LAKUAN BAHASA KOMPLEN: MANIFESTASI DAN ISTILAH-ISTILAHNYA DALAM KOMUNITI BAHASA MELAYU

Interactions in any speech communities involve the use of speech acts of different categories and functions. Studies on speech acts whether specific to one culture or cross-culturally, were able to reveal the cultural norms of such speech-behavior. This paper discusses various ways Malays expressed their dissatisfaction on things or individual people, and the references they gave on such expressions. The discussion is based on a study on complaints in Malay language by a Malay speech community in Peninsular Malaysia. Among the findings are the types of complaints, and the linguistic as well as the sosiolinguistic features of the speech act in the Malay society.