语言学教程第八章知识点

Chapter Eight
Pragmatics
⏹Definition
⏹Pragmatics is generally the study of natural language understanding, and
specifically the study of how context influences the interpretation of meanings. In another word it is the study of the relationship between symbols and their interpreters.
⏹In 1937,the American philosopher Charles William Morris introduced the
word “Pragmatics” into literature.
⏹莫里斯（C.Morris）和卡耐基（R.carnap）在1938年《符号基础理论》中
提出符号三分说：
⏹句法学（符号关系学）Syntactics 是研究符号与符号之间的关系；语义
学semantics是研究符号与符号所指对象的关系；语用学pragmatics则是研究符号与符号解释者的关系。

⏹Teaching Focus
⏹ 1. Some basic notions
⏹ 2. Speech act theory
⏹ 3. The theory of conversational implicature
⏹ 4. Post-Gricean Developments
⏹ 1. Some basic notions
⏹ 1.1 The definition of pragmatics
⏹ 1.2 Pragmatics and semantics
⏹ 1.3 Context
⏹ 1.4 Sentence and utterance
⏹ 1.1 The definition of pragmatics
⏹Various definitions:
⏹The study of how speakers of a language use sentences to effect
successful communication.
⏹The study of language in use.
⏹The study of meaning in context.
⏹The study o f speakers’ meaning,
utterance meaning,
& contextual meaning.
⏹ 1.2 Pragmatics and semantics
⏹Both semantics and pragmatics study the meaning of language.
⏹没有第一层次的研究，很难进行第二层次的研究
⏹语用意义不能脱离语言本身因有的内在意义
⏹语义学是对语言能力(competence)的研究
⏹语用学是对语言行为(performance)的研究
⏹语言行为是语言能力的具体体现actual realization
What essentially distinguishes them is whether in the study of meaning the context of use is considered.
⏹If it is not considered, the study is confined to the area of traditional
semantics (decontextualized);
⏹If it is considered, the study is being carried out in the area of
pragmatics. (contextualized)
⏹Semantics & Pragmatics
⏹Peter bought a car.
⏹It was Peter who bought a car.
⏹It was a car that Peter bought.
⏹What peter bought was a car.
⏹句法学：说明这些句子是同一深层经过不同转换的结果
⏹语义学：这些句子都是同义的。

⏹语用学：这些句子都是不同的。

恭喜你
⏹语音学家:分析其中每个字的发音以及整个句子的语调。

⏹句法学家:指出这是一个无主语的祈使句，有一个动词加一个代词组成。

⏹语义学家:这句话的意思：向某个人表示祝贺。

⏹语用学家:将结合具体语境，考虑说话人是谁，“你”又是谁，说话人在怎
样的情况下向“你”道喜，他是真的道喜，还是挖苦嘲讽，甚至是泄愤？
⏹ 1.3 Context
⏹Context is generally considered as constituted by the knowledge shared by
the speaker and the hearer. Various components of shared knowledge:
⏹About the language they use;
⏹About what has been said before;
⏹About the world in general;
⏹About the specific situation;
⏹About each other.
⏹Context determines the speaker's use of language and also the hearer’s
interpretation of what is said to him.
⏹Let’s see how it determines the hearer’s interpretation.
⏹ 1.4 Sentence and utterance
⏹ A sentence is a grammatical concept, and the meaning of a sentence is
often studied as the abstract, intrinsic property of the sentence itself in terms of predication.
⏹If a sentence is actually uttered or used in the course of communication, it
becomes an utterance, and it should be considered in the situation in which it is actually uttered (or used).
⏹Sentence → abstract and decontextualized
⏹Utterance → 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.
⏹ 2. Speech Act Theory
⏹British philosopher, John Austin (1911-1960)
⏹How to Do Things with Words (1962)
⏹speech acts: actions performed via utterances
⏹It is a philosophical explanation of the nature of linguistic communication.
⏹ 2.1 Constatives vs. performatives
⏹ 2.2 A theory of illocutionary act
⏹ 2.1 Constatives vs. performatives
⏹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.
⏹Performatives: utterances which are used to perform acts, do not describe
or report anything 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.
⏹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 declare the meeting open.
⏹I warn you that the bull will charge.
⏹Felicity conditions 合适条件
⏹There are conditions for performatives to meet to be appropriate or
felicitous. Austin suggested the following conditions:
⏹ A. (i) There must be a relevant conventional procedure,
⏹(ii) The relevant participants and circumstance must be appropriate.
⏹ B. The procedure must be executed (i) correctly and (ii) completely.
⏹ C. (i) The relevant people must have the requisite thoughts, feelings and
intentions,
⏹(ii) must follow it up with actions as specified.
⏹Features of performatives
⏹First person singular subject
⏹Simple present tense
⏹Indicative mood 陈述语气
⏹Active voice
⏹Performative verbs
⏹Please see the following utterances, tell whether they are constatives or
performatives.
⏹I will come in a few seconds.
⏹I was reading a novel last night.
⏹You are responsible for this accident.
⏹He is in charge of our department.
⏹Conclusions:
⏹The distinction between constatives & performatives cannot be
maintained.
⏹All sentences can be used to do things.
⏹Speech act theory: we are performing actions when we are speaking.
⏹ 2.2 A theory of illocutionary act
⏹Austin gave up his initial distinction between constatives and performatives
and set up another model to explain the way acts were performed by means of language.
⏹According to his new model, a speaker might be performing three acts
simultaneously when speaking: locutionary act, illocutionary act, and perlocutionary act.
⏹Therefore, speech acts can be analyzed on 3 levels.
⏹ A locutionary act → the act of saying something in the full sense of “say”.
⏹Saying X.
⏹An illocutionary act → an act performed in saying something. 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.
⏹ A perlocutionary act → the act preformed by or resulting from saying
something, the consequence of, or the change brought about by the utterance.
⏹By saying X and doing Y, I did Z.
⏹By saying “I will come tomorrow” and making a promise, I reassure
my friends.
⏹Try to analyze the following utterances:
⏹Shoot her!
⏹It seems that the computer is out of work.
⏹Among the three acts, the locutioary act is what linguists have been
studying all along.
⏹The perlocutionary act involves many psychological and social factors, of
which we are still more or less in the dark.
⏹So the illocutionary act is what Austin really driving at.
⏹In this sense, speech act theory is in fact a theory of the illocutionary act.
⏹ 3. The theory of conversational implicature
⏹People do not usually say things directly but tend to imply them.
⏹Oxford philosopher, Herbert Paul Grice (1913-1988)
⏹Logic and Conversation in 1975
⏹ 3.1 Cooperative Principle
⏹ 3.2 Conversational implicature
⏹ 3.1 Cooperative Principle
⏹Grice’s theory 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.
⏹His idea is that in making conversation, the participants must first of all be
willing to cooperate; otherwise, it would not be possible for them to carry on the talk.
⏹This general principle is called the Cooperative Principle (CP).
⏹Make your contribution such as required at the stage at which it occurs by
the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.
⏹To be more specific, there are four maxims under this general principle:
⏹Maxim of Quality
⏹Do not say what you believe to be false.
⏹Do not say something if you lack adequate evidence.
⏹Maxim of Quantity
⏹Make your contribution as informative as required (for the
current purposes of the exchange).
⏹Do not make your contribution more informative than
required.
⏹Maxim of Relation
⏹Be relative.
⏹Maxim of Manner
⏹Be perspicuous.
⏹Avoid obscurity of expression.
⏹Avoid ambiguity.
⏹Be brief.
⏹Be orderly.
⏹ 3.2 Conversational implicature
⏹CP is meant to describe what actually happens in conversation.
⏹People tend to be cooperative and obey CP in communication.
⏹However, CP is often violated.
⏹Since CP is regulative, CP can be violated.
⏹Violation of CP and its maxims leads to conversational implicature.
⏹Violation of the Maxims
⏹We try to say things which are true, relevant, as well as informative enough,
and in a clear manner. Hearers will also try to interpret in this way.
⏹In real communication, however, speakers do not always observe these
maxims strictly. When any of the maxims is blantantly violated, i.e. both the speaker and the hearer are aware of the violation, our language becomes indirect, then conversational implicature arises.
⏹Lies do not have implicatures proper, since the basis for accurate
interpretation is lost.
⏹Violation of maxim of quantity
⏹“War is war.”
⏹“Girls are girls.”
----A:When is Susan’s farewell party?
----B:Sometime next month.
⏹Violation of Maxim of quality
----He is made of iron.
----A: would you like to come to our party tonight?
----B:I’m afraid I’m not feeling so well tonight.
⏹Violation of maxim of relation
----A: How did the math exam go today, Jonnie?
----B: We had a basketball match with class 2 and we beat them.
----A: The hostess is an awful bore.
----B: The roses in the garden are beautiful, aren’t they?
⏹Violation of maxim of manner
----A: Shall we get something for the kids?
----B: Yes. But I veto I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M.
---- Love that never told can be.
----A: Miss X sang “Home sweet home”
----B: Miss X produced a series of sounds that corresponded closely with the score of “Home sweet home”.
⏹Characteristics of Implicature
⏹Calculability
⏹Cancellability
⏹Non-detachability
⏹Non- conventionality
⏹CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURE as a type of implied meaning, which is
deduced on the basis of the conventional meaning of words together with the context, under the guidance of the CP and its maxims.
⏹Characteristics of implicature
⏹Calculability: hearers work out implicature based on literal meaning, CP and
its maxims, context, etc.
⏹Cancellability / defeasibility: If the linguistic or situational contexts change,
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.
⏹I will have some coffee.
⏹Non-detachability: implicature is 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: There’ll be an exam tom orrow.
I’ll take an exam tomorrow.
Isn’t there an exam tomorrow?
⏹Non-conventionality: 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。

⏹Exercises
⏹I. Multiple choice.
⏹ 1. Which of the following statements is NOT used by the speaker to perform
certain acts?____
⏹ A. “I name this ship Elizabeth.’’
⏹ B. “I visited my uncle last Sunday.’’
⏹ C. “I give and bequeath my watch to my brother.’’
⏹ D. “I bet you six pence it will rain tomorrow.’’
⏹ 2. By saying "You have left the door wide open," a speaker might be
performing the three acts: locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary .
⏹ A. at the same time B. one after another
⏹ C. two first and then the other
⏹ D. one first and then the other two
⏹ 3. A: Would you like to come to our party tonight?
⏹B: I'm afraid I'm not feeling so well today.
⏹The implicature produced here is _____.
⏹ A. I'll be glad to go to your party.
⏹ B. Probably I'll be a little late because I'm not feeling well.
⏹ C. I do not want to go to your party.
⏹ D. I'll go there even though I am not feeling well today.
⏹ 4. Speech act theory was originated with _____ in the 50’s of the 20th
century .
⏹ A. the American linguist Noam Chomsky
⏹ B. the British philosopher John Austin
⏹ C. the Swiss linguist F. de Saussure
⏹ D. the American philosopher –linguist John Searle
⏹ 5. Y's utterance in the following conversation exchange violates the maxim
of ______.
X: Who was that you were with last night?
Y: Did you know that you were wearing odd socks?
⏹ A. quality B. quantity
⏹ C. relation D. manner
⏹II. Make judgments (true or false) .
⏹ 1. Speech act theory is an important theory in the semantic study of
language.
⏹ 2. The locutionary act performed by the speaker refers to the effect of the
utterance.
⏹ 3. Of the views concerning the study of semantics, the contextual view,
which places the study of meaning in the context in which language is used, is often considered as the initial effort to study meaning in a pragmatic sense.
⏹8.3 Post-Gricean Developments
⏹Relevance Theory – Sperber&Wilson
⏹The Q- & R-Principles – Horn
⏹The Q-,I- & M-Principles -- Levinson
⏹8.3.1 Relevance Theory – Sperber&Wilson
⏹Relevance: Communication and Cognition
in 1986
⏹Every act of ostensive communication communicates the presumption of its
own optimal relevance.
⏹Every utterance comes with a presumption of the best balance of effort
against effect.
⏹In comparison to the effects achieved ,the effort needed is always the
smallest.
⏹George has a big cat.
⏹George has a tiger, a lion, a jaguar, etc.
⏹George has a tiger.
⏹George has a felid.
⏹ 4. The Q- & R-Principles – Horn(1984)
⏹The Q-principle (Hearer-based)
MAKE YOUR CONTRIBUTION SUFFICEINT (cf. Quantity1)
SAY AS MUCH AS YOU CAN (given R)
⏹The R-principle (Speaker-based)
MAKE YOUR CONTRIBUTION NECESSARY (cf. Relation, Quantity2, Manner)
SAY NO MORE THAN YOU MUST (given Q)
⏹ a. Some of my friends are linguists.
b. Not all of my friends are linguists.
⏹Can you pass me the salt?
⏹8.3.3 The Q-,I- & M-Principles -- Levinson
⏹Levinson (1987) The Q-,I- & M-Principles
⏹Levinson (2000)
Heuristic 1
What isn’t said, isn’t.
Heuristic 2
What is simply described is stereotypically exemplified.
Heuristic 3
What’s said in an abnormal way, isn’t normal; or Marked message indicates marked situation.。