【精品】chapter 8 pragmatics.ppt

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1、Chapter Eight Language in Use,2,Major Topics to Cover,Speech Act TheoryPerformatives&constativesTheory of illocutionary act Conversational ImplicatureThe cooperative principleViolation of cooperative principle,3,1.Definition of Pragmatics,Pragmatics may be defined as the study of meaning of word,sen

2、tence of a individual Language in social context.If meaning be grouped into:1.the side of meaning more closely related to the words used,the more constant and inherent.2.the side of meaning more closely related to the context,the more indeterminate side,or something extra.Then,Pragmatics=meaning-sem

3、antics,4,Pragmatics may be defined as the study of meaning.The word meaning may have many different meanings.In pragmatics,meaning depends more on who the speaker of the sentence is,who the hearer is,when and where it is used.Meaning depends more on the context.,5,Context,Context-a basic concept in

4、the study of pragmatics.It is generally considered as constituted knowledge shared by the speaker and the hearer,such as cultural background,situation(time,place,manner,etc.),the relationship between the speaker and the hearer,etc.,6,Suppose somebody says to you“Youre a fool”,you would more often th

5、an not retort“What do you mean?”You know perfectly well the reference of you,the sense of fool,and the structure of the sentence.What you do not know is the speakers intention in uttering this sentence,what he intends the sentence to mean.,7,Or rather,you do know the speakers intention,but you want

6、to use“What do you mean?”as a denial of what he has asserted.This kind of meaning is sometimes referred to as SPEAKERS MEANING,UTTERANCE MEANING,or CONTEXTUAL MEANING.The discipline,which concentrates on this kind of meaning,is called PRAGMATICS.,8,Speakers meaning(A father is trying to get his 3-ye

7、ar-old daughter to stop lifting up her dress to display her new underwear to the assemble.)Father:We dont DO that.Daughter:I KNOW,Daddy.You dont WEAR dresses.,9,Utterance Meaning vs.Sentence MeaningUtterance vs.SentenceSentence:abstract units of the language system.Utterance:units of language in use

8、.,10,Sentence meaning:What does X mean?Utterance meaning:What do you mean by X?My bag is heavy.Today is Sunday.,11,For example,“My bag is heavy.”can mean,my bag being heavy(sentence meaning);an indirect,polite request,asking the hearer to help him carry the bag;the speaker is declining someones requ

9、est for help.Note:The meaning of an utterance is based on the sentence meaning;it is the realization of the abstract meaning of a sentence in a real situation of communication,or in a context;utterance meaning is richer than sentence meaning;it is identical with the purpose for which the speaker utt

10、ers the sentence.,12,For example,“Today is Sunday.”,semantically,it means that today is the first day of the week;pragmatically,you can mean a lot by saying this,all depending on the context and the intention of the speaker,say,making a suggestion or giving an invitation,etc.,13,1.A:Are you going to

11、 the seminar?B:Its on linguistics.2.A:Would you like some coffee?B:Coffee would keep me awake.,14,2.Speech Act Theory,John Austin(1911-1960)How to Do Things with Words(1962)speech acts:actions performed via utterancesSpeech act theory aims to answer the question“What do we do when using language?”,1

12、5,Constatives(叙事句)vs.performatives(施为句)Constatives:utterances which roughly serves to state a fact,report that something is the case,or describe what something is,eg:I go to the park every Sunday.I teach English.,16,Performatives:utterances which are used to perform acts,do not describe or report an

13、ything 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.,17,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

14、apologize.I declare the meeting open.I warn you that the bull will charge.,18,Minister:addressing the groom)(Grooms Name),do you take(Brides Name)for your lawful wedded wife,to live together after Gods ordinance,in the holy estate of matrimony?Will you love,honor,comfort,and cherish her from this da

15、y forward,forsaking all others,keeping only unto her for as long as you both shall live?,Groom:I do.,19,（新郎名字），你是否愿意接受（新娘名字）成为你的合法妻子，按照上帝的法令与她同住，与她在神圣的婚约中共同生活吗?并承诺从今之后始终爱她、尊敬她、安慰她、珍爱她、始终忠于她，至死不渝?新郎：我愿意。,20,Grammatical features of performativesFirst person singularSpeech act verbs/performative verbs:

16、The present tenseIndicative moodActive voice?“Thank you.”“Turn right.”,21,3.Illocutionary Act Theory（行事行为理论）,John Searle(1932-)Speech acts can be analyzed on 3 levels:Locutionary act(发话行为)Illocutionary act(行事行为)Perlocutionary act(取效行为),22,A locutionary act(发话行为):the act of saying something in the fu

17、ll sense of“say”.It is the ordinary act we perform when we speak.moving our vocal organs and producing a number of sounds,organized in certain way with a certain meaning.For example,when somebody says“Morning!”,we could say he produced a sound,word or sentence-“Morning!”,23,An illocutionary act（行事行为

18、）:an act performed in saying something.When we speak,we not only produce some units of language with certain meaning,but also make clear our purpose in producing them,the way we intend them to be understood,or they also have certain forces.,24,In the example of“Morning!”we can say it has the force o

19、f a greeting,or it ought to have been taken as a greeting.To say sth is to do sth.In saying X,I was doing Y.In saying“I will come tomorrow”,I was making a promise.Illocutionary force（行事语力/言外之意）,25,A perlocutionary act（取效行为）:the act preformed by or as a result of saying,the effects of a locution on t

20、he hearer.These effects can be regarded as part of the act that the speaker has performed.By saying X and doing Y,I did Z.By saying“I will come tomorrow”and making a promise,I reassure my friends.,26,Three acts are simultaneous when speaking,The locutionary act-an act of saying something,i.e.an act

21、of making a meaningful utterance(literal meaning of an utterance);The illocutionary act-an act performed in saying something:in saying X,I was doing Y(the intention of the speaker while speaking).The perlocutionary act-an act performed as a result of saying something:by saying X and doing Y,I did Z.

22、,27,For example,“It is cold in here.”,Its locutionary act is the saying of it with its literal meaning the weather is clod in here;Its illocutionary act can be a request of the hearer to shut the window;Its perlocutionary act can be the hearers shutting the window or his refusal to comply with the r

23、equest.-Note:Of the three acts,what speech act theory is most concerned with is the illocutionary act.It attempts to account for the ways by which speakers can mean more than what they say.,28,4.Conversational Implicature（会话含义）,People do not usually say things directly but tend to imply them.Herbert

24、 Paul Grice(1913-1988)William James lectures at Harvard in 1967Logic and Conversation in 1975,29,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 meaning.The Cooperative P

25、rinciple(CP),30,Make your contribution as required at the stage at which it occurs by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.,31,Maxim of Quantity:Make your contribution as informative as required(for the current purposes of the exchange).Do not make your con

26、tribution more informative than required.How many students are there in your class?There are 28.Maxim of Quality:Do not say what you believe to be false.Do not say something if you lack adequate evidence;Are you from Hubei,China.?Yes,I am.,32,Maxim of Relation:Be relevant.Where have you been yesterd

27、ay?Ive been to Wuhan.Maxim of Manner:Be perspicuous.Avoid obscurity of expression.Avoid ambiguity.Be brief.Be orderly.这台机器(空调)怎么工作?里面有个东西能把空气变冷.,33,CP is meant to describe what actually happens in conversation.People tend to be cooperative and obey CP in communication.,34,However,CP is often violate

28、d.Violation of CP and its maxims leads to conversational implicature.Implicature含义:the implied meaning in the conversation,or the meaning more than what the speaker says.,35,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 tel

29、l you what I bought.,36,Dear Sir,Mr.Xs command of English is excellent,and his attendance at tutorials has been regular.Yours Mr.X is not suitable for the job.,37,A:Your kid broke the window.B:Boys are boys.Boys are naughty and mischievous by nature.War is war.Tragic and terrible things always happe

30、n in war.Thats its nature.,38,2.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 son should not be blamed.,39,Violation of the maxims(Quality),1.Do

31、 not say what you believe to be false.You are the cream in my coffee.X runs as fast as a deer.He is made of iron.,40,2.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.,41,Violation of the maxims(Relation),Be relevant.

32、A:Prof.Wang is an old bag.B:Nice weather for the time of year.I dont want to talk about Prof.Wang.,42,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。-Where is my duck?-A white cat has just left.,43,Violation of the maxims(Manner),1.Avoid obscurity of expressionA:Lets get the kids somethi

33、ng.B:Ok,but I veto C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E.Dont give them chocolate.,44,2.Avoid ambiguity A:Name and title,please?B:John Smith,Associate Editor and professor.Cf:买一赠一。,45,3.Be brief A:Did you get my assignment?B:I received two pages clipped together and covered with rows of black squiggles.not satisfied.,4

34、6,Exercise:which maxim does it violate?A.Where have you been?B.Out.I think he was married and had a lioness at home.A.What do you intend to do today?B.I have a terrible headache.Did your treatment for stammering work?Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper.How amazing!Yes,b-b-but th-th-thats not

35、 s-s-something I v-v-very often w-w-want to s-s-say.,47,Characteristics of implicature,Calculability（可推导性）:hearers work out implicature based on literal meaning,CP and its maxims,context,etc.The bus has arrived.p qGet on the bus,please.,48,Cancellability/defeasibility（可取消性）:If the linguistic or situ

36、ational 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 would keep me awake.I want to stay up.(“Though I dont mean hes no good at philosophy.”;“但是，校长先生请不要误会，我绝对不是要个荣誉学位”),49,Non-detachability（不可分离性）:implicature is

37、 attached to the semantic content of what is said,not to the linguistic form;implicatures do not vanish if the words of an utterance are changed for synonyms.A:Shall we go to the cinema tonight?B:Therell be an exam tomorrow.Ill take an exam tomorrow.Isnt there an exam tomorrow?,50,Non-conventionalit

38、y（非常规性）:implicature is different from its conventional meaning of words.It is 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。,51,Money is a lens in a camera.Two implicatures:Money is as valuable as a lens in a camera.Money or the greed for money can cause people

39、 to reveal their true feelings or characters,just like a lens in a camera can reflect and record images of people or things sharply and objectively.,52,Entailment is determinate,while implicature is indeterminate,which varies with the context.I have ten dollars.I have some money.entailmentI can lend

40、 you 10 dollars.implicatureI have only ten dollars.implicatureHe doesnt have any money.implicature,53,5.Politeness Principle,Grices CP does not explain why speakers often violate CP.Geoffrey Leech:Professor of Linguistics and Modern English Language at Lancaster University from 1974 to 2002.Principl

41、es of Pragmatics(1983):puts forward PP to save CP.,54,A:Well miss Bill and Mary,wont we?B:Well,well all miss Bill.(violation of quantity maxim),55,Self(自身)-refers to the speaker.Other(他人)-refers to the addressee or a third person,present or not.Benefit(惠)&Cost(损)Generally speaking,if there is benefi

42、t,there must be cost.,56,For some acts such as giving an invitation,a piece of advice and an offer are considered polite-natured,for other is always on the beneficial side.For other acts like a request,an order and a demand are considered impolite-natured,for other is always on the cost side.,57,Tac

43、t Maxim Generosity Maxim Approbation MaximModesty MaximAgreement MaximSympathy Maxim,58,Tact Maxima)Minimize cost to other b)Maximize benefit to other Generosity Maxim a)Minimize benefit to self b)Maximize cost to self,59,把车借给我用两天。洗一洗这些衣服。把铅笔递一下。再来一杯啤酒。周末好好休息。把房间打扫一下。我想知道你是否有时间打扫一下房间。,60,Approbation

44、 Maxima)Minimize dispraise of otherb)Maximize praise of otherModesty Maxima)Minimize praise of selfb)Maximize dispraise of self,61,A：我的西装怎么样？B：难看死拉。怎么说呢，不过我觉得颜色深了点。A：今天真倒霉！B：我说的吧，自找的。过去就算了，别再想拉。,62,Agreement Maxima)Minimize disagreement between self and other b)Maximize agreement between self and ot

45、her Sympathy Maxima)Minimize antipathy between self and otherb)Maximize sympathy between self and other,63,A：我提议大家明天到江边烧烤。B：我没意见。可以，但风太大啊。我不去，没意思。A：我的腿不方便。B：我知道，上次摔断了。那小心点，我来吧。,64,6.Post-Gricean Developments,Relevance Theory:Dan Sperber(Jean Nicod Institute)Deirdre Wilson(UCL)The Q-and R-principles:

46、Laurence Horn(Yale)The Q-,I-and M-principles:Stephen Levinson(Max Planck),65,6.1 Relevance Theory,1986,1995All Gricean maxims,inc.the CP itself,should be reduced to a single principle of relevance:Every act of ostensive communication communicates the presumption of its own optimal relevance.,66,Oste

47、nsive communication（直示交际）:They agree with Grice that communication is not simply a matter of encoding and decoding,it also involves inference.But they maintain that inference has only to do with the hearer.From the speakers side,communication should be seen as an act of making clear ones intention t

48、o express something.This act they call ostensive act.In other words,a complete characterization of communication is that it is ostensive-inferential.,67,Presumption of optimal relevance:Initial version:An assumption is relevant in a context if and only if it has some contextual effect in that contex

49、t.But what exactly is context?All the background infoSometimes some info must be excludedchosen relevanceGenerally the assumption people are processing is relevant,68,Revised version:An assumption is relevant to an individual at a given time if and only if it is relevant in one or more of the contex

50、ts available to that individual at that time.Relevance is not just a property of assumptions in the mind,but also a property of phenomena(stimuli,e.g.utterances)in the environment which lead to the construction of assumptions.,69,A communicator cannot directly present an audience with an assumption.