1、Chapter 6 Pragmatics (语用学),- the study of language in use or language communication; the study of the use of context to make inference about meaning. - the study of how speakers of a language use sentences to effect successful communication.,Some basic notions in Pragmatics,Context Pragmatics vs. se
2、mantics Sentence meaning vs. utterance meaning Correctness vs. appropriateness,Context,Context- a basic concept in the study of pragmatics. It is generally considered as constituted knowledge shared by the speaker and the hearer, such as cultural background, situation(time, place, manner, etc.), the
3、 relationship between the speaker and the hearer, etc.,Pragmatics vs. semantics,Semantics- is the study of the literal meaning of a sentence (without taking context into consideration). Pragmatics- the study of the intended meaning of a speaker (taking context into consideration), e.g. “Today is Sun
4、day”, 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 invitation,Sentence meaning vs. utterance meaning,- Sentence meaning: abstract
5、and context-independent meaning; literal meaning of a sentence;-utterance meaning: concrete and context-dependent meaning; intended meaning of a speaker;,For example, “The bag is heavy” can mean :,a bag being heavy (sentence meaning); an indirect, polite request, asking the hearer to help him carry
6、the bag;Note: The meaning of an utterance is based on the sentence meaning; it is the realization 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 spea
7、ker utters the sentence.,Correctness vs. appropriateness,“John play golf”- grammatically incorrect; “Golf played John” - logically incorrect; but it might be appropriate pragmatically in certain context.,Note: Pragmatics can make sense out of nonsense, given a suitable context. Appropriateness is ve
8、ry important in linguistic communication, especially in cross-cultural communication. If you say something grammatically incorrect, you are at worse condemned as “speaking badly”, but, if you say something inappropriately, you will be judged as “behaving badly”, such as insincere, untruthful, or dec
9、eitful. (Thomas, 1983),Speech act theory,Speech acts 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 communication. It aims to ans
10、wer the question “What do we do when using language?”,Two types of utterances(话语),constatives (叙述句) - statements that either state or describe, and are thus verifiable (verifaibl能证实的) performatives (施为句) - sentences that do not state a fact or describe a state, and are not verifiable. Note: Sometime
11、s they are easy to get confused, e.g.“It is raining outside” can be a constative, and also a performative, for by uttering such a sentence, we may not only state a fact, but involve in the act of informing someone about the rain.,Some Examples of Performatives,“I do” “I name this ship Elizabeth.” “I
12、 give and bequeath (遗赠) my watch to my brother.” “I bet you sixpence it will rain tomorrow.” “I declare the meeting open.”,Austins new model of speech acts,-According to Austins new model, a speaker might be performing three acts simultaneously when speaking: locutionary act, illocutionary act and p
13、erlocutionary act. the locutionary act （言内行为） -an act of saying something, i.e. an act of making a meaningful utterance (literal meaning of an utterance); the illocutionary act （言中行为） -an act performed in saying something: in saying X, I was doing Y (the intention of the speaker while speaking). the
14、 perlocutionary act （言后行为） -an act performed as a result of saying something: by saying X and doing Y, I did Z (the hearers response).,For example,“It is cold in here.”,Its locutionary act is the saying of it with its literal meaning the weather is cold in here; Its illocutionary act can be a reques
15、t of the hearer to shut the window; Its perlocutionary act can be the hearers shutting the window or his refusal to comply with the request. -Analyze one more example: “You have left the door wide open.”Note: Of the three acts, what speech act theory is most concerned with is the illocutionary act.
16、It attempts to account for the ways by which speakers can mean more than what they say.,Analyze the illocutionary acts of the following conversation between a couple: -(the telephone rings) -H: That the phone. (1) -W: Im in the bathroom. (2) -H: Okay. (3) This seemingly incoherent conversation goes
17、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 request of her husband to answer the phone instead. (3) Accepting the wifes refusal and accepting her reque
18、st, meaning “all right, Ill answer it.”,Searles classification of speech acts (1969),Assertives/representatives(阐述) Directives(指令) Commissives(承诺) Expressives(表达) Declarations(宣告),Assertives/representatives (阐述),- Stating or describing, saying what the speaker believes to be true, e.g. I think the f
19、ilm is moving. Im certain I have never seen the man before. I solemnly swear that he had got it.,Directives (指令),- Trying to get the hearer to do something, e.g. I order you to leave right now. Open the window, please. Your money or your life!,Commissives (承诺),- Committing the speaker himself to som
20、e future course of action, e.g. I promise to come. I will bring you the book tomorrow without fail.,Expressives (表达),-Expressing the speakers psychological state about something, e.g. Im sorry for being late.I apologize for the sufferings that the war has caused to your people. ,Declarations (宣告),-B
21、ringing about an immediate change in the existing state or affairs, e.g. I now appoint you chairman of the committee. You are fired.I now declare the meeting open.,Note: (1) All the acts that belong to the same category share the same purpose but differ in their strength or force, e.g.I guess / am s
22、ure / swear he is the murderer. Note: (2) In order to get someone open the door, we can choose one from a variety of the forms in below:Could you open the door, please!Can you open the door!Do you mind opening the door?Open the door!The door please!,Principle of conversation (Paul Grice) (会话原则）,Coop
23、erative principle (CP)- According to Grice, in making conversation, there is a general principle which all participants are expected to observe. It goes as follows: Make your conversational contribution such as required at the stage at which it occurs by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk
24、 exchange in which you are engaged. 答非所问：http:/ maxims of CP,The maxim of quality -Do not say what you believe to be false. -Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence. The maxim of quantity -Make your contribution as informative as required for the current purpose of the exchange. -Do not
25、 make your contribution more informative than is required. The maxim of relation -Be relevant ( make your contribution relevant). The maxim of manner -Avoid obscurity of expression. -Avoid ambiguity. -Be brief. -Be orderly.,Conversational implicature （言外之意/会话含义）,In real communication, however, speak
26、ers do not always observe these maxims strictly. These maxims can be violated for various reasons. When any of the maxims is blantantly violated, i.e. both the speaker and the hearer are aware of the violation, our language becomes indirect, then conversational implicature arises.,Violation of Maxim
27、 of quality,-A: Would you like to go movie with me tonight? -B: There is no film tonight. (lacking evidence)-A: would you like to come to our party tonight? -B: I dont like parties. (a lie)-A: Who was that lady I saw you with last night? -B: That was no lady. That was a man with long hair. (a lie),V
28、iolation of maxim of quantity,- At a party a young man introduces himself by saying “Im Robert Sampson from Leeds, 28, unmarried” - “War is war.” - “Girls are girls.” -A:When is Susans farewell party? -B:Sometime next month.,Violation of maxim of relation,-A: How did the math exam go today, Jonnie?
29、-B: We had a basketball match with class 2 and we beat them. -A: The hostess is an awful bore. -B: The roses in the garden are beautiful, arent they?-A: What time is it? -B: The postman has just arrived.,Violation of maxim of manner,-A: Shall we get something for the kids? -B: Yes. But I veto I-C-E-
30、C-R-E-A-M.,Cross-cultural pragmatic failure,Cross-cultural pragmatic failure occurs when the speaker and the hearer fail to communicate successfully because of cultural differences instead of language ability. e.g. A: You speak beautiful English. B: No, no, no. My English is still very poor.A: Thank
31、s a lot. Thats a great help. B: Never mind./ It doesnt matter.,A: Is Seven-eleven open Sundays? B: Of course.A: Please sit down, Mrs Green. Youre old. B: The chairman: Let me introduce you a very pretty girl, Miss Brown. She is a very good teacher from U.S.A. Miss Brown : ,A: You are very beautiful, Mrs. Zhang. Interpreter: 张女士，您真漂亮。 B: 哪里哪里。 Interpreter: Where? Where? A: (Stunned) Everywhere. Interpreter: 哪里都漂亮。- 高高兴兴上班去，平平安安回家来。 Go to work happily, and come back safely. Good luck! Safety first in driving!,
