An Analysis of Transitivity of the Main Character “Barbie” in the Barbie Movie
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v13i2.5071Keywords:
Systemic Functional Grammar, Ideational Metafunction, Transitivity, MovieAbstract
This study aims to find out the types of processes that occur and the realization of the transitivity system in Barbie films. With the transitivity system, writer can find out the characters and messages conveyed in the film through the main character in describing her thoughts and feelings. This thesis uses the theory of Systemic Functional Grammar by M. A. K Halliday by using descriptive qualitative method. The data in this study is the Barbie movie script which focuses only on the utterances of the main character, Barbie. The results of the analysis showed that in this movie there were all types of transitivity (6 types) processes. The types of transitivity consist of relational process (140 data) with percentage 44%, material process (79 data) with percentage 25%, mental process (63 data) with percentage 20%, behavioral process (22 data) with percentage 7%, verbal process (11 data) with percentage 3%, and existential process (2 data) with percentage 1%. Relational process is the most common process that appears in this study. Carrier and attribute are the most common participants that appeared in clauses. For circumstance, location is the most common circumstance in clauses, both temporal and spatial location. The relational process indicates that through the role of Barbie, it can be seen this movie provides a detailed explanation of the relationship between one and the other like Barbie's relationship with Ken and also with her creator, Ruth Handler. The movie’s script has a good structure because the type of participant and the process have a balance of occurrence in the clause.
References
Abdulameer, A. et. (2019). Systemic Functional Linguistics of Political Article. Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews, 7(5), 24–31. https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2019.753
Abduh, N. K., & Masruddin, M. (2023). Structural Studies of Robert Stanton in The Folklore of Luwu (Worongporong dan Pariama). IDEAS: Journal on English Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature, 11(1), 117-126.
Ammara, U., Anjum, R. Y., & Javed, M. (2019). A Corpus-Based Halliday’s Transitivity Analysis of ‘To the Lighthouse.’ Linguistics and Literature Review, 05(02), 139–162. https://doi.org/10.32350/llr.52.05
Asad, S., Mohd Noor, S. N. F. B., & Jaes, L. Bin. (2019). Social actors’ representation in online malaysian newspapers during elections: A transitivity analysis of newspaper text. Humanities and Social Sciences Reviews, 7(4), 580–589. https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2019.7478
Banks, D. (2019). A Systemic Functional Grammar of English: A Simple Introduction. In Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research (Vol. 7, Issue 2). Routledge. https://ijltr.urmia.ac.ir/article_120703.html
Bauer, M. W., & Gaskell, G. (2000). Qualitative Researching with Text, Image and Sound. Sage Publication.
Eggins. (2004). An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics: 2nd Edition. In Continuum International Publishing Group. Continuum international Publishing Group. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01476765
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar (third edit). Oxford University Press Inc. https://www.functionalmedicine.org/files/library/Intro_Functional_Medicine.pdf
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2014). Halliday’s introduction to functional grammar: Fourth edition. In Halliday’s Introduction to Functional Grammar: Fourth Edition. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203431269
Hoey, M., Mahlberg, M., Stubbs, M., & Teubert, W. (2007). Text, Discourse and Corpora (Continuum).
Hutabarat, E., Herman, H., Silalahi, D. E., & Sihombing, P. S. R. (2020). An Analysis of Ideational Metafunction on News Jakarta Post about Some Good Covid-19 Related News. VELES Voices of English Language Education Society, 4(2), 142–151. https://doi.org/10.29408/veles.v4i2.2526
Iqbal, R. H., Sabiri, M. S., & Batool, R. (2023). Islamophobia and the Issue of Jammu & Kashmir: A Corpus-based Transitivity Analysis of Imran Khan’s Speech at Unga. Research Journal of Social Sciences & Economics Review, 4(1), 8–17. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.36902/rjsser-vol4-iss1-2023(8-17)
Kumar, R. (2011). Research Methodology (third). SAGE Publications Ltd.
Kuswoyo, H. (2019). Process Types of Transitivity System in Engineering Lecture Introduction: A Pedagogic Discourse. Lingua: Jurnal Bahasa Dan Sastra, 19. https://ejournal.unsri.ac.id/index.php/lingua/article/view/11080
McCabe, A. (2011). An Introduction to Linguistics and Language Studies (R. Fawcet (ed.)). Equinox publishing Ltd.
Rahmawati, U. (2019). Process Types of Transitivity in Recount Text Written By Eleventh Graders of Isat-U Senior High School Philippines in Academic Year 2018/2019. Journal of Research on Applied Linguistics, Language, and Language Teaching, 2(1), 67–75. https://doi.org/10.31002/jrlt.v2i1.366
Rumapea, T. E., Rangkuti, D. D., & Pasaribu, A. N. (2022). Character construction of songs in Kidung Jemaat: A transitivity analysis. Journal Education and Development, Institut Pendidikan Tapanuli Selatan, 10(2), 482–486.
Rustam, R. (2023). Sinopsis Film Barbie, Kisah Petualangan Barbie dan Ken ke Dunia Nyata. DetikSulsel. https://www.detik.com/sulsel/berita/d-6832309/sinopsis-film-barbie-kisah-petualangan-barbie-dan-ken-ke-dunia-nyata
Sameer, I. H., & Al Dilaimy, H. H. (2020). Ideational Aspect of Systemic Functional Grammar in Bush’s and Al-Assad’s First Inaugural Speech. Talent Development & Excellence, 12(2), 1203–1218.
Setiawan, E. I., Masruddin, M., & Zainuddin, Z. (2023). Semiotic Analysis and Ethnography Study on the Implementation of Local Wisdom in Economic Field at Luwu Society. IDEAS: Journal on English Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature, 11(2), 1912-1925.
Sinambela, R., Bulu, A. G. D., Sirait, S. G. A., & ... (2023). Analysis of Experiential Function on The Jakarta Post about Opinion Academy Robot and AI: A New Economic Era. Jurnal Scientia, 12(03), 3158–3162. http://infor.seaninstitute.org/index.php/pendidikan/article/view/1680%0Ahttp://infor.seaninstitute.org/index.php/pendidikan/article/download/1680/1374
Sipayung, K. T., Sinaga, N. T., Sianipar, M. O. C., & Napitupulu, F. D. (2016). Metafunction Realization on Students’ Descriptive Paragraphs. International Journal of Linguistics, 8(6), 20. https://doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v8i6.10264
Widdowson, H. G. (1996). Linguistics Oxford Introduction to Language Study Series 1996. Oxford University Press, USA.
Wikipedia. (2023). Barbie (film). In Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie_(film)
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
Citation Check
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Selfiyani Ketaren, Tiara Kristina Pasaribu, Jubil Ezer Sihite

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See the Effect of Open Access)