Strategy for Compliance and Violation of Pangkalan Kerinci Community Speech Acts in Buying and Selling Transactions

Abstract

RACT
The purpose of this study is to analyze and explain the strategies of compliance and violation of speech acts that occur in interactions between traders and buyers. This study was conducted in three main locations, namely Pasar Baru, Pasar BTN Lama, and Pasar Seminai in Pangkalan Kerinci in April 2026. The population in this study included all transactional speech activities in the market area, with a sample of 40 spoken speech datum selected using a purposive sampling technique. Data collection was carried out using listening, recording, and note-taking techniques to document the dialogue in its entirety without disturbing the naturalness of interactions in the field. The research instrument used was the researcher himself as the main instrument (human instrument), assisted by a voice recorder, field notes, and lingual data transcription guidelines. The data analysis tool used a pragmatic equivalent method by aligning the concept of Leech's Principles of Politeness and Brown and Levinson's Speech Strategy to see the relationship between the content of moral values and the way speech is delivered in the field. The results of the study indicate two main interaction patterns: a mutually supportive pattern (harmonious interaction) and a conflicting pattern (economic conflict of interest). In the supportive pattern, speakers adhere to politeness maxims aligned with positive or negative small talk strategies to maintain comfort and test customer loyalty. Conversely, in the conflicting pattern, speakers deliberately violate politeness maxims through strategies of being blunt (on record), vague (off record), or even silent strategies due to the motivation of economic gain or deadlocked price bargaining. This study concludes that the combination of politeness rules and speaking strategies in traditional markets functions as a dynamic social balancing tool to align economic transaction targets without damaging the kinship ties of market residents.