IMPLICATURE ANALYSIS ON COVID-19 MEMES

Members Name of
Group 6
Martha Jilly Tamasoleng – 16091102075
Kezia P. P Palilingan – 17091102117
Alda C. Kelung – 16091102081
Reunita Riung – 17091102052
Ester Restu Wonte – 16091102063
Dimas Tamaka – 17091102183

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

SAM RATULANGI UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES

MANADO

2020
Acknowledgement

First of all, the writer is grateful because of the blessings from our Lord Jesus

Christ which gives the writer health and strength to finish this paper.

Second, the writer is grateful for the help from dear friends. They always give

support and help the writer during the making of this paper.

At last, the writer realizes that this paper is far from perfect. The writer

welcomes criticism and suggestion to improve this paper. Hopefully this paper could be

of any help for future references.

November 14th 2020

Group 6

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 Table of Content

Cover

Acknowledgement.............................................................................................................. i

Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. ii

I. Background ..................................................................................................... 1

II. Statement of Problems .................................................................................... 3

III. Theoretical Framework ................................................................................... 4

IV. Methodology ................................................................................................... 4

V. Discussion ....................................................................................................... 5

VI. Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 9

References ....................................................................................................................... 11

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 INTRODUCTION

I. Background

Language is a tool for communication between humans. Language is an arbitrary

system of articulated sound made use by a group of humans as a mean of carrying on the

affairs of the society (Francis, 1958). Besides being a tool for communication, language

is used to express one’s feelings trough speaking the thoughts out loud or writing them

down.

Fromkin (2001) defines linguistics as the study of language structure form,

focuses on the system of rules followed by the speakers (or hearers) of a language. There
are several areas of study in linguistics, which are:

1. Phonetics: the study of the sounds of language and their physical

properties.
2. Phonology: the study of how sounds function in a given language or
dialect.
3. Morphology: the study of the structure of words.
4. Lexicology: the study of words including the relations between words.
5. Syntax: the study of the structure of sentences.
6. Semantics: the study of meaning in language.
7. Sociolinguistics: the study of language as a social and cultural
phenomenon.
8. Language variation: it describes the relationship between the use of
linguistic forms and factors such as geography, social class, ethnic group,
age, sex, occupation, function, or style.
9. Pragmatics: the study of how context affects meaning.

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 10. Discourse analysis: the study which examines the way in which sentences
relate in larger linguistic units, such as controversial exchanges or written
texts.
11. Ethnolinguistics: the study of the relations between linguistic and cultural
behaviour.
12. Psycholinguistics: the study of the relationship between linguistics and
psychological behaviour.
13. Applied linguistics: the study of how language or linguistics theories
application.
14. Semiotics: the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation.

In our paper we will talk about pragmatics.

Mey (1994: 3) has suggested that Pragmatics is a science that has something to

do with language and its users. Yule (1996: 3) has cited that Pragmatics deals with the

study of meaning as communicated by a speaker or a writer and interpreted by a listener

or reader. Rahayu and Safnil (2016) also add that pragmatics is concern into discussion

about what the speaker saying is not same with the addressee meaning. It also implies

that pragmatics is the study of contextual meaning as it covers the interpretation of what

people means in a particular context and how the context influences what is said.

In pragmatics, there are several things that we study: implicature, presupposition,

speech acts, reference, deixis, and anaphora. In this research we will be focused on

implicature. Implicature is a component of speaker meaning that constitutes an aspect of

what is meant in a speakers’ utterance without being part of what is said (Horn and

Ward, 2007: 3). The conversational implicature was at first proposed by the philosopher

Paul Grice in a lecture at Harvard University in 1967 (Amrullah, 2015).

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 According to Widiana (2015), The rapid development of information technology

provides many opportunities to create various kinds of creative art and literary works by

using various types of language. This language phenomenon can usually be seen

spreading in social media, especially in Instagram in the form of memes (Mahmudah,

2018). Meme is a funny picture or gif with certain captions. The term Meme was first

used by Dawkins (1976). Dawkins used this term do define the emerging of culture with

the belief that its existence is the product of replicators (Khoirurrohman, 2017). Meme is

produced and replicated through cultural transmission. It means that a simple meme can

be produced over and over with different captions according to its user.

Nowadays, memes are used in almost every aspect in our lives. We can

encounter memes when we use social media, when we watch television, or even when

we read a magazine or newspaper. The rise of memes is one of the most important things

in technology and internet culture right now especially in the middle of a pandemic

situation and the enforced quarantine.

II. Statement of Problem

1. What does the meme implicate?

2. What is the relation of the implication with the current situation?

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III. Theoretical Framework

H. P. Grice (1913–1988) was the first to systematically study cases in which

what a speaker means differs from what the sentence used by the speaker means.

Consider (1).

(1) Alan: Are you going to Paul’s party?

Barb: I have to work.

If this was a typical exchange, Barb meant that she is not going to Paul’s party by

saying that she has to work. She did not say that she is not going to Paul’s party, and the

sentence she uttered does not mean that. Grice introduced the technical terms implicate

and implicature for the case in which what the speaker said is distinct from what the

speaker thereby meant or implied. Thus Barb implicated that she is not going; that she is

not going was her implicature.

IV. Methodology

These are the following research procedures:

1. Preparation

The author will read several online articles about implicature and memes.

2. Data Collection
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 The author will collect three Coronavirus memes from google image search as

the samples. The memes that will be used are the ones that use English as the

captions.

3. Data Analysis

The memes will be analyzed using the theory of speaker’s meaning by Grice to

find out the implication and then the relevance of the meme with the current

situation.

V. Discussion

As we already know, a speaker could imply a different meaning than what they

say. Here are three of the selected memes:

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 Meme 1

• Caption

“Government: No one should panic, corona virus is not that serious.”

“Government shortly after: I’m sorry, earth is closed today.”

• Explanation

The second sentence does not mean that earth is literally closed like a ‘closed store’, it is

a sarcasm. It means that it is currently a quarantine time where people are not allowed to

go outside unless it is absolutely necessary. The meme also implied that despite saying

that Coronavirus is not a dangerous virus, the government is prohibiting people to go out

and do their activities like usual to stop the spread of the virus because it is claimed as a

lethal virus.

• Relation with current situation

As we all know, during the spread of Coronavirus, the government have made several

decisions to stop the spread of this virus. Several examples are; using masks when going

outside, avoiding physical contact, and even enforcing quarantine. This meme shows the

current situation on Earth where many countries are enforcing quarantine, making the

earth looks like a ‘closed store’ because most of the people’s activities are done by

home.

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 Meme 2

• Caption

“When you chilling in class and the Chinese kid next to you starts coughing”

“We’re all gonna die”

• Explanation

This sentence implied that the Chinese kid who is coughing (from the previous caption)

has a case of Coronavirus and by coughing the kid is spreading that virus because

Coronavirus is known to start spreading from Wuhan, China. This virus is also claimed

as a lethal virus with a high death rate in many countries.

• Relation with current situation

Coronavirus is known to have originated from a city in China. This meme shows that

nowadays people are being skeptical about Chinese people because of this virus and that

any Chinese person may carry around this virus in their body. Many people are even
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blaming the spread of this virus on Chinese people. This discrimination became so

widespread that nowadays we can see such ‘jokes’ about blaming the Chinese people

and we can even find news about Chinese people being harassed and attacked because of

this view on Coronavirus.

Meme 3

• Caption

“People who say COVID-19 instead of Coronavirus: You know, I’m something of a

scientist myself.”

• Explanation

This caption is a sarcasm that implies there are certain people who think by using the

term COVID-19 instead of Coronavirus makes them seem more educated about the issue

than other people.

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 • Relation with current situation

Nowadays there is information about Coronavirus that are spreading. Either they are true

or just a hoax. Many people are competing against one another on this pandemic

information to make them look more up-to-date with the current situation. Many even do

not check the credibility of their information first and just start spreading the information

to make themselves look knowledgeable.

VI. Conclusion

Implicature is used to mean something other than what a speaker is saying

(speaker meaning). We can find it in everyday conversation and even in memes. Memes

are funny pictures with certain captions that are usually used to imply something. A

meme picture can be used with different captions and spread quickly through the internet

or other media.

In this current situation where the Coronavirus pandemic is spreading all over the

earth, people are forced to limit their activity outside and must do all of their work from

home. This situation makes people more dependent on technology and especially the

internet to do their work or to find entertainment. The higher use of internet memes in

this pandemic means that the internet culture is facing a rise in users, making more

people exposed to memes. Memes are used as a way to convey information, as a way to

express an idea or view, or just simply to make fun of something.

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 There are many memes that are used to express people’s feelings and views

about the current Coronavirus pandemic. Some of them are used to express the current

situation where the government is enforcing rules to stop the spread of this virus, some

are used to make fun of the pandemic or the origin of this virus, etcetera.

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 References

Amrullah, Latif. 2015. Implicature in The Study of Pragmatics. Lingua Scientia. 7:57-

63. Retrieved from http://ejournal.iain-

tulungagung.ac.id/index.php/ls/article/view/1723

Dawkins, Richard. 1967. The Selfish Gene. New York: Oxford University Press.

Francis, W. N. 1958. The Structure of American English. New York: The Ronald Press

Company.

Fromkin, Victoria. 1999. Linguistics: An Introduction to Linguistics Theory.

Gloucestershire: Herb Tandree Philosophy Books.

Grice, H. Paul, 1957, “Meaning”, The Philosophical Review, 66(3): 377. Reprinted in

Grice 1989: 213–223. doi:10.2307/2182440

Horn, Laurence R., and Ward, (eds). 2007. The Handbook of Pragmatics. Oxford:

Blackwell Publishing.

Khoirurrohman, Taufiq. 2017. Tindak Tutur Ilokusi dan Implikatur Konvensional dalam

Meme Politik di Indonesia (Suatu Kajian Pragmatik). Jurnal Bahtera. 4(8):186-

199. Retrieved from http://garuda.ristekbrin.go.id/documents/detail/873825

Mahmudah, Rifa'atul. 2018. Pesan Ramah dalam Meme Akun Instagram Jaringan

Gusdurian dan Fihril (Kajian Pragmatik). Estetik. 1(2):117-134. doi:

10.29240/estetik.v1i2.623

Mey, Jacob L. 1994. Pragmatics: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publisher, Inc.

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Rahayu, Endry & Safnil. 2016. Types of Implicature in Informal Conversations Used by

the English Education Study Program Students. Journal of Applied Linguistics

and Literature. 1(1):65-83. Retrieved from

https://ejournal.unib.ac.id/index.php/joall/article/view/3942

Widiana, Yuli. 2015. A Sociopragmatics Study on Social Criticism in Meme Comics.

Proceedings of Seminar Nasional PRASATI II "Kajian Pragmatik dalam

Berbagai Bidang", Surakarta: 13-14 Noveber 2015. Retrieved from

https://jurnal.uns.ac.id/prosidingprasasti/article/view/76

Yule, George. 1996. Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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