第六讲pragmatics

1、Lecture sixPragmaticsAims for this lecture1. What is pragmatics?2. Motivations for interests in pragmatics.3. Meaning in pragmatics.4. Common topics in pragmatics 1. What is pragmatics?vFor example:1) A little boy comes in the front door.Mother says: Wipe your feet, please.The little boy removes his

2、 muddy shoes andsocks and carefully wipes his clean feet on the doormat.vWhat is the problem here?1. What is pragmatics?2) Where does the meaning of girl come from?+human+female+young+unmarried(semantic features)But My little girl was very ill last night. I ended up taking her to an animal doctor.lF

3、rom these examples, we find that meaningshould not be seen as a stable counterpart to linguistic form. Rather, it is dynamically generated in the process of using language. Meaning can be studied in semantic and pragmatic fields. Semantics and Pragmatics both deal with meaning, but semantics concent

4、rates on meaning that comes from purely linguistic knowledge.vIn semantics, the meanings of morphemes and words are defined by their semantic properties, or semantic features, (e.g. girl)vThey are also defined by their semantic relations with other words (-nyms).HomonymsSynonymsAntonyms (complementa

5、ry, gradable, relational opposites)HyponymsMetonymsvPragmatics concentrates on those aspects of meaning that cannot be predicted by linguistic knowledge alone and takes into account knowledge about the physical and social world or context. Definitions of pragmatics (1) In the early 1980s, the most c

6、ommon definitions of pragmatics were: meaning in use or meaning in context. (“too general though accurate enough and perfectly adequate as a starting point”: Thomas, p.2) (2) Pragmatics studies the use of language in human communication as determined by the conditions of society (Jacob L. Mey, 1993,

7、 p.6)(3) Pragmatics studies the factors that govern our choice of language in social interaction and the effects of our choice on others. (Crystal, 1987, p.120)(4) Pragmatics can be usefully defined as the study of how utterances have meanings in situations.(Leech,1983,p.x)(5) Pragmatics is the stud

8、y of how more gets communicated than is said. (Blakemore,1992, p.39) (6) At the most elementary level, pragmatics can be defined as the study of language use, or, to employ a somewhat more complicated phrasing, the study of linguistic phenomena from the point of view of their usage properties and pr

9、ocesses. (Verschuren,1999)(7) Levinson listed the following definitions (1983) (a) Pragmatics is the study of those principles that will account for why a certain set of sentences are anomalous, or not possible utterances.(p.6)(b) Pragmatics is the study of language from a functional perspective.(c)

10、 Pragmatics should be concerned solely with principles of language usage, and have nothing to do with the description of linguistic structure. Pragmatics is concerned solely with performance principles of language use.(d) Pragmatics is the study of those relations between language and context that a

11、re grammaticalized, or encoded in the structure of a language.(e) Pragmatics is the study of all aspects of meaning not captured in a semantic theory. Pragmatics has as its topic those aspects of the meaning of utterances which cannot be accounted for by straightforward reference to the truth condit

12、ions of the sentences uttered. Put rudely: PRAGMATICS = MEANING-TRUTH CONDITIONS. (Gazdar (1979a:2) (f) Pragmatics is the study of the relations between language and context that are basic to an account of language understanding (workers in artificial intelligence, understanding an utterance involve

13、s making inferences)(g) Pragmatics is the study of the ability of language users to pair sentences with the contexts in which they would be appropriate.(p.24)(h) Pragmatics is the study of deixis ( at least in part), implicature, presupposition, speech acts, and aspects of discourse structure. vPrag

14、matics is the study of invisible meaning, or how we recognize what is meant even when it isnt actually said (or written). vPragmatics studies how language users put language resources to use.vSuppose someone says “Congratulations.” 1) Phoneticians will study the articulation and intonation of the se

15、ntence. 2) Syntacticians will point out that this is an imperative sentence. 3) Semanticists will be interested in the meaning of the sentence which is a congratulation. 4) Pragmaticists will concentrate on such issues as What is the context of the utterance? Who is the speaker? Who are “you”? Under

16、 what circumstances does the speaker congratulate “you”? What is the speakers intention? Sincerity? or irony?vPragmatics explores the following questions: 1) How do people communicate more than the words or phrases of their utterances might mean by themselves, and how do people make these interpreta

17、tions? 2) Why do people choose to say and/or interpret something in one way rather than another? 3) How do peoples perception of contextual factors (for example, who the interlocutors are, what their relationship is, and what circumstances they are communicating in) influence the process of producin

18、g and interpreting language?2. Motivations for interest in pragmatics1) Reaction or antidote to Chomskys treatment of language as an abstract device, or mental ability, dissociable from the uses, users and functions of language.( competence vs performance; la langue, la parole) (2) Some phenomena ca

19、n only naturally be described by recourse to contextual concepts.(3) Presupposition, speech acts, and context-dependent implications require pragmatic solutions.(4)Significant functional explanations can be offered for linguistic facts. (by reference to external factors) (Jakobson: 1960: referential

20、 function, emotive function, conative function (wishes), metalinguistic function (code), phatic function, and poetic function( how message is encoded)3. Meaning in PragmaticsvSome Concepts Clarified:(1) Abstract MeaningIt is what a word, a phrase or a sentencecould mean or dictionary meaning. Exampl

21、e 1 A father is trying to get his 3-year-old daughter to stop lifting up her dress to display her new underwear to the assembled guests. Father: We dont DO that. Daughter: I KNOW, Daddy. You dont WEAR dresses.(2) Sentence meaning and Utterance meaningA sentence is an abstract theoretical entity defi

22、ned within a theory of grammar, An utterance is sentence fragment, in an actual context. Each utterance is a unique event created ata particular point in time for a particular purpose. - Sentence meaning:vAbstract and context-independent meaning;vliteral meaning of a sentence;-Utterance meaning:vcon

23、crete and context-dependent meaning; vintended meaning of a speaker; vdepending on who the speaker is, who the hearer is, when and where it is used.vthe speakers communicative intention or purpose. 1) A: Are you going to the seminar? B: Its on linguistics.2) A: Would you like some coffee? B: Coffee

24、would keep me awake.3) A: 我带的钱不够，今天买不了。 B: 那就下次再买吧。For example, “Today is Sunday”.Semantically, it means that today is the first day of the week; Pragmatically, you can mean a lot by saying this, all depending on the context and the intention of the speaker, say, making a suggestion or giving an inv

25、itation For example, “The bag is heavy” can meanva bag being heavy (sentence meaning);van indirect, polite request, asking the hearer to help him carry the bag;vthe speaker is declining someones request for help. vNote: The meaning of an utterance is based on the sentence meaning; it is the realizat

26、ion of the abstract meaning of a sentence in a real situation of communication, or simply in a context; utterance meaning is richer than sentence meaning; it is identical with the purpose for which the speaker utters the sentence.(3) Context Context is a basic concept in the study of pragmatics. It

27、is generally considered as constituted knowledge shared by the speaker and the hearer, such as cultural background, situation (time, place, manner, etc.), the relationship between the speaker and the hearer, etc. vLinguistic context (co-text) The co-text of a word is the set of other words used in t

28、he same phrase or sentence. This surrounding co-text has a strong effect on what we think the word means. vPhysical context Our understanding of much of what we read or hear is tied to the physical context, particularly the time and place, in which we encounter linguistic expressions.vSemantics stud

29、ies words and sentences, while pragmatics studies utterances.vSemantics studies rules, while pragmatics studies context.vSemantics studies logic, while pragmatics studies natural language use.4. Common topics in pragmaticsv1) Deixisv2) Referencev3) Anaphorav4) Presuppositionv5) Speech actsv6) Polite

30、nessDeixisvDefinition: Deixis: the Greek word meaning “pointing to” or “picking out”.Deictic expressions: are those which derive part of their meaning from their context of utterance.vExample: - Ill put this here. How do you interpret the meaning of this” and here in this utterance? vDeixis is clear

31、ly a form of referring that is tied to the speakers context, with the most basic distinction between deictic expressions being near speaker versus away from speaker. Types of deictic expressions(1) Person deixis: I, you, he, etc.(a) “我们我们”和“咱们咱们”1. 我们我们认为这个结论是可靠的。2. 我们我们明年元旦再聚会。3. 小明乖。小明不哭，我们我们/咱们咱们

32、是好孩子。4. 小朋友们别吵，我们我们/咱们咱们都是好孩子。5. 听说咱们咱们厂子今年搞得特别红火。(b) “let us” and “lets(c) Tu and Vous/你你/您您 (social deixis)(2) Place deixis (spatial deixis): here, there, this, that, etc. - Im not here now. -我去你那.- 你到我这来吧. (3) Time (temporal) deixis: yesterday, tomorrow, now, etc. - “I hope youre going to do well

33、 this year.” (What is the meaning of “this year” if a father says this to his son at the beginning of September? Or on October 20, his birthday? Or on Jan. 1,2003? Or on Feb. 1, 2003?)What does “here” and “tomorrow” mean in the following?-“The opportunities of life are here today and gone tomorrow.”

34、What does “today” mean in the following?(1) Todays always a bad day (said on a Monday morning)(2) Ill see to it today.(3) I filled up with petrol today.ReferencevReference is an act by which a speaker (writer) uses linguistic forms to enable a listener (reader) to identify something. It is not the w

35、ords themselves that refer to anything. People refer. vReferring expressions can be proper nouns (e.g., Shakespeare), noun phrases which are definite (e.g., the singer), and pronouns (e.g., her, she). vThe choice of one type of referring expression rather than another seems to be based on what the s

36、peaker assumes the listener already knows.Reference, then, is clearly tied to the speakers goals and the speakers beliefs (i.e. can the listener be expected to know that particular something?) in the use of language.vFor successful reference to occur, we must also recognize the role of inference. Be

37、cause there is no direct relationship between entities and words. vInference: additional information used by the listener to connect what is said to what must be meant. Examples:1) A. The cheese sandwich is made with white bread. B. The cheese sandwich left without paying. 3) a: Can I borrow your Wa

38、ngshuo? b: yeah, it is over there. Anaphora Example:vCan I borrow your book?vYeah, its on the table.vThe second referring expression is an example of anaphora and the first mention is called the antecedent. vBut, in the following example: -Peel and slice six potatoes. Put them in cold salted water.

39、- a. Peel an onion and slice it. b. Drop the slices into hot oil. c. Cook ? for three minutes. Mostly, we use anaphora in texts to maintain reference. As with other types of reference, the connection between referent and anaphora may not be direct. Example:I was waiting for the bus, but he just drov

40、e by without stopping. SummaryvReferring expressions dependent on the co- text and physical context. vReference is not simply a a relationship between the meaning of a word or phrase and an object or person in the world. It is a social act, in which the speaker assumes that the word or phrase chosen

41、 to identify an object or person will be interpreted as the speaker intended. vThe key to making sense of reference is that pragmatic process whereby speakers select linguistic expressions with the intention of identifying certain entities and with the assumption that listeners will collaborate and

42、interpret those expressions as the speaker intended. vSuccessful reference means that an intention was recognized , via inference, indicating a kind of shared knowledge and hence social connection. vThe assumption of shared knowledge is crucially involved in the study of presupposition.Presuppositio

43、nvPresuppositions can be defined as inferences about what is assumed to be true in the utterance rather than directly asserted to be true.vWhat a speaker assumes is true or is known by the hearer can be described as a presupposition. - Your brother is waiting outside for you. The presupposition is t

44、hat you have a brother. -When did you stop smoking cigars? The speaker presupposes that you used to smoke cigars, and that you no longer do sovWhen did he leave?vHe stopped smoking.vPresuppositions are inferences about what is assumed in an utterance rather than directly asserted.vPresuppositions ar

45、e closely linked to the words and grammatical structures that are actually used in the utterances and our knowledge about the way language users conventionally interpret them.vPresuppositions can be drawn even when there is little or no surrounding context.v1) Would you like anther beer?v2) why dont

46、 pigs have wings?v3) Please take me out again. “Constancy under negation”(Levinson, 1983, p. 185). It is often claimed that presupposition can survive negation. Her successor managed to win the election that followed. This presupposes that her successor tried or that winning the election was not eas

47、y. Her successor didnt managed to win the election that followed. This still presuppose that her successor tried or that the winning the election was not easy.Speech ActsvWhat would you do if you want to:congratulate someonecall someones attention to the TV setforbid someone to enter a roomshow your

48、 regret to someone?vWords are actions and we do things by saying.vThe use of the term speech act covers actions such as requesting, commanding, questioning and informing.v(1) Theres a spider in your hair. (Warning)v(2) Someones eaten all the ice-cream.(Accusing)v(3) Ive got a gun.(Threatening)v(4) Y

49、oure an idiot. (Insulting)v(5) I need the salt.(Requesting)vSpeech act is a term derived from the work of the philosopher J. L. Austin (1962) and now used to refer to a theory which analyzes the role of utterances in relation to the behavior of the speaker and the hearer in interpersonal communicati

50、on. It aims to answer the question “What do we do when using language?” According to Austins new model, a speakermight be performing three acts simultaneously when speaking: 1) locutionary act 2) illocutionary act 3) perlocutionary act.vThe locutionary act-an act of saying something, i.e. an act of

51、making a meaningful utterance (literal meaning of an utterance); vThe illocutionary act-an act performed in saying something: in saying X, I was doing Y (the intention of the speaker while speaking). vThe perlocutionary act-an act performed as a result of saying something: by saying X and doing Y, I

52、 did Z. For example,“It is cold in here.”vIts locutionary act is the saying of it with its literal meaning the weather is clod in here;vIts illocutionary act can be a request of the hear to shut the window;vIts perlocutionary act can be the hearers shutting the window or his refusal to comply with t

53、he request. Note: Of the three acts, what speech act theory is most concerned with is the illocutionary act. It attempts to account for the ways by which speakers can mean more than what they say. vAnalyze the illocutionary acts of the following conversation between a couple:-(the telephone rings)-H

54、: That the phone. (1)-W: Im in the bathroom. (2)-H: Okay. (3) vThis seemingly incoherent conversation goes on successfully because the speakers understand each others illocutionary acts: (1) Making a request of his wife to go and answer the phone.(2) A refusal to comply with the request; issuing a r

55、equest of her husband to answer the phone instead.(3) Accepting the wifes refusal and accepting her request, meaning “all right, Ill answer it.”vTwo types of speech act 1) Direct speech act 2) Indirect speech actvThe crucial distinction in the use of these two types of speech acts is based on the fa

56、ct that indirect commands or requests are simply considered more gentle or more polite in our society than direct commands.Politeness1) There are several ways to think of politeness. These might involve ideas like being tactful, modest and nice to other people. In the study of linguistic politeness,

57、 the most relevant concept is face. 2) Face is your public self-image. This is the emotional and social sense of self that every person has and expects everyone else to recognize. 3) Politeness is showing awareness of another persons face. Brown and Levinsons (1978/1987) Face Model of Politeness.Elements in Face Model of Politeness1) Face and Face want2) Face-threatening and Face-saving act3) Positive face and Negative face4) Negative politeness and Positive Politeness1) Face and Face wantvThey define