A PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF MAXIM FLOUTING AND RHETORICAL DEVICES TO CREATE HUMOR IN MODERN FAMILY SEASON 1

This study was conducted to observe language phenomena that create humor in Modern Family Season 1. Two objectives of this study are: (1) to identify types of maxim flouting and (2) rhetorical devices to create humor in Modern Family Season 1. \nThis study applied a descriptive qualitative method since it emphasized on describing language phenomena in humor. The data were in the form of utterances. The data source were the script of Modern Family Season 1 Episodes 1-3 (Pilot, Changes, and Bicycle Thief). The main instrument of the study was the researcher herself. After being collected, the data were categorized and analyzed based on the types of maxim flouting and rhetorical devices. To enhance trustworthiness of the data in this study, triangulations were applied. \nThis study reveals two findings. In term of types of maxim flouting, there are four types of maxim which are flouted for humorous purposes. They are flouting of quality maxim which occurs 42 times, flouting of manner maxim which occurs 17 times, flouting of quantity maxim which occurs 12 times, and flouting of relation maxim which occurs 7 times. There are 12 types of rhetorical devices employed by the characters, i.e. exaggeration, sarcasm, allusion, irony, ridicule, satire, definition, bombast, insult, pun/wordplay, facetiousness, and repartee. Flouting of quality maxim co-occurs with exaggeration, sarcasm, allusion, irony, ridicule, definition and satire. Flouting of manner maxim co-occurs with definition, bombast, insult, and pun/wordplay. Flouting of quantity maxim can co-occur with exaggeration and bombast. Meanwhile, flouting of relation maxim can co-occur with facetiousness and repartee. From the data, language phenomena that create humor are mainly shown in the flouting of quality maxim by using exaggeration. Thus, the result of the study shows that the characters of Modern Family Season 1 mostly flout quality maxim by using exaggeration to create humor.