1、Pragmatics,Main Contents,PragmaticsMain Theories of Pragmatics Speech Act Theory 言语行为理论 Conversational Implicature 会话含义 Relevance Theory 关联理论 Post-Gricean Developments后格莱斯时期,Introduction to Pragmatics,Pragmaticsthe study of language in use or context.(对语境中语言运用的研究）。Cf. Semantics vs. Pragmatics,contex
2、t,Semantics: the study of meaning is more closely related to the linguistic forms (more constant and inherent)Pragmatics: the study of meaning is more closely related to the context (more indeterminate, speakers meaning, utterance meaning or contextual meaning)The meaning depends on “context”,Pragma
3、tics is different from semantics in that it studies meaning not in isolation but in context.,Sentence Meaning Utterance Meaning,It is the abstract context-independent entity called semantic proposition.,It is context-dependent. It is the product of sentence meaning and context. Therefore, it is rich
4、er than the meaning of the sentence.,Examples:“It is cold here.”Diectics指示语 Diexis person diectics place diectics time diectics discourse diectics social diectics,The role of context,Deixis,Personal deixisI, you, she, he Social deixisYou vs. thou, vous vs. tu Spatial deixisHere, there, this, that Te
5、mporal deixisThen, now, yesterday, tomorrow, Textual deixisThis, that, the above, the following, ,1. Speech Act Theory,Austin奥斯丁 Oxford philosopher,Austin:,1. Words and Deeds 言与行（1952） 2. How to Do Things with Words 如何以言行事（1962）,we are performing various kinds of acts when we are speaking.,1. Perfor
6、mative2. Illocutionary Act,Austin made the primary distinction between two types of utterances: constative:表述句 performative：施为句,Backgrounds for the proposing of the performative theory In the 40s and 50s, it was commonly held that the study of language should be concerned only with the truth-conditi
7、onal meaning of the proposition, and not with the situations of the utterance. However, it had been observed that sometimes people are using words to do things. And in such cases, what is of more importance is not the truth conditional-meaning, but the action of doing things.,Performatives施为句,Two Ty
8、pes of sentences: Constatives: sentences which describe things (True or False) Performatives: sentences which do not describe things, but the utterance of the sentences is the doing of an action.,Performatives are sentences used to perform such functions as promising, naming, warning, inviting, requ
9、esting, ordering and asking etc.,“I declare the meeting open.” -as uttered in an open ceremony.,Teacher: Class begins!,Boss: You are fired!,I name this tiger George Bush.,“ I give and bequeath the watch to my brother.” - as occurring in a will.,“ I bet you sixpence it will rain tomorrow.” - as utter
10、ed when making a bet.,I promise to love you forever!,Performative verbs:,Name, apologize, warn, bet, bequeath, declare, promise, swear, beg, order, advise, congratulate, welcome, nominate,Felicity Conditions,A. The proposition must have proper content;B. There must be proper agent and proper object
11、to enable the performative to be carried out; C. the act must be performed sincerely;D. the act must bring about effects to the object.,Characteristics of Performatives,A. They are performed in saying something; B. they cannot be performed unless language is used; C. they have connected with them pe
12、rformative verbs, the occurrence of which as a main verb in a present tense, indicative, active, a first person sentence makes explicit what act a speaker intends to be performing in uttering the sentence.,How to distinguish performatives and constatives,1. Conditions: true or false (constative) fel
13、icity conditions (合适条件）2. grammatical criterion: (performative) first person singular sub. simple present tense indicative mood active voice3. lexical criterion: “state” (constative) “hereby” (performative),It has been noted that some statives can also be viewed as performatives. E.g. A dog is watch
14、ing you. =I tell you that a dog is watching you.,哇！,All sentences can be used to do things.Saying something can be understood as doing something.,Three Types of Act,In How to do things with words, Austin holds that there are three senses in which saying something can be understood as doing something
15、.Locutionary Act Illocutionary ActPerlocutionary Act,(1) an act of producing linguistic units.(2) the basic literal meaning of the utterance which is conveyed by particular words and structures which the utterance contains. -inherent meaning of a sentence.(语义学研究的对象）,Locutionary Act(发话行为/言中行为）,Illocu
16、tionary forceSpeakers meaning or intentionContextual meaningExtra-meaning,Illocutionary Act言外行为/行事行为言外之意,The act performed through, by means of a locutionary act .The hearers interpretations or reactions,Perlocutionary Act言后行为/取效行为,Example Shoot it！,Locutionary act (X): In Shoot it！ = the meaning of
17、 the verb shoot + the meaning of the pronoun it.,Illocutionary act (Y):Using a sentence to perform a function.the act performed in saying somethingIn saying X, I was doing Y.In saying Shoot it, I was ordering the three soldiers to shoot at the target.,Perlocutionary Act (Z):The results or effects th
18、at are brought about by saying something.the act performed by saying somethingBy saying X, and doing Y, I did Z. By saying Shoot it, and thus ordering the three soldiers to shoot at the target, I made it possible for the target to be shot by the three soldiers.,X= I (the dog) love you (the cat). Y=
19、showing love Z=the cats reaction,I love you.,A: 我唐老鸭今天过生日， 请你去吃蛋糕喔。 B: 好啊！ X=(唐老鸭)请你(小鸭B)去吃蛋糕 Y=邀请 Z=小鸭B接受邀请,Examples:,(1) Good Morning!(2) It is cold here!(3) -That is the phone. - Im in the bathroom. - Okay.,Illocutionary Act,Indirect speech act theory间接言语行为理论,Searle 塞尔(1969, 1975) the speakers ut
20、terance meaning and the sentence meaning come apart in various ways, or there is a non-literal illocutionary force in addition the literal force. In such cases, one illocutionary act is performed indirectly by way of performing another. (utterance meaning indirectly reflected by literal meaning),“Th
21、e unit of linguistic communication is not, as has generally been supposed, the symbol, word or sentence, but rather the production of the symbol or word or sentence in the performance of the speech act” Searle,布什：可逮着你小丫了。.萨达姆：布哥！布哥！我投降、 我合作、我陪你玩PS2还不行吗？,The utterance 我陪你玩PS2还不行吗？ literally is a ques
22、tion; in this case, however, Sadam is actually not asking the question, but making a commission. It may even be the case that the two here are not conscious of the sentence being a question litterally,Indirect speech Acts,A Direct Performative act: I order you to leave the room. Indirect illocutiona
23、ry acts: Youd better leave the room. If I were you, Id leave the room. If you know whats good for you, youll leave the room. Id say it was in your best interests to leave the room. Id better not see you in this room the next time I turn around.,明天考试呢！,！,今天晚上看电影？,明天考试呢！,five categories of illocutiona
24、ry act,representatives 陈述类 （state, describe, swear, report)directives指令类（ask, order, request, command, advise)commissives 承诺类(promise, bet)expressives 表达类(thank, congratulate, apologize, welcome, deplore)declaratives:宣告类(name, declare, nominate, point, christen),1. One utterance - two or more acts (the same hearer)- Is that your coat on the floor?,Difficulites in Speech Act Theory,A question?,A request?,A blame?,One utterance - two or more acts (different hearers) - Sorry, theres a lot of noise at this end.,
