Chapter 7 Pragmatics and discourse analysis

Chapter 7 Pragmatics and discourse analysis

Outline1. Pragmatics: meaning and contexts2. Speech act3. Presupposition4. Deitics5. Discourse and Analysis (1) New vs. old information (2) Co-operative principle (3) Relevance theory6. Summary

PragmaticsLinguistic contexts or settings refer to the occasions or timing when a dialogue or a conversation occurs.

Pragmatics: Physical contextsA: 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.

Pragmatics: Epistemic contextsAHey, remember that? Ive got it. B: Hey, you did, didnt you?

There is no specific information revealed.

Speech Acts (1)- locutionA 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.

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

Speech Acts (2-2)- Indirect illocutiona. Dont do it.b. Ill be there. c. Stop it.

what illocution refers to relies very much on the selection of verbs.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.

Speech Acts (3)- Recognition of illocutionary force a. Can you help open the door, John? ask b. John, go and open the door. orderc. Open the door, John, or I wont give you candy.threatend. John, would you help open the door? requeste. John, open the door! orderf. I bet that John wont open the door for us. betg. John, I advise you to open the door. advise

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.

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.

Presupposition (2)a. Would you give him another chance?b. Do you need more coffee?c. John married once again.

Presupposition (3):implicationJohn 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.

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.

Deitics (1): It refers to pronouns like you, he, they, then, that, this, etc.

a. John told Bill that he1 would like to ask his2 father to meet his3 sister. which refers to John or to Bill is far from clear. b. He is the greatest poet for the time being. in the 19th or 21st century?

Discourse Analysis (1): New vs. old informationNew 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.

Discourse Analysis(2-1): Co-operative principleIn 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.

Discourse Analysis(2-2): Co-operative principles

Discourse Analysis(2-3): Co-operative principlePolonius: 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.

Discourse Analysis(2-5): Co-operative principleADid you meet John yesterday? BSure. He wanted me to say Hello to you. AWhat did he say? BHe wanted to show his best wishes to you.

each utterance is in coherence in quantity

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.

Summary1. 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 there4. deitics: deitics is used only when the speaker and the listener share some common backgrounds5. discourse analysis: (a) new vs. old information (b) cooperative principle (Grice) (c) relevance theory