Chapter 6 Pragmatics
pragmatics语用学 --- the study of how speakers of a language use sentences to effect successful communication
Preliminaries: 1. If you ask somebody “Can you open the door?” he answers “Yes” but does not actually do it, what would be your reaction? Why? 2. If you are going shopping with your friend and she says to you “the bag I‟m carrying is heavy”, what does she possibly mean?
Analyze the locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionaly acts contained in the following sentences: • A teacher entered the classroom and saw all the windows were closed. Then he said to his students, “It is hot here. ” • A little girl is visiting a doll store with her mum and she says to her mum, “Mummy, the doll is so cute. ”
• commissives承诺类: I will return the book to you next week without fail. I will never do it again. • expressives表达类: I‟m sorry to hear that. Thank you very much! Happy birthday! I‟m glad to see you again. • declarations宣告类: I now declare the ceremony close. You are fired.
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Decide the meaning of ‘Shakespeare’ in the following sentences: 1. Shakespeare takes up the bottom shelf. 2. We‟re going to see Shakespeare in London. 3. I hated Shakespeare at school.
Constatives: 1. Our classroom is 20 meters wide, 30 meters long. 2. Cathy is 21 years old. 3. The earth is round. 4. Edinburgh is in Scotland. 5. George Bernard Shaw was a playwright. 6. Every morning I have a cup of milk and some breaeech acts (John Searle) primary speech acts secondary speech acts e.g. A: Let‟s go to the movies tonight. B. I have to study for an exam.
3. Searle‟s classification of illocutionary acts: • representatives • directives • commissives • expressives • declarations
• representatives阐述类: (I swear) I have never done it. (I state) The earth is globe. • directives指令类: You‟d better change your idea. Would you like a cup of tea? Why don‟t you ask for your parent‟s opinions? Your money or your life! Silence, please.
Only when a maxim is “flouted”, to use Grice‟s term, does “conversational implicature会话含义” occur. Flouting a maxim means violating it blatantly, i.e. both the speaker and the hearer are aware of the violation. When we flout a maxim, our language becomes indirect.
5. “The Club” is a device for blocking an automobile‟s steering wheel, thus protecting the car from being stolen. And one of its ads reads: THE CLUB! FD Anti-theft device for cars POLICE SAY: „USE IT‟ OR „LOSE IT‟ 6. 买一送一
(3) The Cooperative Principle (by Paul Grice): In making conversation, the participants must be willing to cooperate and observe the Cooperative Principle. • four maxims under this principle: The maxim of quantity The maxim of quality The maxim of relation The maxim of manner
Performatives: 1. I name this ship Queen Elizabeth. 2. I bequeath my watch to my brother. 3. I bet you six pence it will rain tomorrow. 4. I promise to finish it in time. 5. I apologize. 6. I declare the meeting open. 7. I do.
(2) speech act theory (by John Austin) • While we are speaking, we are performing some acts at the same time. 1.constatives vs. performatives • Constatives叙事句 are statements that either state or describe, and are thus verifiable. • Performatives施为句 are sentences that are not used to state or describe, but used by the speaker to do things. They are not verifiable.
Point out the implied meaning or implicatures in the following examples: 1.Mr. A is writing a reference letter for his past student B, who is applying for a lectureship in philosophy. The letter reads, “Dear Sir, Mr. B‟s command of English is excellent, and his attendance at tutorials has been regular. Yours, etc.” 2.A boy says to a girl, “你不戴眼镜的时候很漂 亮”.
2.new models of speech act theory: A speaker might be performing three acts simultaneously when speaking: • locutionary act言内行为 (the act of conveying literal meaning) • illocutionary act言外行为 (the act of expressing the speaker‟s intention) • perlocutionary act言后行为 (the act performed by saying something, the consequence of, or the change brought about by the utterance)
5. Implicatures conventional implicature non-conventional implicature e.g. She is beautiful but she is easy-going. e.g. A: Where is the steak? B: The dog looks very happy.
Decide which of the four maxims is violated in the following conversations/ads: 1. A: Can you tell me where you live? B: Somewhere in Guangzhou. 2. A young man is introducing himself to a girl at a ball: I‟m Robert Sampson from Leeds, 28, unmarried. 3. A: Let‟s get the kids something. B. Okay, but I veto I-C-E C-R-E-A-M. 4.A: Miss Li‟s lecture is really boring. Don‟t you think so? B: I‟ve got two tickets for tonight‟s show. Shall we go together?