Transcript Document

Hello, Everyone!
Part One
Review Exercises
Questions
 1.
Define the following 2 terms:
 (1) Componential analysis
 (2) Predication analysis
 2. What
does a predication consist of?
Part Two
New Content
Chapter 6
Pragmatics
6.1
Some Basic Notions
6.1.1
Definition
Definition 1
 Pragmatics
is the study of those
relations between language and
context that are grammaticalized
（语法化）, or encoded in the
structure of language.
Definition 2
 Pragmatics
is the study of all those aspects
of meaning not captured in a semantic
theory.
 （语用学似乎成了语义学什么都可以往里
仍的“废纸篓”。（熊学亮 2003：140））
Definition 3
 Pragmatics
is the study of the
relations between language and
context that are basic to an account
of language understanding.
Definition 4
 Pragmatics
is the study of the ability
of language users to pair sentence
with the context in which they would
be appropriate.
Definition 5
 Pragmatics
is the study of deixis,
implicature, presupposition, speech
acts, and aspects of discourse
structure. (Levison 1983: 6-27)
Definition 6
 Pragmatics
is the study of linguistic
acts and the contexts in which they
are performed. (Stalnaker 1972: 383)
Definition 7
 Pragmatics
is a theory which seeks
to characterize how speakers use the
sentences of a language to effect
successful communication.
(Kempson 1975: 84)
Definition 8
 Pragmatics
is the theory of language
use and linguistic communication.
(Akmajian 1979: 267)
Definition 9
 Pragmatics
can be defined as the
study of how utterance have
meanings in situations. (Leech 1983:
x)
Definition 10
 Pragmatic
is the science of language
seen in relation to its users. (Mey
1993: 5)
Definition 11
 Pragmatics
is the study of meaning
in interaction（互动意义）.
(Thomas 1995: 22)
Definition 12
 Pragmatics
is concerned with the
study of meaning as communicated
by a speaker (or writer) and
interpreted by a listener (or reader).
(Yule 1996: 3)
Common Place
 试图去比较各种不同的定义之间的优劣是
没有意义的。它们的差别只不过是个侧重
面和措辞的问题，它们的共同点是它们都
围绕了语言交际中的意义这同一个中心。
各种说法不一的定义的存在有利于加深我
们对语用学这门学科的理解。（何兆熊等
2000：10）
Definition in our book
 Pragmatics
is the study of how
speakers of a language use sentences
to effect successful communication.
Topics in pragmatics
 Pragmatics
studies such top;ics as
related to language communication,
including:

deixis, speech acts, indirect
language, conversation, politeness,
cross-cultural communication, and
presupposition.
Appendix:
Origin and development of pragmatics
1. The term “Pragmatics” comes from Morris’
(1938) general theory of signs.In his semiotic
model, Morris distinguishes the following areas
of study:
 (1) the syntactic aspect, i.e. the relation between
different signs
Syntax;
 (2) the semantic aspect, i.e. the relation between
sign and its meaning
Semantics; and
 (3) the pragmatic aspect, i.e. the relation between
the sign and the sign user
Pragmatics.

Origin and development of pragmatics

2. 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
Origin and development of pragmatics

3. Development in philosophy
哲学家对语言的兴趣源于他们对语言逻辑的研究。
他们发现严密的形式逻辑不能完全结实自然语言，
自然语言似乎具有它自己不合乎形式逻辑的“逻
辑”：
 （1）Austin: speech act theory
 (2) Grice: cooperative principle
 (3) Sperber and Wilson: relevance theory

6.1.2
Pragmatics vs. semantics
1. Research methods

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 isolation 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.
2. Scope
逻辑语义学首先关心的是和真实值有关的那
些意义范畴。而只有“思想”才可能具有真实值，
也就是说只有“思想”才会有真实与否这个问题。
（Frege 1967: 20）
 三类句子：
语义学
 （1）表达思想
 （2）不具有表达思想的那种意义
 （3）表达了比思想更多的的内容
 （4） 不足以表达思想

Scope
（1）不具有表达思想的那种意义
 （2）表达了比思想更多的的内容
 （3） 不足以表达思想

语用学
（1）：表示请求、命令、意愿、感叹的句子，
以及除问句之外的其他问句
言语行为
 （2）：包含暗示意义（会话含义、间接语言）
的句子
语用推理
 （3）：包含指示性词语的句子
指示

3. Key in the distinction

Both semantics and pragmatics study the
meaning of a linguistic form. 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 is considered, the study is being carried out in
the area of pragmatics.
6.1.3
Context
1. Definition
As a comprehensive concept, ‘context’ refers to
all elements of a communicative situation: the
verbal and non-verbal context, the context of the
given speech situation and the social context of
the relationship between the speaker and hearer,
their knowledge, and their attitude. (Bussmann
1996: 100)
 Pp. 70:
 Context = linguistic context + situational context

+

Cognitive context

2. Cognitive Context

It is generally considered as constituted
by 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
the specific situation in which linguistic
communication is taking place, and (5)
knowledge about each other.
3. Importance of Context

Context determines the speaker’s use o
language and also the hearer’s
interpretation of what is said to him.
4. Examples

1. What may the speaker mean by the following?
 (1) How did it go?
 (2) It is cold in here.
 2. How can the following sentence make sense
for the hearer?
 (3) it was a hot Christmas day so we wnt down
to the beak in the afternoon and had a good
time swimming and surfing.
6.1.4
Sentence meaning vs. utterance
meaning
1. Sentence vs. utterance
 1.
Sentence: Sentence is a unit of speech
constructed according to languagedependent rules, which is relatively
complete and independent in respect of
content, grammatical structure, and
intonation. It is a grammatical unit,
abstract, self-contained, and independent of
context.
Sentence vs. utterance
 2.
Utterance: When a sentence is taken as
something a speaker utters in a certain
situation with a certain purpose, it is
treated as an utterance. Therefore,
utterance is the string of sounds or
written symbols produced by a speaker
between two pauses. An utterance can
consist of a single word or several
sentences.
Sentence vs. utterance
 While
most utterances take the form
of grammatically complete sentences,
some utterances do not, and some
cannot even be restored to complete
sentences.
2. Sentence meaning vs. utterance
meaning
 While
the meaning of a sentence is abstract
and decontextualized, that of an utterance
is concrete and context-dependent. The
meaning of an utterance is based on
sentence meaning; it is the realization of the
abstract meaning of a sentence in a real
situation of communication, or simply in a
context.
3. Examples
 “My
 1.
bag is heavy”
Sentence meaning: BAG (BE HEAVY)
 2. Possible utterance meanings:
 (1) A straightforward statement, telling the
hearer that his bag is heavy.
 (2) an indirect, polite request, asking the
hearer to help him carry the bag. (When?)
 (3) A declining of someone’s request for help.
(When?)
4. More examples
 Try
to think of contexts in which the
following sentences can be used for other
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.
Homework
1. Review
2. Pp. 94:
Ex. 1-3 (oral)
3. Prepare 6.2