PragmaticsTazhan K. Omer15500097

Pragmatics: language in contextPragmatics is the study of meaning in context.It deals with speaker meaning rather than setence

meaning.

A.: I have a 14 year old sonB.: Well that’s rightA.: I also have a dogB.: Oh, I’m sorry

Can you understand the meaning of this sentence?

It would be hard to catch it, unless you know that A. is trying to rent an apartment from B. and B. doesn’t accept pets.

If we don’t have a context or some knowledge about a situation, the meaning can be ‘invisible’ as in the previous example. Or

- have you seen Sam? - the black car is over there.This seemingly incoherent text can be easily

understood if we know that Sam owns a black car.

Context the word ‘pupil’ is a homonym. How do we know which meaning is

intended? If it is used in a sentence with words like

‘teacher’, ‘classmates’. we understand that pupil here means ?

If it is used in a sentence with words like ‘eye’, ‘dilatation’ or ‘iris’ we know that here it means ?

The linguistic context also called co-text

Context Another type, is the physical context. If you see a sign like this near a school:

SLOW DOWN. PUPILS CROSSING THE STREET.

It does not mean that you have to slow down because you could run over eye-pupils and reduce them to a pulp.

Doing things with language

This means that language is used to act,by means of language, in terms of requests, commands, asking questions or information, we perform actions, that are called ‘speech acts’.

‘are you married?’, ‘can they play tennis?’, ‘do you know anything about what happened?’ are forms used to ask for information and they are called ‘direct speech acts’.

In questions like ‘Can you pass the peper?’ you don’t want to know if the person is able to pass the peper, but you want the peper. These are called ‘indirect speech acts’.

If we say: you left the door open this could be interpreted as a statement, but if you say that to someone who has just come into the room and it is quite cold outside, yours is not a statement but a request: please, close the door.

WHEN WE FAIL TO UNDERSTAND SOMEONE’S SPEECH ACTS

THE RESULT COULD BE FUNNY:

A: excuse me, do you know the time?

B: yes, I do.

And B walks away.

"I'm expecting a phone call" can have a variety of meanings. It could be a request to leave the phone line free or a reason for not being able to leave the house; or it could suggest to a listener who already has background information that a specific person is about to call to convey good or bad news.

The role of beliefs and attitudes

a. The judge denied the prisoner’s request because he was cautious.b. The judge denied the prisoner’s request because he was

dangerous.

Judge is cautious and prisoner is dangerous

Presupposition

Yule: “ speakers usually design their linguistic messages on the basis of assumptions of what their hearer already know” (1996:132)

Presuppositiona. Have you stopped exercising regularly?

Presupposition

b. Have you tried exercising regularly?

No presupposition

Presupposition

part of an utterance meaning which remains truthful when the sentence is transformed into a negative form (constancy under negation test)

Hong Kong is a modern city. Hong Kong is not a modern city. Presupposition: There is a city Hong Kong

Setting (Physical environment)

interpretation depend on the location of the speaker\ hearer within a particular setting

Spatial deictica. The bear is coming into the tent! movement Toward speakerb. The bear is going into the tent! Movement away from the speaker

Discourse A connected series of utterances

produced during a conversation.

I found a butterfly in my garden. There, I grow variety of plants. I look after them carefully.

The man is at the front door.

Given information

A man is at the front door.

New information

TopicOnce upon a time there was a merchant with two sons.

New informationThe older son wanted to be a scholar. He spent his time reading and studying.

TopicAs for the youngest son, he preferred to travel and see the world.

new information

To mark new topic

Conversational maxim (Grice Maxim)There are some rules for conversation (our understanding), one should follow in order to convey the message, this is suggested by Paul Grice.

A: Would you like to go to a movie tonight?B: I have to study for an exam.Which means declining the invitation even though there is nothing literally says so.

Quality Maxim (true)

Quantity Maxim(not more\less info)

Maxim of Relevance (be relevant)

Maxim of Manner(be brief and orderly)

Politeness the way people choose to speak and

how the hearers react to their speech. (Pecce;1999)

Showing awareness of another person’s face, socially distance is described in terms of respect.(Yule,1996:134)

The Politeness principle Face threatening act (act opposite the desire of the other)

My young neighbor is playing loud music late at night. You can not sleep, I am going to tell him to stop that awful noise right now.

Face saving act ( lessen embarrassment or to make one’s self look better)

Situation :After your girlfriend betrayed you.“ Oh I was going to break up with her anyway”.

Indirect speech act (the speaker says one thing but intends another)

Do you have any spare change? (give me a pound)

Politeness in communication requires us to adapt strategies of1- maximizing (polite beliefs)2-minimising (impolite beliefs)

Relevance TheoryRelevance is a cognitive principle that lies behind information processing.Plays a key role in understanding utterances in context.How do we interpret utterances in context?For interpreting utterances we focus on relevant information, Which Refers to information that produces a “ contextual effect”

Barbara: Did you enjoy the meal?Janet: well, the soup was lumpy, the steak was gristly, the vegetables were overcooked and the dessert was musty.The contextual effect for Barbara is : “No, I definitely did not enjoy the meal”