An Expressive Speech Act Analysis of Main Characters in The Movie Deadpool 3: Deadpool & Wolverine

Abstract

This study focused on the phenomenon of expressive speech acts as a reflection of character emotions in the movie Deadpool 3: Deadpool & Wolverine. The study aimed to identify and analyze the types of expressive speech acts used by the main characters, Deadpool and Wolverine. This research used George Yule’s (1996) theory, which classifies expressive speech acts into six categories: pleasure, pain, likes, dislikes, joy, and sorrow. The research applied a descriptive qualitative design. The data were taken from the characters’ utterances in the film and were analyzed based on the context and psychological meaning within each expression. The findings showed that a total of 80 expressive speech acts were found, with 66 uttered by Deadpool and 14 by Wolverine. These findings indicated that expressive speech acts in Deadpool 3 were not only used to present humor and sarcasm, but also to reflect emotional depth and internal conflict in the characters. Future studies are suggested to investigate expressive speech acts in different genres or compare them across multiple superhero films to explore emotional representation in broader contexts. Keywords: pragmatics, speech acts, expressive speech acts, Deadpool 3 movi