Relevance Theory By Xu Yiliang. outline 1. Understanding of Relevance Theory(**) 2. My interpretation of Relevance Theory(*) 3. Miscellaneous about pregmatics.

Relevance Theory

By

Xu Yiliang

outline

1. Understanding of Relevance Theory(**)

2. My interpretation of Relevance Theory(*)

3. Miscellaneous about pregmatics

4. Homework

1. Understanding of Relevance Theory

1.1 The proposing of the theory(提出)

1.2 The definition of the theory( 定义 *) 1.3 Context( 语境 *)

1.4 conclusion(小结)

1.1 The proposing of the theory( 理论的提出 )

• The reason for proposing Relevance Theory is that there is some inconsistency and redundancy among CP and its maxims.

• *Firstly, Grice’s CP and its Maxims are really the greatest novelty in linguistics in the 1980s, especially The Theory of Conversational Implicature (short as CI) has opened a new way of explaining the use of language.

A: Prof. Wang is an old bag, isn’t he?(B should say: yes/no he…)

B: Nice weather for the time of year.

(Maybe Prof. Wang is just standing behind A. Therefore, B ch

anges the topic intendedly to warn A of that.)

CI: B doesn’t want to talk about Prof. Wang.

• *Secondly, there is some inconsistency and redundancy among CP a

nd its maxims.

• For example, the maxim of quantity may contradict the maxim of quality:

A: What time will John arrive? B: Sometime today. Speaker B violates the first maxim of quantity (his reply is not as informat

ive as is required.) by saying B,because he is in dilemma: he doesn’t know the exact time but should answer it. He has to obey the maxim of quality and sacrifice the maxim of quantity.

• *Thirdly, Some aggressives even claim the maxim of Manner (Be Perspicuous.) is redundent and overlaps the maxim of quality (-Do not make your contribution more informative than required), and should be abolished from the maxims.

• *Forthly, Grice himself notes that there ma

y be some overlap between the second Quantity maxim and the maxim of Relation. The excessive information will be something irrelevant. So perhaps the second quantity maxim is not necessary. (p191)

• Therefore, linguists have sought to boil down the maxims to a set of Principles, which are truly indispensable and do not overlap at the same time.

• Accordingly, the Relevance Theory was proposed by Sperber and Wilson in their book Relevance: Communication and Cognition in 1986.

1.2 The definition of the theory( 定义 )

• According to Sperber and Wilson, they defined Relevance Theory as follows:

‘Every act of ostensive communication communicates the presumption of its own optimal relevance.’(1986:158)

( 每一个明示交际行为 都意味着一种最佳关联性 假定 .)

• E.G.

I came here by taxi this morning. The driver is very talkative.

It is clear that the driver is optimally related to the taxi driver.

*Two key notions in this definition( 定义的两个关键性概念 )

• ostensive communication( 明示交际 )

• the presumption of optimal relevance ( 最佳关联性假定 )

• Ostensive communication( 明示交际 ): – Sperber and Wilson agree From the speaker’s side, communication shoul

d be seen as an act of making clear one’s intention to express something. This act they call ostensive act.

From the hearer’s side, he/she has to infer the presumption of the optimal relevance with the maximum relevance of the context.

– A complete characterization of communication is that it is ostensive-inferential( 明示 - 推理交际 ). “Ostentive communiction”, or “inferential communication”, is a shorthand.

the presumption of optimal relevance( 最佳关联性假定 )

• By presumption of optimal relevance is meant:– The set of assumptions {I } which the communicat

or intends to make manifest to the addressee is relevant enough to make it worth the addressee‘s while to process the ostensive stimulus.( 发话者意欲向听话者显现的这个设想集 {I } , 具有足够的关联性 ,值得受话者花时间去处理其明示性刺激信号 .)

– The ostensive stimulus is the most relevant one the communicator could have used to communicate {I }. ( 这一明示刺激信号 , 是发话者可能用来传递 {I } 的关联性最大的信号 .)

• That is, every utterance comes with a presumption of the best balance of effort against effect ( 每一话语都有一个假定 , 它是努力和效应的最佳平衡 ). – On the one hand, the effects achievable will never be

less than is needed to make it worth processing.( 一方面 , 所要达到的效应永远不会小得不值得处理 .)

– On the other hand, the effort required will never be more than is needed to achieve these effects. In comparison to the effects achieved, the effort needed is always the smallest. ( 另一方面 , 需要付出的努力永远不会大得超过取得效应的需要 . 相对于所要达到的效应而言 , 需要的努力总是最小的 .)

In a word, the optimal presumption the hearer gets should be the one achieved by the hearer with the smallest effort.

• For example,if one says:

(a) George has a big cat.

• the optimal assumption of (a) to occur to the hearer will usually be that George has a big domestic cat.

As the word cat is ambiguous, it may also refer to other animals of the species felid ( 猫科动物 ) in some situations. Thus we have the following related interpretations or assumptions:

• George has a domestic cat.

• George has a tiger, a lion, a jaguar, etc.

• George has a tiger.

• George has a tiger or a lion, I'm not sure which.

• George has a felid.

• Why can a hearer decode one ostentive act into different assumptions?

• Context.

1.3 Context( 语境 )

• It has three types of Context:• 1. Co-text( 上下文语境 ): it is the most static tra

ditional context in which a word is used involving the information of time, place, characters, events …

• 2. Situational context( 情景语境 ): information about a definite action or an event. (dynamic)

• 3. Background knowledge( 参与者的认知语境 ): Individual knowledge---participants’ knowledge a

bout the event and the force of the utterrance.(dynamic)

• It’s cold in here.

My friend drove me to the bank.

• They passed the port at midnight.

• Please give me a camel.

做手术

The size of context

• The size of context is determined by the assumption to process.

• Eg.”now” It is 9 o’clock now. what are you doing now? we are now college students. we are now in the new era of information.• It’s cold (now).• It is ten o’clock(now).

Conclusion( 小结 )

• From the analyzing and examples, we can see: i. Relevance Theory has two principles:• Communicative Principle of Relevance:

– Every act of ostensive communication communicates the presumption of its own optimal relevance( 最佳关联 ).

• Cognitive Principle of Relevance: – Human cognition tends to be geared to the maximization of

relevance( 最大关联 ) and achieve the presumption of optimal relevance.

ii. Relevance depends on context, and context is relevance.

2. My interpretation of Relevance Theory( 理论的效应说明 )

• From the understanding of Relevance Theory, we can clearly see Relevance Theory is the greatest of all the theories in the post- Gricean period in explaining the intended meaning of the speaker’s and writer’s( 发话者意图 ). The typical effects or force of it( 独特的效应 / 语力 ) can be manifested in the following scopes:

1). in analyzing idioms(对习语的释解)

2). in analyzing riddles( 对谜语的释解 )

3). in analyzing figures of speech( 对修辞的释解)

4). In analyzing advertisement( 对广告语的释解 ) 5). in analyzing literary works( 对文学作品中语言的释解 )

1). in analyzing idioms( 对习语的释解 )

She is in the arms of Morpheus.

Optimal relevance assumption: She sleeps like a log. (The Greek myth goes as follows: Morpheu

s, a god of dreamland, always transforms himself into the person a dreamer is dreaming at night, and tells the dreamer everything when he is asleep.)

• Wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve

• Optimal relevance assuption: to express one’s feelings overtly; Maximum relevance assumptions: to be very frankly( It is from Othello as in “But I will wear my heart up

on my sleeve ”.) I can show my heart to you. I have given you a lot of hints.

Exercise

• Achilles’ heel

• Optimal relevance assumption: one’s vulnerable or susceptible spot. (Achilles was a Greek warrior and leader in the Trojan War,

who killed Hector and was killed by Paris with an arrow that struck his only vulnerable spot, his heel.)

Maximum relevance assumptions: weak point a fault in one’s personality …

2). in analyzing riddles( 对谜语的释解 )

• a. When can you  run as fast as a racing car?b. What stays hot even if it is put in a fridge?

• Optimal relevance assumption:

a. sleep/when you are in it.b. sun/pepper. (Pepper means hot.)

Exercises:

• a. Where does afternoon come before moring? b. Who is closer to you ,your mom or your dad? c. What's the poorest bank in the world ?

• Optimal relevance assumption:a. in the dictionary/on the clock b. mom (in the dictionary /because father’s homophone is farther.)c. river bank(People’s Bank)

3). in understanding figures of speech( 对修辞的释解 )

• You are the cream in my coffee.

• Optimal relevance assumption:

you are my belolved.

• Maximum Relevance:

• l love you just as I love the cream.

• …

Exercise:• The odour of cheese can drive a horse

three miles away.

• Optimal relevance:• The smell of cheese is too strong.• Maximum Relevance assuptions:• The smell can threaten a horse and mak

e it run away.• We can not eat the cheese now.

4). In analyzing advertisement( 对广告语的释解 )

• After you get married, kiss your wife in places she’s never been kissed before. (Honeymoon Tourist Center)

• Opimal Relevance:• Honeymoon Tourist Center urges you to

go abroad on honeymoon.• Maximum relevance:• Since you’ve got married, you can kiss y

our wife.

Exercise:

The following is an ad by HK Learning Languge Center:

She wants to put her tongue in your mouth.

(She wants to teach you Language.)

5). in analyzing literary works( 对文学作品中语言的释解 )

• O my luve is like a red, red rose, • That’s newly sprung in June; • O my luve is like the melodie• That’s sweetly played in tune.Optimal Relevance assuption: My love is beautiful and attractive.Maximum Relevance assumption: I love my beloved very much. My love is as beautiful as a rose. …

Exercise:• “Look!” somebody shouted “Look at Vesuviu

s!” • Thousands of eyes turned upward. Thousand

s of arms pointed. A black cloud was rising from the shattered summit of the mountain. Higher and higher it rose. Like the trunk of a tree, it rose in the air, branching out as it climbed.

Optimal Relevance assuption: The eruptions of ashes and lava draw people’s

attention.(Pompeii)Maximum Relevance assumption: What is it ? Look! …

3. Miscellaneous about Pregmatics语用学补遗

• To sum up, as for Pregmatics we have learned three theories to explain language in use: Speech Act Theory, The Theory of Conversational Implicature and Relevance Theory. We have learned the way how to fish. Can we catch many many big, or large, or huge fish using the principles?

• Still, I would like to show you my own way:

1). Relevance Theory 关联理论徐宜良 . 幽默话语的关联理论阐释 武汉科技

大学学报 ,2007,(2)

徐宜良 . 委婉语的语境制约与解读 西南民族大学学报 , 2007,(7)

徐宜良 . 隐喻、认知与文化 安徽工业大学学报 , 2007,(1)

徐宜良 . 从文化视角看英汉“死亡”代语 宁夏大学学报 ,2008 , （ 5 ）

徐宜良 . 英汉谐音的生成方式及其运用 西南民族大学学报 ,2008(11)

2). The Theory of Conversational implicatures 语用 : 　 徐宜良 . << 红楼梦 >> 经典会话艺术之语用赏析 名作欣赏

2008,(3) 徐宜良 . 委婉语的语用原则分析 宁夏大学学报 2007.3

徐宜良 . 委婉语的构建及语用功能 武汉科技学院学报 200

6 ． 11 徐宜良 . 言语幽默的语用分析 郑州航空工业管理学院学报

2006.4 徐宜良 . 英语词义的模糊性及其语用功能 贵州民族学院学

报 2004.4

3). Promising research field: hyperbole, Metaphor, Taboo Language, Irony…

4. Homework

• 1) Fresh up the materials on pages 198-201.

• 2) Try to analyze some cases of Figures of Speech such as Metaphor, Taboo, Euphemism and Irony using Relevance Theory

• 3) Can you find out the context related to an ad?