英语语言学：chapter 8 Language in use

Chapter 8Language in usecontents 1. The difference between semantics and pragmatics 2. Speech act theory 3. A theory of the illocutionary act 4. The theory of conversational implicature 5. post-Gricean developmentsThe difference between semantics and pragmatics I love my mother. It is a fine day today. My watch has stopped again. For the third sentence 1. I cant tell you the time. 2. This is the reason for my being late. 3.I really have to get it repaired. 4. What about buying me another one? Sentence meaning includes word meaning and sentence/syntactic structure Utterance meaning: the meaning a speaker conveys by using a particular utterance in a particular context situation. utterance meaning; speakers meaning; contextual meaning The study of sentence meaning belongs to semantics. The study of utterance meaning belongs to pragmatics. Pragmatics: The study of meaning in context. It differs from the kinds of meaning we studied in semantics in that it depends more on the context. Pragmatics = meaning semantics meaning semantics pragmatics Speech act theory The first major theory in the study of language in use, which originated with the Oxford philosopher John Langshaw Austin: How to Do Things with Words Speech act: an utterance as a functional unit in communication. In speech act theory, utterances have two kinds of meaning: a. propositional meaning (命题意义): also known as locutionary meaning(发话意义). This is the basic literal meaning of the utterance which is conveyed by the particular words and structures which the utterance contains. b. illocutionary meaning(行事意义): also known as illocutionary force(行事语力). This is the effect the utterance or written text has on the reader or listener. Ex.: I am thirsty. A speech act is a sentence or utterance which has both propositional meaning and illocutionary force. Performatives and constatives Austin: there are two types of sentences: performatives and constatives Performatives (施为句；行事话语): an utterance which performs an act, such as: I promise not to be late. I bet you six pence it will rain tomorrow. I apologize. Watch out. A constative（表述句 ；述事话语）is an utterance which asserts something that is either true or false. ex.: Chicago is in the United States.A theory of the illocutionary act（行事行为理论）行事行为理论） Three different types of act involved in or caused by the utterance of a sentence: Locutionary act (发话行为) is the saying of something which is meaningful and can be understood. Illocutionary act (行事行为) is using a sentence to perform a function，related to the speakers intention. Perlocutionary act (取效行为) is the result or effects that are produced by means of saying something. ex. The window is open.The theory of conversational implicature (会话含义理论会话含义理论) An Oxford philosopher and logician Herbert Paul Grice: Logic and Conversation 1. cooperative principle (合作原则) The co-operation between speakers in using the conversational maxims is called the cooperative principle. Conversational maxim: an unwritten rule about conversation which people know and which influences the form of conversational exchanges. Grice introduced four categories of maxims: a. the maxim of quantity: 1. Make your contribution as informative as is required not less 2. Do not make your contribution more informative than is required. not more b. the maxim of quality: Try to make your contribution one that is true. 1. Do not say what you believe to be false. 2. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence. c. the maxim of relation: be relevant. d. the maxim of manner: Be perspicuous (清楚易懂的). 1. Avoid obscurity of expression. 2. Avoid ambiguity. 3. Be brief. 4. Be orderly. 2. Violation of the maxims Lies are not implicatures proper. So the cases Grice discusses are all blatant, apparent violations. The speaker has shown it clearly that some maxims are violated, yet at a deeper level the CP can still be thought to be upheld. Examples: A reference letter by A for his past student X, who is applying for a lectureship in philosophy: Dear Sir, Mr. Xs command of English is excellent, and his attendance at tutorial has been regular. Yours, etc. Sometimes the Quantity maxim will be in conflict with the Quality maxim. Ex.: A asks B where C lives, B: Somewhere in the south of France. Sometimes the first Quantity maxim is violated: 1. War is war. 2. Boys are boys. Sometimes the second Quantity maxim is violated. Ex.: A: Where is X ? B: Shes gone shopping. She said so when she left. Sometimes the first Quality maxim is violated. Ex. 1. 一切反动派都是纸老虎。 2. He is made of iron. 3. Every nice girl loves a sailor. Sometimes the Relation maxim is violated. Ex.: A: Can you fly to Edinburgh tomorrow? B: The pilots are on strike. Sometimes the obscurity avoidance maxim is violated. Ex. A: Lets get the kids something. B: Okay, but I veto I-C-E C-R-E-A-M-S. Definition of Conversational implicature Conversational implicature is a type of 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. In this sense, implicature is comparable to illocutionary force (行事语力) in the speech act theory in that they are both concerned with the contextual side of meaning. Post-Gricean developments 1. Relevance theory (关联理论) Proposed by Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson in their book: Communication and Cognition in 1986. They argue that all Gricean maxims, including the CP itself, should be reduced to a single principle of relevance. Principle of relevance: Every act of ostensive communication communicate the presumption of its own optional relevance.（每一个明示交际行为都传递一种假设：该行为本身具备最适宜关联） From the speakers side, communication should be seen as an act of making clear ones intention to express something. This act is called ostensive act (明示行为). 2. the Q- and R-principle These two principles were proposed by Laurence Horn in his “Toward a New Taxonomy for Pragmatic Inference: Q-based and R-based implicature” of 1984 The Q-principle is intended to invoke the first maxim of Grices Quantity, and the R-principle the Relation maxim, but the new principles are more extensive than the Gricean maxims. Horn reduces all the Gricean maxims to two principles: the Q- and R-principle 1. The Q-principle (hearer-based): Make your contribution sufficient Say as much as you can 2. The R-principle (speaker-based): Make your contribution necessary Say no more than you must In other words, the Q-principle is concerned with the content. The R-principle, on the other hand, is concerned with the form.Suggested readings 1. 戴炜栋，何兆熊. 2013. 新编简明英语语言学教程. 上海：上海外语教育出版社. 2. Austin, J. L. 1962. How to do things with words. 2nd. Oxford: Clarendon Press.thanks