Outline 1. Pragmatics: meaning and contexts 2. Speech act 3.
Presupposition 4. Deitics 5. Discourse and Analysis (1) New vs. old
information (2) Co-operative principle (3) Relevance theory 6.
Summary
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Pragmatics Linguistic contexts or settings refer to the
occasions or timing when a dialogue or a conversation occurs.
settings involved with matters about who, what, when, where, and
how Physical contexts A comfortable dialogue might be meaningful
for the speakers and listeners, because they share the same
backgrounds or knowledge. Epistemic contexts what language or
accent is spoken and what tone or voice is intended to be conveyed
or expressed cultural or historical oriented Linguistic contexts
Social contexts formal setting: informal settings: casual or
informal dictions, e.g. vulgar words, slangs, local accents,
etc.
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Pragmatics: Physical contexts A: May I help you? B: Yes, I
would like to see the bag over there. Setting: Department store The
clerk (A) speaks in a polite way, and she is ready to offer any
help you need. Setting: Department store The clerk (A) speaks in a
polite way, and she is ready to offer any help you need.
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Pragmatics: Epistemic contexts A Hey, remember that? Ive got
it. B: Hey, you did, didnt you? There is no specific information
revealed.
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Speech Acts (1)- locution A locution happens when a statement
is spoken without any specific reference to ones intention or
preoccupied ideas. a. I have two books. b. There is a cow under the
tree. c. He seems to be smart. A sentence containing a constative
verb (e.g. appear, seem, look, taste, smell, etc.) is a locutionary
sentence.
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Speech Acts (2-1)- Direct illocution The will of the speaker is
strongly conveyed in the verbs. The verbs used in illocutionary
sentences are performative verbs
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Speech Acts (2-2)- Indirect illocution a. Dont do it. b. Ill be
there. c. Stop it. what illocution refers to relies very much on
the selection of verbs.
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Speech Acts (2-3)- Indirect illocution Here comes John. (1) Now
that John has come, why dont you yield? (2) I warn you to yield,
for my boss John has come. (3) I warn you that John has come.
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Speech Acts (3)- Recognition of illocutionary force a. Can you
help open the door, John? ask b. John, go and open the door. order
c. Open the door, John, or I wont give you candy. threaten d. John,
would you help open the door? request e. John, open the door! order
f. I bet that John wont open the door for us. bet g. John, I advise
you to open the door. advise
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Speech Acts (4)- Felicity condition Felicity condition: The
action or performance of the verb should be fulfilled without
failure. (a) the speaker is able to have what he puts in the
illocution carried out (b) the listener cares what is put in the
illocution.
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Presupposition (1) Deals with words in which some ideas have
been preoccupied. a. John has quit smoking. John smokes or John has
been smoking b. Johns brother does not live with that woman any
more. John has a brother or Johns brother lived with a woman. c.
John would like to have another cup of coffee. The speaker has in
mind that John had at least one cup of coffee.
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Presupposition (2) a. Would you give him another chance? b. Do
you need more coffee? c. John married once again.
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Presupposition (3):implication John still keeps the Wall in his
mind even though he has moved to West Germany for two years.
Background Knowledge: After 1945, there was a great wall built for
the separation of West Germany from East Germany.
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Presupposition (4): entailment The meaning of B can be implied
or ensured from A. 1a. Marys daughter is studying at that school.
1b. Mary has a daughter. 1c. Mary is a mother. From (a), it can be
entailed that (b) and (c) are true.
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Deitics (1): It refers to pronouns like you, he, they, then,
that, this, etc. a. John told Bill that he 1 would like to ask his
2 father to meet his 3 sister. which refers to John or to Bill is
far from clear. b. He is the greatest poet for the time being. in
the 19 th or 21 st century?
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Discourse Analysis (1): New vs. old information New
information: stress & is headed with an indefinite article (a
or an) a. He wanted to buy a book for her. The book should be
concerned with English learning or teaching. b. When he took a walk
to the park, he saw a squirrel. The squirrel was so cute that he
stopped for a while, looking at it.
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Discourse Analysis(2-1): Co-operative principle In some
contexts, a response to a dialogue or question would raise some
misunderstanding because of no knowledge of cooperative principle
(Grice) Male: My love to you never changes, until the end of the
earth. Female: (angrily) How come it would be so? Weve just dated
for less than one year, and your love wont change, always staying
at that level? Male: (embarrassing) British philosopher H. P. Grice
created a word implicature to account for such a mismatch.
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Discourse Analysis(2-2): Co-operative principles Participants
must provide enough information, no more and no less, for proper
communication The maxim of quantity Participants provide genuine
information, no false or information without proof. The maxim of
quality All the talks should be related to the topic. The maxim of
relation The maxim of manner Participants should make his words
clear: to be clear, to be brief, to be orderly, to avoid
ambiguity.
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Discourse Analysis(2-3): Co-operative principle Polonius: What
do you read, my lord? Hamlet: Words, words, words. Polonius: What
is the matter, my lord? Hamlet: Between who? Polonius: I mean, the
matter that you read, my lord. Hamlet: Slanders, sir. For the
satirical rogue says here that old men have grey beards, that their
faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber and plum- tree
gum, and that they have a plentiful lack of wit, together with most
weak hams: all which, sir, though I most powerfully and potently
believe, yet I hold not honesty to have it thus set down; for
yourself, sir, should grow old as I am, if like a crab you could go
backward.
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Discourse Analysis(2-5): Co-operative principle A Did you meet
John yesterday? B Sure. He wanted me to say Hello to you. A What
did he say? B He wanted to show his best wishes to you. each
utterance is in coherence in quantity
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Discourse Analysis(3): Relevance Theory (a) In order to make a
conversation successful, the participant would tell the truth,
therefore, the maxim of quality is unnecessary. Im sick he is not
yet ill, but he just feels uncomfortable. (b) The relevance theory
is in fact concerned with quantity, because only when it is
relevant, the information exchanged is enough in quantity. (c)
Relevance theory is closely related to relation in terms of topic.
(d) It is redundant to require participants to be clear and brief
in manner, because all the participants would make it the goal to
communicate well.
Slide 23
Summary 1. pragmatics: physical context, epistemic context,
linguistic context, and social context. 2. speech acts: illocution
forces (e.g. ask, promise, order, warn, request.) 3.
presupposition: e.g. again or another apparently implies something
has been there 4. deitics: deitics is used only when the speaker
and the listener share some common backgrounds 5. discourse
analysis: (a) new vs. old information (b) cooperative principle
(Grice) (c) relevance theory