PRAGMATICS -- akw5

PRAGMATICS

Linguistics: The study of human speech including the units, nature, structure, and modification of language

Syntax : Study of the relation between linguistic forms, how they are arranged in sequence, and which sequences are well-formed

Semantics : Study of the relationship between linguistic forms and entities in the world; how words literally connect to things.

Pragmatic : Study of relationships between linguistic forms and the users of those forms.

What is pragmatic?• “It is the study of speaker meaning” It is concerned with the study of meaning as communicated by speaker and interpreted by listener.

• “It is the study of contextual meaning”It involves interpretation of what people mean in a particular context and how the context influences what is said.

• “It is the study of how more gets communicated than is said”This type of study explores how great deal of what is unsaid is recognized as part of what is communicated.

• “It is the study of the expression of relative distance “On the assumption of how close and distant the listener is speakers determine how much needs to be said.

A topic ‘is what the utterance is primarily about’ (Huddleston and Pullum 2002: 236). Topic is what the sentence is about.

Focus is what is predicated about the topic.

The term TOPIC to refer to the complement of FOCUS.

Example: “Go and have a look outside, there’s a weird green glow in the sky”.

The topic is not the new information presented in an utterance.

Pragmatics is the study of language in use, it must also account for the spontaneous, interactive language of cafés, classrooms, and offices. Today, the primary setting for language use is conversation.

Performance of language

communicative acts

Communicative acts are joint actions that require coordination.LEVE

LSPEAKER A’S

ACTIONADDRESSEE B’S

ACTION

1 A makes sounds, gestures for B

B attends to A’s sounds, gestures

2 A presents a signal for B

B identifies what A’s signal is

3 A means something for B

B understands what A means

4 A proposes a joint project to B

B considers A’s proposal

Example:

Nancy : I acquired an absolutely magni cent fi sewing-machine, by foul means, did I tell you about that?

Julia : No.

Nancy utters the sentence Did I tell you about that? as a signal to Julia.

A signal here is any action by which one person means something for another person in the sense of Grice (1989).

Content (What) -- Nancy chooses to do that by asking a question; to ask the question, she selects the English sentence Did I tell you about that?

Performance (How) – Nancy chooses to direct her voice, face, and gestures at Julia. She does this to designate herself as speaker, and Julia as addressee.

In the dialogue, Nancy and Julia work together to assure :

(1) that Julia attends to Nancy’s vocalizations and gestures;

(2) that Julia identi es Nancy’s words and figestures;

(3) that Julia gures out what Nancy means by her fiwords and gestures;

(4) that Julia considers what Nancy is proposing.

The two of them engage in joint actions at the four levels shown in the table, with A as speaker and B as addressee. These form a ladder of actions that run from Level 1 to Level 4. A and B perform their joint actions at Level 2 by means of their joint actions at Level 1, and so on up the ladder.

Deixis : The most basic things we do in utterances; pointing via language by using deictic expressions or indexicals in utterances.

There are 3 types of deixis :a. Peson Deixis (people) – I, you, he, she, it,they - first person (speaker) - second person (addressee) - third person (person they’re talking about)

x: Who’s that?y: She’s my sister.

b. Spacial Deixis (location) – here, there, come, go

- They indicate distance or proximity from the speaker, Physical distance or proximity, and Mental and psychological distance or proximity. x: Where is Mexico?y: It’s on the 11th page of

geographic book, sir!

c. Temporal Deixis (time) -- now (proximal)

then (future+past) ex: “I was in Scotland then” “I’ll see you then”

“Definite” and “indefinite” are terms which are usually applied to noun phrases (NPs).

In English, the is referred to as “the definite article”, and a/an as “the indefinite article”.

the (ex: the Queen of England, the book)

a/an (ex: an elephant, a big lie)

INDEFINITE DEFINITE

DETERMINERS : a, an, some, another, several, most, no, enough, any

DETERMINERS : the, this, that, these, those, its, their, her, his, your, my, our

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS :something, someone, somebody, anything, anyone, anybody

PERSONAL PRONOUNS :it, they, them, she, her, he, his, you, I, me, we, us

The de nite article fi the signals : I am referring to something that you know about. example:“Go and have a look outside, there’s a weird green glow in the sky”.

In a common way of thinking about it, the same sky is outside almost everywhere, so the phone caller can expect the receiver of the call to know about the sky; and that is what makes immediate de nite reference fiappropriate.

Reference : an act in which a speaker or writer uses linguistics forms to enable a listener or reader to identify something.

Referring expression : linguistics forms used by speaker or writer. example: - proper nouns (Italy, Shakespeare) - noun phrase (the singer, a man)

- pronouns (he,her,it,them)

For successful reference to occur, we must also recognize

the role of inference.

What are inferences?

Inferring is connecting prior knowledge to text based information to create meaning beyond what is directly stated.

The role of inference in communication is to allow the listener to  identify correctly which particular entity the speaker is referring to. We can even use vague expressions relying on the listener’s ability to infer what is the referent that we have in mind.

Listeners make inferences about what is said in order to arrive at an interpretation of the speaker’s intended meaning.

Speakers------ reference------

intention

Listeners------ inference------ interpretation

Attributive use / referential use

example: a man waiting for youa woman with lots of moneya nine-foot-tall basketball player

• This is sometimes called an attributive use,  meaning 'whoever/whatever fits the  description'.

• It would be distinct from a referential use: a specific person is referred to, although his/her name or some other description is not used.

In reference there is a basic collaboration at work: ‘intention-to-identify’ and 'recognition-of-intention’.

CollaborationThis process needs not only work between one speaker and one listener; it appears to work, in terms of convention, between all members of  a  community who  share a common language and culture.

Co-text is just a linguistic part of the environment in which a referring expression is used (Yule,1996).

The physical environment, or context, is perhaps more easily recognized as having a powerful impact on how referring expressions are to be interpreted.

Example :a. Cheese sandwich is made with white bread.

b. The cheese sandwich left without paying.

The referring expression actually provides a range of reference, that is, a number of possible referents. In the examples, the referring expression 'cheese sandwich‘ provides a number of possible referents. However, the different co-texts lead to a different type of interpretation in each case. In a (food), b (person).

Reference, then, is not simply 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 to  identify an object or  person will be interpreted as the speaker intended”.

In English, initial reference is often indefinite.

The definite noun phrases and the pronouns are examples of subsequent reference to already introduced referents, generally known as anaphoric reference,  or anaphora".

In technical terms, the second or subsequent expression is the anaphora and the initial expression is the antecedent.

Example:

“In the film, a man and a woman were trying to wash a cat. The man was holding the cat while the woman poured water on it. He said something to her and they started laughing”

In technical terms, the second or subsequent expression is the anaphor and the initial is the

antecedent:

a man the man hea woman the woman she

he + she they

Yule: "the 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 interpret those expressions as the speaker intended".

Yule: “Successful reference means that an intention was recognized, via inference, indicating a kind of shared knowledge and hence social connection”

PRESUPPOSITION AND ENTAILMENT

Speakers assume certain information is already known by

their listeners.This is part of what is communicated but not said.

Presuppositions and entailments Two aspects of what is communicated but not said

Presupposition: The information that a speaker assumes to be already known. (The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language, 1987) 

Implicit meanings conveyed by the speaker through the use of particular words. Ex:Mary’s dog is cute (=p)Mary has a dog (=q)

p >> q

Speakers

not sentences

have presuppositions

Constancy under negation The presupposition of a

statement will remain constant (i.e. still true) even when that statement is negated.

Ex:Mary’s dog isn’t cute (= NOT p) Mary has a dog (=q)

NOT p >> q

Types of Presupposition:

1. existential2.factive3. Non-factive4.lexical5. structural6. counterfactual

1. Existential: Entities named by the speaker and assumed to be present. - noun phrase. - possessive constructionsEx: “David’s car is new” we can presuppose that David exists and that he has a car.

2. Factive: identified by the presence of some verbs such as "know“, "realize“, “be glad”, “be sorry”, etc. Ex: Tracy realized Pat ate a sandwich.

Pat regretted eating a sandwich.Pat liked eating a sandwich.

3. Non-factive: it is an assumption referred to something that is not true. For example, verbs like "dream", "imagine" and "pretend“.Ex: I dreamed that I was rich. (>> I was not rich) We imagined that we were in London. (>> We were not in London)

4.Lexical: In using one word, the speaker can act as if another meaning will be understood. Ex: Mary stopped running. (>>He used to run.)   You are late again. (>> You were late before.)

5. Structural: It is the assumption associated with the use of certain structures (wh-question constructions)Ex: When did she travel to the USA? ( >> she travelled) Where did you buy the book? (>> you bought the book)

6. Counterfactual: it is the assumption that what is presupposed is not only untrue, but is the opposite of what is true, or contrary to facts (conditional structures) Ex: If you were my daughter, I would not allow you to do this. ( >> you are not my daughter) If I were rich I would buy a Ferrari (>> I’m not rich)

Entailment is not a pragmatic concept (i.e. having to do with the speaker meaning), but it is considered a purely logical concept. It is defined as what logically follows from what is asserted in the utterance.

Sentences

not speakers

have entailments.

Sentences that stand in an implicational relation, where the truth of the first guarantees the truth of the second.

Ex: -- The anarchist assassinated the emperor. -- The emperor died.

So, the first sentence entails the second.

Ex: Bob ate three sandwiches.

a) Someone ate three sandwiches. (Who ate the sandwiches)b) Bob did something to three sandwiches.

(What Bob did)c) Bob ate three of something. (What Bob

ate)d)Something happened. (What happened)

COOPERATION (TYPES OF MAXIM)

Cooperation and Implicature:- When people talk with each other, they try to converse smoothly and successfully. Cooperation is the basis of successful conversations. - Conversation is a cooperative behaviour, and therefore proceeds by rules of cooperative conduct. - Grice called this the Cooperative Principle.

These ‘rules ‘ of conversation were first formulated by the Paul Grice (1975) as the Co-operative Principle. This states that we interpret the language on the assumption that a speaker is obeying the four maxims (known as Grice’s Maxims)

Grice came up with 4 maxims:

1. The maxim of quality – be true2. The maxim of quantity – be brief3. The maxim of relation – be relevant4. The maxim of manner – be clear

1. The maxim of quality (“Tell the truth”)- Do not say what you believe to be false.- Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.

Ex: A: When is our assignment due?B: Well, as far as I know, we

haven’t been given a date yet.We use hedges to show that we are not sure if something is totally true.

Ex:A: John had a car accident.

B: I heard that John had a car accident.

By virtue of the maxim of Quality, you would prefer to useB, because you would not have enough evidence to assert A.

2. The maxim of quantity (“Say just as much as is necessary”)-the communication must be adequately but not overly informative.

Ex: Mum: Did you finish your homework?Pat : I finished my algebra.Mum: Well, get busy and finish your English, too!

• The child did not say that her English homework is not done, nor did she imply it.

• Nevertheless her mother is entitled to draw this conclusion, based on the combination of what the child actually said and the cooperative principle.

Ex:You asked your friend:How many apples does John have?A: John has exactly 23 apples.B: John has about 23 apples.

You would say A to make your contribution as informative as possible.

3. The maxim of relation / relevance (“Stick to the point”)- Make your contributions relevant.

Ex:A: How was the exam?B: The bus was late.

• We assume that B must relate to A. If you want to change the subject, you indicate by using discourse markers eg. ‘By the way,…’

• Use ‘Anyway, as I was saying,…’ to get back to the main story

Ex:Supposing your friend asked you: Do I look good?Would you respond: A. Yes, you look good or Not really.B. The sky is blue.You would probably choose A

to put up with the maxim of Relevance.

4. The maxim of manner (“Be clear”)- Avoid obscurity.- Avoid ambiguity.

Ex: A: (opening door to neighbour) Oh hi, Mrs

Jones.B: I can’t get in. My door is locked.ORA: (opening door to neighbour) Oh hi.B: Hello. I’ve just moved in next door and I

can’t get in. My door is locked. I wonder if I could borrow your phone.

IMPLICATURE

The concept and the function of cooperation and implicature are fundamentally linked.

"This sense of cooperation is simply one in which people having a conversation are not normally assumed to be trying to confuse, trick, or withhold relevant information from each other" (Yule, 1996: 35).

Cooperation can be understood as an essential factor when speakers and listeners are interacting, in other words, it is the expectation that the listener has towards the speaker. The speaker is supposed to convey  true statements and say nothing more than what is required.

Implicature can be considered as an additional conveyed meaning (Yule, 1996: 35). It is attained when a speaker intends to communicate more than just what the words mean. It is the speaker who communicates something via implicatures and the listener recognizes those communicated meanings via inference.

Implicatures are inferred based on the assumption that the speaker observes or flouts some principles of cooperation (different authors have identified different principles), The most famous one: Grice – 4 principles (so called “maxims”)

Implicature = anything that is inferred from an utterance but that is not a condition for the truth of the utterance. (Gazdar, 1979)

The linguistic meaning of what is said+

The information from the context (shared knowledge)

+The assumption that the people

speaking are observing the cooperative principle

=Conversational implicature

Conventional Implicatures- Associated with specific words and result in additional conveyed meanings when those words are used. - not based on cooperative principle or maxims encoded in the lexicon or grammar- not dependent on context for their interpretationsEx: – George is short but brave. (contrast)– Sue and Bill are divorced (conjunction)– He jumped on his horse and rode away. (sequence)– I dropped the camera and it broke (consequence)

Conventional implicature is part of the meaning of a word or construction but not part of its truth-conditions.Ex:Joe is poor but happyAssertion (pernyataan yang jelas): Joe is poor.The implicature is that not all of poor people are happy.This sentence implies poverty and happiness are not compatible but in spite of this Joe is still happy. The word of “but” create implicature of sense of contrast.

Alfie is a baby, but he is quite.The truth is that Alfie is baby. Then, the implicature is that babies are not usually quite.

Bill is still swimming.Assertion: Bill is swimmingThe implicature is that Bill was swimming earlier.

Michael is Englishman, he is, therefore, braveAssertion: Michael is English and Michael is brave.The implicature is that John’s being brave is a consequence his being an Englishman.

Conversational implicatures- Inferred via the cooperative principle or maxims (observed, violated or flouted) Ex:A: I am out of petrol.B: There is a garage on the corner.

According to Grice, utterance interpretation is not a matter of decoding messages, but rather involves (1) taking the meaning of the sentences together with contextual information, (2) using inference rules (3) working out what the speaker means on the basis of the assumption that the utterance conforms to the maxims. The main advantage of this approach from Grice’s point of view is that it provides a pragmatic explanation for a wide of phenomena, especially for conversational implicatures--- a kind of extra meaning that is not literally contained in the utterance.

Ex:Husband : Where are the car keys?Wife : They’re on the table in the hall.

The wife has answered clearly (manner) and truthfully (Quality), has given just the right amount of information (Quantity) and has directly addressed her husband’s goal in asking the question (Relation). She has said precisely what she meant, no more and no less.

Ex: Budi says,” He is a tiger.”

Example is literally false, openly against the maxim of quality, for no human is a tiger. But the hearer still assumes that the speaker is being cooperative and then infers that he is trying to say something distinct from the literal meaning. He can then work out that probably the speaker meant to say that “he has some characteristics of a tiger”.

Generalized conversational implicatures- independent of the context- inferred without a special reference to context

Ex.: Indefinites - A car collided with John’s foot. (not John’s car / not the speaker’s car)The speaker is assumed to follow the maxim of quantity, if he wanted to be more specific/informative he would have said my car or John’s car

Particularized implicature - inferred only due to a special context between particular speaker and hearer.- dependens on a specific context

Ex:A: Can you tell me the time?B: Well, the milkman is here.It must be the time when the milkman comes.

Rick : Hey, coming to the party tonight?Tom : My parents are visiting. (flouting relevance)

Other type of Implicature

Scalar ImplicatureLexical (and logical) scales:– all, most, many, some–Numbers

According to the cooperation principles, the speaker must use the right member of the scale

Examples of Scalar Implicature

Bill has got some of Chomsky’s papers– Infer that Bill does not have all the Chomsky’s papers

There will be five of us for dinner tonight– Infer that there will not be more than five of us for dinner tonight

SPEECH ACTS

SPEECH ACTS: DOING THINGS WITH LANGUAGE

John Austin in his book "How to do things with words" is the first to introduce the idea of Speech Acts, analysing the relationships between utterances and performance.

A speech act is an action performed via utterances

Ex.:- describing something ("It is snowing.")

- asking a question ("Is it snowing?")

- making a request or order ("Could you pass the salt?", "Drop your weapon or I'll shoot you!")

- making a promise ("I promise I'll give it back.")

People use language with communicative intentions.

Speech acts are acts of communication that express those intentions.

The action performed by producing an utterance will consist of 3 related acts:

1. Locutionary Force (what is said)2. Illocutionary Force (what is done)3. Perlocutionary Force (the effect)

These are dimensions of a speech act, which means that they can't be performed separately.In an utterance you can always find these different aspects.

1.Locutionary Force (what is said) : the act of communication by the production of an utterance.

2. Illocutionary Force (what is done) : in other words, that is the message that is transmitted.

3. Perlocutionary Force (the effect) : that is the particular effect of the utterance.

And that is enough for today…’Locutionary act (and that is enough for today)

 Illocutionary act ( students make preparations to quit the room)

 Perlocutionary act (you realise that a change has occurred)

How can the illocutionary force (the intended function) be recognized?

IFIDs (the illocutionary Force Indicating Device)

1. Word order2. Intonation3. Stress4. Performative verbs5. Felicity condition (appropriateness) context and role of the speaker

Performative verbsEx:

I ask | when and where is the lecture? I order you to | stand up. I request that you | carry my bags.

These sentences have verbs that state the speech act.

These sentences are explicit performatives.

These verbs are called performative verbs.

These verbs can be used to perform the acts

Not every speech act has its own explicit performative verb.

Ex.:Clean up this mess!

This is an impicit performative (no performative verb is present)

FELICITY CONDITIONS

The context and the situation that allow us to recognize a speech act

as intended by the speaker.

The conditions that must be fulfilled for a speech act to be

satisfactorily performed or realized

A sentence must not only be grammatically correct, it must also be felicitous , that is situationally appropriate.

Types of felicity conditions:General condition• participants share the same language, they are not acting, etc.

Preparatory condition• The person performing the speech act has the authority to do so.

• The participants are in the correct state to have that act performed on them.

Content condition• Correspondence between content and linguistic choices

Sincerity condition • The participants must have the appropriate thoughts, feelings, and intentions

Essential condition• The speaker’s intention to carry out the action expressed (the speech act creates an obligation).

-- What happens when some of these conditions are absent?

-- Speech acts are situationally inappropriate and are considered infelicitous / inappropriate they do not fulfill the communicative intention.

Classification of Speech acts, according to the functions performed:

representatives directives

commissives expressives declarations

1. Representatives: the speaker asserts a proposition to be true, using such verbs as: affirm, believe, conclude, deny, report. (The earth is flat)

2. Directives: the speaker tries to make the hearer do something, with such words as: ask, beg, challenge, command, dare, invite, insist, request.(Don’t touch that)

3. Commissives: the speaker commits himself (or herself) to a (future) course of action, with verbs such as: guarantee, pledge, promise, swear, vow, undertake, warrant. (I’ll be back)

4. Expressives: the speaker expresses an attitude to or about a state of affairs, using such verbs as: apologize, appreciate, congratulate, deplore, detest, regret, thank, welcome. (Congratulations!)

5. Declarations: the speaker alters the external status or condition of an object or situation, solely by making the utterance. (I now pronounce you man and wife ...)

IDENTIFYING INDIRECT SPEECH ACTS• Indirect speech acts are not direct literal statements of various acts the speaker wants to be performed.

• Rather, what the speaker actually means is different from what s/he literally expresses.

It’s cold outside

Direct speech act I hereby tell you about the weather

Indirect speech act I hereby request of you that you close the door

Speech event• A set of utterances performed by the

participants who interact in order to arrive at an outcome (Ex:

requesting, complaining, making a proposal, etc.)