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Lecture 11. PlanSemantics, syntactics, pragmaticsLinguistic pragmaticsSpeech acts theory
Taxonomy of illocutionary actsPerformativesIndirect speech acts
Speaker and Hearer in social hierarchiesGricean maxims for conversationTheory of implicatures
PragmaticsCh. Morris, Foundations of the Theory of Signs, 1938Formal relations of signs to one another:
syntacticsRelations of signs to objects: semanticsRelations of signs to interpreters: pragmaticsLinguistic pragmatics (Apresjan):Attitude of the Speaker…
to the real worldto the contents of his/her own messageto the Hearer
…contained in a lexical unit
Speaker and real worldAssessments
positive-negativemuch-littledesirable-undesirable…
Speaker and messageFalse-True
certainprobabledoubtfulimprobableimpossible
Illocutionary force
Speech acts theoryJ. Searle, Speech acts: an essay in the philosophy
of language, 1969Talking is performing acts according to rulesUttering words and sentences = utterance
acts Referring and predicating = propositional
actsStating, questioning, promising, … =
illocutionary acts
Illocutionary acts. TaxonomyPurpose of the act. Examples:
order: getting the Hearer to do somethingpromise: obligation by the Speaker to do
somethingDirection of fitExpressed psychological states (sincerity
condition):beliefintention…
Illocutionary acts. TaxonomyForce of strength with which the illocutionary
point (purpose) is presentedI suggest we go to the moviesI insist that we go to the moviesI solemnly swear that Bill stole the moneyI guess Bill stole the money
Status or position of the Speaker and Hearera general orders a private, a private asks a
general
Illocutionary acts. TaxonomyDifferences in the way the utterance relates to
the interests of the Speaker and the HearerRelations to the rest of the discourse
I reply – I object – I concludehowever – moreover – therefore
Differences in propositional contentActs that must always be speech acts and acts
that need not be speech actscongratulation – always a speech actconclusion – not necessarily
Illocutionary acts. TaxonomyActs that require extra-linguistic knowledge
excommunicatechristenpronounce guilty…
Style of performancePerformatives
PerformativesJ. Austin, How to do things with words, 1965I wish you a merry ChristmasI accuse you of murderI advise you not to go thereI assure you that he will not comeI name this ship the “Queen Elizabeth”I pronounce you husband and wifeA verb is called performative if its uttering
(usually in 1st person Present Singular) is equal to doing the action it describes
Main features of performativesPerformative utterances are not true
or false, that is, not truth-evaluableWhen something is wrong with
them, they are "happy" or "unhappy"The uttering of a performative is
doing a certain kind of action (an illocutionary act) and not just "saying" or "describing"
Types of performativesExpositives: report, affirm, agree, declare,
remind, …Commissives: promise, contract, bet, …Exercitives: pardon, nominate, hire,
sentence, …Behabitives: apologize, thank, congratulate,
…Operatives: appoint, proclaim, …Requests: request, implore, insist, ……
Linguistic propertiesUsed in 1 Sg, but not only:
Passengers are requested to proceed to departure gate
Cannot be used in the progressive tense:*I am wishing you a merry Christmas
Cannot be combined with temporal modifiers*I promise you for ten minutes to come back
Cannot be combined with assessments:*I impolitely insist that you leave
…
Semantic invariant?All performatives contain the semantic
component ‘to say’?
Some performatives do not: hire, agree, …Some verbs contain the component ‘to say’
but cannot be used as performatives: lie, shout, mutter, …
Z. Vendler, Illocutionary suicide, 1976: I lie, I boast, I hint, …
Indirect speech actsThe Speaker communicates to the Hearer more
than he actually says by way of relying on their mutually shared background information, both linguistic and nonlinguistic, together with the general powers of rationality and inference on the part of the Hearer
Could you pass me the salt?Excuse me, do you have a watch?– Would you like to go to the movies?
– I have much homework.
Speaker and HearerPlace in various hierarchies: age, sex, social status, …Form of address: Sir, Professor Smith, dear students,
mom, honey, pal, buddy, hey you, over there…Title + last name / first name / name + patronymic…T/V distinction: French tu/vous, Russian ty/Vy,
Italian tu/Lei, German du/Sie, …Differences:
German T is more applied in family than French TFrench T is more applied for fellow students, soldiers, …symmetrical vs. asymmetrical usage
T/V in Russian: oppositionsChildren aged 2-3 or younger to everyone: TEveryone to children aged 8-9 or younger: TChildren aged 15-16 or younger to each other: TChildren to parents and parents to children, any
age: TStudents to teachers or professors: VTeachers to schoolchildren: mostly TProfessors to students: VNot within a dialogue: T (notices, slogans,
speaking with dead people, mythical beings, objects etc.)
Politeness levels in Japanese
Usage labels in dictionariesNonstandardColloquialSlangDisparagingOffensiveObsceneVulgar …
Maxims of conversationP. Grice, Logiс and conversation, 1975The co-operative principleThe maxim of QualityThe maxim of QuantityThe maxim of RelevanceThe maxim of Manner
Co-operative principleMake your contribution such as us
required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged
The maxim of QualityTry to make your contribution one
that is true, specifically:Do not say what you believe to be
falseDo not say that for which you lack
adequate evidence
The maxim of QuantityMake your contribution as
informative as is required for the current purposes of the exchange
Do not make your contribution more informative than is required
John has 3 children.Cannot be said if John has 5 children!
The maxim of RelevanceMake your contribution relevant
– Can you tell me the time?– Well, the milkman has come.
– Our professor is an old fool, isn’t he?– What a nice weather for November!
The maxim of MannerBe perspicuous, and specifically:Avoid obscurity Avoid ambiguityBe briefBe orderly
John went to the store and bought some apples.
Gricean maxims and indirect SAPeople mostly violate the maxims. But:They are needed to understand utterances
that seem inappropriate on a deeper level– Where is our professor?
– There is a traffic jam at the highway.
– I don’t have a 20 Crowns coin.
– There is a tobacco shop across the street.
– Let’s get the kids something.
– OK, but no I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M-S.
Theory of implicaturesS has said that PThere is no reason to think that S is not observing the
maxims, or at least the co-operative principleIn order for S to say that P and be indeed observing the
maxims or the co-operative principle, S must think that Q
S must know that it is mutual knowledge that Q must be supposed if S is to be taken to be co-operating
S has done nothing to stop me, the addressee, thinking that Q
Therefore S intends me to think that Q, and in saying that P has implicated Q
Next lecture
Semantic annotation of text corpora. Fundamental classification of predicates. Case studies.
