Jurnal Sosial Humaniora dan Pendidikan (JUSHPEN)
Vol. 4 No. 3 (2025): Desember : Jurnal Sosial Humaniora dan Pendidikan

Derivation and Inflection in Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl: A Morphological Approach

Aswarini Sentana (Universitas Gunadarma)
Ratna Wulandari (Universitas Gunadarma)
Aulia Haris Firstiyanti (Universitas Gunadarma)



Article Info

Publish Date
31 Dec 2025

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the morphological processes found in the lyrics of Taylor Swift's album, The Life of a Showgirl, specifically focusing on the use of derivational and inflectional affixes. The study utilizes the morphological theory proposed by William O’Grady to identify and categorize the affixes present in the selected songs. The research method employed in this study is the descriptive qualitative method, which allows for a detailed examination of the linguistic features within their natural context. The data were collected by identifying words containing affixes, with a strict protocol that ensured no repetition; thus, each data point represents a unique instance of a specific affix type, regardless of how many times the word is repeated in the song. The results of the analysis reveal a total of 239 affixes found in the album. Specifically, the data consists of 131 derivational affixes and 108 inflectional affixes. The findings indicate that derivational affixes are the dominant category used by the songwriter. This prevalence suggests that in The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift prioritizes the process of word formation to alter meanings and grammatical categories, thereby enhancing the descriptive depth and rhyme scheme of the lyrics, while inflectional affixes are utilized to maintain grammatical cohesion and tense consistency.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

JUSHPEN

Publisher

Subject

Education Social Sciences

Description

Jurnal Sosial Humaniora dan Pendidikan adalah jurnal yang ditujukan untuk publikasi artikel ilmiah yang diterbitkan oleh Asosiasi Dosen Muda Indonesia dan di payungi Oleh Yayasan Dosen Muda Indonesia. Jurnal ini adalah jurnal studi ilmu-ilmu Sosial humaniora dan pendidikan yang bersifat peer-review ...