Transcript Introduction to Linguistics Chapter 6: Pragmatics

Introduction to Linguistics
Chapter 6: Pragmatics
Instructor: LIU Hongyong
Review: What is semantics?
Semantics is the study of meaning.
 More specifically, semantics is the study
of the meaning of words and sentences in
particular.

Review: Semantics
Lexical semantics
 word meaning
 Compositional semantics
 phrase/sentence meaning

Review: Summary
Lexical semantics
 sense and reference
 sense relations
 Componential analysis
 Compositional semantics
 sense relations between sentences
 Principle of compositionality
 Predication analysis

Review: Different conceptions of meaning
The naming theory
 The conceptulist view
 Contextualism
 Behaviorism

Review: Contextualism: definition


Contextualism（语境论）holds the position
that meaning should be studied in terms of
situation, use, and context. According to this
view, one can derive meaning from observable
contexts.
Language is always used in a certain context. It
is the context that determines the meaning of a
paritcular word.
Situational context VS. linguistic context
1. Situational context refers
to the particular
spatiotemporal situation
in which an utterance
occurs, the main
components of which
include, apart from the
place and time of the
utterance, the speaker
and the hearer, the
actions they are
performing at the time,
the various objects and
events exising in the
situation.
2. Linguistic context, some
times known as context, is
concerned with the
probability of a word’s
co-occurrence or
collocation with another
word, which forms part of
the ‘meaning” of the
word, and also concerned
with the part of text that
precedes and follows a
particular utterance.
Pragmatics
To fully understand the meaning of a sentence, we
must understand the context in which it is used.
Pragmatics is concerned with how people use
language within a context and how they use
language in particular ways.
This chapter examines how factors such as time,
place, and the social relationship between speaker
and hearer affect the ways in which language is
used to perform different functions.
Origin and development of pragmatics
Development in linguistics
(1) Saussure: 语言学所要研究的是“语言”（langue），而
不是“言语”（parole），因为语言是一个手一定规则制
约的体系，而言语则不是，只有语言才能经得起严谨的、
科学的分析，而言语则不能。
(2) Chomsky: 以句法为中心，把语言的意义排除在语言研究
之外。
(3) The rise of semantics.
(4) The rise of Contextualism: Malinowsky, Firth, Halliday
Pragmatics vs. semantics
Semantics: The meaning of language was considered
as something intrinsic , and inherent, i.e., a
property attached to language itself. Therefore,
meanings of words and sentences are studied
independent of language use.
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.

Both semantics and pragmatics study the meaning
of a linguistic form. However, they are different.
What essentially distinguishes them is whether the
context is considered.

If it is not considered, the study is in the area of
semantics; if it is considered, the study is in the
area of pragmatics.
Definition of “context”
As a comprehensive concept, ‘context’ refers to all
the elements of a communicative situation: the
verbal and non-verbal context, as well as the
social context of the relationship between the
speaker and hearer, their knowledge, and their
attitude.
Context:



linguistic context
situational context
cognitive context
Cognitive Context
It refers to the knowledge shared by the
speaker and the hearer:
(1) knowledge of the language they use,
(2) knowledge of what has been said before,
(3) knowledge about the world in general,
(4) knowledge about each other.

Importance of Context

Context determines the speaker’s use o
language and also the hearer’s interpretation
of what is said to him.
“My bag is heavy”
1. Sentence meaning: BAG (BE HEAVY)
2. Possible pragmatic meanings:

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An indirect, polite request, asking the hearer
to help him carry the bag. (When?)
A declining of someone’s request for help.
(When？)
More examples
Try to think of contexts in which the following
sentences can be used for other intentions or
purposes than just stating facts.
(1) The room is messy.
(2) Oh, it is raining.
(3) The music of the movie is good.
(4) You have been keeping my notes for a whole
week now.
What is a speech act?


Just as people can perform physical acts, such as
hitting a baseball, they can perform mental acts,
such as imagining hitting a baseball. People can
also perform another kind of act simply by using
language; these are called speech acts.
We use language to do a lot of things.
Some common speech acts
Speech Act
Function
Assertion
conveys information
Question
elicits information
Request
(more or less politely) elicits action
Order
demands action
Promise
commits the speaker to an action
Threat
commits the speaker to an action that
the hearer does not want
Sentence types

Certain speech acts are so central to communication
that we have special sentence types to mark them.
Sentence Type
Declarative
Interrogative
Imperative
Example
He is cooking in the kitchen.
Is he cooking in the kitchen?
Cook the chicken!
Sentence types

Certain speech acts are so central to communication that we
have special sentence types to mark them.
Sentence Type
declarative
interrogative
imperative
Speech Act
assertion
question
order or request
Notice that interrogative sentences typically express questions,
but this association does not always hold.
Speech act theory
1. John Austin’s model of speech acts

Speech act theory: a philosophical
explanation of the nature of linguistic
communication. It aims to answer this
question: “What do we do when using
language?”
Austin’s three speech acts:

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Traditional philosopher’s view: a statement is used to state
a fact or describe a state; therefore, it has truth value.
John Austin’s “constatives” (述事话语) and
“performatives” (行事话语)
Austin’s classical examples: assuring marriage, naming,
bequeathing and betting

I do.

I name this ship Elizabeth.

I give and bequeath my watch to my brother.

I bet you sixpence it will rain tomorrow.
Example: promise
I promise to take him to a bar tonight.
(performative use of the verb PROMISE)

John promises to take me to a bar tonight.
(not performative, because the subject is not I or we.)

I will promise to take him to a bar tonight.
(not performative, because the tense is not “present”.)

I promise to tell Mom if you touch my toys again.
(not promise, but a threat!)

The model of three speech acts: Later on, the “constativeperformative” model is replaced by the model of three
speech acts, according to which a speaker might be
performing three acts simultaneously when speaking:
locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary
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Locutionary act: act of uttering words, phrases, clauses
Illocutionary act: the act of expressing the speaker’s
intention
Perlocutionary act: the act performed by or resulting fro
saying something, the consequence of the utterance
Searle’s classification of speech acts

Representatives: stating or describing, saying what the
speaker believes to be true. The speaker is making a
statement or giving a description which he himself believes
to be true. Stating, believing, swearing, hypothesizing are
the typical representatives.
(I swear) I have never seen the man before.
(I state) The earth is a globe.

Directives: Trying to get hearer to do something.
Inviting, suggesting, requesting, advising,
warning, threatening, ordering are the typical ones.
Open the window!
You’d better go to the clinic.
Your money or your life!
Would you like to go to the picnic with us?

Commissives: Committing the speaker himself to
the future course of action. Promising,
undertaking, vowing are the most typical cases.
I promise to come.
I will bring you the book tomorrow without fail.

Expressives: Expressing feelings or attitude
towards an existing state. Typical ones:
apologizing, thanking, congratulating.
I’m sorry for the mess I have made.
It’s really kind of you to have thought of me.

Declarations: bringing about immediate changes
by saying something. They are like Austin’s
classical examples. More examples:
I now declare the meeting open.
I appoint you chairman of the committee.
I fire you!

All the acts that belong to the same category share
the same purpose but differ in their strength or
syntactic forms.
Close the door.
Will you close the door!
Can you close the door!
Do you mind closing the door?
I would be very grateful if you could close the door!
The door is open!
The door please!
Principles of conversation

The philosopher Paul Grice formulated a Cooperative
Principle, which he believed underlies language use,
according to which we must make sure that what we say
in conversation satisfy the purposes of the conversation.

Grice argued that there are a number of conversational
rules, or maxims, that regulate conversation in the spirit
of the Cooperative Principle.
Four maxims
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The maxim of quantity
Make your contribution as informative as required. No
more and no less.
The maxim of quality
Do not say what you believe to be false and do not say
what you lack evidence for.
The maxim of relation
Be relevant
The maxim of manner
Avoid obscurity, ambiguity. Be brief and orderly.
A: When is Susan’s farewell party?
B: Sometime next month.
— (flouting the maxim of quantity)
A: Would you like to join us for the picnic on Sunday?
B: I’m afraid I have got a class on Sunday.
— (flouting the maxim of quality)
Violating
conversational
maxims
blatantly, and
revealing
conversational
implicatures
A: How did the math exam go today, Jonnie?
B: We had a basketball match with the other class and we beat them.
— (flouting the maxim of relation)
A: Shall we get something for the kids?
B: Yes. But I veto I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M.
— (flouting the maxim of manner)