1、Chapter Eight Language in Use,2,8.1.1 Definition of Pragmatics,The study of language in use. The study of meaning in context. The study of speakers meaning, utterance meaning, & contextual meaning.,3,1. A: Are you going to the seminar?B: Its on linguistics. 2. A: Would you like some coffee?B: Coffee
2、 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。,Pragmatics,4,8.1.2 Semantics and Pragmatics,1. Semantics: The meaning of language was considered as something intrinsic , and inherent, i.e., a property attached to language itself. Therefore, meanings of words, sentences were all studied in isol
3、ation from language use. 2. Pragmatics: It would be impossible to give an adequate description of meaning if the context of language use is left unconsidered. Therefore, context is taken into consideration.,5,Key in the distinction,Both semantics and pragmatics study the meaning of a linguistic form
4、. However, they are different in many respects, such as their research methods, their research scope. What essentially distinguishes them is whether in the study of meaning the context of use is considered. If it its not considered, the study is confined to the area of traditional semantics; If it i
5、s considered, the study is being carried out in the area of pragmatics.,6,8.2 Speech Act Theory,John Austin (1911-1960) How to Do Things with Words (1962) Speech acts: actions performed via utterances,1. I got up very early this morning. 2. We are having a class on linguistics. 3. Im sorry for makin
6、g you bored. 4. Lets go and have a drink. 1 and 2: verifiable constatives(述事话语) 3 and 4: unverifiable performatives(行事话语),7,Constatives: utterances which roughly serves to state a fact, report that something is the case, or describe what something is, e.g.: I go to the park every Sunday. I teach Eng
7、lish.,8.2.1 Constatives vs. Performatives,8,Performatives: utterances which are used to perform acts, do not describe or report anything at all; the uttering of the sentence is the doing of an action; they cannot be said to be true or false. Performative verbs: name, bet, etc.,Constatives vs. perfor
8、matives,9,I do. I name this ship Queen Elizabeth. I bet you sixpence it will rain tomorrow. I give and bequeath my watch to my brother. I promise to finish it in time. I apologize. I declare the meeting open. I warn you that the bull will charge.,Performatives,10,Felicity conditions: A. (i) There mu
9、st be a relevant conventional procedure.(ii) the relevant participants and circumstances must be appropriate. B. The procedure must be executed correctly and completely. C. Very often, the relevant people must have the requisite thoughts, feelings and intentions, and must follow it up with actions a
10、s specified.,Performatives,11,1. 第一人称单数为主语、现在时态、陈述语气、主动语态动词为谓语。 I promise/object/agree/swear He promises/I promised (陈述） 2. 第二人称为主语、现在时态、陈述语气、被动态动词为谓语。 Passengers are requested to ,Grammatical and lexical criteria,12,Problems with felicity conditions No strict procedure for promising. I promise. I g
11、ive my word for it. I bequeath my watch to my brother. (T or F?),Performatives,Conclusion: The distinction between constatives & performatives cannot be maintained. All sentences can be used to do things.,13,8.2.2 Illocutionary Act Theory,John Searle (1932- ) Speech acts can be analyzed on 3 levels:
12、 A speaker might be performing three acts simultaneously when speaking:,(1) locutionary act（言内行为）， (2) illocutionary act (言外行为), and (3) perlocutionary act（言后行为）.,14,A locutionary act: the act of saying something in the full sense of “say”. A locutinary act is the act of uttering words, phrases, cla
13、uses. It is the act of conveying literal meaning by means of syntax, lexicon and phonology The bag is heavy. It is cold here. The apple is nice.,Locutionary act,15,Illocutionary act,An illocutionary act: an act performed in saying something. To say sth is to do sth. In saying X, I was doing Y. In sa
14、ying “I will come tomorrow”, I was making a promise. Illocutionary force,16,A perlocutionary act: the act preformed by or as a result of saying, the effects on the hearer. By saying X and doing Y, I did Z. By saying “I will come tomorrow” and making a promise, I reassure my friends. Shoot her!,Perlo
15、cutionary act,17,Example,What are the three acts Tom performs when he says the following?“You have left the door wide open.”(1) The locutionary act (2) The illocutionary act (3) The perlocutionary act,18,8.3 Conversational Implicature,People do not usually say things directly but tend to imply them.
16、 Herbert Paul Grice (1913-1988) William James lectures at Harvard in 1967 Logic and Conversation in 1975,19,8.3.1 Origin of the theory,Case 1: (A and B are talking about their mutual friend C) A: How is C? B: Oh! Quite well, I think; he likes his colleagues, and he hasnt been to prison yet.,20,Origi
17、n of the theory,Case 2: A boy says to a girl “你不戴眼镜的时候很漂亮”. And the girl immediately responds: “那我戴眼镜的时候一定很丑了”.,21,Grices theory Logic and Conversation is an attempt at explaining how a hearer gets from what is said to what is meant, from the level of expressed meaning to the level of implied meanin
18、g. The Cooperative Principle (CP) Make your contribution such as required at the stage at which it occurs by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.,Definition,22,Maxim of Quality: Do not say what you believe to be false. Do not say something if you lack adeq
19、uate evidence; Maxim of Quantity: Make your contribution as informative as required (for the current purposes of the exchange). Do not make your contribution more informative than required.,8.3.2 Maxims,23,Maxim of Relation: Be relative.Maxim of Manner: Be perspicuous. Avoid obscurity of expression.
20、 Avoid ambiguity. Be brief. Be orderly.,Maxims,24,CP is meant to describe what actually happens in conversation. People tend to be cooperative and obey CP in communication. However, CP is often violated. Since CP is regulative, CP can be violated. Violation of CP and its maxims leads to conversation
21、al implicature.,8.3.3 Violation of CP and its maxims,25,Violation of the maxims (Quantity),Make your contribution as informative as is required. A: 昨天上街买了些什么? B: 就买了些东西。 I dont want to tell you what I bought.,26,Dear Sir,Mr. Xs command of English is excellent, and his attendance at tutorials has bee
22、n regular.Yours Mr. X is not suitable for the job.,Violation of the maxims (Quantity),27,2. Do not make your contribution more informative than is required. Aunt: How did Jimmy do his history exam? Mother: Oh, not at all well. Teachers asked him things that happened before the poor boy was born. Her
23、 son should not be blamed.,Violation of the maxims (Quantity),28,A: Your kid broke the window. B: Boys are boys. War is war. ,Violation of the maxims (Quantity),29,Violation of the maxims (Quality),1. Do not say what you believe to be false. You are the cream in my coffee. X runs as fast as a deer.
24、He is made of iron.,30,2. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.A: Beirut is in Peru, isnt it?B: And Rome is in Romania, I suppose. Its ridiculous.,Violation of the maxims (Quality),31,Violation of the maxims (Relation),Be relevant.A: Prof. Wang is an old bag.B: Nice weather for the t
25、ime of year. I dont want to talk about Prof. Wang.,萍：爸爸，不过四凤同鲁贵在家里都很好,很忠诚的。 朴：恩，我很累了。 我预备到书房歇一下。你叫他们送一碗浓一点的普洱茶来。 ,32,Violation of the maxims (Manner),1. Avoid obscurity of expressionA: Lets get the kids something.B: Ok, but I veto C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E. Dont give them chocolate.,2. Avoid ambiguity A: Na
26、me and title, please?B: John Smith, Associate Editor and professor.Cf:买一赠一。,33,3. Be brief A: Did you get my assignment?B: I received two pages clipped together and covered with rows of black squiggles. not satisfied.,Violation of the maxims (Manner),34,Exercises,Tell what maxim is violated in the f
27、ollowing utterances, and whats their conversational implicatures. 1. Suppose Mary knows that Tom knows she is very well. But when Tom invites Mary to a party for the weekend, Mary answers: “Sorry, I dont feel very well.”,35,Exercises,2. A: 你打算什么时候结婚？B: 我结婚的时候结婚。3. A:我的那盒巧克力呢？B:刚才我饿了。,36,Exercises,4.
28、 A: Can you answer the phone?B: Im in the bath.5. A: What songs did Miss X sing last night?B: She produced a series of sounds that corresponded closely with the score of “Home, Sweet Home.”,37,8.3.4 Characteristics of implicature,Calculability: hearers work out implicature based on literal meaning,
29、CP and its maxims, context, etc. The girl said to the boy: “圣诞节到了！” The boy said: “又快放假了。”,38,Cancellability / defeasibility: If the linguistic or situational contexts changes, the implicature will also change. A: Do you want some coffee?B: Coffee would keep me awake. I do not like coffee.B: Coffee
30、would keep me awake. I want to stay up.A: Youre the cream in my coffee.B: But Im afraid I dont quite like cream in my coffee.,Characteristics of implicature,39,Non-detachability: implicature is attached to the semantic content of what is said, not to the linguistic form; implicatures do not vanish i
31、f the words of an utterance are changed for synonyms.,A: Shall we go the cinema tonight? B: Therell be an exam tomorrow.Ill take an exam tomorrow.Isnt there an exam tomorrow?,Characteristics of implicature,40,Non-conventionality: implicature is different from its conventional meaning of words. It is
32、 context-dependent. It varies with context. A1：下午踢球去吧！ A2：老王住院了？ B：上午还在 换草皮。 A3: 足球场安装了一个新门柱。,Characteristics of implicature,41,8.3.5 Flouting of the maxims and rhetoric 1. Main idea,反语（irony）、隐喻（metaphor）、夸张法（hyperbole）和弱言法（meiosis）等都是说话人有意违反会话的质量准则所产生的结果（Grice 1975: 312）。 使用修辞格的目的可以说是通过使用比较含蓄的语言来达
33、到更加强烈的语气、更加生动的表达。就其含蓄性而言，修辞格与日常会话中的含义有共同之处。（何兆熊等 2000：163）,42,2. Examples,1. You have done a good job. 2. He is a fox. 3. He has a heart of stone. 4. Havent seen you for ages. 5. Its a bit warm today.,43,3. More Example,问联：泉自几时冷起？峰从何处飞来？ 答联：泉自冷时冷起；峰从飞处飞来。（闪避格）（陈宗明 2004：97）,8.4,Post-Gricean Developme
34、nts,45,1. Some weak points of CP,1. 在语言交际中，合作原则是否是交际的最高原则？合作原则下的各条准则的的作用如何？ 相互之间的关系如何？ 2. 合作原则只解释了人们间接使用语言所产生的会话含义，却没有解释人们为什么常不采取直接了当的方式去进行交际。 3. 其会话含义的推导多半是听话人凭感觉、主观经验所作的结论。,46,2. Post-Gricean developments,1. Leech: Principle of Politeness Tact, Generosity, Approbation, Modest, Agreement, Sympathy Maxims (6) 2. Brown and Levison: Face-saving Theory 3. Levison: Quantity, Information, Manner Principles (3) 4. Horn: Quantity, Relevance Principles (2) 5. Sperber and Wilson: Relevance Theory. (1),
