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LiNGUA Vol. 15, No. 1, June 2020 • ISSN 1693-4725 • e-ISSN 2442-3823
THE INTERPERSONAL MEANING OF MOCKING CHANT TO FOOTBALL PLAYERS BY
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SUPPORTERS
Nur Rochman Fatoni [1], Riyadi Santosa [2], Djatmika [3]
[1] nrf.fatoni@student.uns.ac.id, [2] riyadisantosa@staff.uns.ac.id, [3] djatmika@staff.uns.ac.id
Universitas Sebelas Maret
Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia
Abstract: The discussion of the social relationship meaning between participants in a
language interaction, mainly spoken, is fascinating. Sport, one of the discourses familiar
to the social community, is still rarely uncovered in language research. This research
highlights the mocking chant's interpersonal meaning to football players sung by
supporters of the English Premier League (EPL), especially from the six biggest clubs
(the big six). It uncovers interpersonal meaning by analyzing the MOOD system,
modality, and polarity within the Systemic Functional Linguistic approach. The analysis
results are obtained through domain, taxonomy, componential and cultural themes
analysis. MOOD system analysis shows an equal position between supporters and
listeners. The finding also supports that they exchanged information in the discourse,
which tells the bad things experienced by the player and the disgrace of the mocked
players. However, it must be noted that the mocked players are positioned at different
points of view because of the negative value of the polarity. The modality analysis
shows the confidence of supporters when singing the mocking chant to the players.
Keywords: interpersonal meaning, supporter’s chant, mood, modality and polarity,
systemic functional linguistics.
INTRODUCTION
The cultural and social discussion
cannot be separated from the discussion of
language. It is an extension of the opinion that
language is one of the products of culture
(Mujib, 2009). Speaking language is not just
talking about communication. Speaking
language also talks about human expressions
that carry messages from human thoughts in
which identities, values, perspectives, norms,
rules, beliefs, emotions, and ideas of mind
(Darmojuwono, 2016). Related to this also, the
current trend of language research is plural
about the relationship between social
interaction and the use of language as a means
of delivering messages.
The real relationship of social and
language is in the use of language in certain
social groups carrying a kind of identity that
can be seen, for example, from interactions
and relationships between speakers
(Tamtomo, 2018). From this statement, the
use of language will reveal the speaker's
identity and the speech partner and the
interpersonal relationships between them.
The use of language influences and is
influenced by social interactions that
surround it (Yusa et al., 2017). It is the context
around language. So from this, we can see a
close relationship between language, context,
and interaction between people in it (Ardi et
al., 2018).
As said above, language cannot be seen
as something separate because language is a
product of the surrounding social
environment or, in this case, commonly called
context. The context affects how language
creates unique characters and differs between
the types of context in one discourse to
another. It includes how interactions that
develop between participants in a discourse
can be seen from the language and context of
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24 | The Interpersonal Meaning of Mocking Chant
the situation and language (Santosa et al.,
2011b). The interactions developed through
social media discourse, newspapers,
magazines, speeches, or songs and songs have
different characteristics and are very
interesting for further investigation.
In the development of language and
social life, now the plural of exchanging
messages between people is often conveyed
through song. Messaging with song discourse
has been found in various fields (Low, 2013;
McKerrell, 2015; Zahoor & Janjua, 2016). Not
only in the entertainment, but the trend has
spread to politics, education and even sports,
particularly football. In addition to different
contexts, variations in the use of songs in
message exchanges are also found in various
song genres (HẰNG, 2016; Nieto Alvaro, 2012)
such as pop, dangdut, rock, or contemporary
genres such as musicals (Plemenitaš, 2016),
yells, chant, jingle products, and songs for
education (Coats, 2016).
Social interaction in sports discourse,
especially in football, is also exciting to talk
about. In football, there is a song genre used to
convey the message, namely the chant of the
supporters. In this case, supporters in football
match sing various popular songs called
chants.
Into the chant has become a trend now
for supporters (Marshall, 2014). Football
spectators in the stadium intend to watch an
exciting match, but people who ordain
themselves as a group of supporters do a lot to
support a team or make fun of the opposing
team. One of the most common things to do is
sing a chant.
Historically, the language phenomenon
of this chant is exciting. It began when chants,
in football, emerged as a form of sending
messages from football supporters. The chant
singing of these supporters originally came
from Hooligan's creativity and fanaticism
(supporters of football in England). The
singing of a chant at a football game gives a
new atmosphere in a positive sense. The
supporters can express their enthusiasm in
support or even can also express the emotions
of the soul in the form of mock to football
players as a form of protest. The chant can
also be an identity for the supporters of the
club. It has become an entertainment for
connoisseurs and football fans in a match.
However, in a chant, the message
expressed is not only mere support but can
also be in the form of overflowing feelings,
social criticism, satire, and a chant in the form
of mockery. All of these messages must be
related to the team or part of the team, such as
players. The mocking chants to the players are
amusing to note that the use of language in the
sports, especially in football matches, reflects
the interpersonal relationships between
participants in it. It can be an exciting area to
study where chants' use is influenced by the
context that appears in a match to the
meaning of interaction that arises from
interactions in the use of language used by
supporters to sing the chant.
Halliday explained that the use of
language includes interactions where
participants in a discourse exchange messages
and meanings. The use of certain grammatical
and diction systems carry varied and unique
meanings and messages (Fatoni, 2018).
Messages exchanged in an interaction are
generally in the form of goods, services, or
information. Djatmika (2012) also mentioned
that the message exchange event was divided
into asking or giving. Then the exchange that
occurs in a discourse can take the form of
asking for goods/services or information and
giving goods/services or information. The
relationship formed in the language
interaction can be examined in the
interpersonal metafunction/meaning of
language in a discourse, in this case the
supporters’ chants which contain mockery to
players. The relationship and interaction in
the supporters' chant discourse is investigated
by the interpersonal metafunction of the
Systemic Functional Linguistic approach
because, in the metafunction, the meaning is
created by the realization of grammatical
elements that treat language as an experience
(Halliday & Hasan, 1992). This is in line with
Khaofia (2018) who said that, in its use by
speakers, language has three communicative
functions, namely describing, exchanging, and
organizing experiences.
The analysis of words, clauses, and
grammatical systems in a discourse using
Functional Systemic Linguistics has been
carried out, such as research from Hidayat
(2018) that uses this approach. However, it
only focuses on the transitivity, while
Djatmika et al. (2011) use SFL in language
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Nur Rochman Fatoni, Riyadi Santosa, Djatmika | 25
analysis in education. Discourse studies using
the SFL approach are also commonly found in
research on written discourse or reading
material such as research by Izzati (2019) that
examines grammatical intricacy in children's
short stories. Research on the interpersonal
meaning of discourse has been conducted
several times by other researchers. Qani'ah
(2016) attempted to explore social
relationships that are built in an editorial text
in Jakarta. While Mafruchatunnisa & Agustin
(2016) investigated the interpersonal
meaning of Michele Obama's speech.
Interpersonal meaning research is indeed
often found in data from oral discourse such
as in research belonging to Mustikawati &
Sumarlam (2017), which explores
interpersonal meaning in conversations or
dialogs in the Mata Najwa Talkshow. Research
on mock in language interactions researches
much on mock or mockery in personal
interactions and with pragmatic approaches
(Haugh, 2014).
The SFL approach has also been used to
analyze languages from unusual domains,
such as in the religious domain (Ingold, 2014).
The Halliday’s SFL has also been widely used
in mass media discourse research and focuses
on the structure and conjunction of texts
(Arifah et al., 2019). As also stated above,
language research in rhythmic literary works
such as songs and poetry is indeed impressive.
Kusumaningsih et al. (2019) explore the
song's pedagogical meaning to uncover vulgar
language in dangdut songs. Jamdar et al.
(2015) revealed the meaning of songs and
emotions created from song lyrics based on
the audio features produced. Besides, Rahman
(2018) examines perceptions of the song
'Sacred in Dust' and also Roshanfekr et al.
(2017), who focus on children’s poetry.
More in-depth analysis of language and
participant relations needs to be examined
more because language is not only about
structure but also about its use and its relation
to the context. From some of the previous
studies above, researchers found exciting
research gaps to study. Analysis of the
meaning of the chants in football is still rarely
examined. Another novelty of the present
study is exploring the interpersonal meaning
created in the supporters' chant lyrics by
using the Systemic Functional Linguistic
approach (henceforth SFL). The supporters'
chant at a soccer game contains unique
language and is influenced by the context
surrounding it.
The relationship between participants
in a discourse can be investigated from
various approaches, including the SFL
approach. Emilia (2014) and Wengrum (2015)
emphasized that the SFL constructs the
meaning in the social interaction by linking
the semantics of discourse with the context
and culture. Therefore this research focuses
on exploring the interpersonal meaning of
mock chants in English league supporters or
English Premier League with SFL. This study
will see how supporters place attitudes,
opinions, and positions on other participants
in the discourse. This research is included in
discourse analysis using the Functional
Systemic Linguistics approach.
The interpersonal meaning in language
use is the language user's action in social
interaction (Santosa, 2003). In this
interaction, the interpersonal meaning is
reflected in the language transaction and also
the exchange of information (Wiratno, 2018).
In the context of speakers, interpersonal
meaning represents speakers' potential as
participants (involved) in language
communication. The interpersonal meaning
may disclose how the relationship is built
between the speaker and the speech partner
or writer and reader in a discourse. At the
clause level, the interpersonal meaning can be
identified from the system and function of the
lexicogrammar that is built and involves the
participants.
Halliday & Matthiessen (2014) illustrate
that there is always a relationship between
two people who interact with each other in
language interactions. The relationship
between these two people will create two
fundamental types of interaction functions,
namely giving and asking. In the interaction
function, which is always exchanged are goods
or services and information. Clauses that
contain giving or asking for information are
called propositions. While the clause provides
goods or services and requests for goods or
services is called a proposal.
Furthermore, this interpersonal
function is realized by the MOOD system,
which explains the real actions that exist in
language interaction. In general, the MOOD
system is divided into indicative (declarative,
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26 | The Interpersonal Meaning of Mocking Chant
interrogative) and imperative. In the
grammatical structure of English, the
indicative clause: declarative has a Subject (S)
that precedes Finite (F). In the indicative
clause: interrogative, Finite (F) will precede
the subject. In the imperative clause, there is
no subject or finite, but it has a predicate.
According to Gerot & Wignel (1995),
interpersonal meaning in a discourse is about
how participants, in this case, speakers'
attitudes and judgment. Meanwhile, according
to Halliday & Matthiessen (2014) and
Djatmika (2012), the determination of
attitudes and comments from speakers can be
seen from the use of modality and polarity. In
addition to MOOD, interpersonal meaning can
also be seen from its polarity and modality.
Polarity is about 'yes' and 'no' talk. Polarity in
English is seen in the use of finite-
with/without negator 'not,' for example, 'do'
and 'do not.' Favorable and unfavorable
assessments, according to (Djatmika, 2012)
will be seen if juxtaposed with the attitude
lexis/emotive word. In brief, modality focuses
on the speaker's statement of attitude or
commentary about the possibilities and
necessities. The discussion of modality
provides another alternative meaning
between the negative and positive angles of
polarity (Wiratno, 2018). The modality system
is divided into modulation and modalization.
(Santosa, 2003) explained that modulation
expresses the meaning of the proposal
(goods/services) and is further divided into
the obligatory meaning (necessity) and the
meaning of inclination (desires). Meanwhile,
the modality explains the meaning of
propositions (information), which is divided
into probability and usuality. Modality
contains three levels of expression: high,
medium, and low (Eggins, 2004; Gerot &
Wignel, 1995).
Table 1. Type, level, and samples of modality
Modality
Modality levels
High
Medium
Low
Probability
Must,
cannot,
sure
Probably,
will be,
should
Maybe,
perhaps
Usuality
Always
Usually,
often
Sometimes,
never, once
Obligation
Must,
have to,
Should,
will,
suppose
May, can,
might
Inclination
Need to,
Want to,
Willing, can
determine
keen,
won’t
Source: (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014)
METHOD
This research is a descriptive qualitative
type. That means the data and analysis results
can be presented in the form of words rather
than numbers (Heigham & Croker, 2009).
Besides, as mentioned in the introduction
above, this study uses the Functional Systemic
Linguistics approach proposed by Halliday &
Matthiessen (2014) to analyze data. This
approach is used to probe the interpersonal
meaning of the supporters’ mocking chant of
the EPL players by looking at the MOOD
system, polarity, and modality.
The data sources are documents in the
form of English Premier League (henceforth
EPL) supporters' chant lyrics available at
fanchant.com. The selected chants for this
study are the chants of the big six's
supporters. The authors focus on mocking
chants aimed at players. The authors analyzed
how interpersonal relationships and
interactions in the chant are sung by
supporters to mock the player.
The data in this study were obtained
through content analysis techniques (Stemler,
2015). According to Gottschalk (2013),
content analysis in spoken language functions
to filter out what is spoken by the speaker and
the message conveyed from the speech to
separate data and not data from the data
sources mentioned earlier. From the source,
data of the supporters’ chant lyric document
that was sung at the stadium when the EPL
club plays, the analysis of the content
produced data in the form of words and
clauses. Furthermore, the filtered and
collected data will proceed to the MOOD,
modality, and polarity analysis before coming
to a more simultaneous analysis stage.
The data were then analyzed using
analytical techniques (Spradley, 1980) in the
form of domain analysis, taxonomic analysis,
component analysis, and cultural theme
analysis. In this article, the authors will
describe the Spradley’s (1980) method
analysis technique in analyzing the
interpersonal meaning with the SFL approach.
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Nur Rochman Fatoni, Riyadi Santosa, Djatmika | 27
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Research result
Based on the focus of the research
mentioned earlier, then from the data domain,
the mocking chant is separated again in the
big six that have been selected. The purpose of
data classification in the domain is in line with
the function to separate data from non-data
(Santosa, 2017). There will be one mocking
chant data from each of the six clubs. The
domain containing the mock chant from each
club will later in the compounding analysis be
on the X-axis, which is to the left of the table.
The second analysis tool is taxonomic
analysis or the use of categories from the
theory/approach used, Systemic Functional
Linguistic, to reduce and organize data on
language phenomena that occur (Santosa,
2017). Data in the form of mocking chants
from 6 clubs were classified and analyzed with
the MOOD system, modality, and polarity,
which are part of the interpersonal
metafunction (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014).
The MOOD classification system that contains
clause types (declarative, interrogative, and
imperative) as well as clause functions
(propositions and proposals), the modality
and polarity system will reveal how the status
or position as well as the attitudes and
comments of the chant speaker to the speech
partners and other participants. In the
componential table, the categories in the
taxonomy are on the Y-axis at the top of the
table.
The two analytical tools above are
combined into an analysis or table called
componential. The X-axis or data domain and
the Y-axis or category taxonomy will intersect.
Santosa (2017) said that in the
componential analysis, the relationship among
categories in the domain and the previous
taxonomy are built to show the relationship
patterns, interaction patterns, and behavior
patterns from the meeting of the two axes.
Componential tables can be seen in Tables 02
and 03.
Finally, the data analysis method
(Spradley, 1980) arrives at the analysis of
cultural themes, which will be explained in
detail in the following section. According to
Santosa (2017), the purpose of analyzing
cultural themes is to interpret the pattern of
relationships between the categories
mentioned earlier into the context of the
situation and cultural context that surrounds
the mock chant.
From the data below, we found the
number of clauses from the mocking chant of
the 6 EPL clubs called 'the big six,' which is
totaling 52 clauses. The distribution of
mocking chant clauses in the analysis of
interaction functions and MOOD types can be
seen in the following table:
Table 02: Componential realization of the MOOD System on the 'Mocking' chants of players
Club
Interaction Function
MOOD Type
Minor
clause
Propositi
on
Proposal
Declarativ
e
Imperati
ve
Interrogati
ve
M. City
5
0
3
0
2
0
Liverpool
9
0
3
0
6
0
Chelsea
4
0
4
0
0
0
Tottenham
3
0
1
0
2
2
Man. United
7
0
7
0
0
5
Arsenal
14
0
14
0
0
3
Number of
Clauses
42
0
32
0
10
10
Percentage
81%
0%
62%
0%
19%
19%
Table 02, which contains the MOOD
System analysis above, has 42 major clauses in
the form of propositions out of a total of 52
clauses. In the mocking chant to this player,
there are two MOOD types, namely declarative
and interrogative type clauses. There are 32
indicative: declarative clauses and ten
indicative: interrogative clauses. In addition to
the major clauses mentioned above, we also
found ten minor clauses. Here is an example of
a minor clause at the clubs’ Chant of
Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United:
Heeeeeey hey Campbell: minor clause
Wanker...: minor clause
Torres...: minor clause
Oh.. Robbin...: minor clause
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28 | The Interpersonal Meaning of Mocking Chant
The examples above show that the
minor clause in the mocking chant on these
players takes the form of exclamations or
nicknames.
Furthermore, the number of major
clauses is more significant than minor clauses.
Then, it was analyzed by the MOOD system, its
modality, and its polarity. In the major clause,
the proposals and imperative clauses were not
found. As explained above, in addition to the
declarative form that dominates 32 clauses,
the lexicogrammatical structure of the
mocking chant clauses also shows two kinds
of interrogative clause structures. There are
four interrogative clauses, and six yes/no
interrogative clauses. Uniquely, the six yes/no
interrogative clauses were only found from
one chant, namely from the Liverpool club.
The following is an example of a MOOD
System analysis on the clause of the
Manchester United club:
1.
He
wears
a frock
S
F / P
C
Mood
Residue
Indicative: declarative; proposition
2.
he
loves
the cock
S
F / P
C
Mood
Residue
Indicative: declarative; proposition
Following is an example of an analysis of
the MOOD System in the clause of the Arsenal
club:
3.
Oh Robin
she
said
no
Vocative
S
F / P
C
Re-
Mood
-sidue
Indicative: declarative; proposition
4.
You
're
a cunt Robin
S
F
C
Mood
Residue
Indicative : declarative ; proposition
The following is an example of the
MOOD System analysis in the clause of the
Arsenal club:
5.
Why
is
it
so?
Wh / c
F
S
C
Re-
Mood
-sidue
Indicative: wh-question; proposition
6.
I
wanna
know
S
F
P
Mood
Residue
Indicative: declarative; proposition
The following is an example of the
MOOD System analysis in the clause of the
Chelsea club:
7.
He
cheats
on the right
S
F / P
C
Mood
Residue
Indicative: declarative; proposition
8.
He
is
a bag of shire...
S
F
C
Mood
Residue
Indicative : declarative ; proposition
The following is an example of the
MOOD System analysis in the clause of the
Liverpool club:
9.
Have
you
ever
seen
Lampard
[win the
Euro]
F
S
Adj.
P
C
Mood
Residue
Indicative : interogatif; proposition
10.
Lampard
Win
the Euro
S
F / P
C
Mood
Residue
Indicative : declarative ; proposition
The following is an example of the
MOOD System analysis in the clause of the
Manchester City club:
11.
Who
's
[That]
running
down
the wing
Wh / S
F
P
C
Re-
Mood
-sidue
Indicative: interrogative wh;
proposition
12.
Well
It
's
Giggs and
Imogen
continuative
S
F
C
Re-
Mood
-sidue
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Nur Rochman Fatoni, Riyadi Santosa, Djatmika | 29
Indicative : declarative ; proposition
The next is an example of the Wh-
interrogative clause in the Manchester City
club and yes/no interrogative in the Liverpool
club using the MOOD system analysis of its
interaction function and MOOD type.
13. Wh- question
Who
's
[that]
shagging
round
Cardiff
Wh / S
F
P
Adj.
Re-
Mood
-sidue
Indicative: wh- interrogative;
proposition
14. Yes/no question
Have
you
ever
seen
Lampard
[win the
Euro]
F
S
Adj.
P
C
Mood
Residue
Indicative : interogatif; proposition
The mood structure of this mocking
chant varies. In addition to the use of 14
clauses with You pronouns and 16 clauses
with he/she pronouns, there are subjects with
'wh-question,' 'it,' 'I,' mentioning names and
nicknames for example 'the wife.' There are
also three vocatives and one continuative. In
this mocking chant, there is a conjunction that
starts the clause.
15.
He
's
half a boy
S
F
C
Mood
Residue
Indicative : declarative ; proposition
16.
She
Said
No
S
F / P
C
Mood
Residue
Indicative: declarative; proposition
Halliday & Matthiessen (2014) and
Gerot & Wignel (1995) emphasized that
polarity and modality related to the use of
finite in clauses. The polarity value is marked
by the existence of finite, which means 'yes'
and 'no' (proposition) or 'do' and 'do not'
paired with attitude lexis. The meaning of
polarity becomes negative if there is a
negative polarity or lexis. There is no negative
polarity in the grammatical structure of
mocking chant. Many predicates of lexis are
dominated by negative lexis. Then the results
found 29 clauses with negative polarity values
and fewer positive polarity values, 23 clauses.
It happens when positive polarity
incorporated with attitude lexis that conveys
negative tone to other participants. This
language phenomenon can be found, for
example, in clauses 13 and 15 above. In this
clause, the positive polarity finite 'is'
combined with negative lexis such as
'shagging' and 'half a boy.'
Meanwhile, the modalities supporters’
mocking chants to the players of 'the big six'
tend to be very limited in number. In the
mocking chant of EPL players, only five
modalities were found in the form of low
usuality modalities with the word mark 'ever'
and one inclinative modality with a 'wanna'
marker. See the modality and polarity analysis
in the following table.
Table 03. Componential realization of the MOOD System on the 'Mocking' chants of players
Club
Modality
Polarity
Value
Modalization
Modulation
Probability
Usuality
Obligation
Inclination
+
―
Ti
Se
Re
Ti
Se
Re
Ti
Se
Re
Ti
Se
Re
M. City
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
3
2
Liverpool
-
-
-
-
-
5
-
-
-
-
-
-
8
1
Chelsea
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
4
Tottenham
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
-
3
2
Man. United
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
6
Arsenal
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
3
14
Ʃ
0
0
0
0
0
5
0
0
0
0
1
0
23
29
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30 | The Interpersonal Meaning of Mocking Chant
Discussion
In this interpretation stage, the
researcher analyzed the cultural themes. The
findings of the 'mocking' Chant Componential
Analysis to players in English Premier League
clubs are juxtaposed in the context and the
categories of the applicable approaches
(Santosa, 2017). In the componential table
above, the dominant clause with the
interaction function proposition and the
propositional clause are not found. In mocking
chants, 81% of proposition clauses and the
remaining 19% are minor clauses.
The dominance of the proposition
clause conveys the interpersonal meaning that
in the interaction that occurs when the
supporters sing the chant, they are exchanging
information. It is related to the function of the
proposition clause is to request or provide
information (Santosa, 2003). Regarding the
context, the information exchanged is about
the players they mock or support. The
information is related to disgrace,
achievement, prejudice, or about the gossip
circulating about the player. However, this
information is used as material for supporters
to mock these players.
Meanwhile, exclamations or nicknames
dominate minor clauses. Many screams
contain nicknames for the players they
mocking. The function of this nickname is to
intensify the mockery for the player. In
addition to the exclamation, minor clauses
take the form of calls or nicknames. These
calls serve to clarify to whom the mocking
chant is addressed.
In the propositional clauses, 62% of
indicative propositions are declarative. This
figure seems to imply information delivery to
other participants. Even though the
information exchanged means that it is a
judgment or opinion that seems to be a fact.
Contextually, supporters' opinions are
mockery or bullying to the addressed players.
As explained earlier, these opinions and jokes
are presented using disgrace or mere
supporters' opinions. It serves to bring down
the opponent's players who are mocked or
disrupt the opponents' concentration when
competing with the team they support.
The facts in the MOOD system clause
above indicate the participants' status or
position in interactions, namely to exchange
messages (Djatmika, 2012; Gerot & Wignel,
1995; Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014; Santosa,
2003). The chant is supporters’ expression in
supporting or mocking their opponent team,
especially the mocked players. The chant
involves three participants: supporters who
sing chants as speakers, speech partners that
can consist of anyone who listens to this chant
such as supporters or other spectators, and
the mocked players as participants in the
discourse. There were different statuses in the
interactions of the three participants. The
dominance of the propositional clause implies
that supporters are at the same level as their
speech partner. The percentage of declarative
clauses also means that they have an equal
position with the mocked players. In terms of
lexicography, the absence of a propositional
clause implies that none of the participants
who dominate or otherwise become inferior
because what is exchanged in the mocking
chant is only information, not providing or
asking for goods and services. The proposition
clauses that contain the information in this
chant mean the statements that make fun of
the players.
However, the interpretation is different
from the existence of an interrogative clause
in this mocking chant. In the frame of
proposition and declarative clauses, the type
of interrogative clause generally functions to
ask the speech partner for information from
the speaker. In this mockery, the interrogative
clause does not function purely asking for
information. The mocking clause does not
function as a question, which is a proposition
that asks for information. However, the
interrogative clause here functions to involve
the speech partner in the interaction when
singing the chant. From what is asked, we can
see common knowledge or information that
has been known between the speaker and the
speech partner. Another function of the
highlighted interrogatives is alluding and
exposing the disgrace of the mocked player.
From this fact, it can be interpreted that the
structure of indicative clause: interrogative:
the proposition still positions supporters
equally to the speech partners in the form of
other people who listen to this chant.
Nevertheless, the interrogative clause takes
the form of rhetorical questions that do not
require answers because the information in
question is in the clause, and it is intended to
expose the disgrace of the mocked player. It
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Nur Rochman Fatoni, Riyadi Santosa, Djatmika | 31
makes the position of participants (the
mocked players) unequal by the supporters.
In the MOOD structure, the subject is an
aspect that becomes the source of negotiation.
Generally, the dominant use of mood
structures that position the subject at the
beginning of the clause illustrates that the
chant writer still places himself as a party that
is relatively balanced or equal to the reader.
The clause used to place the player as a
subject means that the player is not the party
that must do something like the propositional
clause or imperative form that starts the
clause with a predicate.
The interpersonal meaning can also be
seen from the modality system in the
discourse constituent clauses. The actual
modality can also be used as a mark of
judgment from the speaker, which is between
the meaning of 'yes' and 'no' (Halliday &
Matthiessen, 2014; Djatmika, 2012; Santosa,
2003). The modality shows the attitudes and
the speakers' opinions about how strong the
argument of something is conveyed. From the
findings presented above, not all modalities
are used in the mocking chant clauses of
players. There are only modalities of low-level
usuality and modulation of medium-level
inclination. The lack of use of various
modalities (usuality and probability) means
that supporters affirm the mockery with
confidence and state the information in the
mockery is a truth. The 'ever' capitalization of
low usuality in the Liverpool chant that insults
Lampard (e.g., 14) is not asking about his
habits because when the chant was sung,
everyone knew that Lampard had never won a
European championship title. Besides, the
modulation of inclination of 'wanna' level does
not mean a desire to get information or even
goods and services, but it is indeed to allude
the mocked players.
According to Djatmika (2012), polarity
and lexis can be used to see the speakers'
views based on the attitudes lexis and the
polarity used in a clause. In general, positive
polarity shows a positive connotation
(Volkova, 2012). Polarity has a formula law
that polarity (-) meets lexis attitude (-) will be
positive; polarity (+) meets lexis attitude (-)
will be negative, polarity (+) meets lexis
attitude (+) will be positive, whereas polarity
(-) meets lexis attitude (+) will be negative. In
the above findings, there are not many
negative polarities found, such as 'do not' or
'not,' but 29 negative polarities dominate the
polarity. It is because the supporters use many
lexemes that have negative connotations to
the mocked players.
Analyzing the meaning of language is
indeed very interesting. Because the meaning
of language cannot be separated from the
social context and interactions that carry the
language (Rahardjo, 2010), research on the
interpersonal meaning between participants
in social interaction like this is essential to add
discourse analysis studies (applied discourse
analysis) and applied linguistics ). In the use of
a systemic functional linguistic approach as a
linguistic analysis approach, language
meaning research tends to massively uncover
the meaning of language for written discourse,
for example in Sukriyah et al. (2018) and
language in mass media (Yuliana & Imperiani,
2017), while in oral discourse much research
has focused on the oral discourse on
conversation (Santosa et al., 2011a) or other
types of speeches or talk shows as in
Mafruchatunnisa & Agustin (2016). This study
also offers another insight into the analysis of
oral discourse in football and in the genre of
contemporary songs (chants), which are still
rarely discussed. Besides, this research not
only presents the description of linguistic
categories in a language but also followed by
juxtaposing with the context to see the
interpersonal meaning of the language of
interaction.
CONCLUSION
The supporters' chants in the EPL,
especially at the Big Six clubs, display several
types of the meaning of discourse, one of
which is mocking chants. It certainly shows
that the interaction between participants in
the mocking chant discourse, namely
supporters who sing chants, the mocked
players, and listeners. Through the MOOD
system, modality, and polarity with the SFL
approach, social relations can be explored in
terms of the interpersonal meaning between
participants in the supporters' mocking
chants. The classification of MOOD system that
contains clause types (declarative,
interrogative, and imperative) as well as
clause functions (propositions and proposals),
the modality, and polarity system reveals how
the status as well as the attitudes and
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32 | The Interpersonal Meaning of Mocking Chant
comments of the chanters to the speech
partners and other participants.
The findings of the analysis and
discussion on MOOD type, interaction
function, mood structure, modality, and
polarity lead to the study's conclusion. From
the lexicogrammar view, each of the mocking
chant clauses seen from the MOOD system
analysis, the supporters who sing the chant
place themselves in an equal and balanced
position with the speech partner or listener.
There is a special note in this mocking chant
MOOD where supporters position the mocked
players at different angles, even though they
are still equal. From the modality analysis,
supporters have confidence in expressing
mock to players with mock, which is a
disgrace from the mocked players in the chant.
Polarity breaks down the views between
participants. As evidenced by the negative
polarity values derived from the negative
attitude lexis found in the mocking chant,
supporters who act as speakers have a
negative view of the mocked players. The
supporters positioned themselves relatively
equal to the participants from the listener's
side because what was exchanged was
information, either something that had
happened or a player's disgrace.
Eventually, the authors recommend that
there are many aspects of chant discourse to
be investigated besides the mocking chant, of
course, with the SFL approach. The
lexicogrammatical element of the text
provides the object of research into
grammatical and lexical structures. In this
case, there is lexis that has its character,
generally rough and excessive. It would be
interesting for other researchers to explore
other future research approaches to make it
more diverse.
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