A Pragmatic Analysis of Assertive Illocutionary Acts in Anyone But You Movie
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v14i2.11993Keywords:
pragmatics; speech acts; assertive illocutionary acts; movie dialogue; Anyone But YouAbstract
Although assertive illocutionary acts have been examined in various communicative contexts, previous studies have largely focused on illocutionary acts in general or on speech acts in monologic discourse, leaving the pragmatic distinctions among assertive subcategories in dialogic movie interaction insufficiently explored. This study aims to identify and analyze the subcategories of assertive illocutionary acts produced by the characters in the movie Anyone But You (2023), based on Searle’s (1979) speech act theory and the classification proposed by Searle and Vanderveken (1985). A descriptive qualitative method was employed, with data collected through observation and note-taking of the movie dialogues, supported by the English subtitles and the official script. Utterances were classified using operational criteria distinguishing informing, stating, claiming, reporting, and objecting. The analysis identified 35 assertive utterances classified into five subcategories: informing, stating, claiming, reporting, and objecting. The results show that informing was the most dominant subcategory (40.00%), followed by stating (25.71%), claiming (20.00%), reporting (8.57%), and objecting (5.71%). These findings indicate that the characters predominantly used assertive speech acts to provide information and to share their beliefs and opinions during interaction, reflecting how information exchange functions as a central interpersonal dynamic within romantic comedy dialogue. This study contributes to pragmatic studies by offering a more detailed understanding of how assertive speech acts and their subcategories are realized in romantic comedy movie dialogues.
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