Violation of Cooperative Principles in Conversation Involving Gender Role and The Word “terserah”

This research is designed to investigate how the expression ‘terserah’ (English, whatever) is potentially misinterpreted in conversation between men and women. It focuses on its divergent interpretations and the factors that contribute to misunderstanding. This research applies a descriptive qualitative method, analyzing dialogues from selected conversational scenes. Using Griece’s Cooperative Principles Theory, the phenomena are depicted through discourse analysis. Additionally, this research highlights how women’s violations of cooperative principles convey implicit intentions, which are influenced by gendered language behaviors. The result indicates that the expression terserah that is frequently used by women, often violates the maxims of cooperation as a way to conceal their true intentions. Furthermore, cultural stereotypes influence language choices that contributes to communication breakdowns. One key finding describes that this language strategy – violating cooperative principles – functions as a test of whether men can recognize underlying meanings in female speech.