TABOO WORDS IN STEPHEN KING’S NOVEL THE SHINING

Abstract

Abstract This research investigates the use of taboo words by characters in Stephen King's novel "The Shining" through a sociolinguistic approach. The novel follows Jack Torrance, his wife Wendy, and their son Danny as they stay at the Overlook Hotel, where Jack gradually loses his sanity due to the hotel's influence, leading to violent intentions against his family. The study aims to identify the types and functions of taboo words used by the characters. A descriptive qualitative method was employed to describe the existing conditions in the novel, supported by quantitative analysis to present data percentages. The data comprised utterances from the characters, with the primary source being the PDF file of "The Shining." The researcher served as the primary instrument, with a data sheet as the secondary instrument. The findings reveal four types of taboo words in the novel: epithets, obscenities, profanity, and vulgarity. Among the 300 instances of taboo words, profanity is the most frequent, reflecting its common usage by the characters. Vulgarity occurs the least, as characters prefer using obscenity and epithets for insults. Additionally, four functions of taboo words were identified: abusive, auxiliary, expletive, and humorous. The auxiliary function is the most prevalent, indicating that characters often use taboo words as part of their regular speech rather than targeting someone. The humorous function appears the least, consistent with the novel's psychological horror and supernatural themes, which do not lend themselves to comedic elements. Keywords: sociolinguistic, taboo words, The Shining novel, types and function of taboo words