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PRAGMATICSSee also “African American English”

“Ethnicity” “Indian- American Humor”

“Jewish Humor”and “Spanish-American Contrasts”

by Don L. F. Nilsen

and Alleen Pace Nilsen

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It was on this date that Donati’s comet was visible over large parts of Southern England.

The comet is barely visible in the picture.

The people in the picture are not looking at the comet. They are gathering shells, talking to each other, or doing other unrelated things.

Mey says that the comet is like “pragmatics,” which happens mostly beneath people’s levels of awareness.

(Mey 329-330)

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Pragmatics is the study of language in its social context. It assumes that words have different meanings in different contexts.

For example, what is the meaning of “club,” “spade,” “diamond,” and “heart”?

Or what is the meaning of “King,” “Queen,” “Jack,” “Ace,” or “ten”?

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You might say that all of these words have different meanings in the social context of “playing cards,” but that’s not the whole story.

In Pinochle there are expressions like “100 Aces,” “80 Kings,” “60 Queens,” “40 Jacks,” and “Jack of Diamonds and Queen of Spades” that have special significance.

And in Pinochle there is no “two,” “three,” “four,” “five,” “six,” “seven,” “eight,” or “nine.”

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Consider also the word “bridge.” If you’re playing cards, this word has a different meaning than if you’re a dentist or a road builder. In cards, the “bridge” is the partner of the person who wins the bid. The bid winner plays both his hand and the hand of the “bridge.”

And in “Bridge,” there are special meanings of “to bid,” “to trump,” “to pass,” and “to finesse.”

And “seven” means “seven”; and there is no “eleven,” but in Dice, “seven” and “eleven” are “craps,” which means you win on the first throw but lose on all subsequent throws with these numbers.

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And in Poker, things get really wild. The “Joker” is always wild; but One-Eyed Jacks might be wild or not.

And there is a “raw deal,” and a “big deal,” and the “New Deal,” in politics.

And there are “straights,” “flushes,” and “full houses;” and there is “Stud Poker,” “Draw Poker,” “Texas Hold ‘Em,” and “Strip Poker.” And a person can “ante up,” into the “kitty,” be “in” or “out,” and can “hold,” “fold” or “raise.”

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And in “21 Poker,” an Ace can count as either “one” or “eleven,” and all face cards count as “ten.”

And in “Hearts,” the hearts count one point, and the Queen of Spades counts 27 points. And you want to get as few points as possible. Unless you think you can get all of the points.

Only for Alice in Wonderland could it be more complicated.

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DIALECTS OF FORMALITY

Frozen: Prissy Text Book

Formal: Most Text Books

Consultative: Conversations among Strangers or Large Groups

Casual: Conversations among Close Friends

Intimate: Conversations among Family Members or Lovers

Martin Joos The Five Clocks:

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DISAMBIGUATION

Explain how context could help to disambiguate the following:

He waited by the bank.

Is he really that kind?

The proprietor of the fish store was the sole owner.

The long drill was boring.

When he got the clear title to the land, it was a good deed.

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It takes a good ruler to make a straight line.

He saw that gasoline can explode.

You should see her shop.

Every man loves a woman.

Bill wants to marry a Norwegian woman.

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OBSCENITIES

Obscenities are based on taboos, and taboos are culturally determined and change through time.

The religious right is offended by words relating to certain body parts and functions, or other vulgarities, obscenities, profanities, swearing, etc.

The liberal left is offended by words degrading to particular genders, ethnicities, disabilities, etc.

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• Something obscene in one culture is not obscene in a different culture. Consider the following:

• derriere• fag or faggot• Grand Tetons Mountain Range• solicitor• to knock someone up

• NOTE: Refined foreign students discussing American slang often don’t realize the power of American obscenities

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The name Voldemort is taboo and is not to be uttered by anyone at Hogwarts Academy.

The words corset, shirt, leg, and woman used to be taboo words in English.

In Shaw’s Pygmalion, Professor Higgins asked, “Are you walking across the Park, Miss Doolittle?” and Eliza Doolittle responded, “Walk! Not bloody likely. I am going in a taxi.”

This use of bloody startled London when the play was first produced in 1910.

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 443)

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FOUR-LETTER WORDS

English has many Anglo-Saxon or four letter words; however for each of these it is possible to find a Latinate paraphrase that is more polite. Think without speaking of the four-letter words associated with each of the following:

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Defecate

Eliminate

Expectorate

Feces

Fornicate

Intercourse

Mammary gland

Penis

Vagina(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 244)

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ORIENTATIONCharles Fillmore says that a three-dimensional box has six sides.

But if you put it on the floor, it has four sides and a top and a bottom.

And if you place it against a wall, it has two sides a top a bottom and a front and a back.

And if you put drawers in it, it has a right side, a left side, a top, a bottom, a front and a back.

And “right” and “left” are your right and left as you face it, not the dresser’s right and left which is “facing” you.

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PIDGINS AND CREOLESPidgins and creoles tend to be quite metaphorical and poetic. Here are some examples:

Fella belong Mrs. Queen = Prince Philip, Husband of Queen Elizabeth II

muckamuck = to eat, drink, or pucker the mouth

him brother belong me = friend

lamp belong Jesus = sun

gubmint catchum-fella = policeman

grass belong face = whiskers

him belly allatime burn = thirsty man

him cow pig have kittens = Has the Master’s sow given birth to a litter yet?(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 434-436)

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Haitian Creole is a creole based on French.

Jamaican Creole is a creole based on English.

Gullah is an English-based creole spoken by descendants of African slaves off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina.

Louisiana Creole is spoken in Louisiana.

Tok Pisin as a Melanesian Pidgin English spoken in Papua, New Guinea.

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 437)

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PRECONDITIONS FOR SPEECH ACTS

Explain how linguistic and social context help in understanding the following sentences:

You make a better door than a window.

It’s getting late.

The restaurants are open until midnight.

If you’d diet, this wouldn’t hurt so badly.

I thought I saw a fan in the closet.

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Mr. Smith dresses neatly, is well-groomed, and is always on time to class.

Most of the food is gone.

John or Mary made a mistake.

Did you make a doctor’s appointment?

Do you have the play tickets?

Does your grandmother have a live-in boyfriend?

How did you like the string quartet?

What are Boston’s chances of winning the World Series?

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Do you own a cat?

LAURA: Did you mow the grass and wash the car like I told you to? JACK: I mowed the grass.

LAURA: Do you want dessert? JACK: Is the Pope Catholic?

When did you stop paying alimony to your ex-wife?

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 219)

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SLANG, JARGON AND ARGOT

Slang, Jargon and Argot are all gate-keeping languages used as much to identify members of a particular group as to communicate.

Slang is age related—mainly high school and college students.

Jargon is profession related—every profession has its own jargon.

Argot is underworld related—it’s designed to communicate to the group and not to the authorities.

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 439-442)

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Carl Sandburg said, “Slang is language which takes off its coat, spits on its hands—and goes to work.

SLANG EXAMPLES: spaced out, right on, to barf, to dis someone, rave (wild party), ecstasy (drug), crib (home), posse (friends)

JARGON EXAMPLES: phoneme, morpheme, case, lexicojn, phrase structure rule

ARGOT EXAMPLES: “He was hoopty around dimday when some mud duck with a tray-eight tried to take him out of the box.” TRANSLATION: “He was in his car about dusk when a woman armed with a .38 caliber gun tried to kill him.

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 439-441)

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THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING

Penelope Eckert said, “the use of variation does not simply reflect, but constructs, social categories and social meaning.”

(Eckert 4)

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SOCIAL-VARIABILITYIN LINGUISTIC RULES

Minimal Pairs

Word Lists

Reading Style

Careful Speech

Casual Speech(William Labov’s Categories)

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WEBSTER’S THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY

This dictionary, published in 1961, was the first major dictionary that obliterated the “older distinction between standard, substandard, colloquial, vulgar, and slang.”

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 418)

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Explain.

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NORTHERN, MIDLAND & SOUTHERN EXPANSION WESTWARD (Shuy 294)

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PHONOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES

greasy [grizi]

with [wIð]

spoon (noon) [spjun]

creek [krIk]

roof [rUf]

However, wash with an intrusive [r] is not so much regional as rural.

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PHONOLOGICAL DISTINCTIONS THAT ARE BECOMING LOST

cot-caught

witch-which

mourning – morning

However, pin-pen is remaining stable.

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BRITISH-AMERICAN PRONUNCIATION DIFFERENCES

calf, bath, pass, aunt

learn, fork, core, brother

carry, very

either, neither, potato, tomato

clerk, schedule

captain, bottle (glottals [in Cockney])

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 454)

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BRITISH-AMERICANSTRESS DIFFERENCES

aluminum applicable

cigarette dictionary

formidable kilometer

laboratory necessary

missionary secretary

stationery territory

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 413)

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CALIFORNIA VALLEY-GIRLAND SURFER-DUDE SPEECH

Rising Inflections (like Australian English)

Animated Body Language (like sticking a finger down the throat)

Specialized Vocabulary (like “dude”, esp. relating to shopping malls, the beach, and personality types)

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CANADIAN PHONOLOGY

out and about the house

schedule

Canadian -eh

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NEW ENGLAND PHONOLOGY

lot (New England)

park the car; Cuba-r-is

merry – marry – Mary

calf (pass, path, dance)

Brooklyn: dis, dat, dese, dose, dem

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SOUTHERN PHONOLOGYMrs. [mIz]hog (frog, dog, Deputy Dog)south => soufduring => doin’, and going => gon,help => heptest => tesring => rang, boy => boah, car => cahPOlice nasal twang (Texas and Oklahoma)southern drawl

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 423)

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GRAMMAR DIFFERENCESDouble Modals: might could

Negative Modals: hadn’t ought

Strange Past Participles: larnt

Strange Possessive Pronouns: yourn, hisn, hern, ourn, theirn

Strange Prepositions: a quarter before eight

Strange Conjunctions: unless => without, lessen, thouten

Strange Adverbs: anywheres, nowheres (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 416-417)

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VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES

What do you fry your eggs in?

creeper, fryer, frying pan, fry pan, skillet, or spider

What do you call a soft drink?

pop, soda, soda pop, or tonic?

What do you call a long sandwich containing salami etc.?

hero, submarine, hoagy, grinder or poorboy

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What do you drink water out of?drinking fountain, cooler, bubbler or geyser

How do you get something from one place to another?

take, carry, or tote

What do you carry things in?a bag, a sack, or a poke

How do you speculate?reckon, guess, figgure, figger, suspect, imagine

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 414)

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BRITISH-AMERICAN VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES

bird, bobby, bonnet, boot, braces, clothes peg, first floor, flat, lift, lorry, nickers, peruque, petrol, pram, pub, public school, queue, spanner, tele, torch, trousers, tube, westcoat

girl, cop, hood (of a car), trunk (of a car), suspenders, clothes pin, second floor, apartment, elevator, truck, underwear, wig, gasoline, baby buggy, bar, private school, line, monkey wrench, television, flashlight, pants, subway, vest

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 414, 456)

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SOUTHERN VOCABULARY

chitlins and grits

to buy a pig in a poke

“Carry me Back to Old Virginie”

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BRITISH-AMERICANSPELLING DIFFERENCES

Cheque

centre, theatre

colour, honour

defence, offence

labelled, travelled

Pyjamas

tyre

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BRITISH EXPRESSIONS TO WATCH OUT FOR

fag or faggot (wood for the fireplace, or cigarette)

soliciter (lawyer)

to knock someone up (wake them up in the morning)

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COCKNEY RHYMING SLANG

apples and pears (stairs)

Aristotle (bottle)

pig’s ear (beer)

Mother Hubbard (cupboard)

plates and dishes (Mrs.)

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ETHNIC HUMORTO INVESTIGATE STEREOTYPES

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HEAVEN AND HELL

In Heaven, all the cooks are French; all the mechanics are German; all the musicians are Italian.

In Hell, all the cooks are English; all the mechanics are French; all the soldiers are Italian.

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BRITISH DIALECT ETHNICITY

A guy wakes up, finds himself in a British hospital, and says, “Did I come here to die?”

The Cokney nurse responds, “No, I think it was yesterdie.”

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BRONX DIALECT ETHNICITY

In a New York City Park one guy turns to another guy and says, “Look at de boids.”

The other guy says, “Those aren’t ‘boids.’ They’re ‘birds.’”

The first guy says, “Cheez, dat’s funny, dey choip like boids.”

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LIGHTBULB JOKESTO INVESTIGATE STEREOTYPES

How many New Yorkers?Three: One to do it and two to criticize.

How many grad students?Three: Two, plus a professor to take the credit

How many Jewish mothers?None: I’ll just sit in the dark.

(Nilsen & Nilsen 176)

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!SOUTHERN ETHNICITY

“A radio comedian once remarked that ‘the Mason-Dixon line is the dividing line between you-all and youse-guys.”

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 412)

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!!COMEDY TEAMS ARE ETHNICALLY OR GENDER DETERMINED

• 43 out of the 500 entries in Ronald L. Smith’s Who’s Who in Comedy are about comedy teams. There are many reasons for this high number:

• Teams are often more recognized and more memorable than are the individuals who make up the teams.

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!!!Good “chemistry” enhances creativity and enjoyment.

Through interacting with each other, team members can revitalize old gags.

Differing appearances, personalities and voices provide for contrast and for the efficient creation of stock characters.

With teams, audiences can enjoy both surprise and anticipation because while teams do new material they usually have a style that carries over from one performance to another.

(Nilsen & Nilsen 82)

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PRAGMATICS WEB SITE

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PRAGMATICS (JOHN BENJAMINS):

http://www.benjamins.com/online/bop/topbar.html

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References:

Alvarez, Lizette Alvarez. “It’s the Talk of Nueva York: The Hybrid called Spanglish” (Clark, 483-488).

Apte, Mahadev L. Humor and Laughter: An Anthropological Approach. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1985.

Boskin, Joseph. Rebellious Laughter: People’s Humor in American Culture. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press,1997.

Brown, Penelope, and Stephen C. Levinson. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1987.

Clark, Virginia, Paul Eschholz, and Alfred Rosa. Language: Readings in Language and Culture, 6th Edition. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1998.

Davies, Christie. Jokes and Their Relation to Society. New York, NY: Mouton, 1998.

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Dolitsky, Marlene. “Humor and the Unsaid.” Journal of Pragmatics 7 (1983): 39-48.

Dundes, Alan. Cracking Jokes: Studies of Sick Humor Cycles and Stereotypes. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1987.

Dundes, Alan, and Carl R. Pagter. Never Try to Teach a Pig to Sing: Still More Urban Folklore from the Paperwork Empire. Detroit, MI: Wayne State Univ Press, 1996.

Dundes, Alan, and Carl R. Pagter. Sometimes the Dragon Wins: Yet More Urban Folklore from the Paperwork Empire. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse Univ Press, 1996.

Dundes, Alan, and Carl R. Pagter. When You’re Up to Your Ass in Alligators…: More Urban Folklore from the Paperwork Empire. Detroit, MI: Wayne State Univ Press, 1987.

Dundes, Alan, and Carl R. Pagter. Work Hard and You Shall be Rewarded: Urban Folklore from the Paperwork Empire. Bloomington, IN: Indiana Univ Press, 1975.

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Eckert, Penelope. Constructing Meaning in Sociolinguistic Variation. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Associatin in New Orleans, 2002.

Eschholz, Paul, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. Language Awareness: Readings for College Writers. New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, and Nina Hyams. “Language and Society.” An Introduction to Language, 8th Edition. Boston, MA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007; 9th Edition, 2011, 430-487.

Goffman, Erving. Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Bahavior. Garolen City, NY: Anchor/Doubleday, 1967.

Kotthoff, Helga. “Pragmatics of Performance and the Analysis of Conversational Humor.” HUMOR 19.3 (2006): 271-304.

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Labov, William. Social Stratification of English in New York City. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1966.

Mey, Jacob. Pragmatics: An Introduction, 2nd Edition. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001.

Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Nilsen. Encyclopedia of 20th Century American Humor. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2000.

Nilsen, Don L. F. Humor in Irish Literature. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1996.

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Raskin, Victor: “Introduction: The Pragmatics of Humor.” Journal of Pragmatics 35 (2003): 1287-1294.

Raskin, Victor. The Primer of Humor Research. New York, NY: Mouton de Gruyter, 2008

Shuy, Roger. “Dialects: How They Differ” (Clark, 292-312).

Yamaguchi, Haruhiko. “How to Pull Strings with Words: Deceptive Violations in the Garden-Path Joke.” Journal of Pragmatics 12 (1988): 323-337.

Yus, Francisco. “Humor and the Search for Relevance.” Journal of Pragmatics 35 (2003): 1295-1331.