said, and winced at the thought of it.

Holly looks different because she seldom dresses formally. The jacket is

long and goes to just above her knees and it is fastened tightly by one button at the

waist. The trousers are just the right fit and fall perfectly over her boots. The outfit

39

is black with light blue lines going through it and she matches it with a light blue

top underneath. Seeing Holly‟s appearance, Daniel gives her compliment by

saying that Holly looks very smart. Since the complimented object is Holly‟s

appearance, it can be concluded that this compliment has the topic of appearance,

especially personal appearance.

Daniel‟s utterance obeys the approbation maxim where he maximizes the

praise to Holly and says something that makes her pleased. They have close

relationship and in this case Daniel‟s compliment can be one of polite ways to

maintain their relationship.

As the addressee, Holly gives response to the compliment by saying „Yes,

that was the impression I was trying to give. I was just at a job interview.‟ It

obeys the maxim of agreement because the response shows that Holly agrees with

Daniel. She realizes that she looks different than usual because she has a job

interview. Holly tries to give her best impression in the interview.

Data 17

Still in the bar, the conversation below is between Holly and Steve. After

introducing himself to Holly, Steve tries to break the ice by offering her a drink.

„Can I buy you a drink, Holly?‟ Steve asked smoothly.

„No thanks, I have one here.‟ She sipped on her water again.

„OK, well, I‟m just going to bring these drinks down to my table and then

I’ll be back to buy the lovely Holly a drink.’ He smiled at her creepily as

he walked away.

It is not enough for Steve just knowing the name of a beautiful lady beside

him. He wants to know more about Holly, he tries to make conversation with her.

40

Since Holly says nothing after mentioning her name, Steve tries to break the ice

by offering Holly to have a drink. It succeeds to make Holly speaks up because

somehow Holly has to answer to Steve‟s offer. Apparently, Holly refuses the

drink from Steve because she still has her own drink. She says no and says thank

you to Steve for offering her the drink. Steve does not give up; he says „I‟ll be

back to buy the lovely Holly a drink‟. In this utterance, it can be seen that Steve

gives compliment to Holly when he forces himself to buy her a drink. The word

„lovely‟ is used to show his admiration to Holly. Holly is a lovely woman and that

is why he wants to know her.

The compliment above has the topic of personal appearance because Steve

says that Holly is lovely. It means that she is a beautiful woman; and he admires

her. It can be seen when Steve forces himself to bring Holly the drink although

Holly already refuses it. By doing this, he wants to show that he really likes her

In this compliment, Steve employs generosity maxim when he delivers

the compliment. The utterance „I‟ll be back to buy the lovely Holly a drink‟ shows

that Steve will be someone who bear the cost by buying the drink for Holly.

Therefore, it can be indicated into generosity maxim since the speaker, Steve

minimizes the benefit and maximizes the cost of himself.

Data 18

The conversation below is between Holly and Daniel. Daniel, John and

Sharon come to Holly‟s house to pick her up to attend the Christmas Ball. Sharon

41

goes into Holly‟s room while her husband and Daniel wait them downstairs. After

Holly finishes dressing up, Holly and Sharon go downstairs to join the men.

„Wow!’ Daniel said, his mouth dropping open. ‘You look fabulous,

Holly.‟

„I look like -,‟ Holly started to grumble and Sharon shot her a look. „But,

thanks,‟ she quickly added.

Actually, Holly prefers to stay at home rather than go to the Ball which is

held annually in the end of November because she wants to open Gerry‟s last

message. But she remembers Gerry‟s message “Cinderella must go to the ball this

month. And she will look glamorous and beautiful and have the time of her life

just like always…But no white dresses this year…P.S I Love You” it gives her

spirit to go. Then, Holly decides to go to the ball with her friends. Holly does

what Gerry has told her that she should not wear white dress but she wears a

simple black halter-neck dress, with a split to the thigh up the middle.

Daniel is surprised to see how Holly is beautiful in her simple black dress.

As someone having close relationship to Holly, Daniel gives a compliment to

show his admiration on Holly‟s appearance by saying „Wow, you look fabulous,

Holly‟. Daniel never sees Holly in her gown before and it is surprised him much

to see her looks very beautiful and different. Therefore, it can be categorized that

the compliment has the topic of personal appearance because Daniel gives a

compliment based on Holly‟s appearance.

The approbation maxim is employed in the utterance because Daniel, as

the speaker maximizes the praise to Holly. His simple word „Wow‟ and his facial

42

expression (his mouth dropping open) when saying it show that he is really

impressed by Holly‟s appearance. Holly, as the addressee seems to say something

contrasts with the compliment. She does not continue her response „I look like -,‟

because Sharon shoots a look at her and then Holly says „Thanks‟. Saying „Thank

You‟ can be identified as the way to show politeness.

Data 19

In the Christmas ball, Holly meets many people; and the conversation

below takes place in the bar between Holly and Patrick. Patrick is a large

businessman who sponsors the charity and one of the successful businessmen in

Ireland.

‘You’re looking as lovely as always.‟ He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

„Can I get you a drink?‟ he asked, holding his hand up to attract the

barman‟s attention.

„Oh, no, thanks,‟ she smiled.

„Ah, let me,‟ he said, taking his bulging wallet out of his pocket. What‟ll

you have?‟

Holly gave in. „A white wine then, please, if you insist,‟ she smiled.

Holly does not know Patrick very well; he is just one of the people she

knows from being at the ball every year. Patrick greets Holly when he meets her

in the bar. He also gives her a kiss on the cheek and says that Holly looks as

lovely as always. He gives a compliment based on Holly‟s appearance. The

utterance “You‟re looking as lovely as always” shows how Patrick is amazed with

Holly‟s appearance that‟s why he shows his admiration by giving her a

compliment. Since they are seldom to meet each other, the giving of compliment

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is regarded to be polite way to maintain their relationship. In this compliment,

Patrick obeys the approbation maxim where he maximizes the praise to the

addressee, Holly. He says something positive about Holly and it is pleased for

Holly. His compliment is followed by an offering for a drink for Holly. In this

case, Patrick obeys the modesty maxim since he minimizes the benefit and

maximizes the cost of himself. He should pay the cost caused by buying Holly a

drink.

As the addressee, Holly does not respond to the compliment but she just

respond to Patrick‟s offering for getting her a drink. She responds it in polite way

by saying „Oh no, thank‟ and smile to him.

b. Possession

Data 4

The conversation happens in Holly‟s house. Ciara, Sharon, Denise, Abbey

and Declan come to Holly‟s house to celebrate Holly‟s 30th

birthday party.

Actually, this is a „girls only‟ party but Declan joins them because he wants to

make a documentary of Holly‟s party. It is a special day for Holly, the girls ask

Holly to wear a tiara because she will be the princess for the night. They help

Holly to put on the sparkling tiara that goes perfectly with her glittery corset.

Surrounded by her friends, Holly really feels like a princess. They give presents

for Holly, open the champagne and make a toast for her.

„Well, I would worry if Jack gave me something like that,‟ Holly

said, opening it. „Oh, Abbey, it’s beautiful!‟ Holly said, holding up the

sterling silver-covered photo album.

„For your new memories,‟ Abbey said softly.

„Oh, it’s perfect,‟ Holly said, wrapping her arms round her and

squeezing her. „Thank you.‟

44

Everyone wants her presents to be the first opened by Holly. It is because

they already prepare the best present for her. Holly decides to open Ciara‟s

present first. All of them laugh when they know that Ciara gives Holly a vibrator.

Holly does not give any compliment to Ciara. Then, Holly opens Abbey‟s present.

Abbey gives her a sterling silver-covered photo album to her. Of course, Holly

loves it, and to show her appreciation to Abbey she compliment her by saying

“Oh, Abbey, it‟s beautiful!”. The word „beautiful‟ refers to the gift and it indicates

that the compliment has topic of appearance, the photo album from Abbey is

beautiful because it is covered by sterling silver so that Holly says that the photo

album from Abbey is beautiful one. By this compliment Holly wants to show her

respect to Abbey for what she has already done for her. Besides, Holly gives

Abbey a compliment again by saying “It‟s perfect”. It shows that Holly, once

again, really appreciates her and she wants to thank her. When Holly says the

second compliment, it is followed by the word „Thank You‟. It shows that in this

case, the compliment functions to replace the speech act of thanking.

According to Leech‟s politeness principles, the compliments above in line

with the maxim of approbation in which Holly, as the speaker says something that

makes the addressee feel pleased. Meanwhile, the responses given by Abbey obey

the tact maxim since she maximizes the benefit to Holly. Actually when Abbey

says „For your new memories‟, she wants to ask Holly to forget her past and her

sadness because of Gerry‟s death. Abbey wants Holly to open her new life again.

45

Of course, it will be something useful for Holly and she won‟t bear any cost

because of Abbey‟s request.

Data 5

This is the conversation between Holly and her brother, Jack, on the

phone. Jack rings Holly to ask her condition after the girls‟ party on her birthday.

„Or maybe it‟s just an evil plan you all hatched so you wouldn‟t have to

tell us what you got up to.‟

„I wish it was… Oh, thanks for the pressie by the way, it’s beautiful.‟

„Glad you like it. It took me ages to find the right one.‟

„Liar‟

One day after the girls celebrated Holly‟s birthday, Jack calls Holly to ask

whether she is OK. Jack is curious to know about Holly‟s condition because

Abbey, his girlfriend who also joins the party, is still suffering because of the

alcohol she drank in the party. Apparently, after they had a toast in Holly‟s house,

they continued the party at Dublin‟s most stylish club, Boudoir. They consumed

too much alcoholic beverage and it made them drunk. Holly feels better when jack

calls her because she already spends the days for sleeping.

In the middle of the conversation, Holly thanks her brother for the birthday

present. She also gives the compliment that the present is beautiful one. Actually,

the present from Jack is the present given to Holly by Abbey. Jack and Abbey are

lovers so both of them give the sterling silver covered photo album to Holly.

Holly loves the present because the photo album having sterling silver cover looks

very nice and beautiful so that she thanks Jack for the present and gives a

compliment by saying that the present is beautiful. The topic of the compliment is

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topic of appearance deal with possession in which Holly praises that Jack‟s

present is beautiful. By saying that the present is beautiful, it makes Jack feel

pleased because it means that Holly appreciate his gift. Therefore, it can be said

that Holly employs the approbation maxim in this compliment because she

already says something pleasing to the addressee; she gives maximal praise to

Jack‟s present.

In responding to the compliment, Jack says „Glad you like it. It took me

ages to find the right one.‟ It shows his agreement to Holly that the present is

really good one. Jack is happy to know Holly loves the present from him. He

makes joke that he needs extra time to find the right present from her. Therefore,

Jack‟s response can be indicated that it obeys the maxim of agreement.

Data 8

Holly goes for a stroll in the park which is not far from her house. She

accidentally, meets Richards and his two children, Timmy and Emily in the park

by chance. Then, they have conversation there.

„I brought the children to see Grandma and Granddad didn‟t I? he said,

ruffling Timmy‟s head.

„And we had McDonald‟s,‟ Timmy said excitedly, and Emily cheered.

„Oh, yummy!‟ Holly said, licking her lips. „You lucky things. Isn’t your

daddy the best?’

Richard looked pleased.

It is not familiar sight for Holly to see her brother with her niece and

nephew having fun in the park. It is just because the park is too far from their

house. Holly greets them and the kids give her a big hug. Holly asks Richard what

makes him bring his children to the park. Then, Richard explains that actually he

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brings the kids to see their Grandma and Granddad and he thinks that it will

makes the kids happy to bring them to the playground in the park. Timmy adds

that his father also brings them to have meal in McDonald‟s.

Having heard her nephew‟s answer Holly says that he is so lucky to have a

very kind father like Richard. Holly delivers a compliment by saying „You lucky

things. Isn‟t your daddy the best?‟ She says to the kids that their father is the best

father. Not only brings the kids to see their grandparents, Richard also shows his

love to the kids by bringing them to play in the park and to McDonald‟s. Holly

gives the compliment to show her nephew and niece how lucky they are to have a

father like Richard. She also wants to show her appreciation to Richard. She never

thinks that her brother can be a nice father for the children. Since Holly says the

compliment to Timmy, the topic of the compliment can be identified to the topic

of possession. The word your indicates that it deals with Timmy‟s possession.

Politeness also must be shown to the third side, either presented or not. In

this case, Holly obeys the politeness principle by giving compliment to Timmy

about Richard as the third side in her conversation with Timmy. Holly‟s

compliment applies the approbation maxim since she maximizes her praise to

Timmy by saying positive thing about his father and it is pleased for Timmy.

Holly says that Richard is the best father and Timmy is Lucky to have him.

Besides, by the compliment Holly also shows her respect to Richard for what he

already done to his children.

Data 10

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The conversation occurs in Holly‟s house. Holly calls her two best friends,

Sharon and Denise to come to her house because she wants to tell something

relates to Gerry‟s fifth letter. They gather in the living room and talk about the

letter.

„Girls,‟ she said with a smile beginning to spread across her face, „he

bought us a holyday!‟

The girls opened a bottle of wine and squealed with excitement.

‘Oh, this is incredible,‟ Denise said after the news had sunk in. ‘Gerry’s

such a sweetie.’

Holly nodded, feeling proud of her husband, who had once again managed

to surprise them all.

„So you went down to see this Barbara person?‟ Sharon asked.

„Yes and she was the sweetest girl,‟ Holly smiled. „She sat with me for

ages telling me about the conversation they had that day. He went in at the end of

November.

When Holly opens Gerry‟s fifth letter, she finds a holiday brochure and it

is also written on it the word: „Swords Travel Agent. Attn: Barbara‟. Holly is very

curious to find out about this puzzle. She goes to the travel agent to meet Barbara

and asks her to explain about the holiday brochure. Then, Barbara tells Holly that

last November Gerry came to her office to book a holiday for Holly. Gerry wanted

to give Holly surprise and he asked Barbara not to let Holly know.

Feeling sure that she really will have a holiday with her friends, Holly asks

them to come to her house. She wants to tell Sharon and Denise that Gerry booked

them a holiday to Lazaronte Spain. The girls are very happy to hear the news.

They open a bottle of wine to celebrate it. Then, Denise says „Oh, this is

incredible. Gerry‟s such a sweetie.‟

She obeys the approbation maxim where she gives maximal compliment to Gerry

because she thinks that he was such a sweet and nice person. Not only gave a

49

holiday for his wife but he also gave it to her and Sharon. In this case, the

compliment has material possession topic because Denise gives compliment to

Holly‟s husband. Denise and Holly are good friend, they have very close

relationship and this compliment functions to maintain the relationship between

the participants, Denise and Holly. It shows Denise sympathy to her late friend,

Gerry, Holly‟s husband.

Holly gives non verbal response to the compliment by nodding her head. It

indicates that the response already apply the maxim of agreement. By nodding her

head, Holly shows that she agrees with Denise compliment that Gerry was really a

sweet person. He was a very nice and lovely husband.

Data 13

Holly goes to Chris‟s office to have a job interview. Chris is the director of

“X” Magazine. It is the first time for them to meet each other.

„Wow, is that your garden?‟ Holly asked wide-eyed. „It’s beautiful; I

presumed it was the Botanical Gardens or somewhere like that.’

„That was Maureen‟s specialty. You can‟t get me out of the office

long enough to sort through that mess.‟

Before they talk more about the job, Holly and Chris have a small talk in

order to make the situation relaxed. While talking with Chris, Holly looks at a

photograph on Chris‟s table. In the photograph, Holly sees three girls sitting down

in a garden. Apparently, the girls are Chris‟s daughters.

Seeing the garden, Holly is impressed and gives compliment to Chris. She

says that the garden is beautiful and she supposes that it is a botanical garden.

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This compliment has topic of appearance deals with material possession because

the complimented subject is Chris‟s material possession.

Holly maximizes the compliment to Chris because she thinks that her

garden at home is nothing compare with one she sees in the photograph. She says

„It‟s beautiful; I presumed it was the Botanical Gardens or somewhere like that‟,

it shows that Holly is really impressed with the condition of Chris‟s garden that

almost the same with a botanical garden. Since Holly gives maximal praise to

Chris so it can be categorized that the compliment above in line with the use of

approbation maxim. Holly wants to show her politeness by giving compliment to

Chris who has higher social status as he is a director and Holly as the interviewee.

Since it is for the first time for them to meet, the compliment has function to

create a relationship between one another.

Chris‟s response shows that he obeys the modesty maxim. He minimizes

the praise of himself. He says that he does not do anything on his garden but his

late wife working on it. His wife, Maureen, could make the beautiful garden

because it was her specialty that‟s why it was not something difficult for her to do.

Chris does not have much time to take care of the garden.

Data 16

Holly attends Denise‟s hen party in a hotel in Galway. The girls are tired

after having the party, while the others already leave the bar; Holly stays there to

51

enjoy herself. There are only the bar man, Charlie and her until some minutes later

the daughter of the bar‟s owner, Laura and Steve, her fiancé come.

„I‟m Steve,‟ he said, holding out his hand to her.

„I‟m Holly,‟ she mumbled and took his hand lightly, not wanting to be

overly rude.

‘Holly, that’s a lovely name.‟ He held her hand for mush too long and

Holly was forced to look up. He had big blue sparkly eyes.

„Eh . . . thanks,‟ she said, embarrassed by his compliment, and her face

flushed.

The conversation above happens in the bar between Holly and Steve.

Steve goes to the counter to get some drinks. He sits beside Holly and introduces

himself to her. When Holly mentions her name, Steve says that it is a lovely

name. There is a social distance between the participants and it regards to be

polite for Steve to deliver a compliment to create a relationship with Holly

because it is for the very first time they meet each other. Since the subject

complimented is the name of Holly, it can be classified into the topic of

appearance, especially possession.

When Steve introduces himself to Holly, it can be seen that Steve is interested to

Holly and he wants to know her. In the utterance „Holly, that‟s a lovely name‟,

Steve wants to show that he is interested to Holly by giving her compliment. This

compliment obeys the approbation maxim where Steve as the speaker maximizes

her praise to Holly by saying something pleased. He says that „Holly‟ is a lovely

name. Holly‟s face flushes because she can not hide her embarrassment of hearing

the compliment. She just says “thanks” to show her politeness in responding the

compliment.

2. Topic of Ability

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a. General Ability

Data 1

The conversation happens in Holly‟s house between Sharon and Holly.

They have close relationship since they are good friends. Sharon comes to Holly‟s

house; she wants to see her condition because it is almost a month for them do not

meet each other after Gerry‟s funeral.

„There‟s a few biscuits there to go with your tea. Jammie Dodgers, your

favorite.‟

„Oh, Sharon,‟she wailed, thank you so much. You’ve been so good to me

and I’ve been such a horrible, horrible bitch of a friend.’ She sat at the table

and grabbed Sharon‟s hand. „I don‟t know what I‟d do without you.‟

„Thanks‟

„I‟m your best friend, Hol; if I don‟t help you then who will?‟ Sharon

said, squeezing her hand and giving her an encouraging smile.

Sharon realizes that it must be hard for Holly to face her new life alone

without her husband besides her anymore. Gerry, Holly‟s husband, is passed away

because of brain tumor a month ago. Sharon visits Holly to see her condition and

to give her support. When Sharon arrives at Holly‟s house, she is surprised to look

Holly‟s condition. Holly still mourns; she looks horrible and losses her weight.

Sharon brings some food, vegetables, fruit and milk for Holly. Then, she asks

Holly to take a bath and they will have fun all day because Sharon wants to make

Holly smile again and forget her sadness. While Holly is bathing, Sharon cleans

Holly‟s house. She opens all the windows downstairs. She tidies and polishes,

vacuums and sprays air freshener in every room. She also cleans Holly‟s kitchen

and scrubs the hob.

53

Holly cannot believe that Sharon will do this for her. Moreover, Sharon

already prepares a cup of tea and Holly‟s favorite biscuit „Jammie Dodgers‟.

Holly thinks that Sharon is very kind and it also proves that she is really her best

friend. Then, Holly gives compliment to Sharon for what she has done and for

being so good to her. Therefore, it can be concluded that the compliment has topic

of general ability where Holly compliments Sharon personal quality as a very

kind, caring and helpful friend. Sharon already does many good things that make

Holly proud of her.

Based on Leech‟s politeness principle, Holly obeys the approbation

maxim in her compliment because she, as the speaker, gives maximal praise to the

addressee, Sharon and maximizes the dispraise to herself by saying „You‟ve been

so good to me and I‟ve been such a horrible, horrible bitch of a friend‟. She says

that Sharon is a good friend, and in contrast she states that she, herself is a

horrible friend.

On the other hand, Sharon breaks the approbation maxim in responding

to the compliment. Approbation maxim requires the speaker to give maximal

praise to other but in the utterance „I‟m your best friend, Hol; if I don‟t help you

then who will?‟ , it can be seen that Sharon maximizes the praise of herself. She

states that she is the best friend of Holly and she is the only one who is able to

help and who will help Holly when she gets problems. It is regards to be impolite

to give praise to our self.

Data 3

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The conversation happens in Holly‟s house. Ciara, Sharon, Denise, Abbey

and Declan come to Holly‟s house to celebrate Holly‟s 30th

birthday party.

Actually, this is a „girls only‟ party but Declan joins them because he wants to

make a documentary of Holly‟s party. It is a special day for Holly, the girls ask

Holly to wear a tiara because she will be the princess for the night. They help

Holly to put on the sparkling tiara that goes perfectly with her glittery corset.

Surrounded by her friends, Holly really feels like a princess. They give presents

for Holly, open the champagne and make a toast for her.

„OK, now open my present,‟ Ciara screamed again.

„Ciara!‟ they all shouted.

„After the toast,‟ added Sharon.

Everyone held up the glass

‘OK, here’s to my bestest friend in the whole world who has such a

difficult year, but throughout all has been the bravest and the

strongest person I’ve ever met. She’s an inspiration to us all. Here‟s to

her finding happiness for the next thirty year of her life! To Holly!‟

„To Holly,‟ they all chorused

The girls cheer and enjoy the party. Ciara wants Holly to open her present

but Sharon says that the presents will be opened after they have a toast. In her

utterance, Sharon gives Holly compliment. She says that Holly is the bravest and

the strongest person. Holly becomes an inspiration for them because of her

struggle in her life. Holly succeeds to fight the difficulties she found in her life

since Gerry‟s death. Sharon hopes that Holly‟s thirtieth birthday will be a new

start to Holly to start her new life and to find her happiness. It can be identified

that the compliment has topic of general ability because Sharon gives a

compliment based on Holly‟s personal quality; Holly is a brave and strong person

55

so that she can handle all her problems and able to face her new life without her

husband who already passed away.

In the compliment above it can be seen that Sharon already gives her

maximal praise to Holly by saying that Holly is the bravest and the strongest

person she has ever met. Sharon knows Holly‟s struggle in her life and it is not

easy for Holly to face her life, that‟s why she gives the compliment to show her

admiration to Holly‟s struggle. Thus, it can be said that the compliment obey the

approbation maxim because Sharon, as the speaker maximizes the praise to Holly,

as the addressee.

Data 9

The conversation occurs in a travel agent. The participants are Gerry and

one of the travel agent‟s employees, Barbara. Gerry goes to the travel agent to

books a holiday package for Holly and her friends.

Those brown eyes looked sad. Barbara cleared her throat nervously, „Well,

that’s very thoughtful of you, sir.‟ „Could I have their names then, please?‟

She finished taking his details and he settled the bill. She began to print

the arrangements from the computer to give to him.

„Oh, do you mind if I leave the details here with you? I want to surprise

my wife and I would be afraid of leaving papers around the house in case she

finds them.‟

During his sickness, Gerry who should stay at home to have bed rest goes

to the travel agent alone. Gerry says to Barbara that he wants to book a holiday

and he asks Barbara to help him choose the place. It is different because usually

Barbara must explain the brochures to the customer one by one. She also tries to

persuade the customer to go to a certain place. But Gerry doesn‟t care about the

brochure at all. He says that he wants to go to Lazaronte, Spain, and it makes

56

Barbara easier to do her job since Gerry already decides the place. Barbara says

that it is a good choice to have a summer holiday at Lazaronte.

When Barbara asks the name and the address, Gerry says that the holiday

is not for him but he books it as a surprise for his wife and his wife‟s friends.

Hearing Gerry‟s answer Barbara spontaneously give compliment to Gerry by

saying “Well, that‟s very thoughtful of you, sir”. Barbara wants to say that Gerry

is a very kind person; it is wonderful thing to have such kind of surprise. What a

lucky wife Gerry has. It can be seen that Gerry has such nice personal quality. He

prepares surprise for his wife; he wants his wife have fun with her friends by

buying them the holiday package. From the explanation, it can be concluded that

the compliment has topic of general ability, especially deals with the personal

quality.

This compliment obeys the politeness principle which deals with

approbation maxim where Barbara says how Gerry is a thoughtful man. It gives

maximize praise to the addressee. Barbara maximizes the praise to Gerry because

of his kindness. She thinks that Gerry is a thoughtful man because he prepares a

surprise for his wife by giving the holiday package.

Gerry gives no response to Barbara‟s compliment. He only pays attention

on her question about the names that will be listed on the holiday. Gerry asks

Barbara to keep the details in her office because he is afraid that Holly will find it

if he brings the details with him. The utterance “Oh, do you mind if I leave the

details here with you?” shows that Gerry uses indirectness strategy when asking

Barbara to keep the details. The indirectness shows Gerry politeness to Barbara.

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Data 11

The conversation happens between Holly and Daniel. Daniel comes to

Kennedy‟s house because he is invited by Holly to join her sister‟s party.

Actually, Holly invites him because Ciara wants him to come. Ciara doesn‟t ask

Daniel by herself because he is Holly‟s friend so she asks Holly to invite him for

her. Ciara holds a barbeque party to celebrate her birthday. They have the party in

the back yard of Kennedy‟s house.

„By the way, Daniel,‟ she lowered her voice to a hushed tone and he

moved his head closer, „I just wanted to thank you so much for looking out for me

the way you did after the documentary. Most men run a mile when they see a girl

cry; you didn‟t, so thank you.‟ Holly smiled gratefully.

„No problem at all, Holly. I don‟t like to see you upset.‟ Daniel returned to

smile.

„You’re a good friend,‟ Holly said.

Daniel looked pleased. „Why don‟t we go out for drinks or something before you

go away?‟

When Holly sees Tom, Denise and Daniel in the side of the garden she

decides to join them. Holly greets them and thanks them for coming. They don‟t

meet each other for about two months because Daniel goes to Miami for some

business. On this occasion, they have time to share stories. Holly remembers the

time when she cried after seeing the documentary film about her birthday

celebration some months ago. She thought that the film was so private, only her

family and her close friends knew it, and it was beyond her keen that Declan

would make it as a public show. She felt embarrassed because many people saw it

in the Hogan‟s. After the show ended, Holly run away from the crowd, she hid in

58

a tiny storeroom surrounded by mops and buckets. She sat down on a barrel, she

was in shock. She felt confused and angry at Declan and she cried.

Seeing Holly‟s condition, Daniel entered the room. He stroked Holly‟s

hair and hugged her softly. Holly still cried and Daniel removed her hand from her

face and handed her a tissue. He said that everything was ok; there was nothing to

be worried. No body would insult her because of the show because it was not

something ashamed but it was something funny and entertaining and every body

loved it. Holly felt better after hearing Daniels explanation. Then Daniel asked

her to stop hiding in the room of Hogan club, and Holly went out to join the

crowd again.

For that reason Holly gives Daniel a compliment by saying that he is a

good friend, she obeys the approbation maxim in which she says something that

makes Daniel please. She never thinks that Daniel will help her because as far as

Holly knows that most men will leave the girl alone when they see the girl cry,

but Daniel is different. Daniel already accompanied her and gave her advice when

she felt sad and cried in Hogan after the show. This compliment has the topic of

ability, especially general ability because it show how Daniel has such a good

personal quality in which he is a kind of good friend caring and paying attention

to others.

When Daniel hears Holly delivers a compliment for him, he looks pleased

and then says “Why don‟t we go out for drinks or something before you go

away?” Daniel feels pleased because Holly regards him as a good friend. And

Daniel‟s response to the compliment shows that he obeys the maxim of generosity

59

where he maximizes the cost and minimizes the benefit of himself by offering

Holly to have some drinks; and of course it will give maximal benefit to Holly.

Data 12

The conversation below is between Richard and Holly. They have a

conversation in the café; Richard tells his problem to Holly. Richard is fired,

that‟s why he often works on Holly‟s garden to kill the time.

„Oh, by the way, Richard, thank you for my garden,‟ Holly smiled, then

leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

„You know?‟

She nodded. „You have such a huge talent and I’m going to pay you

every single penny you deserve as soon as I find a job.’

Her brother‟s face relaxed into a shy smile. They got into their cars

and drove back to the house they grew up in.

There is someone who always clean Holly‟s garden when she goes out. It

makes Holly becomes very curious. One day, Holly doesn‟t go anywhere and she

hides inside her house in the hope that she will be able to find out the mysterious

guy who tidy her garden. The door bell rings, but Holly doesn‟t open the door.

Then she walks slowly and sees the man through the window. Holly is surprised

when she knows that the man is her brother, Richard. It is really beyond her

expectation that Richard will do this for her. Holly doesn‟t reprimand Richard

directly but she follows her brother when her brother leaves her house. Finally,

Richard stops at a café and Holly also comes in it. They have a conversation in the

café; Richard tells his problem to Holly. Richard is fired, that‟s why he often

works on Holly‟s garden to kill the time.

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After knowing her brother problem, Holly understands the reason why

Richard doesn‟t want to tell her that he is the one who works on her garden. To

appreciate what her brother has done for her, Holly gives maximal compliment to

Richard on his talent in gardening by saying “You have such a huge talent and

I‟m going to pay you every single penny you deserve as soon as I find a job”.

Although Richard studies about science when he is in the college but he has talent

on gardening. Since the compliment deals with Richard‟s talent, the compliment

has the topic of general ability.

Although Holly gives maximal praise to Richard, in this case the

compliment above tends to obey the tact maxim because in her compliment, Holly

promises Richard that she will give some money to pay him as soon as she find a

job. It can be seen that Richard will be the one who get the benefit and he does not

bear any cost. Therefore, this compliment obeys the tact maxim because Holly, as

the speaker, maximizes the benefit and minimizes the cost to Richard.

Richard, as the addressee, accepts Holly‟s compliment. He shows his

appreciation by smiling at Holly. It suggests that Richard feels comfortable with

her compliment and he wants to show his appreciation. Smiling can be interpreted

as a positive facial expression to show approval.

Data 15

The conversation occurs in “X” Magazine office. Chris is impressed and

satisfied with the interview that he had done with Holly. He welcomes Holly to

join “X” Magazine. Chris shows Holly her new room where she can start to work.

„Right, I‟ll leave you to it so.‟ He backed out of the room slowly but

paused before closing the door. He watched her surveying the room with

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satisfaction. ‘Holly, I hired you because you seem like a very

determined young woman.’ Holly nodded confidently, assuring him he was right.

From the interview, Chris knows Holly‟s background and her experiences.

Moreover, Chris has the same experience with Holly because both of them are left

by their spouse. Chris is impressed with Holly‟s strength when she must

accompany her sick husband that makes her loose the job. Holly must find the

other job to continue her life after her husband died. Finally, she, who does not

have experience in advertising before, is brave to take the challenge to manage the

advertising division in „X‟ Magazine.

In Chris‟s opinion Holly is such kind of determined woman that is why he

gives compliment to Holly. The compliment has topic of general ability because

the complimented object refers to Holly‟s personal quality. He obeys the

approbation maxim in which he maximizes the praise to Holly‟s personal quality

and his utterance makes Holly feels pleased. Chris as the director gives his

employee compliments. The use of nickname that Chris used to call Holly

indicates that there is a social status difference between them. It regards to be

polite for Chris to use Holly‟s nick name because he has higher position than

Holly as his employee.

Chris obeys the approbation maxim in his compliment because when he

says „Holly, I hired you because you seem like a very determined young woman.‟

he maximizes the praise to Holly. Chris feels sure that Holly is a kind of

determined woman and she will be able to bear the responsibility that will be

given to her in “X” Magazine.

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Holly does not give verbal response to the compliment, and to show her

politeness in responding the compliment she just nods confidently. She wants to

assure Chris that he is right. This kind of response indicates the addressee

agreement to the speaker.

Data 21

Holly decides to go home before the ball is ended. Daniel already waits

her and they go home together. The conversation below is between Holly and

Daniel. It happens in the kitchen of Holly‟s house.

„So what am I?‟ Daniel asked quietly.

Holly prayed that he wouldn‟t cry. She didn‟t think she could bear it if he

cried.

‘You,’ she took a deep breath, ‘are a kind, caring and incredibly

thoughtful friend who I respect and appreciate –‘

„But I‟m not Gerry,‟ he interrupted her.

„I don‟t want you to be Gerry,‟ she insisted. „I want you to be Daniel.‟

It is quarter to twelve when Holly and Daniel arrive at Holly‟s house.

Holly wants to open Gerry‟s last message and she hopes that Daniel will go home

soon after having tea. Actually, Daniel is falling in love with Holly. Daniel is

waiting for the right moment to tell Holly about his feeling. But it seems that

Holly is not ready yet to open her heart to the other man since Gerry is still with

her through his ten letters. Daniel can not force Holly to forget her husband, he

just asks Holly to realize that he is not in this world anymore and she should learn

how to face her new life without him. Then Daniel asks her about his position in

her life.

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Holly answer Daniel question with the compliment „You are a kind, caring

and incredibly thoughtful friend who I respect and appreciate –„ Holly gives the

compliment because she appreciate what Daniel has ever done to her. Daniel is a

thoughtful friend. He is care and kind to Holly; he helps her when she gets

problem with the job, he always has time when Holly needs someone to talk and

the most important is he is understand Holly‟s position as a widow. In this case,

the topic of compliments is general ability since Holly gives the compliment

based on Daniel‟s personal quality.

It can be seen that Holly uses positive adjective, like kind, care, incredible

to compliment Daniel. She gives maximal praise to Daniel and says something

that pleases him. Therefore, the compliment is in line with the use of approbation

maxim because the speaker maximizes her praise to the addressee. On the other

hand, Daniel does not respond the compliment but he interrupts Holly by saying

„But I‟m not Gerry,‟ He wants to say to Holly that now, Daniel is with her, not

Gerry. Daniel breaks the politeness rule because interrupting someone is regarded

to be impolite in the conversation. Daniel interrupts Holly before she finishes her

sentence.

Data 22

The conversation happens in the elevator between Holly and Leo. Leo is

Holly‟s hairdresser and they become good friend since Holly. They meet in the

elevator of the hotel in Wicklow where Denise‟s wedding will be held.

„I haven‟t seen you for ages,‟ Leo said, glancing at Holly‟s hair, making I

very obvious.

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„Oh, I know,‟ Holly moaned, covering her roots with her hand. „I‟ve been

busy at work this month I just haven‟t had time.‟

Leo raised his eyebrows and looked amused. ‘Never did I think I would

ever hear you say those words about work. You’re a change woman.’

Holly was thoughtful. „Yes. Yes, I really think I am.‟

Holly wants to go back to her room after finding Daniel‟s room. She goes

to the elevator and presses the button. Some minutes later, the elevator door

opens; Holly is surprised to see Leo in the elevator then she smiles, steps in and

hugs Leo. Holly never thinks that she will see Leo in the hotel. Then, Leo

explains that Denise asks him to do her hair in her wedding.

Holly and Leo do not meet each other for some months. Leo looks at

Holly‟s hair and finds that Holly‟s hair is not treated well. Holly realizes it and

she covers the roots of her hair with her hand. Holly explains that she does not

have much time to take care of her hair because she is busy at work. Leo is

surprised to hear Holly‟s explanation. He never thinks that Holly will be such a

different woman because some months ago Holly was lazy to makeup and ignore

her appearance. She was often mourn and did not have spirit to face her future.

But, now Holly seems to have a new life, she is able to be a professional and has

high dedication at her work. That‟s why Leo gives her compliment by saying

„Never did I think I would ever hear you say those words about work. You‟re a

change woman.‟ Leo wants to show his admiration to Holly‟s change. This kind

of compliment has topic of general ability because the complimented object is

Holly‟s personal quality that, now, she is a different woman. She is an

independent woman.

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In his compliment, Leo shows his admiration to Holly‟s change. He gives

his maximal praise to Holly and it makes the compliment makes her feel pleased.

Therefore, it can be said that this compliment in line with the use of approbation

maxim where the speaker maximizes the praise to the addressee. Holly as the

addressee thoughtfully says „Yes. Yes, I really think I am.‟ it seems that she is

agree with Leo. The word „yes‟ indicates the agreement. She agrees with Leo that

she is a change woman. Holly loves her job and she realizes that she has the

responsibility and must give high dedication to the job. The response obeys the

maxim of agreement because Holly shows her agreement to Leo.

b. Specific Act Ability

Data 6

Holly‟s family and best friends gather in Club Diva. They want to support

Holly in the karaoke contest held in the club. The conversation below happens in

the Club Diva between Holly and Sharon. Sharon gives compliment to Holly after

she goes down from the stage.

‘I’m so proud of you!’ Sharon said, throwing her arms around Holly‟s

neck. ‘It was awful!’

„Thanks for helping me, Sharon.‟ Holly hugged her friend.

In his third letter, Gerry asks Holly to join a karaoke contest. Gerry knows

that Holly has a phobia about this kind of thing and he wants her to face her fear.

She has a bad experience when she sings in front of the public and it is the reason

why Gerry enlists Holly‟s name in the contest. It is so hard for Holly to go to the

contest. She still remembers that some years ago, she sang in Gerry‟s friend party.

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She was drunk and people throw things on the stage when she sang. There were

all people saw Holly trip down the steps in her stilettos and fall flat on her face.

They all watched as her skirt went flying over her head to reveal her underwear.

Holly was taken to the hospital to see her broken nose while Denise and Sharon

helped matters by taking a photograph of the scene. From that happening, Holly

vowed never to do karaoke again.

Holly hides in the toilet when the DJ calls her name. Sharon tries to

persuade her; she convinces her that everything will be all right. Holly must face

the reality that now she is already on the stage. She must prove to Gerry that she is

able to fight her nightmare. Finally, by the support of the family and friends,

Holly completely sings “I Need Somebody to Love”. After Holly‟s performance,

Sharon gives her compliment „I‟m so proud of you!‟ „It was awful!‟. She wants to

show that she is proud of Holly; she appreciates Holly‟s performance and says

that it is great. She smiles at Holly and hug her after she finishes her song. Holly‟s

family and friends cheer and congratulate her because finally she can fight her

fear about this contest. Since the complimented object is Holly‟s performance, it

can be identified that the compliment has topic of specific act ability.

The compliments given by Sharon obey the approbation maxim because

she maximizes the praise to Holly. They give positive comments about Holly‟s

performance. Although Holly does not be the winner but at least Holly already

proves that she already does the best. Holly proves to Gerry, her family and her

friends that she is able to fight her fear of doing karaoke in front of the public.

Holly shows her politeness in responding to Sharon‟s compliment by saying

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„Thanks for helping me‟ it shows how Holly really appreciate Sharon‟s help and

support. She thanks Sharon because she realizes that she will not be able to finish

the contest without her support.

Data 7

The conversation happens in Club Diva. Holly comes to the club to see her

brother‟s documentary film “Girls and the City” there. She already makes an

appointment with her family and friends to meet there. She arrives at Club Diva at

7.30 p.m. She thinks that the show will be started at 8.00 p.m. so that she comes

thirty minutes earlier for a change. In this club, she meets her friend, Daniel, the

owner of the club. Daniel is surprised to see Holly comes very early. He explains

that Declan‟s documentary film will be aired at nine o‟clock.

Knowing that the show will be started at nine o‟clock, Holly decides to go

around town for a bit and come back later. She asks permission to Daniel to go

but he says that the shops are all close by the time. He asks her to stay and

accompany him while waiting for the others to come. Then, he offers her some

drinks but she just wants to have water. She doesn‟t want something stronger

because she is afraid that she will be drunk by the time everyone arrive at the club.

Daniels gives Holly the water, and then she asks him whether he wants something

to drink too. At first, Daniel refuses it but Holly convinces him that it is now her

turns to treat him. Daniel wants a Budweiser, but he wants Holly to make it for

him. She jumps of her stool and walks round the bar. Daniel stands back and

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watches her with amusement. It seems that Holly really enjoys herself to be like a

real bartender. She grabs a pint glass and pulling down on the tap.

„Mmm . . . well, if you‟re ever looking for work you know where to

come,‟ Daniel said, after taking a gulp of his pint. „You did a good job‟

„It‟s not exactly brain surgery,‟ she smiled, bouncing across to the other

side of the bar. She took out her purse and handed him money. „Keep the change.‟

From the conversation above, it can be seen that there is a social distance

scale in the use of approbation maxim. Although Daniel, as the owner of Club

Diva has authority to compliment Holly, but in this case, the compliment is tend

to be a compliment between friends who have good relationship. It is really

beyond Daniel expectation that Holly can do all of this. Daniel knows that Holly

is hunting for a job, and then he offers her a job to work on his club. He gives

compliment to Holly by saying “You did a good job”. Daniel employs the

approbation maxim since he maximizes the pride to Holly, he uses a positive

adjective „good‟ to show his positive evaluation to Holly‟s act. Daniel thinks that

for someone who never works on the club before Holly can manage this job

perfectly. He gives compliment to her because of her specific act ability in

concocting beverage.

Holly responds to the compliment by saying “It‟s not exactly brain

surgery”. This response obeys the maxim of modesty where Holly says something

that does not make her pride of herself. The response indicates that Holly wants to

say that what she has done is really not a big deal; it is not something difficult to

do for her. She does not need to think and work hard just to make Budweiser.

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Data 20

The conversation happens in the toilet of the hotel where the Christmas

ball is held. It is between Sharon and Holly. Sharon comes into the toilet to save

Holly from the women gossiping her.

„Good idea,‟ Sharon agreed. „I didn‟t realize how shite this ball was when

you‟re sober.‟

Holly smiled.

‘Anyway, you were great tonight, Holly. You came, you conquered.

Now go home and open Gerry‟s message. Ring me and let me know what

it says‟. She hugged her friend again.

„It‟s the last one,‟ Holly said sadly.

„I know, so enjoy it,‟ Sharon smiled. „Memories last a lifetime, remember

that.‟

Holly is in the same toilet where some women are gossiping. The women

do not know that Holly is also in the toilet when they talk about her and Daniel.

They suppose that Holly has special relationship with Daniel and they think that it

is disgraceful for Holly to come with a new man in a place she used to go with her

husband. Holly is shocked to hear their conversation. She still stands frozen in her

position when suddenly someone opens the toilet door beside her and the women.

Apparently, Sharon comes to save Holly from the women. She asks the woman

not to talk about Holly anymore. She says that it is absolutely not their business of

what her best friend, Holly does and does not do. When the women already leave,

Holly unlocks the door and steps outside. Holly thanks Sharon for defending her

from the women.

Sharon gives the compliment „Anyway, you were great tonight, Holly. You

came, you conquered‟ to appreciate Holly for what she has done in the ball

because she thinks that Holly succeeds in facing the people in the ball; she is able

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to adapt with the new situation for being in the ball without her husband. She

gives wise answer to the people asking about her late husband and she can be

patient to the people who insult her as she is now a widow. From the explanation,

it can be identified that the topic of compliment is deal with Holly‟s specific act.

Holly needs great efforts to face the people in the ball and she is able to manage it.

The compliment above obeys the approbation maxim because the speaker

gives her maximal praise to the addressee. Sharon says that Holly is great and she

congratulates Holly for conquering the worst situation. It is so hard for Holly to

go to the ball but finally she is brave to come to the ball and conquers the worst

situation. She is able to manage herself stay calm and try to be patient when the

people ask her about Gerry and when some people talk about her and Daniel.

C. Discussion

The discussion is used to reveal the findings. It covers the types of topic of

compliment and the Leech‟s politeness strategy used by the characters in

delivering the compliments. This table below shows the findings:

No Topic of Compliment Data Maxims Obeyed

1. Topic of Appearance

a. Personal Appearance

02, 14, 17, 18, 19

Approbation Maxim

( data 02, 14, 18, 19)

Generosity Maxim

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b. Possession

04, 05, 08, 10, 13, 16

(data 17)

Approbation Maxim

2. Topic of Ability

a. General Ability

- Personal Quality

- Talent

b. Specific Act Ability

01, 03, 09, 11, 15, 21, 22

12

06, 07, 20

Approbation Maxim

Tact Maxim

Approbation Maxim

1. The types of topic of compliment.

There are two topics of compliments employed by the characters of the

novel entitled P.S I Love You, namely the topic of appearance and the topic of

ability. Each topic has two types. Therefore, there are four types of topics of

compliment. They are personal appearance, possession, general ability and

specific-act ability.

The personal appearance deals with apparel or clothing and other aspects

of personal appearance such as a physical appearance, make-up and hairdo. It can

be found in data 02, 14, 17, 18, and 19. These data point out the speakers‟ positive

value toward the addressees‟ personal appearance. In these data, the speakers use

polite adjectives smart, nice, lovely and fabulous to reflect positive comments.

They are used to express something good.

The type of compliment on possession is found in the compliment of

material possession or favorable comments on that something appears to parallel

comments concerning possession. There are six data containing the type of topic

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of compliment on possession found in the novel P.S I Love You. They are data 04,

05, 08, 10, 13 and 16. Data 04 and 05 show that the speaker affirms the

admiration for the beautiful present. Data 08 is the compliment on the addressee‟s

possession of the best daddy. In data 10, the speaker gives a compliment about the

addressee‟s husband. The speaker uses a polite adjective sweet to express the

admiration to the addressee‟s husband. Data 13 shows the speaker express a

positive evaluation toward the addressee‟s possession of having a beautiful

garden. Data 16 shows the compliment on the addressee‟s possession of having a

lovely name.

The type of topic of compliment on general ability includes the

categorical reference to skill, talent, personal qualities and taste. From all the data,

there are only the compliments on personal qualities and talent. The data

belonging to the compliments on personal qualities are data 01, 03, 09, 11, 15, 21

and 22. In data 01, the speaker gives compliment on the addressee‟s personal

quality of being a good friend. The speaker says that she is already being so good,

a very helpful friend who always be with the speaker when she need her. It means

that the speaker appreciates and respects her. It is appropriate if she gives a

compliment to the addressee. Data 03 shows that the speaker gives a compliment

to the addressee for her bravery and strength in facing such difficult life alone

after the addressee‟s husband passed away. In data 09 the speaker gives a

compliment to the addressee‟s thoughtfulness to his wife. The addressee prepares

a surprise by booking a holiday package for his wife and friends before he passed

away. Data 11 and 21 show that the speaker gives a compliment to the

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addressee‟s personal quality of being good, kind, care and thoughtful friend for

the speaker. Data 15 shows that the speaker gives a compliment to the addressee

of personal qualities because of her ability in doing her job. She is determined

woman and that‟s why her boss gives the compliment. In data 22, the speaker

compliments the addressee‟s personal quality of being a change woman; an

independent woman having good responsibility in work. There is only one

compliment on general ability deals with talent. It can be found in data 12. The

speaker gives compliment to the addressee of having a good talent. Although the

addressee‟s educational background is science but he is good in gardening.

The compliments on specific act ability only happen in the situation in

which the specific acts are done. The type of topic of compliment on specific act

ability can be found in data 06, 07, and 20. In data 06 is the compliment on

addressee‟s specific act ability in her performance on a karaoke contest. The

speaker is proud to her performance and she says that it is awful. The data 07 is

the compliment on addressee‟s specific act ability in concocting a beverage; she is

good in making the Budweiser although she does not work in the bar. Data 20 is

the compliment on addressee‟s specific act ability in facing the people insulting

her because she is a widow.

2. The analysis of Politeness Principle

Based on the analysis of Politeness Principle, it can be concluded that the

compliments expression in the novel entitled P.S I Love You employ three

maxims, Approbation Maxim, Tact Maxim and Generosity Maxim. The data

analyzed consist of 22 conversations. From those data, 20 data show that the

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speaker obeys the approbation maxim, 1 data obeys tact maxim and 1 data obeys

generosity maxim.

Since the intention of giving compliment is to make the addressee feels

good, the strategy used by the speaker is by giving the maximal praise to the

addressee. Therefore, the compliments in 20 data obey the approbation maxim

because from those data, the speaker already maximizes the praise to the

addressee. This strategy is chose by the speakers because it can be the effective

way to show their admiration. By employing the approbation maxim on the

compliments, the speaker can give their maximal praise to the addressee. This

maximal praise is given to the addressee‟s personal appearance, possession,

personal quality and the addressee‟s specific act.

In data 02, 14, 18 and 19, the speaker gives maximal praise on the

addressee‟s personal appearance. In data 18, for example, Daniel uses this strategy

in order he can give his maximal praise to Holly. He does this because he wants to

show his admiration, that he is really amazed with Holly‟s appearance.

Meanwhile, the employment of approbation maxim on the addressee‟s possession

can be seen in data 4, 5, 8, 10, 13 and 16. The compliments on addressee‟s

personal quality also obey the approbation maxim. In data 01, 03, 09, 11, 15, 21

and 22, the speaker maximizes the compliment because of the personal quality of

the addressee for being good friend (data 01, 11 and 21), being strong, brave,

determined and change woman (data 03, 15 and 22) and being a thoughtful man

(data 9). The employment of approbation maxim on the addressee‟s specific act

ability can be found in data 06, 07 and 20. The speaker maximizes the praise to

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the addressee‟s act in the karaoke contest (data 06), concocting the beverage in the

bar (data 07) and facing the people who disturb her in the ball (data 20).

The employment of tact maxim in the expression of compliment can be

found in data 12, in which the speaker gives compliment on the addressee‟s talent.

When complimenting the addressee‟s talent, the speaker maximizes the benefit to

the addressee; she wants to give some money because the addressee already works

on her garden. Since the tact maxim requires the participant to minimize cost and

maximize benefit to the other, it can be said that in data 12, the speaker obeys the

tact maxim. Holly chooses this strategy because she thinks that it is not enough

for her just giving compliment to Richard „s talent and thanking him after what

he has done to her garden, that is why she wants to maximizes the benefit to

Richard by giving him some money.

In data 16, the speaker employs generosity maxim in delivering the

compliment. Generosity maxim requires the participants to minimize the benefit

to self and maximize cost to self. Steve admires Holly so much so that he forces to

buy a drink for her. Steve, as the speaker obeys generosity maxim because he will

be someone who bears the cost by buying the drink for the addressee. He

minimizes the benefit and maximizes the cost of himself. He uses this way to get

Holly‟s attention. It is rather difficult for Steve to have conversation with Holly

after their introduction and by using this strategy he wants to break the ice and

continue the conversation.

Related to the politeness principle, some responses of compliment employ

the maxim. The employment of modesty maxim, where the speaker minimizes the

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praise of self, can be found in data 07 and 13. In data 07, Holly says to Daniel that

her ability in making the Budweiser is not something great; everybody also can do

the same thing. Data 13 shows that Chris minimizes the praise of self by saying

that he does nothing on his garden but his wife working on it. They want to show

their modesty and want to say that there is nothing great need to be complimented.

Tact maxim is obeyed by the speaker in responding the compliment. In

data 04, the speaker maximizes the benefit to the addressee by asking her to open

her new life and forget the past. Abbey uses this strategy in the hope that by

asking Holly to start her new life, she will be able to find her happiness again and

continue her life. Data 11 shows that the response in line with generosity maxim.

In responding the compliment, the speaker maximizes the cost and minimizes the

benefit of himself by offering the addressee to have some drinks. By this strategy,

Daniel wants to show that he appreciate Holly‟s compliment and he wants to

show his respect to her by treating her some drinks.

Data 05, 14 and 22 employ the agreement maxim because the speaker

agrees with the addressee, the word „yes‟ (data 14 and 22) indicates the

agreement. In data 05, the speaker says his agreement by saying that he is glad

that the addressee likes his present because he needs extra time to find the right

present for her. In data 14 and 22, Holly shows her agreement to the compliments

by saying „yes‟ and it means that she accepts the compliments. Holly feels that the

compliments are appropriate with the real condition, that she looks smart in her

formal dress and that she is a change woman, a professional worker. She feels that

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she is change and there is no reason to refuse the compliments. Therefore, she

uses the agreement maxim.

In data 01 and 02, the responses of compliment disobey the maxims. Data

01, the speaker breaks the approbation maxim because she does not give maximal

praise to the addressee but to herself. Sharon breaks the maxim because she wants

to show that she is the only one who can be the best friend of Holly and no one

can do better than her. Meanwhile, in data 02, the speaker disobeys the modesty

maxim because she does not maximize the dispraise of her self but she praise

herself and feel confidence when she says that her pink hair is nice. She breaks the

maxim because she wants to tell Richard and Meredith that it is nice to have pink

hair and to up date the style as long as it is match with her.

The addressee also gives response to the compliment by giving nonverbal

response. Nonverbal responses can be found in data 10, 12 and 15, where the

addressee responds the compliment by nodding and smiling. They choose to give

nonverbal responses in the hope that these kinds of response already represent

their feeling, that they are glad and happy with the compliments. Moreover

nodding and smiling indicate something positive, that they appreciate and accept

the compliments. Some compliments are responded by thanking to show that the

speaker appreciate or accept the compliments. In data 6, 16 and 18, the addressees

say „thanks‟ in responding the compliment. They thank the people who give

compliments to show their politeness because say thank you is regarded to be

more polite than they just keep silent. Data 03, 08, 09, 17, 19 and 20, show that

the addressee gives no response to the compliment. Although, the addressees give

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no response to the compliments, it does not mean that they are not polite. They do

that because they choose to talks about something else or answer the other

question having no relation to the compliment. In data 21, the addressee interrupts

the speaker before she finishes her compliment to him. Daniel interrupts Holly

because he feels annoyed to her. Daniel hopes that Holly will receive him as the

way he is without comparing him to her late husband, Gerry.

These findings show that the compliments do not always employ the

approbation maxim. The speakers also able to employ the other maxim, such as

generosity maxim and tact maxim in delivering the compliments. From the four

types of topic of compliments found, most of them employ the approbation

maxim. The speakers maximize their praise to the addressee‟s personal

appearance, possession, personal quality and specific act.

The distribution of topic of personal appearance using the approbation

maxim can be seen when the speaker really wants to show his or her admiration to

the addressee. Maximizing the praise can be the best way to show the admiration.

The approbation maxim is also used in distributing the compliment on possession.

By maximizing the praise to the addressee‟s belonging, the speaker wants to show

his respect and expects that the addressee‟s will feel good.

In complimenting the addressee‟s general ability, especially the personal

quality, the speakers use the approbation maxim in order that they can give their

maximal praises to show their appreciation and approval toward the addressee.

There is nothing more valuable than giving sincere compliments to other‟s

personal quality. The speakers choose to use the approbation maxim when

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complimenting the addressee‟s specific act ability because this topic is only

appropriate on the situation in which the specific act is uttered. It means that

giving maximal praise is the first thing that the speaker can do to show the

admiration to the addressee‟s act. This compliment can be the speaker‟s

spontaneous expression toward the achievement or the success of the addressee

because of doing a something specific, like singing on the contest or concocting

the beverage.

In some cases the speaker employs generosity maxim and tact maxim. The

speaker employs the generosity maxim when he gives a compliment to the

addressee‟s personal appearance. He tends to use generosity maxim rather than

approbation maxim because he does not only give a compliment to the addressee

but he also forces to buy her some drinks to prove that he really admires the

addressee. He wants to get the addressee‟s attention and expects that he can have a

longer conversation with her. It can be concluded that generosity maxim is

employed in the compliment when the speaker expects something from the

addressee, while the approbation maxim is used in complimenting others when the

speaker really wants to show his admiration to the addressee without expecting

something from the addressee.

The tact maxim is applied when the speaker gives a compliment to the

addressee‟s talent. By his talent, Richard makes a change on Holly‟s garden so

that it looks more beautiful. Holly thinks that it is not enough if she just gives a

compliment without giving something to Richard. Holly only can give maximal

praise if she employs the approbation in complimenting the addressee that is why

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she employs the tact maxim because she can give maximal benefit to the

addressee by giving him some money. She does not only give a compliment but

she also can give something by maximizing the benefit to Richard, as the

addressee.

Meanwhile, Galih Endah Nurharjanti has done a research about

compliment. She used Brown and Levinson theory to describe the politeness

strategy in delivering the compliments. The research covered by the findings that

women receive more compliments than men as their positive politeness strategy in

language use. Therefore, women are linguistically more polite than men. There

are three topics of compliments; appearances/ possession, performance/ skill/

abilities, and personality traits/ friendliness topics. The functions of the

compliments are to increase and consolidate solidarity between interlocutors, to

ease communication, to express positive evaluation/ admiration and to replace

other speech act formulas.

These findings are relevant with the result of my research in which the

topic of compliment is also classified into some types. Moreover, it also describes

the politeness strategy in delivering the compliment. It is found that positive

politeness strategy is used in complimenting others, while in my research; the

politeness strategy in the compliment is described through the employment of

some maxims. Positive politeness usually can be seen in groups of friends, or

where people in the given social situation know each other fairly well. It usually

tries to minimize the distance between them by expressing friendliness and solid

interest in the hearer‟s need to be respected. In short, positive politeness is

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concerned with demonstrating closeness and affiliation. It is similar with Leech‟s

maxims in which the maxims are closely related to the relationship of the speaker

and the addressee. Through these maxims, the speakers show their politeness by

giving maximal praise (approbation maxim), maximizing the benefit and

minimizing the cost to other (tact maxim) and minimizing the benefit of self in

order that the hearer can get the benefit (generosity maxim). It can be concluded

that in delivering the compliment, both Brown and Levinson‟s politeness strategy

and Leech‟s maxim emphasize to the addressees‟ need or importance to make

them feel good.

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

A. Conclusions

The conclusions are drawn based on the results of data analysis as the

answers to the problem statements. The conclusions are as follows:

1. The characters in the novel P.S I Love You apply two topics of

compliment, namely the topic of appearance and topic of ability. Each

topic is divided into two types. The topic of appearance is divided into

personal appearance and possession, while the topic of ability is divided

into general ability and specific-act ability. Therefore, there are four types

of topics of compliment employed by the characters in the novel P.S I

Love You, namely personal appearance, possession, general ability, and

specific-act ability.

2. The compliments in the novel entitled P.S I Love You employ three

maxims, Approbation Maxim, Tact Maxim and Generosity Maxim. The

data analyzed consist of 22 conversations. From those data, 20 data show

that the speaker obeys the approbation maxim, 1 datum obeys tact maxim

and 1 datum obeys generosity maxim. The employment of approbation

maxim can be found in the type of topic of compliment on personal

appearance (data 02, 14, 18 and 19), possession (data 04, 05, 08, 10, 13

and 16), general ability (data 01, 03, 09, 11, 15, 21 and 22), and specific

act ability (data 06, 07 and 20). Generosity maxim can be found in the

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type of topic of compliment on personal appearance (datum 17).

Meanwhile, tact maxim can be found in the type of topic of compliment on

general ability related to the addressee’s talent (datum 12). From these

findings, it can be seen that compliments do not always apply the

approbation maxim. It is also possible to deliver compliments by applying

the other maxim, such as tact maxim and generosity maxim.

B. Suggestions

People often exchange compliment to other because it has great

power to maintain relationship. Since it is very common to give

compliments in the society, it is important to know how to give the

compliments. It is suggested to the readers to give their maximal

compliment, be sincere and be appropriate when delivering the

compliment. They can maximize the using of all maxims in delivering the

compliments because compliments do not only apply the approbation

maxim. Besides, the giving of compliments can vary, not only based on

personal appearance or possession, but they also able to give compliments

on other’s achievement, talent, even the taste of other’s cooking.

Since almost all of the compliments in this thesis apply the

approbation maxim, so it is suggested to other researchers who are

interested in compliment speech act to conduct further research. They can

focus on the employment of other maxims in compliments, for example

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they can limit their research about compliments which only apply

agreement and sympathy maxim. Besides, they can analyze compliments

from different point of view depicted in other novels or from other data

source such as movie or drama.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Fasold, Ralph. 1996. The Sociolinguistics of Language. Cambridge: Blackwell

Publisher.

Holmes, Janet. “Complimenting: A Positive Politness Strategy” in Christina Bratt

Paulston and G Richard Tucker (eds). 2003. Sociolinguistics: The

Essential Readings. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Hymes, Dell.1974. Foundation in Sociolinguistics: An Ethnographic Approach.

Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Leech, Geoffrey. 1983. Principles of Pragmatics. New York:Longman.

Levinson, S.C.1997. Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Nurdianingsih, Eka. 2006. An Analysis of Tact and Approbation Maxim Based on

Leech politeness Principles in the Movie “Maid in Manhattan”.

Surakarta.

Nurharjanti, G.E. 2005. The Use of Compliments as Positive Politeness Strategy

in Speeches of Men and Women Characters in the Film “Notting Hill”.

Surakarta.

Searle, JV.1976. Speech Act: An Essay in Philosophy of Language. London:

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Surakhmad, Wirnarno. 1994. Pengantar Penelitian Ilmiah: Dasar Metode Teknik

Bandung: Tarsito.

Thomas, Jenny.1995. Meaning in Interaction: an Introduction to Pragmatics.

New York: Longman.

Wardhaugh, Ronald. 1976. The Context of Language. Massachusetts: New burry

Publisher, Inc.

Wardhaugh, Ronald. 1998. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Blackwell

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Yule, George.1996. Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Website visited:

http://www.carla.umn.edu/speechacts/spa-pragmatics/compliments/compliments-

home.html. (accessed on March, 3 2009 at 12.04 p.m.)

DATA

Datum 1

‘There’s few biscuits there to go with your tea. Jammie Dodgers, your

favorite.’ ‘Oh, Sharon,’ she wailed, thank you so much. You’ve been so good to

me and I’ve been such a horrible, horrible bitch of a friend.’ She sat at the

table and grabbed Sharon’s hand. ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you.’

‘Thanks’

‘I’m your best friend, Hol; if I don’t help you then who will?’ Sharon said

squeezing her hand and giving her an encouraging smile.

Datum 2

‘Hi, Ciara.’ Holly approached her sister, who jumped up and gave her a

big hug, squeezing Holly a bit tighter than usual. ‘Nice hair.’

‘You like it?’

‘Yeah, pink is really your colour.’

Ciara looked satisfied. ‘That’s what I tried to tell them,’ she said, squinting

at Richard and Meredith. ‘So how’s my big sis?’ Ciara asked softly, rubbing

Holly’s arm affectionately.

Datum 3

‘OK, now open my present,’ Ciara screamed again.

‘Ciara!’ they all shouted.’

‘After a toast,’ added Sharon.

Everyone held up the glass

‘OK, here’s to my bestest friend in the whole world who has such a

difficult year, but throughout all has been the bravest and the strongest

person I’ve ever met. She’s an inspiration to us all. Here’s to her finding

happiness for the next thirty year of her life! To Holly! ’

“To Holly,’ they all chorused.

Datum 4

‘Well, I would worry if Jack gave me something like that,’ Holly said,

opening it. ‘Oh, Abbey, it’s beautiful!’ Holly said, holding up the sterling

silver-covered photo album.

‘For your new memories,’ Abbey said softly.

‘Oh, it’s perfect,’ Holly said, wrapping her arms round her and squeezing her.

‘Thank you,’

Datum 5

‘Or maybe it’s just an evil plan you all hatched so you wouldn’t have to

tell us what you got up to.’

‘I wish it was….Oh, thanks for the pressie by the way, it’s beautiful.’

‘Glad you like it. It took me ages to find the right one.’

Datum 6

I’m so proud of you!’ Sharon said, throwing her arms around Holly’s

neck. ‘It was awful!’

‘Thanks for helping me, Sharon.’ Holly hugged her friend

Datum 7

‘Mmm . . . well, if you’re ever looking for work you know where to

come,’ Daniel said, after taking a gulp of his pint. ‘You did a good job’

‘It’s not exactly brain surgery,’ she smiled, bouncing across to the other

side of the bar. She took out her purse and handed him money. ‘Keep the change.’

Datum 8

‘I brought the children to see Grandma and Granddad didn’t I? he said,

ruffling Timmy’s head.

‘And we had McDonald’s,’ Timmy said excitedly, and Emily cheered.

‘Oh, yummy! Holly said licking her lips. ‘You lucky things. Isn’t your

daddy the best?’

Richard looked pleased

Datum 9

Those brown eyes looked sad. Barbara cleared her throat nervously, ‘Well,

that’s very thoughtful of you, sir,’ she felt she had to add. ‘Could I have their

names then, please?’

She finished taking his details and he settled the bill. She began to print

the arrangements from the computer to give to him.

‘Oh, do you mind if I leave the details here with you? I want to surprise

my wife and I would be afraid of leaving papers around the house in case she

finds them.’

Datum 10

‘Girls,’ she said with a smile beginning to spread across her face, ‘he

brought us a holiday!’

The girls opened a bottle of wine and squealed with excitement.

‘Oh, this is incredible,’ Denise said after the news had sunk in. ‘Gerry’s

such a sweetie.’

Holly nodded, feeling proud of her husband, who had once again managed

to surprise them all.

Datum11

‘By the way, Daniel,’ she lowered her voice to a hushed tone and moved

his head closer, ‘I just wanted to thank you so much for looking out for me the

way you did after the documentary. Most men run a mile when they see a girl cry;

you didn’t, so thank you.’ Holly smiled gratefully

‘No problem at all, Holly. I don’t like to see you upset.’ Daniel returned to

smile.

‘You’re a good friend,’ Holly said, thinking aloud.

Daniel looked pleased. ‘Why don’t we go out for drinks or something

before you go away?’

Datum 12

‘Oh, by the way, Richard, thank you for my garden,’ Holly smiled, then

leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

‘You know?’

She nodded. ‘You have such a huge talent and I’m going to pay you

every single penny you deserve as soon as I find a job.’

Her brother’s face relaxed into a shy smile. They got into their cars and

drove back to the house they grew up in.

Datum 13

‘Wow, is that your garden?’ Holly asked wide-eyed. ‘It’s beautiful; I

presumed it was the Botanical Gardens or somewhere like that.’

‘That was Maureen’s specialty. You can’t get me out of the office long

enough to sort through that mess.’

Datum 14

You are looking very smart today,’ Daniel said, studying her outfit.

‘Yes, that was the impression I was trying to give. I was just at a job

interview,’ Holly said, and winced at the thought of it.

Datum 15

‘Right, I’ll leave you to it so.’ He backed out of the room slowly but

paused before closing the door. He watched her surveying the room with

satisfaction. ‘Holly, I hired you because you seem like a very determined

young woman.’

Holly nodded confidently, assuring him he was right.

Datum 16

‘I’m Steve,’ he said, holding out his hand to her.

‘I’m Holly,’ she mumbled and took his hand lightly, not wanting to be

overly rude.

‘Holly, that’s a lovely name.’ He held her hand for mush too long and

Holly was forced to look up. He had big blue sparkly eyes.

‘Eh . . . thanks,’ she said, embarrassed by his compliment, and her face

flushed.

Datum 17

‘Can I buy you a drink, Holly?’ Steve asked smoothly.

‘No thanks, I have one here.’ She sipped on her water again.

‘OK, well, I’m just going to bring these drinks down to my table and then

I’ll be back to buy the lovely Holly a drink.’ He smiled at her creepily as he

walked away.

Datum 18

‘Wow!’ Daniel said, his mouth dropping open. ‘You look fabulous,

Holly.’

‘I look like -,’ Holly started to grumble and Sharon shot her a look. ‘But,

thanks,’ she quickly added.

Datum 19

‘You’re looking as lovely as always.’ He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

‘Can I get you a drink?’ he asked, holding his hand up to attract the barman’s

attention.

‘Oh, no, thanks,’ she smiled.

‘Ah, let me,’ he said, taking his bulging wallet out of his pocket. What’ll

you have?’

Holly gave in. ‘A white wine then, please, if you insist,’ she smiled.

Datum 20

‘Good idea,’ Sharon agreed. ‘I didn’t realize how shite this ball was when

you’re sober.’

Holly smiled.

‘Anyway, you were great tonight, Holly. You came, you conqured,

now go home and open Gerry’s message. Ring me and let me know what it

says. She hugged her friend again.

‘It’s the last one,’ Holly said sadly.

‘I know, so enjoy it,’ Sharon smiled. ‘Memories last a lifetime, remember

that.

Datum 21

‘So what am I?’ Daniel asked quietly.

Holly prayed that he wouldn’t cry. She didn’t think she could bear it if he cried.

‘You,’ she took a deep breath, ‘are a kind, caring and incredibly

thoughtful friend who I respect and appreciate –‘

‘But I’m not Gerry,’ he interrupted her.

‘I don’t want you to be Gerry,’ she insisted. ‘I want you to be Daniel.’

Datum 22

‘I haven’t seen you for ages,’ Leo said, glancing at Holly’s hair, making I

very obvious.

‘Oh, I know,’ Holly moaned, covering her roots with her hand. ‘I’ve been

busy at work this month I just haven’t had time.’

Leo raised his eyebrows and looked amused. ‘Never did I think I would

ever hear you say those words about work. You’re a change woman.’

Holly was thoughtful. ‘Yes. Yes, I really think I am.’