语言学第六章笔记和习题1

Chapter 6 Pragmatics

⏹---- the study of language in use or language communication; the study of the use of context to make inference about meaning.

⏹---- the study of how speakers of a language use sentences to effect successful communication.

What are the differences between the two linguistic studies of meaning – semantics and pragmatics?

⏹Semantics studies literal, structural or lexical meaning, while pragmatics studies non-literal, implicit,

intended meaning, or speaker’s meaning.

⏹Semantics is context independent, decontextualized, while pragmatics is context dependent,

contextualized.

⏹Semantics deals with what is said, while pragmatics deals with what is implicated or inferred.

What essentially distinguish semantics and pragmatics is whether in the study of meaning the context of use is considered

If it is not, it is semantics.

If it is, it is pragmatics.

⏹Pragmatic analysis of meaning is first and foremost concerned with the study of what is communicated by

a speaker/writer and interpreted by a listener/reader.

⏹Analysis of intentional meaning necessarily involves the interpretation of what people do through

language in a particular context.

⏹Intended meaning may or may not be explicitly expressed. Pragmatic analysis also explores how

listeners/readers make inferences about what is communicated.

Some basic notions in Pragmatics

⏹Context

⏹Pragmatics vs. semantics

⏹Sentence meaning vs. utterance meaning

Context

⏹Context---- a basic concept in 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.….

Pragmatics vs. semantics

⏹Semantics---- is the study of the literal meaning of a sentence (without taking context into consideration).

⏹Pragmatics---- the study of the intended meaning of a speaker (taking context into consideration), e.g.

⏹“Today is Sunday”, semantically, it means that today is the first day of the week; pragmatic ally, 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…

Sentence meaning vs. utterance meaning

---- Sentence meaning:

⏹Abstract and context-independent meaning;

⏹literal meaning of a sentence;

⏹having a dyadic relation as in: What does X mean?

----utterance meaning:

⏹concrete and context-dependent meaning;

⏹intended meaning of a speaker;

⏹having a triadic relation as in: What did you mean by X?

For example, “The bag is heavy” can mean

⏹a bag being heavy (sentence meaning);

⏹an indirect, polite request, asking the hearer to help him carry the bag;

⏹the speaker is declining someone’s request for help.

The dog is barking.

If we take it as a grammatical unit and consider it as a self-contained unit in isolation, then we treat it as a sentence.

If we take it as something a speaker utters in a certain situation with a certain purpose, then we are treating it as an utterance.

⏹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 simply in a context; utterance meaning is richer than sentence meaning; it is identical with the purpose for which the speaker utters the sentence.

⏹Speech acts is a term derived from the work of the philosopher J. Austin (1962) and now used to refer to a theory which analyzes the role of utterances in relation to the behavior of the speaker and the hearer in interpersonal communicat ion. It aims to answer the question “What do we do when using language?”

⏹In linguistic communication, people do not merely exchange information. They actually do something through talking or writing in various circumstances. Actions performed via speaking are called speech acts.

Two types of utterances

⏹Constatives (叙述句) ---- statements that either state or describe, and are thus verifiable;

⏹Performatives (施为句) ---- sentences that do not state a fact or describe a state, and are not verifiable.

⏹Note: Sometimes they are easy to get confused, e.g.“It is raining outside”can be a constative, and also a performative, for by uttering such a sentence, we may not only state a fact, but involve in the act of informing someone about the rain.

Some Examples of Performatives

⏹“I do”

⏹“I name this ship Elizabeth.”