AN ANALYSIS OF CONNOTATIVE MEANING IN SELECTED …

AN ANALYSIS OF CONNOTATIVE MEANING IN SELECTED MAHER ZAIN’S

SONGS LYRICS

A Thesis

Submitted to Letters and Humanities Faculty

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree of Strata 1

ARMAWANSYAH

1111026000045

ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTEMENT

LETTERS AND HUMANITIES FACULTY

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH

JAKARTA

2016

i

ABSTRACT

Armawansyah, An Analysis of Connotative Meaning In Selected Maher Zain‟s

Song Lyrics. Thesis: English Letters Department, Letters and Humanities Faculty,

State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta, 2016.

This research focuses on analyzing connotative meaning inMaher Zain‟s

song lyrics and also to find the message that delivered by Maher Zain. The reason

for choosing a song lyrics as the main sources of data because the connotative

meaning is common in the song lyrics. The song lyrics choosen as the main

sources of data are Forgive Me, Hold My Hand, Thank You Allah, Palestine Will

Be Free and My Little Girl. The method of this research is qualitative descriptive

method to analyze the data.

Within the lyrics,it is found 3 kinds of connotative meaning such as

positive connotation, neutral connotation and negative connotation. From the

lyrics of the song, it is found six positive connotations, four neutral connotations,

and four negative connotations. InForgive Me and Thank You Allah, Maher Zain

convince the relations between human to Allah such as to keep from lust and the

sense of thanking to Allah swt. Meanwhile, the lyrics of Hold My Hand, Palestine

Will be Free, and My Little Girl tell about how to maintain relation to the others,

such as caring each others, avoid the war that harm human race, and take care the

children as a given from Allah. Positive connotation is most uses in the song

lyrics of Maher Zain‟s because to delivere the message to the listener in an

encouraging way. Uses neutral connotation to change something that make the

listener easy to understand what the author means to and uses negative

connotation to deliver something bad and hated in islam.

Overall, the writer found connotative meaning occurs in partial of the

lyric, and the denotative meaning occurs in majority of the lyric. The message of

the lyric is delivered by Maher Zain in a good structure by using positive

connotative meaning.

iv

iv

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best

my knowledge and belief. It contains no material previously published and written

by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for

the award of any other degree or diploma of the University or other Institute of

higher learning, except where due acknowledgement has been in the text.

Jakarta, December 17th

, 2015

Armawansyah

v

v

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

In the name of Allah the most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Alhamdulillahi robbil alaamiin, all praises to Allah SWT, Almighty and

Merciful, the Great Creator and The Lord of Universe, for guiding the writer

amazingly and mysteriously during the process of this research. Peace and

salutation are upon the greatest prophet, Muhammad SAW, his family, and his

companions.

This work cannot be completed without a great deal of help from many

people, especially Drs. Saefudin, M.Pd. the writer‟s thesis advisor on writing this

thesis. The deepest gratitude for his guidance, helpful correction, patient, patient,

cooperation, time, and kindness until this thesis finished.

The writer also would like to express his deepest gratitude to the

individuals for helping her finishing this thesis and for their contribution in the

process of writing until it had become a complete work. They are as follows:

1. Mr. Prof. Dr. Sukron Kamala, M. Ag., as the dean of Letters and

Humanities Faculty, State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah,

Jakarta.

2. Mr. Drs. Saefudin, M.Pd, as the head of English Latters Department and

also as the writer‟s advisor for guiding and suggesting her in making a

good thesis from the begining until the end of writing.

3. Mrs. Elve Oktafiyani, M.Hum, as the secretary of English Letters

Department.

vi

vi

4. Dr. H. Muhammad Farkhan, M.Pd, the Vice Dean of Letters and

Humanities Faculty.

5. All of the lecturers in English Letters Department for teaching his many

things during study.

6. All the staff of library and academic of Adab and Humanities Faculty and

state Islamic University.

7. The writer‟s „Big family‟ especially his father Asnawi.

8. The writer‟s „Big family‟ in PAMALAYU BABEL

9. All his closed and beloved friends in English Letters Department 2011,

who have been accompanying him from the first semester.

May allah SWT, the almaighty and the merceful, bless them all. The writer

realizes that this paper is not fully perfect. Therefore, the writer would like to

accept any constructive suggestion to make this paper better.

Jakarta, February 12th

, 2016

The writer

vii

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... i

APPROVEMENT .......................................................................................... ii

LEGALIZATION .......................................................................................... iii

DECLARATION ............................................................................................ iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENT ............................................................................... v

TABLE OF CONTENT ................................................................................. vii

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 1

A. Background of Study ........................................................................... 1

B. Focus of the Study ................................................................................ 3

C. Research Question ................................................................................ 4

D. Significance of the Study ..................................................................... 4

E. Research Methodology......................................................................... 4

1. The Objective of Research ............................................................. 4

2. The Method of Research ................................................................ 5

3. The Technique of Collecting and Data Analysis ........................... 5

4. The Instrument of Research ........................................................... 6

5. Unit of Analysis ............................................................................. 6

CHAPTER II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ..................................... 7

A. Previous Research ................................................................................ 7

B. Semantics and Meanings ...................................................................... 9

viii

viii

1. Semantics ....................................................................................... 9

2. Meaning.......................................................................................... 12

2.1 Term of Meaning...................................................................... 12

2.2 Scope of Meaning .................................................................... 13

3. Kind of meaning ............................................................................. 14

C. Linguistics and Speaker Meaning ........................................................ 19

D. Connotation of Song Lyrics ................................................................. 20

CHAPTER III RESEARCH FINDINGS ..................................................... 27

A. Data Description................................................................................... 27

B. The Data Analysis ................................................................................ 29

CHAPTER IV CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ........................... 43

A. Conclusions .......................................................................................... 43

B. Suggestions .......................................................................................... 44

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................ 45

APPENDICIES ................................................................................................ 47

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

As the social human being We are needs to interact with each other.

Language is the principal means of human being to communicate with each

other.1 It is used to express our reaction to certain situations, and to reveal our

thoughts, ideas, emotions and feelings. Language also plays important roles to the

development of human and technological civilization. Language is a system of

arbitrary vocal symbol by means of which social group cooperates.2

Communication can be built if there is an understanding between speaker

and the hearer. The main aim is to indicate something or some relations or even

some ideas, and it can be shown or called as it is meaning. In this case, meaning is

important and significant. If the hearer cannot comprehend the meanings of the

speaker try to reveal, the meaning won‟t be delivered smoothly.

Meaning can be studied through scientific study of language called

Linguistics. The branch of Linguistics which deals with meaning is called

Semantics. In Semantics, meaning is divided into two parts, literal meaning and

non-literal meaning. Literal means based on the actual words. Non-literal meaning

1Lyons, J. 1981. Language and Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press. P. 3 2Ibid. p. 3

2

is the other way around.3 The speaker means something different from his literal

meaning of the words, he has another intention‟s which different from the

meaning of words he said. The hearer may find it is difficult to understand what

the speaker wants to convey if the speaker speaks non-literally. There are a

number of ways in expressing ideas which deviate from the semantic conventions,

some of which are through the use of denotative and connotative meaning.

The words has two main kinds of meaning, denotation and connotation.

Denotation is the meaning of a word, which it is primarily, refers to the real word,

the "dictionary definition”. It is the type of meaning which may be described in

terms of a set of semantic properties which serve to identify the particular concept

associated with the word in question.4 For instance “cow” shows a kind of animal,

“house” shows a kind of building.5According to Barker, connotation is “the part

of the meaning of a word and he says that connotative as an implicit meaning”.6

For instance, if I say “the sun rise in the morning” (1) You may defined the word

sun (1) that I mean is something big where shining the world, rises from the east

and sets in the west, but if I meet to my wife or my girl friend then I say “She is

my sun” (2) These two sentences used the same word, but do they have the same

meaning? The word Sun in the sentence “she is my sun” is meaningful. The word

sun (2) here is connotative meaning (positive connotation) that she is like a sun,

3F.R Palmer . 2010. Semantics: A new Outline, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

p.14 4Ibid.p. 42

5Victoria Fromkin ; Rodman, Robert; Collin, Peter; Pilar, David. 1990. AnIntroduction to

Language. London: Holt Rinehart and Winston. (second edition) p.205 6ChrisBarker. 2001. Lexical Semantic. USA: University of California, San Diego Press.

p.4

3

which we cannot life without the sun, same like we cannot life without our wife or

our girl friend.

Connotation is kind of meaning and as a part of semantics field. Therefore,

the researcher focuses on “An Analysis of Connotative Meaning in Maher Zain‟s

Song Lyrics Selected”. This topic is related to the study of meaning normally

refers to Semantics. In Linguistics, Semantics is the subfield that is devoted to the

study of meaning, as borne on the syntactic levels of words, phrases, sentences,

and even larger units of discourse (referred to as texts).

Based on the explanation above, the writer is interested in conducting

research about “An Analysis of Connotative Meaning in Maher Zain‟s Song Lyrics

Selected”. The writer chooses Maher Zain‟s song because his song is very

interesting to examine and researched in more detail. Besides that, the writer has a

few reasons to be analysis this research. First of all, because the writer lives in

Muslim majority state and this song is full of religious message for a Muslim.

Then, the researcher takes five songs in different album. This religious side is

introduction for the reader and listener that if we wants to make a good relation

with our god, we must to be know about all of the way how to make a good

relations to our god. Besides that, this song gives a connotative meaning and then

gave a message for someone who has a bad relation to ALLAH.

B. Focus of Study

Based on the background above, the writer focuses on the Connotative

meaning in Maher Zain‟s songs Lyric selected : Forgive Me, Hold My Hand,

Always Be There, Thank You Allah, Palestine will Be Free.

4

C. Research Question

Based on the focus of the research above, this research takes two

questions. Those are as follows:

1. What are the connotative meanings of selected Maher Zain‟s songs

Lyric album “Forgive Me and Thank You Allah”?

2. How are the message delivered in selected Maher Zain‟s songs Lyric

album “Forgive Me and Thank You Allah”?

D. Significance of Study

This research is believed will increase the science of linguistics field

especially in semantics and connotation meaning. Hopefully the result of this

research will enrich the reader‟s understanding about connotative meaning, and

can give contribution of feedback in teaching and learning English linguistic

especially for connotation subject, than can give inspiration to other students who

want to develop similar researches in the future.

E. Research Methodology

1. The Objective of Research

The research is hoped that it could help the reader in understanding about:

1. To find out the connotative meaning of the words in Maher‟s zain

songs lyrics selected.

2. To knowing and understanding the message that existing Maher Zain‟s

song lyrics.

2. The Method of Research

5

This research uses qualitative method, by analyzing the corpus to

describe about connotative meaning on the Maher Zain song lyrics: Forgive

Me, Hold My Hand, Thank You Allah, Palestine will Be Free and My Little

Girl.

The analysis includes explicating which contain explanation of entire

lyrics in detail. From analysis the writer tries to conclude connotative

meaning of each lyric.

3. The Technique of Data Collection and Data Analysis

In this research, the data collected by using bibliography technique

where is the written source used to obtain data.7 The data will be gained by

qualitative approach because the data are in the form of song lyrics with

several steps:

a. The researcher collected the data by downloading the songs and the

lyrics.

b. The writer listens to the song to find the connotative meaning of the

song lyrics.

c. The writer takes the words which are use connotative meaning of the

song lyrics.

d. After the data has been collected, the data will be analyzed, explaining

and concluding with connotation theory.

7Edi Subroto, Pengantar Metode Penelitian Linguistik Structural, (Surakarta: Sebelas

Maret University Press, 1992).p.42.s

6

4. The Instrument of Research

This research uses the data cards as main instrument to get qualitative data

when analyzing word in Maher Zain‟s song lyrics. Data cards is a relevant data

that written in the card.8 Then, the data card is focused on data description then

analyzed them in the data analysis. This research also makes notes, and chooses

the theory which is relevant with the words and used the dictionary.

5. Unit of Analysis

The unit analysis of this research is five songs lyrics from two

albums of Maher Zain‟s “Forgive Me and Thank You Allah”. The title of the song

lyrics as follows:

1. Forgive Me

2. Hold My Hand

3. Thank You Allah

4. Palestine will Be Free

5. My Little Girl.

8Ibid. p.34

7

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Previous Research

There are three relevant previous studies. The first study is by Roni

Kuswantoro (2002) that entitled “A Study on Connotative Meaning of Language

Used in Scorpion‟s Song”. In This research is aimed to show the interpretation of

the connotations found in the song lyrics, the messages of the songs, and the

contribution of the connotations to the messages in Linkin Park‟s song lyrics A

Thousand Suns by using Leech‟s Theory (1990).In the conclusion, He found more

connotative meaning than denotative meaning, namely: Being, Cosmic, Energy,

Substantiated, Terrestrial, Object, Living, Animate and Human in Scorpion‟s

Songs and he state that the messages conveyed in the songs are mostly motivating

and persuasive.9

The second study is by Mahmud Abidarda State (2010) that entitled “A

Connotative Meaning Analysis on the Word Child in Five Lyrics of Song”. This

research discussed about connotative meaning of word child in five lyrics of

songs. The data research are taken from five lyrics of the songs released in the

year between 1980‟s to early 1990‟s, which was the time when the cold war still

happening. To analyze connotative meaning of word child, the writer used the

connotative semiotics theory of Roland Barthes. From these lyrics his found the

9Roni Kuswantoro Muhammadiyah, “A Study on Connotative Meaning of Language Used

in Scorpion‟s Song”, Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta (2002)

8

different connotative meaning of word child from each lyric. The word child in

the lyrics when the children cry is used by white lion to connote “the new way to

govern”. Michael Learn to Rock group band used the word child in the lyric

Sleeping Child used to connote “innocent and Pureness”. Cranberries group band

used the word child in his lyric War Child to connote “Tool and Slave of the

Government”. Billy Joe uses the word child in his lyric Leningrad to connote “the

sacrifice and victim”. Bob Dylan used the word child in his lyrics Russian to

connote “weakness”. In this study the authors analyzed only the word child in five

lyrics above using Roland Barthes theory. This study equation with the writer

research is in analyzing the connotative meaning, it's just in this study he does

not analyze another words of connotative meaning in the song lyrics and this

study also uses semiotic connotative theory by Roland Barthes.10

The last study is by Elvira Sinta Hajar (2011), with her title “A

Connotation in Comic “Uncle in North of the Yukon”: A Barthes‟ Semiotics

Analysis. In her research she is used the qualitative descriptive analysis as the

method of the research in analyzing the connotative meaning. In her analysis, she

found out the final result that shows the relation between picture and the text of

selected figures in describing the connotation. In addition, it also represents the

meaning of verbal and non verbal signs on comic, so that, the reader could

understand what the narrator meant. In analyzing the data, how the words and

picture are combine in comics. The different of this research with writer research

are in the theory that used in the research. And the corpus that she used is

10

Mahmud Abidarda, “A Connotative Meaning Analysis on The Word Child in Five

Lyrics of Song”, Letters and Humanities Faculty State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah

Jakarta (2010)

9

different with writer research so the result of this research will different with

writer research.

Then, the position of this research from the last previous research is to

analyze the song lyrics from Maher Zain in album “Forgive me and Thank You

Allah”. This research will find out the connotative meaning and explain about

connotative meaning that exists in the lyrics. And also, this research is not only

giving explanation about connotative meaning but also explain the message of

each connotative meaning.

B. Semantics and Meanings

1. Semantics

There are many definitions of semantics. It comes from linguists. Every

linguist has the owner concept and principal about semantics itself. The linguists

who have critical contribution to semantics are Saeed, Lyons, Palmer, Kempson,

Yule, and so on.

One of them, Lyons states that semantics is generally is defined as the

study of meanings.11

As underlined by Saeed, semantics is the study of meaning

of word and sentences.12

Yule said that semantics is branch of linguistics which

concerns with meaning in words, phrases, and sentences.13

Moreover, Palmer

states that semantics is the technical term used to refer to the study of meaning.14

11

John Lyons. Semantics. Vol 1 (New York: Cambridge University Press,1979) p.1. 12

John.I. Saeed., Semantics. Third Edition (London: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2009)

p.191 13

George Yule, The Study of Language: 4th

Ed (New York: Cambridge University Press,

2010), p.127.

14

F.R. Palmer. Semantics: A New Outline (New York: Cambridge University Press,

1976) p.1.

10

In other words, semantic is the study of meaning in word, phrases, and sentences

to understand the text. Based on that perception about semantic related to internal

meaning focuses on the meaning of the text.

In linguistics, semantics is the subfield that is devoted to the study of

meaning, as borne on the syntactic levels of words, phrases, sentences, and even

larger units of discourse (referred to as texts).15

As with any empirical science,

semantics involves the interplay of concrete data with theoretical concepts.

Traditionally, Semantics has included the study of connotative sense and

denotative reference, truth conditions, argument structure, thematic roles,

discourse analysis, and the linkage of all of these to syntax. The decomposition

perspective towards meaning holds that the meaning of words can be analyzed by

defining meaning atoms or primitives, which establish a language of thought. An

area of study is the meaning of compound; another is the study of relations

between different linguistic expressions (homonymy, synonymy, antonym,

polysemy, hyponymy etc).

Semantics is component or level of linguistic of the same kind as phonetics

or grammar.16

Bloomfield describes the speech as a series stimulus (speaker‟s

words as the symbol) and response (interpretation and reaction of the listener).

Relationship between the words as a symbol with object‟s reference was

described by Odgen and Richards in the Triangle or Triad Semantic Theory of

Meaning as follows:

15

G.Leech. Semantics. (London: Penguin Books 1981),p.1 16

F.R Palmer. Semantics: A new Outline, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

2010), p.5.

11

Object

Meaning or (thought) Linguistics sign(word)

Figure 1: The Semiotic Triangle by Ogden & Richard 17

The „symbol‟ is, of course, the linguistic element-the word, sentence, etc.,

and the „referent‟ the object, etc., in the world of experience, while „thought or

reference‟ is concept. According to the Triangle or Triad Semantics, the theory

avoids many of the problems of naming – the classification, for instance, need not

be natural or universal, but merely conceptual.18

Meaning can be defined as the information in the head of the speaker of a

language that allows him/her to identify the set of individuals which the word

denotes. For example, the meaning of happy in English is the information in the

head of the speaker that allows him to identify people who are happy; that is to

know when it is correct to say that someone is happy. The meaning of ripe in

english is the information in the head of the speaker that allows him to identify

fruit which are ripe; that is to know when it is correct to say that the fruit is ripe.

Then, the meaning of horse in English is the information in the head of the

speaker that allows him to identify the horse from other animal; that is to know

when it is correct to differentiate the horse from other animals. Therefore, it can

17

Ogden & Richards. The meaning of meaning(1923), p.82 18

F.R Palmer. op. cit.(2010) p.26.

12

be understood that the meaning is all information in the head of the user of a

language that allows to identifyies what the word denotes.

Semantics has a very important role for linguistics, Ferdinand de Saussure

referred as the signifier (significant) and the signified (signify),19

then actually the

study of linguistics without semantics is merely meaningless.20

These both

components, significant and signify are things which cannot be separated each

other.

The Triangle Semantics Theory of meaning shows that symbol, concept,

and referent are interconnected in the creation of a language. The relationship

between word and referent may only be understood through the existing concepts

in the brain, both on the speaker and the listener. The concepts are as a shadow,

interpreting, and understanding.

2. Meaning

2.1 Term of Meaning

Meaning is what the speaker‟s interpret or the speaker mean. Meaning is

always fused in the speech of the word and sentence. In Oxford Dictionary,

meaning is the relationship between languages with the world which has been

agreed by the users so that can be understood. It can be concluded that meaning is

the result of the relationship between languages and the world, determination of

meaning occurs because the user agreement and the realization of meaning can be

used to convey the information that can be understood by mutually.

19

F.R Palmer (2010), op. Cit. P.5. 20

John Lyons. Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics. ( New York Cambridge University

Press, 1968). p. 308

13

According to Lyons, examine the meaning of a word or give the meaning

of a word is to understand the word study which regard to the relationships the

meaning that make it word is different from other words.21

2.2 Scope of Meaning

Meaning is a branch of semantics; therefore there should be boundaries

within of meaning, as described by Lyons “semantics may be defined, initially

and provisionally, as the study of meaning”.22

Here are some of the theories

described by linguists on the restriction of meaning.

According to Crystal meaning is the basic notion to uses in linguistics both

as a datum and as a criterion of analysis: linguists study meaning, and also use

meaning as a criterion for studying other aspects of language. According to Trask

meaning is the characteristic of a linguistic form which allows it to be used to pick

out some aspect of the non-linguistic world.23

To provide in defining the meaning, we need to pay attention to the

Bussman opinions are to determine the definition of meaning can be used four

kinds of constraints, namely: (1) The material aspects of linguistic expression,

both phonetically and graphically; (2) the cognitive aspects involved when

producing an abstract concept or when realizing the charge perceptive; (3) objects,

characteristics and circumstances in the real world who are referred through

21

John Lyons, Linguistic Semantics an Introduction (New York: Cambridge University

Press, 1977), p.2 22

John Lyon, op. cit. (1968) p.400 23

Trask, Op. Cit., p.120

14

linguistic expression; and (4) speakers and the specific context of the situation

when the linguistic expression used.24

3. Kinds of Meaning

3.1 Lexical, Grammatical and Contextual meaning

The meaning of words or lexical meaning is a part of linguistic knowledge

and therefore a part of the grammar. Our mental storehouse of information about

words and morphemes is grammar in that the vocabulary or lexicon does not only

list the lexeme (the minimal distinctive unit in semantic system of a language), but

associate with each lexeme all the information that is required by the rules of

grammar.

Additionally, Chaer says that lexical meaning refers to the real meaning,

meaning that proper with our sense observation, or for granted meaning. It has

been known that a language has amount of lexical system by which the semantics

structure can be expressed based its meaning relation of paradigmatic and

syntaxmatic.25

Unlike lexical meaning, grammatical meaning (functional meaning,

structural meaning, and internal meaning) presents on condition that there is a

grammatical process, such as affixation or tenses.26

For example, in the affixation

process of suffix -er added to a stem big produces bigger, the grammatical

meaning appears that the degree of the word bigger is more than the word big in

terms of their lexical meaning (of great shape, size or power).

24

Hadumod Busmann. Routledge Dictionary of language and Linguistics ( Terjemahan

dan suntingan dalam bahasa inggris oleh Gregory P. Trauth dan Kerstin Kazzazi. London:

Routledge, 1996) pp.732-733 25

Abdul Chaer. Linguistik Umum. (Jakarta: PT. Rineka Cipta, 1994) p.289 26

Ibid p.290

15

Contextual meaning is “meaning of a word within a certain

context”.27

Contextual meaning is associated with the place, time and condition

when the language is put into use. For example, the word rain has different

meanings in each sentence below.

1. Why does it always rain on me?, Even when the sun is shining ( part of

Travis song lyrics)

2. The rain in saturday night (part of song lyrics Evi Tamala)

The word rain (1) in the first example has a meaning „sadness because of

pain.‟ The word Rain (2) in the second example is the real rain that water fall

from the sky. These two sentences above used the same word but it has different

meaning of each word.

This grammatical information is divided into two kinds: (a) the

information that it belongs to one or more subclasses of transitive verbs; and (b)

all the information that is needed, including the stems, for the selection or

construction of its forms (buy, buys, buying, bought).28

3.2 Referential and Non-Referential Meaning

A word or lexeme has a referential meaning if it has a referent. Such words

as black, dog, paper are referential-meaning words because each has its referrent

in the actual world. On the contrary, such words as since, because and then are

non-referential-meaning words because they do not have a referent.29

27

Ibid.p.290 28

John Lyon. Language and Linguistics. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

1995).p.32 29

Ibid p.291

16

In the case of referential meaning, there are a number of words, known as

deictic word, whose referent depends on the context in which it is used. The

referent of these words can move from one entity to another. Deictic words

include pronoun (I, he, she, you, we, they, it) which is called person deixis; words

which designate space (here, there) which is called spatial deixis; words which

designate time (now, yesterday, later, tomorrow) which is called temporal deixis;

and demonstrative determiner (this, that, these, those).30

The interpretation of such

expressions depends on the speaker and hearer sharing the same context. For

example, the three words I below refer to different person.

Miley Cyrus (1) : “I never want you to leave.”(Title “I miss you” in Miley

Cyrus song lyrics)

Adele(2) : “I heard that you're settled down.”(Title “someone like

you” in Adele song lyrics)

Bruno Mars(3) : “Today I don't feel like doing anything.”(Title “The

Lazy Time” in Bruno Mars‟s song lyrics)

In the example above, the word I in the first utterance refers to Miley Cyrus (1),

the second refers to Adele (2) and the last refers to Bruno Mars (3).

3.3 Denotative and connotative meaning

It is clear that there is a relationship between words and concrete objects

and activities in the physical world. This relationship is commonly described as

the denotative or referential meaning. Every language classifies physical reality in

its own way. In English, we use the word foot to denote a leg. In Russian, there is

30

George Yule. Pragmatics. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996). p.9

17

no equivalent for foot – simply the word noga to denote the whole leg including

the foot.31

In addition, Brinton said that “words have literal or referential meanings

(denotation) but also evoke feelings, attitudes, or opinions (connotations)”.32

Yule

said that “denotative or conceptual meaning covers basic, essential components of

meaning which re conveyed by the literal use of a word”.33

Some of the basic

components of a word like needle in English might include „thin, sharp, steel,

instrument‟. These components would be a part of the conceptual meaning of

needle. However, it has an association or connotative meaning to this word which

lead us to think of „painful‟.

As the researcher explains in the chapter 1 above, the denotative meaning

of a word is its literal meaning – the definition you did find in the dictionary.

Denotation refers to “the words whose meanings exist in the dictionary”.34

Sometime, the components of its meaning are not mentioned. For example: the

song lyrics from Beyonce with the title “If I were a boy”

If I were a boy Even just for a day

I‟d roll outta bed in the morning

And throw on what I wanted and go

Drink beer with the guys

31

D.A Wilkins. Linguistics in Language Teaching. Great Britain: ELBS (The English

Language Book Society and Edward Arnold Publishers, 1983) Ltd.p.119 32

Brinton, J.L. The Structure of Modern English A Linguistic Introduction.

(Amsterdam/Philadelphia.: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2000).p.132 33

George Yule. The Study of Language: an Introduction. (New York: Canbridge

University Press, 1985).p.92 34

W. Widarso. Bahasa Inggris: Dialek, Ragam, Jargon, Slang, Blends, Clipped Words.

(Jogjakarta: Kanisius, 1989) .p.6

18

And chase after girls

I‟d kick it with who I wanted

And I‟d never get confronted for it.

'Cause they‟d stick up for me.

The word „boy‟ in Beyonce song lyrics means „a male child or youth‟. Its

components are: (+ male), (+ young). Furthermore, (+ Human) is not mentioned

because it is clearly understood.

Another example is: the song lyrics from B5 with title "Siamese Cat Song”

We are Siamese if you please

We are Siamese if you don't please

We are from a residence of Siam

There is no finer cat than I am

The word “cat.”, the denotative meaning (how the dictionary defines

“cat”) is: “a carnivorous mammal, domesticated as a rat catcher or pet.” But in

connotative meaning, it depends. If we like cats, the word “cat” may suggest

graceful motion, affectionate playfulness, noble reserve and admirable self

sufficiency. If we don‟t, the word might suggest stealthiest, spitefulness, coldness

and haughty disdain.35

Connotative meaning is an additional sense implied or associated with a

word.36

Connotative meaning is subjective and not shared in the same way by all

speakers of a language. The degree of the connotative value will be different for

everyone since the way one perceives something in this universe and his or her

35

Lyons. op.cit. p. 47 36

A. Chaer, op.cit. p.292

19

individual experience of language is different; it depends upon the culture,

geographical area and historical period.37

It emerges as a result of affective or

emotional feeling. For example, the words thin, lean, skinny, bony, slender and

slim has a similar denotative meaning, but different connotative.

The words thin and lean are the most general and have a neutral

connotative value. The words skinny (very thin, especially in an unappealing and

unhealthy way) and bony (extremely thin and with prominent bones) have a

negative connotation. One will feel disagreeable if he or she is said skinny or bony

because these words implicitly express undernourishment or lack of nutrition. The

other two words slender (gracefully and attractively thin) and slim (pleasingly thin

and well-proportioned) carry a positive connotation. Hence one will feel more

comfortable if he or she is said slender or slim.

C. Linguistics and Speaker Meaning

Linguistic meaning is purely the meaning of an expression in some form

of language.38

One can understand linguistic meaning provided that he or she

possesses adequate knowledge about grammatical rules and vocabularies of a

language. The meaning of linguistic meaning is determined by the meaning of its

constituents and their grammatical relations. For example, the meaning of the

sentence „We are in the same boat‟ is acquired from the meanings of „We‟ + „are‟

+ „in‟ + „the‟ + „same‟ + „boat‟.39

37

G. Leech. Semantics. (London: Penguin, 1974). p.15

38 B.U. Siregar. Introductory Notes on Semantics. (Medan: Fakultas Sastra USU, 2005).

p.8 39

G. Leech. op. cit p. 212

20

Speaker meaning is what a speaker means when producing his or her

utterance. Although words cannot be used to mean something what they do not

mean, there is a tendency of a speaker to use a word to mean something different

from what it means literally. In other words, a speaker sometimes speaks non-

literally. Thus, if someone is speaking non-literally, then he or she will means

something different from what his or her words mean literally.40

There are several ways of speaking non-literally; one way of speaking

non-literally is through the use of connotation. Connotation is a group of words

with set meanings that cannot be calculated by adding up the separate meanings of

the parts. The meaning of a connotation expression cannot be predicted either

lexically or grammatically. For example, the meaning of the sentence „We are in

the same boat‟ has a literal meaning that can be summed up from the meaning of

its constituents. But the sentence also has a connotation meaning „having the same

problems as somebody else.‟

D. Connotation of Songs Lyrics

1. The meaning of Lyrics

Lyric derives from the Greek word lyrikos, meaning "singing to the lyre”

A lyric poem is one that expresses a subjective, personal point of view. The word

lyric came to be used for the "word sofa song"; this meaning was recorded in

1876. The common plural (perhaps because of the association between the plurals

lyrics and words), predominates contemporary usage. Use of the singular form

40

Ibid. p.10

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyric_poetry

21

lyric remains grammatically acceptable, yet remains considered erroneous in

referring to a singular song word as a lyric.41

The definition of lyric is a short poem usually divided into stanza or

strophes and directly expressing the poet own thoughts and sentiments. Since

lyrics become the part of songs or poem, it cannot be denied that lyric can

influence the beauty of the song or poem, because the beauty of the song or poem

depends on the beauty of the lyrics.

In addition Abrams states that lyric is “any fairy short poem, consisting of

the utterance by a single speaker who expresses a state of mind on a process of

perception, thought and feeling”.42

Furthermore, he states that in the original

Greek, lyric signified a song rendered to the accompaniment of lyric. He also adds

that in some current usages, lyric still retains the sense of a poem written to be set

to music, for instance, the hymn is a lyric on a religious subject that is intended to

be sung.

2. Connotation of Lyrics

Lir-Ilir, Tandure wus sumilir....” „Wake up, the plant has been grown.‟

This part of song lyrics from Java. The sentence above has a connotative

meaning, the words wake up, the plant and grown there is no the real and fake

meaning. The word wake up it mean that to be awake, relax by moving with our

41

Hedra Krisdiato,pesan Lirik lagu, accessed on November 2,2009

http://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/lyrics, p.3

42 M.H Abrams. A Glossary of Literary Terms. (Harcourt Brace College Publisher:

Orlando, 2002) p.108

http://en/

22

arm to get the fresh air, this word means that we have to be always conscious and

aware of the situation. The words the plant has been grown mean the “plants” is

as the representation of the moslem society that had already been growing at that

time. The ideological color of moslem is green. The words in that lyrics include

positive connotation, because grown of plant is symbol of life. The writer will use

the word die, to show the negative connotation. That song lyrics contains the

religious message that we should be aware of our sins and repent immediately to

Allah SWT with always be faith to Allah‟s commands and avoid all Allah‟s

prohibitions. Not only it, but also we must wake up for Dakwah in the right way

to Allah SWT.

Connotation is the kind of lexical meaning which is related to the certain

item it refers to. According to Pateda he states that “connotation is the meaning

which appears by association of language used by the speaker or listener about the

language which they speak or read”.43

Chris Barker state that connotation is “the

part of the meaning of a word and he says that connotative as an implicit

meaning”.44

Connotation is more or less synonymous with intension. Connotation is

often contrasted with denotation, which is more or less synonymous with

extension. Alternatively, the connotation of the word may be thought of as the set

of all its possible referents (as opposed to merely the actual ones). A word's

denotation is the collection of things it refers to; its connotation is what it implied

43

Prof.Dr. Mansoer Pateda. 2001. Semantik Leksikal. Jakarta. Rineka

Cipta.p.112 44

Chris Barker. 2001. Lexical Semantic. USA: University of California, San Diego Press.

p.4

23

about the things it is used to refer to. The denotation of dog is (something like)

four-legged canine carnivore. So saying "you are a dog" would imply that you

were ugly or aggressive rather than stating that you were canine. Connotation also

the kind of meaning which is indicated that we abstract away from emotional and

sociocultural aspects of meaning, restricting ourselves to what an expression

refers to. For example word dog in Arabic if someone called as a dog you are not

good people because in Arab dog has negative connotation as the dirty animal in

contras in west country dog has good connotation as the symbol of faithfulness.

Connotations are shifting and idiosyncratic associations which a word may

have for some speaker but not for others (as opposed to the fixed and generally

accepted meaning of word). For instance, the word “feminist” and “environment”

tend to have very different connotations depending on a person‟s attitudes and

experience.

Connotation plays a major role in the language of advertising, politics and

literature. For example the word “democracy, freedom, and communist” often

occur with emotive connotations of such highly-charged nature that speaker may

be blind to the fact that there is no agreed-upon definition underlying their use. It

is their potent affective meanings which makes such words attractive to the

propagandist or political fanatic who wishes to arouse strong feeling without

inviting critical examination of his case.45

In addition, Brinton said that words have literal or referential meanings

(denotation) but also evoke feelings, attitudes, or opinions (connotation). Yule

45

Victoria Fromkin; Rodman, Robert; Collin, Peter; Pilar, David. 1990. An Introduction

to Language. London: Holt Rinehart and Winston.p.206

24

said that denotative or conceptual meaning covers basic, essential component of

meaning which re conveyed by the literal use of a word.46

Some of the basic

components of a word like needle in English might include „thin, sharp, steel,

instrument‟. These components would be a part of the conceptual meaning of

needle. However, it has an association or connotative meaning to this word which

lead us to think of „painful‟.

Connotation is more complicated than denotation. Chaer states that besides

the denotative meaning, a word sometimes has the emotional overtones or we call

„connotative‟ meaning.47

The other important thing whenever we are talking about

connotation is that the involvement of affective and emotive in our mind.

In addition, Chaer states that connotative meaning can be divided into two

kinds, namely positive connotative (purr word) and negative connotative (snarl

word). Besides the positive and negative connotative meaning, there is neutral that

is most of them is jargon language.48

Here are the examples of positive and negative connotative meaning.

Positive Connotation Neutral Negative Connotation

Cottage Shanty/shack

Soiled linen Dirty Underwear

Sanitary engineer Dustman/ Garbage man

Lingering illness Carcinoma Cancer

Mercy Killing Euthanasia Legal Murder

46

Yule .1985. Op.Cit.p.92 47

Chaer., op. cit. p.292 48

Ibid., p. 292

25

Pass away Die Kick the bucket

Mentally unbalanced Psychotic Mad/Crazy

Words such as celebration, springtime, and kiss arouse unique

assemblages of positive emotional connotations. Words such as homeless, cancer,

and rape summon clouds of negative emotional connotations. Many words and

phrases, such as bullfight, call up mixed positive and negative connotations.

Connotative meaning also includes the evocation of other sensations and

impressions, such as power (e.g., war) and activity (e.g., carnival).

In addition, a dictionary provides the following denotative meaning for the

word pub:

"A building providing alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises."49

However, the word pub simultaneously evokes a host of emotional

connotations, such as merriment, pleasure, cheerfulness, perhaps some sadness,

and so on. Similarly, words such as summer, love, and melody carry a variety of

positive emotional connotative associations for most people, while words such as

cancer, rape, and homeless have negative emotional connotations. In all cases, the

associated connotations are not systematically accessible using any known

language reference resource or tool.

49

A.S. Hornby. Oxford Advance Learner‟s Dictionary Sixth Edition. (Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press 2000). P.200

26

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH FINDING

A. Data Description

In the third chapter the writer will describe the analysis of connotation in

selected lyrics of Maher Zain‟s songs. There are five songs that will be analyzed

as the corpuses of this research. The five Maher Zain‟s songs lyric provide:

(1)Forgive Me (2)Hold My Hand (3) Thank You Allah (4) Palestine will Be Free

(5) My Little Girl

This study is aimed to find a connotation that exists in the song lyrics.

Therefore, after the data has been collected, the next step is data analysis. It means

by reading and observing the data has been collected, the writer does the analysis

process. The following table shows the connotation meanings on Maher Zain song

lyrics as the data.

Table 1: Connotative Meaning and Kind of Connotative

No Songs Title Connotative Meaning Kind of Connotative

1 Forgive Me I am About to Lose the battle

(L.1)

Negative Connotation

2 Hold my hand The flowers kinda crying loud

(L.1)

Positive Connotation

3 Hold my hand The breezes sound in sad (L.2) Positive Connotation

4 Hold my hand Did we really turn

outBlind(L.7)


27

5 Hold my hand Children seem like they have

lost Their Smile (L.24)


6 Hold my hand Im always gonna be your

neighbor (L.47)

Neutral Connotation

7 Thank you Allah I wandered lost in the dark

(L.3)


8 Thank you Allah You Brought Me Home (L.6) Neutral Connotation

9 Thank you Allah And That When you opened

the doors for me (L.16)

Neutral Connotation

10 Palestine will be

free

I keep my head high (L.10) Positive Connotation


free

Like drops of rain in the

sun'slight (L.15)



free

I Know That I am Only a

Child (L.21)

Neutral Connotation

13 My little girl You are a blessing from above

(L.2)


14 My little girl You're like a shining star

(L.18)


B. Data Analysis

In this data analysis, the writer uses theory of John Lyons and another

theory to help this research.

Song Title “Forgive me”

28

B.1 Data.1 Expression: I AM ABOUT LOSE THE “BATTLE”

a). The Denotative Meaning

Before seeking connotation meaning of lyric the writer has to find a

denotation or common meaning contained in the lyric itself. The word lose means

attended with defeat or fail to win (a game, contest, etc.) and the word battle has

several meanings (1) a military fight between groups of soldiers, ships, airplanes,

etc. (2) a violent fight in which people use weapons. 50

b) The Connotative Meaning

In the song lyrics above the sentence “Lost the battle” is not the true

meaning, but connotative meaning, we can see from the second definition of battle

above “a violent fight in which people use weapons”. As in the lyrics of the song,

Maher Zain does not mention about the weapon or the bomb and the other tools of

war. The lyric “lost the battle” here has the implicit meaning; “Lost the battle”

means as fail in running life on earth “I am about to fail in running life on earth.

The song writer tries to implement a life like the battle because real life is a battle,

there are only two options: win or lose the battle. In Islam the person who wins in

a battle is the one who can perform the duties ordered by ALLAH SWT and away

from the ban. The word “battle” has negative connotation because Islam is

peaceful religion and does not encourage the people to be in war. The positive

connotation is “running life”. The author use battle word instead of war, because

war involves an amount of people, whereas the word battle is for someone to

someone. In this case the battle here is about our relation with God.

50

Random House Webster‟s College Dictionary (copyright by random house, inc. 2010)

p. 106

29

c) The Message

The lyrics contain the message to be conveyed by the author, the author

hopes the listeners to be aware of the mistakes that have been done over the years.

The authors hope that the listeners get back to straight path and apologize to Allah

SWT.

Song Title “Hold my Hand”

B.2 Data.2 Expression: THE “FLOWER” KINDA CRYING LOUD

a) The Denotative Meaning

According to denotative meaning the word Flower (N) means (1) the part

of a plant that is often brightly colored, that usually lasts a short time, (2) from

which the seed or fruit develops. Crying (adj) means (1) to produce tears from

your eyes often while making loud sounds because of pain, sorrow, or other

strong emotions (2) to shout or say something loudly. Loud (adj) means (1)

making or causing a lot of noise: strong and noticeable in sound (2) of a person:

noisy in a way that brother other people.51


The word “flower” in connotation means human being. The humans are

like a flower that cries out loud. The author uses the word “flower” as a human

because the flower is life like human beings and need food to survive. The word

“Flower” is a symbol of beauty, colorful and alive in a short time. Crying is a

symbol of grief, pain and suffering. The word “loud” here connotes hard or strong

or very. From the explanation above the lyrics known as the connotations of the

51

Ibid. p. 473

30

lyrics are human beings who are suffering. The sentence "I hear the flower kinda

crying loud" connotes "I hear the human being in hard suffering" this is positive

connotation because the flower is identical with smell good and good looking.

The author can use the word “dog” or “pork” as the negative connotation such as;

“the dog kinda crying loud”. Why the author using the word “flower” not

“blossom” because the term “flower” is most popular than “blossom” and the

word “flower” especially applies when part or all of the reproductive structure is

distinctive in color and form. “Blossom” is a term which given to the flower of

stone fruit trees (genus prunus).

c) The Message

In these song lyrics the author gives the message that many of our brothers

who are crying is because of the suffering and the pain that they are experiencing

out there. We should care about the pain they experience and help them in many

ways.

B.3 Data.3 Expression: “THE BREEZES” SOUND IN SAD


According to denotative meaning the word “Breezes” means a wind that

from four to 31 miles (6 to 50 kilometers) an hour. “Sound” means a noise that

someone or something makes. “Sad” means affected with or expressive of grief or

unhappiness:52


52

Ibid. p. 152

31

The connotation of these lyrics is the word “breezes”. This lyric is not

much different with the previous one, in this lyric the author still telling about

sadness. The author uses the word “breezes” as a mediator to tell about sadness

that happen to his brother. The word “breezes” here is a symbol of something that

can be heard and felt, but cannot be seen. The author hears the sound in sad on his

brother who cannot be seen by him, but can be felt of their experience. This is

positive connotation because the “Breezes” is slow wind, the neutral connotation

is wind and the negative connotation is “Tornado”. The author does not use the

wind because the word wind is too general than the word “Breezes”.

c) The Message

In this lyric, the author gives the message that there are many brothers and

sisters who are suffering, but we cannot see their sufers.

B.4 Data. 4 Expressions: DID WE REALLY TURN OUT “BLIND”


The word blind in denotation means unable to see or has two eyes but

cannot see the view around.53


In this lyric the author uses interrogative sentence. The sentence “did we

really turn out blend” is interrogative sentence that tends to the listener. The word

“blind” here connotes “pretend do not see” or “cannot see the suffer that our

brother perceived”. In the next lyric “we don‟t see that we have kept hurting each

other”, the word blind and see are two contrast things. Both blind and see cannot

53

Ibid. p. 131

32

be separated with sense of sight that is eyes, but here both of them not addressed

to the eyes but to the heart. The word “blind” is negative connotation because the

word blind here is pretend to blind and not really blind. The author does not use

the word “sightless or unseeing” because both of them are spell able in the song.

c) The Message

The message of the lyric to the listener is we should care to our brothers

and sisters who are experiencing difficulties out there because we really know

what our brother felt, but we pretend to careless. The words really seemed to be

affirmed us that in fact we aware, but pretend to careless.

B.5 Data. 5 Expression: CHILDREN SEEM LIKE THEY'VE LOST THEIR

“SMILE”


“Children” means a young person, a son or daughter. “Smile” means to

make the corners of your mouth turn up in an expression that shows happiness,

amusement, pleasure, affection, etc.54


From the explanation above we can find out what the meaning of

“children” and “smile”. Child's world is a world where periods of playing that

there is no problem and always be happy with his friends. The sentence “lost their

smile” means lost their time to play with their friends. The word "smile” here is

full of meaning, smile is not only the movement of lips, but smile is symbol of

happiness, amusement, pleasure, affection, etc. So the sentence “Children seem

54

Ibid. p. 1157

33

like they‟ve lost their smile” connotes “Children seem like they‟ve lost their time

to play”. The word “smile” is positive connotation because smiling is giving

happiness to each other‟s and the negative connotation is “laughing” because

laughing is not too good in Islam religion. The synonym of the word smile is

“smirk”, Maher Zain does not use “smirk” to change the word “smile” because

firstly, the word “smile” is most popular than the word “smirk”, secondly the

word “smirk” is not really “smile”, it means not smile come from heart or soul,

but it is only pretended smile.

c) The Message:

From the word “smile” above the author gives the message that the

hostility and warfare we have eliminated the happiness in children who armpits

guilty. Supposedly the kids do not deserve this kind of treatment just because of

their selfishness.

B.6 Data. 6 Expression: I’M ALWAYS GONNA BE YOUR “NEIGHBOR”


In denotative meaning Neighbor means a person who lives next to or near

with another person.55


The words “neighbor” has connotative meaning, the word neighbor means

to show that we are brother or "I'm always gonna be your brother". The author

uses the word neighbor to show that we are brothers because the neighbor is the

closest person in our life. So the word neighbor connote to Brother. The word

55

Ibid. p. 823

34

neighbor is neutral connotation, the positive connotation is next-door neighbor

and the negative connotation is bystander. The author used the word “neighbor

because most popular than the other words.

c) The Message

In this song lyric, there is implicit message that we are brothers although our

distance so far away. We are still being neighbors although distance separates us.

In hadits the prophet Muhammad said, "A Muslim is a brother of another

Muslim".

Song Title “Thank You Allah”

B. 7 Data. 7 Expressions: I WANDERED LOST IN “THE DARK”


The word wandered means to move around or go to different places

usually without having a particular purpose or direction. The dark means having

very little or no light, not light in color: of a color that closer to black than white.56


The word “wandered” in these song lyrics addressed to the author himself.

The author assuming that he is a lost wanderer. Usually the wandered is without

having a particular purpose or leader. He considers that he had no destination in

life or even part of the way God Almighty as the goal of his life. The word dark is

usually synonymous with the black color and the black color is usually tended to

things that are negative as the symbol of darkness, gloomy and scary. The word

“dark” in the connotative means “gloomy period” where the author being far away

56

Ibid. p. 315

35

from Allah. The word dark is negative connotation because the dark in Islam is

the symbol of sin or the symbol of the hell. The positive connotation is obscure

and the neutral connotation is “unclear”.

c) The Message

In this song lyric there are messages delivered by the authors that we are

like a wanderer lost in the dark. Life is like a long journey that must be passed;

only there are two options that we can choose. The right path or the wrong path,

the right path will lead us to our final destination is heaven and the wrong path

will take us to the darkness of hell.

B. 8 Data. 8 Expressions: YOU BROUGHT ME “HOME”


The word Home means the place (such as a house or apartment) where a

person lives, a family living together in one building, house, etc.57


The word you are referring to ALLAH as a god of Moeslim society. The

word “home” has connotations, the word home don‟t mean that the home like we

knew such as has the roof, has pillar or wall, but the home here means back to the

right way that Allah bless. “You brought me Home” means Allah brought me to

go back to the right way. We can see from the previous lyric “I walked everyday

Further and further away from you O Allah”. So the word “Home” here means

“back to the way of Allah”. The word “home” here is neutral connotation. Maher

Zain don‟t uses the other word like the word “house” because the house is the

57

Ibid. p. 588

36

building live able or habitable and the house consist of living room, the kitchen,

the bad room, the roof, the door and so on. The “home” is an explanation a place

where we feel comfortable if you are there even though it was not house.

c) The Message

In the lyrics above there a message give to us that GOD is always with us,

always lead us to re-beaten way. No matter how far we go left from Allah, but he

always wanted us to go back to his way. From the word “home” we know Maher

Zain want to tell us that the real home we will go back is to the way of Allah.

B. 9 Data. 9 Expression: AND THAT'S WHEN YOU OPENED THE

“DOORS” FOR ME


The word the doors means a moveable piece of wood, glass, or metal that

swings or slides open and shut so that people can enter or leave a room, building,

vehicle, etc. - a part of an object (such as piece of furniture or an appliance) that

swings or slides open and shut.58


The “door” is a place where people want to go into the house, building or

other room. The door will open when homeowners allow entry, but when the door

closed so no one could get into the house. Here, the sentence when you open the

doors for me means when “you forgive me” or give me the chance to change the

manner. The word “door” is neutral connotation. Maher Zain doesn‟t use the word

58

Ibid. p. 367

37

“gate” to change the “door” because the “gate” is for large door and generally the

gate is for outside the house.

c) The Message

The message to be conveyed in the song lyric are ALLAH always give us

the chance to change our life way. From the word “door” we know that the chance

always there for whoever want to repent.

Song Title “Palestine Will Be Free”

B. 10 Data. 10 Expressions: I KEEP MY “HEAD” HIGH


The word head means (1) the part of the body containing the brain, eyes,

ears, nose, and mouth (2) a person‟s mental ability: mind or intellect (3) a person

who has a specified mental or emotional quality.59


The word my “head” high means that they (the people of Palestine) did not

give up and continue to defend him. The word “head” is a symbol of power in the

human body as we know that hair is a crown that exists within the human body, it

is located in the head, the brain is a tool for thinking if it is broken, then the

human would be crazy, it was located in the head. Almost all senses of the human

body that is located in the head. I keep my head high means I keep my power

high. The word “head” in the song lyrics is positive connotation because the head

here is a symbol of spirit and never give up. Maher Zain don‟t use the other part

59

Ibid. p. 565

38

of body to change the word “head” because the word head is most precious than

the other part of body.

c) The Message

From the word Head that the people of Palestine are never give up, they

always keep their spirit high. The message delivered by Maher Zain that we have

to keep fighting for our rights, do not give up and keep our self-respect.

B.11 Data.11 Expression: LIKE DROPS OF “RAIN” IN THE SUN'S LIGHT


The rain (N) means (1) water that falls in drops from clouds in the sky (2)

weather in which there is a lot of rain: rainy weather (3) large amounts of rain that

fall at a particular time of year.60


The author assumed that the rockets and the bombs were falling like rain.

The rain is a symbol of waterfall from the sky and unavoidable seem like the

bombs and rockets that fell was not a bit and unavoidable. The word sunlight is a

connotation that is usually when the rains fall there is no sunlight, but in this lyric

there is sun when it rains. There were connotations contained in the lyrics during

the single day that bombs and rockets continue to destroy Palestine. The word

“rain” is negative connotation because the word rain above refers to rocket and

bomb that destroy Palestine. Maher Zain uses the word “rain” don‟t uses the word

“drizzle” because the word drizzle is for little rain that drooped. The bombs and

rocket in Palestine is in serious condition.

60

Ibid. p. 1018

39

c) The Message

In this song lyrics contained the message to be conveyed. The author

wants to tell to the audience that the suffered situation by his brothers in Palestine.

Bombs and rockets had been like the rain falling in the day and the night.

B. 12 Data. 12 Expression: I KNOW THAT I'M ONLY A “CHILD”


The word child means (1) a young person, (2) a son or daughter, (3) an

adult who acts like a child or childish person.61


The word “child” is a symbol of something small, have not strong power

and cannot do something more. The word child is aimed at Palestine state that the

state of Palestine is a small country, which it does not have power in the eyes of

the world. Palestine countries do not have sophisticated equipment such as armed

conflicts the enemy is owned by the state of Israel. The word child here is to

inform the other that Palestine is only small state and need help from the other.

The word child is neutral connotation, the negative connotation is adult, and

positive connotation is baby. Maher Zain uses the word “child” don‟t uses the

word “kid” because it is only for one‟s people not for many people.

c) The Message

The message conveyed in these song lyrics of is that even though we are in

a small viewing by other nations but that does not mean we cannot fight and had

no self-esteem.

61

Ibid. p. 211

40

Song Title “My Little Girl”

B.13 Data. 13 Expressions: YOU ARE A BLESSING FROM “ABOVE”


The word Blessing (N) means (1) approval that allows or helps you to do

something (2) help and approval from god (3) something that helps you or brings

happiness. Above (adverb) means (1) in or to a higher place (2) in or to higher

rank or number (3) above zero.62


The word “above” in connotation means god Allah. In that lyrics, the word

before the word “above” includes the word “blessing”. The blessing is only from

god and the one that who can give the blessing to us only god. The word god is

replaced with the word above because God is exalted there is no higher than

anything else. There are many songs that changed the word god into above one of

them is "It's the greatest thing from the man above" song lyric from THE

CRANBERRIES with the title "Just My Imagination". So the sentence “you are

the blessing from above” connotes “you are the blessing from God Allah”. The

word above here is positive connotation because it refers to Allah. Maher Zain

don‟t use the word “over” to change the word “above” because the word over is

for something that more shows the movement of one location or from the position

of one to another.

c) The Message

62

Ibid. p. 4

41

The message of this song lyrics above are that we have to maintain,

cherish and train our children in order to be a good person, devout to his parents

and his god ALLAH. As we know something that given by gods we must guard

because everything will be accounted in the Day of Judgment.

B. 14 Data. 14 Expression: YOU'RE LIKE A SHINING “STAR”


The word “shining” (adj) are producing or reflecting a bright steady light

excellent or perfect. Star (N) means (1) any one of the object in space that are

made of burning gas and that look like points of light in the night sky (2) a star or

planet especially in a certain position that is believed in astrology to influence

people‟s lives (3) something (such as a symbol or medal) with five or more points

that represents or suggests a star.63


The word “shining star” is the implementation of one's nature and in this

song lyric the words shining star addressed to a child of the author. Shining star

looks beautiful in the sky when the night comes and light up when the dark,

likewise with the child gives a new color in life, able to give spirit and motivation

when we are in the sadness. You are like a shining star connotes you are give new

color in my life and accompany me in a lonely night. The word star is positive

connotation because the star here means something good, like shining, height, and

colorful. Maher Zain doesn‟t use the other word like the moon or the sun to

change the word star, as we know both of them also shining. Maher Zain doesn‟t

63

Ibid. p. 1194

42

use those words because he tells about his little girl and as we know the star is the

smaller one which we can see from the earth.

c) The Message

The messages to be conveyed in this song lyric are our child is color given

in our life, make her like the stars in the sky that is capable of illuminating the

dark and helper in the hereafter.

43

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusions

Based on the research problems in the first chapter and the research

findings of the data description and analyses in the third chapter, the

conclusion can be seen as follows.

The writer concludes that denotative meaning lies on almost every song

lyrics of Maher Zain‟s, but the connotative meaning only lies fourteen words

in the five song lyrics of Maher Zain‟s, which it is the main data of this study.

There are three kinds of connotative meaning found there; six positive

connotations, four neutral connotations, and four negative connotations. Thus,

the most connotative that used in the data are positive connotation. Positive

connotation makes the meaning of the words more encouraging to the

listener.

From the analysis in the third chapter, the writer finds the general

massage of the song‟s lyrics of Maher Zain‟s that contains connotative

meaning are people should construct good relation with others, and virtuous

relation to Allah.

In the lyrics of Forgive me and Thank you Allah, Maher Zain has

convince the relations between human to Allah such as to keep from lust and

the sense of thanking to Allah SWT. Meanwhile, in the lyrics of Hold My

Hand, Palestine Will be Free, and My Little Girl Songs tell about how the

44

way to make a maintain relation to the others, such as caring each other‟s,

avoid the war that harm human race, and take care the children as a given

from ALLAH.

From the finding above the writer assumes that Maher Zain uses positive

connotation in his lyrics to deliver the message to the listener in an

encouraging way, uses neutral connotation to change something that makes

the listener easy to understand what the author mean to and uses negative

connotation to deliver something bad and hated in Islam.

Overall, the writer found connotative meaning occurs in partial of the

lyric, and the denotative meaning occurs in majority of the lyric. The message

of the lyric is delivered by Maher Zain in a good structure by using positive

connotative meaning.

B. Suggestion

The writer would like to suggest offering the suggestions below to

whomever interests in connotative meaning study:

The other researchers can reach wider than the writer research, for the

example first, the other researchers can analyze this song lyrics with

connotative meaning using semiotics approach (Roland Barthes‟s theory)

which can analyze the deep meaning exist in the song lyrics of Maher Zain.

Second, the other researchers can also analyze this song lyric with metaphor

analyze.

45

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abidarda, Mahmud. (2010)“A Connotative Meaning Analysis on The Word Child

in Five Lyrics of Song”, Letters and Humanities Faculty State Islamic

University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.

Abrams, M.H. (2002) A Glossary of Literary Terms. Harcourt Brace College

Publisher: Orlando.

Barker, Chris. (2001) Lexical Semantic. USA: University of California, San

Diego Press.

Busmann, Hadumod. (1996)Routledge Dictionary of language and Linguistics (

Terjemahan dan suntingan dalam bahasa inggris oleh Gregory P. Trauth

dan Kerstin Kazzazi). London: Routledge.

Barker, Chris. (2001) Lexical Semantic. USA: University of California, San Diego

Press.

Brinton, J.L. (2000)The Structure of Modern English A Linguistic Introduction.

Amsterdam/Philadelphia.: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Chaer, Abdul. (1994)Linguistik Umum. Jakarta: PT. Rineka Cipta.

Fromkin, Victoria ; Rodman, Robert; Collin, Peter; Pilar, David. (1990)An

Introduction to Language. London: Holt Rinehart and Winston.

Farkhan , Muhammad. (2011)Proposal Penelitian Bahasa dan Sastra. Edison

Revise.Jakarta: adabia Press.

Griffee, Dale. T. (1995)Songs in Action. UK: Phoenix ELT, Print.

Hornby, A.S. (2000)Oxford Advance Learner‟s Dictionary Sixth Edition.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kuswantoro, Roni. (2002) “A Study on Connotative Meaning of Language Used

in Scorpion‟s Song”, Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta.

Kempson, M.Ruth. (1987)Semantic Theory. Cambridge : Cambridge University

Press.

Krisdiato, Hedra. (2009) pesan Lirik lagu,accessed on November 2 http://en.

Wikipedia.org/wiki/lyrics,

http://en/

46

Leech, G. (1981)Semantics. London: Penguin Books

Leech, G. (1974)Semantics. London: Penguin press.

Lyon, John. (1995) .Language and Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Lyons, John. (1968)Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics. New York

Cambridge University Press.

Pateda, Mansoer. (2001)Semantik Leksikal. Jakarta. Rineka Cipta.

Siregar, B.U. (2005)Introductory Notes on Semantics. Medan: Fakultas Sastra

USU.

Subrtoo, Edi.(1992)PengangaMet ode Penelitian Linguistik Structural. Surakarta:

Sebelas Maret University Press.

Wilkins, D.A. (1983)Linguistics in Language Teaching. Great Britain: ELBS. The

English Language Book Society and Edward Arnold Publishers.

Yule, George. (1985)The Study of Language: an Introduction. New York:

Canbridge University Press.

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

47

APPENDICES

MAHERZAIN SONG LYRICS

FORGIVE ME

I'm about to lose the battle and cross the line

I'm about to make another mistake

And even though I try to stay awake

everything around me keeps dragging me in

I can't help thinking to myself

what if my time would end today, today, today,

Can I guarantee that I will get another chance

before it's too late, too late, too late

Forgive me

My heart is so full of regret

Forgive me

Now is the right time for me to repent, repent, repent

Am I out of my mind?

What did I do?

Oh, I feel so bad

And everytime I try to start all over again

my shame comes back to haunt me

I'm trying hard to walk away

but temptation is surrounding me

I wish that I could find the strength

to change my life before it's too late, too late, too late

Forgive me

My heart is so full of regret

Forgive me


I know, Oh Allah, you're the most forgiving

and that you promised to always be there

when I call upon you

So now I'm standing here ashamed of all the mistakes I've commited

Please don't turn me away

and hear my prayer when I ask you to

Forgive me

my heart is so full of regret

Forgive me


48

HOLD MY HAND

I hear the flowers kinda crying loud

The breezes sound in sad

Oh no

Tell me when did we become,

So cold and empty inside

Lost a way long time ago

Did we really turn out blind

We don't see that we keep hurting each

other no

All we do is just fight

Now we share the same bright sun,

The same round moon

Why dont we share the same love

Tell me why not

Life is shorter than most have thought

Hold my hand

There are many ways to do it right

Hold my hand

Turn around and see what we've left

behind

Hold my hand my friend

We can save the good spirit of me and

you

For another chance

And lets pray for the beautiful world

The beautiful world I share with you

Children seem like they've lost their

smile

On the new blooded playgrounds

Oh no

How could we ignore , heartbreaking

crying sounds

And were still going on

Like nobody really cares

And we just stopped feeling all the pain

because

Like its a daily basic affair

Now we share the same bright sun,

The same round moon

Why dont we share the same love

Tell me why not

Life is shorter than most have thought

Hold my hand


Hold my hand


behind



you

For another chance



No matter how far I might be

Im always gonna be your neighbor

Theres only one small planet where to

be

So Im always gonna be your neighbor

We cannot hide, we can't deny

That were always gonna be neighbors

Youre neighbor, my neighbor

Were neighbors

So hold my hand


Hold my hand


behind

Hold my hand


Hold my hand


behind



you

For another chance



49

THANK YOU ALLAH

I was so far from you

Yet to me you were always so close

I wandered lost in the dark

I closedmy eyes toward the signsYou put in my way

I walked everyday Further and further away from youO Allah,

you brought me home

I thank You with every breath I take.

Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah

All praises to Allah, All praises to Allah

I never thought about

All the things you have given to me

I never thanked you once

I was too proud to see the truth

And prostrate to you

Until I took the first step

And that's when you opened the doors for me

Now Allah, I realized what I was missing

By being far from you.

Allah, I wanna thank You

I wanna thank you for all the things that you've done

You've done for me through all my years I've been lost

You've guided me from all the ways that were wrong

Indeed you gave me hope

Allah, I wanna thank you

I wanna thank You for all the things that you've done

You've done for me through all my years I've been lost

You've guided me from all the ways that were wrong

I wanna thank You for bringing me home

50

PALESTINE WILL BE FREE

Every day we tell each other

That this day will be, will be the last

And tomorrow we all can go home free

And all this will finally end

Palestine tomorrow will be free


No mother no father to wipe away my tears

That's why I won't cry

I feel scared but I won't show my fears

I keep my head high

Deep in my heart I never have any doubt that



I saw those rockets and bombs shining in the sky

Like drops of rain in the sun's light

Takin away everyone dear to my heart

Destroying my dreams in a blink of an eye

What happened to our human rights?

What happened to the sanctity of life?

And all those other lies?

I know that I'm only a child

But is your conscience still alive?

Ooooooh ... Yeaaah

I will caress with my bare hands

Every precious grain of sand

Every stone and every tree

Cuz no matter what they do

They can never hurt you

Cuz your soul will always be free



51

MY LITTLE GIRL

You are a miracle

You are a blessing from above

You brought joy to my soul

And pleasure to my eyes

In my heart I can feel it

An unexplainable feeling

Being a father

The best thing that I could ever ask for

Just thinking of you makes me smile

Holding you, looking in your eyes

I'm so grateful for having you

And everyday I pray

I pray that you'll find your way

You know I love you, I love you

My little girl, my little girl

I ask God to bless you, and protect you always

My little girl, my little girl

You're like a shining star

So beautiful you are

My baby girl

You light up my world

I pray that I'll get the chance

To be around and watch you grow

And witness your first steps

And the first time when you will call me "dad

I could spend hours watching you

You're so innocent, so wonderful and pure

O God I can not express my gratitude!

But I'll raise her good, 'cause all I want is to please You

And now I pray You'll guide her steps foreverRL

CURRICULUM VITAE

Data Pribadi :

Nama : Armawansyah

Tempat dan Tanggal Lahir : Jeriji, 14 Oktober 1990

Alamat : Jl. Raya Jeriji RT/RW 11/06 Desa Jeriji, Kecamatan

Toboali, Kab. Bangka Selatan, Bangka Belitung

Jenis Kelamin : Laki – laki

Status : Belum Kawin

Agama : Islam

Kewarganegaraan : Indonesia

Kontak Pribadi : 0878-7125-9151

Email : [email protected]

Berat Badan : 50 Kg

Tinggi Badan : 160 Cm

Pendidikan formal

1997 – 2003 : SD Negeri 12 Toboali

2003 – 2006 : SMP Negeri 08 Pangkal Pinang

2007 – 2011 : MA. Ummul Quro Al- Islami Bogor

2011 – 2016 : UIN SyarifHidayatullah Jakarta – BahasadanSastraInggris (S1)

Keterampilan

Mampu mengoperasikan komputer (Ms. Word, Ms. Power Point, Ms. Excel, Corel Draw dan

Photoshop)

Terampil berbicara

Mampu berorganisasi dengan baik

Memiliki keterampilan dalam bidang seni dan sastra

PengalamanOrganisasi

HMJ Bahasa dan Sastra Inggris

Anggota

Himpunan Mahasiswa Islam (HMI)

Anggota

PAMALAYU BABEL (Persatuan Mahasiswa Melayu Kepulauan Bangka Belitung)

Ketua Umum

PenagalamanKerja

- Direktorat Kementrian Perkeretaapian

AN ANALYSIS OF CONNOTATIVE MEANING IN SELECTED …

Documents

Transcript of AN ANALYSIS OF CONNOTATIVE MEANING IN SELECTED …