1、Topic 6 Pragmatics,Wang Lijuan,Linguistics,Listen to the conversation and answer the question,Question: What does the second speaker mean?Answer: Two much work, and Im exhausted!Script: A: How was work today?B: Im dead!,6.1 What Is Pragmatics About?,Pragmatics is the scientific study of how language
2、 is used, i.e. how speakers use language appropriately and effectively in accordance with a given context.It is also a kind of meaning study.It is a comparatively new branch of study.,6.2 The Semantics Pragmatics Distinction,“Its cold in here”.Whats the semantic meaning? The temperature in this plac
3、e is low. Look at the following example: (1)a. John and Rosy are watching a movie in the open air. After a while, Rosy says: Its cold in here. (1)b. The patient is lying in bed when the nurse comes in. The window is open. The patient says: Its cold in here.Within context, the two utterances definite
4、ly have different meanings. (1)a: Rosy most probably suggests: “Lets leave here and find a warmer place.” (1)b: The patient is suggesting to the nurse:“Close the window please.”,Distinction between semantics and pragmatics,6.3 Context,Linguistic context Knowledge about the languageKnowledge about th
5、e linguistic environmentCommon sense Context Background knowledge Social-cultural conventionsSpeech conventionsTime and place of the Extralinguistic context communicationContext of situation Subject of communicationFormality of communicationRelationship of participantsMutual knowledge,Context is gen
6、erally considered as constituted by the knowledge shared by the speaker and the hearer.,6.4 Deixis (指示词),It is one of the most important issues in pragmatic study.(2) Ill put this there. Deixis (from Greek): means “pointing” via language.Deictic expressions are those expressions of a language which
7、in some way are dependent upon or related to the situation of the encoder. They have their most basic uses in face-to-face spoken interaction.(3) Meet me here a week from now with a stick about this big.,Classification of deixis,1 Person deixis: pronouns for first person, second person, and third pe
8、rsonIs there any difference between the meanings of the two sentences? (4)a. Let us know the time of your arrival. (4)b. Lets go to the cinema. exclusive we vs. inclusive we What about Chinese?The doctor asks a patient: How are we feeling today? Why does the doctor use we instead of you? -To show in
9、timacy and care. T/V distinction: It is from the French forms tu (familiar) and vous (non-familiar) To whom do you use vous version? -To those who are older, more powerful and of higher status.,Watch the TV play episode and answer the questions,The Dream Of the Red Chamber, Chapter 31 红楼梦第三十一回 撕扇子作千
10、金一笑 因麒麟伏白首双星Q1: What happened to Qingwen? Q2: Has Xiren helped to solve the problem? Q3: Which word that Xiren has used aggravated the dispute?,On this account was it that, when the company cheerlessly broke up from the present feast, Lin Tai-y did not mind the separation; and that Pao-y experienced
11、 such melancholy and depression, that, on his return to his apartments, he gave way to deep groans and frequent sighs. Ching Wen, as it happened, came to the upper quarters to change her costume. In an unguarded moment, she let her fan slip out of her hand and drop on the ground. As it fell, the bon
12、es were snapped. “You stupid thing!” Pao-y exclaimed, sighing, “what a dunce! what next will you be up to by and bye? When, in a little time, you get married and have a home of your own, will you, forsooth, still go on in this happy-go-lucky careless sort of way?” “Master Secundus,” replied Ching We
13、n with a sardonic smile, “your temper is of late dreadfully fiery, and time and again it leaks out on your very face! The other day you even beat Hsi Jen and here you are again now finding fault with us! If you feel disposed to kick or strike us, you are at liberty, Sir, to do so at your pleasure; b
14、ut for a fan to slip on the ground is an everyday occurrence! How many of those crystal jars and cornelian bowls were smashed the other time, I dont remember, and yet you were not seen to fly into a tantrum; and now, for a fan do you distress yourself so? Whats the use of it? If you dislike us, well
15、 pack us off and select some good girls to serve you, and we will quietly go away. Wont this be better?” This rejoinder so exasperated Pao-y that his whole frame trembled violently. “You neednt be in a hurry!” he then shouted. “There will be a day of parting by and bye.” Hsi Jen was on the other sid
16、e, and from an early period she listened to the conversation between them. Hurriedly crossing over, “what are you up to again?” she said to Pao-y, “why, theres nothing to put your monkey up! Im perfectly right in my assertion that when Im away for any length of time, something is sure to happen.” Ch
17、ing Wen heard these remarks. “Sister,” she interposed smiling ironically, “since youve got the gift of the gab, you should have come at once; you would then have spared your master his fit of anger. Its you who have from bygone days up to the present waited upon master; weve never had anything to do
18、 with attending on him; and its because youve served him so faithfully that he repaid you yesterday with a kick on the stomach. But who knows what punishment maynt be in store for us, who arent fit to wait upon him decently!” At these insinuations, Hsi Jen felt both incensed and ashamed. She was abo
19、ut to make some response but Pao-y had worked himself into such another passion as to get quite yellow in the face, and she was obliged to rein in her temper. Pushing Ching Wen, “Dear sister,” she cried, “you had better be off for a stroll! its really we, who are to blame!” The very mention of the w
20、ord “we” made it certain to Ching Wen that she implied herself and Pao-y, and thus unawares more fuel was added again to her jealous notions. Giving way to several loud smiles, full of irony: “I cant make out,” she insinuated, “who you may mean. But dont make me blush on your account! Even those dev
21、ilish pranks of yours cant hoodwink me! How and why is it that youve started styling yourself as we? Properly speaking, you havent as yet so much as attained the designation of Miss! Youre simply no better than I am, and how is it then that you presume so high as to call yourself we.” Hsi Jens face
22、grew purple from shame. “The fact is,” she reflected, “that Ive said more than I should.” “As one and all of you are ever bearing her malice,” Pao-y simultaneously observed, “Ill actually raise her to-morrow to a higher status!” Hsi Jen quickly snatched Pao-ys hand. “Shes a stupid girl,” she said, “
23、whats the use of arguing with her? Whats more, youve so far borne with them and overlooked ever, so many other things more grievous than this; and what are you up to to-day?” “If Im really a stupid girl,” repeated Ching Wen, smiling sarcastically, “am I a fit person for you to hold converse with? Wh
24、y, Im purely and simply a slave-girl; thats all.” “Are you, after all,” cried Hsi Jen, at these words, “bickering with me, or with Master Secundus? If you bear me a grudge, youd better then address your remarks to me alone; albeit it isnt right that you should kick up such a hullaballoo in the prese
25、nce of Mr. Secundus. But if you have a spite against Mr. Secundus, you shouldnt be shouting so boisterously as to make thousands of people know all about it! I came in, a few minutes back, merely for the purpose of setting matters right, and of urging you to make up your quarrels so that we should a
26、ll be on the safe side; and here I have the unlucky fate of being set upon by you, Miss! Yet you neither seem to be angry with me, nor with Mr. Secundus! But armed cap-pie as you appear to be, what is your ultimate design? I wont utter another word, but let you have your say!” While she spoke, she w
27、as hurriedly wending her way out.,2 Spatial deixis: Can you list some words which can be used as spatial diexis?(5) I dont like this shirt. Can you fetch me that one over there? (6) Bring a dictionary when you come next time.adverbs: here and there pronouns: this and that verbs: come and go proximal
28、 (close to the speaker) vs. distal (away from the speaker, close to the addressee)Physical distance or psychological distance? (7) (a perfume being sniffed by the speaker) “I dont like that.”,3 Temporal deixis yesterday, tomorrow, today, next week, last month (8) a. November 22nd, 2008? I was in Sco
29、tland then. (8) b. Dinner at 8:30 on Saturday? Okay, Ill see you then. Then applies to both past and future time relative to the speakers present time. What do you think of the following sentence? Logically written? (9) I am not here now. I can say (9) into the recorder of a telephone answering mach
30、ine, projecting that the now will apply to any time someone tries to call me, and not to when I actually record the words.,e.g. the coming week the approaching yearthe past week in those days gone by We can treat temporal events as objects that move toward us (into view) or away from us (out of view
31、).One metaphor in English: events coming toward the speaker from the future and going away from the speaker to the past.We also seem to treat the near or immediate future as being close to utterance time by using the proximal deictic this, as in this (coming) weekend.,6.5 Reference and inference,Whe
32、n discussing the deixis, there is an assumption that the use of words to refer to people and things was a relatively straightforward matter. But we do know: words themselves dont refer to anything. People refer.What is reference? Reference (所指) is an act in which a speaker, or writer, uses linguisti
33、c forms to enable a listener, or reader, to identify something. Those linguistic forms are referring expressions.,Reference is clearly tied to the speakers goals (for example, to identify something) and the speakers beliefs.Can the listener be expected to know what particular something the speaker i
34、s identifying?Thats the role inference (推论、推理)plays.Because there is no direct relationship between entities and words, the listeners task is to infer correctly which entity the speaker intends to identify.,6.6 Presupposition and entailment,Presupposition (预设)are inferences about what is pre-suppose
35、d, or assumed to be the case in an utterance rather than directly asserted. Speakers, not sentences have presuppositions.Johns kids all play football.In producing the utterance, the speaker will normally be expected to have the presuppositions: a. A person John exists. b. John has kids. c. John has
36、at least three kids.,Entailments (蕴涵)are inferences that can be drawn solely from our knowledge about the semantic relationships in a language. Sentences, not speakers, have entailments.Marys brother bought three horses.This sentence has the entailments: a. Somebody bought three horses. b. Marys bro
37、ther did something to three horses. c. Marys brother bought three of something. d. Something happened.,Presupposition is crucial to successful communication. Lack of necessary presupposition will lead to failure of communication. Besides, the speakers presuppositions are not always true. That will a
38、lso hinder communication until necessary compensation is made.e.g. A: I was just going to set down to my essay when John came in. He said he had just bought a new record, an album of his favourite singer.B: Wait a minute. Who is this John youve been talking about all the time?A: Dont you know John?
39、John Gregory? Im sorry. I thought you knew him. Hes staying with his parents now just for a visit.What is As presupposition?,Types of presupposition,The symbol means presupposes. Presupposition triggers (预设引发项): Linguistic expressions and grammatical structures which come from our knowledge about th
40、e way language users conventionally interpret these words and structures.,Please identify the types of presupposition.1. the King of Sweden, the cat, the girl next door, the Counting Crows 2. a. I dreamed that I was rich.b. We imagined we were in Hawaii.c. If you were my friend, you would have helpe
41、d me. 3. a. They managed to buy a flat.b. He stopped smoking.c. They started complaining. 4. a. She didnt realize he was ill.b. We regret telling him.c. I wasnt aware that she was married.d. It isnt odd that he left early.e. Im glad that its over. 5. a. When did he leave?b. Where did you buy the tic
42、ket?c. How fast was the car going when it ran the red light?,6.7 Speech act,Speech act theory, initially proposed by J. L. Austin in the 1950s, is the first major theory in pragmatics.Speech act: actions performed via utterances. e.g. You are fired.,6.7.1 Performatives and Constatives 施为句和表述句,I anno
43、unce you husband and wife. I bet you ten dollars it will rain tomorrow. I declare the meeting open. I need the salt.Constatives: sentences that are used to state or describe things. Performatives: sentences that are used to do things. This kind of sentences cannot be true or false.,Felicity conditio
44、ns 适宜条件,A. (1) There must be a relevant conventional procedure;(2) the relevant participants and circumstances must be appropriate. B. The procedure must be executed (1) correctly and (2) completely. C. Very often, (1) the relevant people must have the requisite thoughts, feelings and intentions, an
45、d (2) must follow it up with actions as specified. In the discussion of these conditions, however, Austin gradually realized that they are not really useful for separating performatives from constatives. e.g. “I promise.” - “I give my word.” The execution of the procedure may not to so strict.,6.7.2
46、 Three levels of speech act,After rejecting the distinction between performatives and constatives, Austin put forward his new model: a speaker while producing an utterance is in most cases performing three acts simultaneously.,Please identify the three levels of the speech act: What is Mary doing in
47、 saying “Ive just made some coffee.”Locutionary act: Illocutionary act: Perlocutionary act:Which level is the focus of pragmatics? Illocutionary act deserves more attention.,Practice: Please explain this speech act.a. Husband: Thats the phone. b. Wife: Im in the bathroom. c. Husband: Okay.,Practice:
48、 Can you tell the different speech acts performed in the utterances?(1) I believe he is innocent. (2) Get out of here! (3) Next time, Ill arrive on time. (4) Im sorry for the trouble I brought to you. (5) I announce you husband and wife.,6.7.3 Classification of illocutionary acts,John Searle believe
49、s that there are five general types of things we do with language.,6.7.4 Direct and indirect speech acts,E.g. The speaker wants the addressee not to stand in front of the TV. What will you say? a. Move out of the way! b. Do you have to stand in front of the TV? c. Youd make a better door than a window. d. I cant see the screen. e. Its harmful to your eyes.Why do people tend to use indirect speech acts in daily communication? * Politeness. Face (the public self-image).,
