The Analysis of Implicature in the song “Hati-Hati di Jalan” by Tulus from a Digital Discourse Perspective

Abstract

This study analyzes conversational implicature in the song “Hati-Hati di Jalan” by Tulus from a digital discourse perspective. The study applies Grice’s (1975) theory of conversational implicature to examine how implied meanings are conveyed through song lyrics and interpreted beyond their literal expressions in digital communication contexts. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, the data were collected from selected lyric excerpts obtained from the official music video and analyzed based on the flouting of conversational maxims. The findings reveal nine instances of conversational implicature in the song. The maxim of manner appears most frequently (44.5%), followed by the maxim of quantity (33.3%), while the maxims of quality and relation each account for 11.1%. The analysis also shows that particularized implicature is more dominant than generalized implicature because the interpretation of meaning depends heavily on contextual and emotional understanding. The findings indicate that the lyrics convey indirect meanings related to hope, disappointment, longing, separation, and acceptance. From a digital discourse perspective, the circulation of song lyrics through digital platforms enables audiences to continuously interpret and reconstruct meaning according to their personal experiences and social contexts. Therefore, this study concludes that conversational implicature functions not only as a linguistic mechanism for conveying indirect meanings but also as a strategy of meaning construction in contemporary digital communication environments.