ling1003 08 lecture 14 slides

Pragmatics (2): Pragmatics (2): Presupposition, Speech Acts, Presupposition, Speech Acts, Politeness Politeness

LING 1003 Language, Thought and Culture14 March 2008

By Dr. Olga [email protected]

LING1003 Language, Thought & Culture 2

Lecture overview:Lecture overview:

Presupposition

Speech acts

Politeness


PresuppositionPresupposition

Yule: “Speakers usually design their linguistic messages on the basis of assumptions of what their hearers already know” (1996: 132) Technical term: presuppositionBorrowed by linguists from logic;Friedrich Frege in “On sense and reference”.



Presupposition: part of an utterance meaning which remains truthful when the sentence is transformed into a negative form (constancy under negation test).Assertive sentences always contain some presupposition.The meaning of the sentences is composed of the assertive part of the sentence plus presupposition.



Example 1A. Hong Kong is a modern city.Hong Kong is not a modern city.Presupposition:There is a city Hong Kong.

B. Dim Sum is Chinese food.Dim Sum is not Chinese food.Presupposition:There is type of food called Dim Sum.



C. John is tall.John is not tall.Presupposition:There is a man called John.

D. John is married.John is not married.There is a man called John.


Presupposition triggersPresupposition triggersCertain words that can signal the presence of presupposition in a sentence: presupposition triggers:RegretRealizeForgetStopBegin.

If there one of these words in a sentence, then it means that the sentence contains a presupposition:

Example 2

John stopped beating his wife.John hasn’t stopped beating his wife.Presupposition: John had been beating his wife.


Presupposition in advertisingPresupposition in advertising

The “trick” of claiming something by presupposition rather than by directly asserting it is very widely used by lawyers and advertisers.

Example 3


Presupposition in courtPresupposition in courtType of presupposition triggers: wh-words & how. In the following examples the tricky lawyer has tried to “sneak” some facts into his questions via presupposition:

Example 4

How did you know that the defendant had bought a knife?When did you last see the murdered woman?What did the victim tell you before he was killed?


Speech actsSpeech acts

Example 5Everybody hates Kelly because she is so popular.

Dear Dr. Watson, I keep on forgetting people’s names all the time.


J. L. AustinJ. L. Austin

People communicate effectively and unproblematically with the language just the way it is.


J. L. AustinJ. L. Austin“How to Do Things with Words”.Some utterances are used not just to state something but to do things:

Example 6I apologize.I christen this ship “Victoria”.I object to your proposal.I declare the meeting open.


J. L. AustinJ. L. Austin

Utterances

Constatives Performatives

E. g. I object to your proposal;

I promise to do it.

Other verbs: say, protest, apologize, deny, thank, etc.

E. g. I am Russian; I am Chinese


Performatives: testPerformatives: test

Example 7

I hereby apologize.I hereby christen this ship "Victory".I hereby object to your proposal.I hereby declare the meeting open.


Felicity conditionsFelicity conditionsConditions which make performatives successful:

Condition 1:

The must be a conventional procedure following a conventional effect;The circumstances and the persons must be appropriate.

Condition 2:The procedure must be executed:

Correctly;Completely.


Felicity conditionsFelicity conditionsCondition 3:Often:

The person must have the requisite thoughts, feelings and intentions, as specified in the procedure;

If consequent conduct is specified, then the relevant parties must do so.


Direct/ indirect speech actsDirect/ indirect speech acts

Example 8Could you pass me the salt please?

Indirect speech act – the speakers intention is not expressed directly (e.g. asking to pass the salt, not about the ability of the hearer to do so).


Direct/ indirect speech actsDirect/ indirect speech actsExample 9

Steve: HiPenny: Hello, here he is. Here you are. Thank you. Oh, good.

((looking at the M&M’s candies)) Oh, I can never get the colours that I want. Oh, well. Oh, no, damn it! I just remembered that I promised my friend’s brother’s Godmother that I would… that I would help her … change her fax cartridge… tonight because… she’s going out of town… tomorrow on an African safari. I should go do that. I am really sorry we’re not going to have that..

Steve and Penny together: … medical check.Penny: Oh, Oh, O.K. Bye, honey. Steve: Wow, Goodness, I hope her friend’s brother’s

Godmother is gonna be O.K.


PolitenessPolitenessIn a common sense: being polite -showing good manners and consideration for other people (e.g. open the door for a lady, give your seat to an elderly person in public transport).Linguistic politeness: the way people choose to speak and how the hearers react to their speech.


PolitenessPoliteness(Adapted from Peccei 1999)

Here are five utterances with an imperative structure. Assume that each one of them would be spoken by the host to a guest. Rearrange them in order of politeness:Take a look at this.Clean up the kitchen floor.Pass the salt.Have some more cake.Peel these potatoes.


PolitenessPoliteness(Adapted from Peccei 1999)

In each of the following dialogues there are three alternative responses for the second speaker. Put them in increasing order of politeness:

Meridyth: Well, I’ve done that. I’ve dyed my hair blonde.Ed: a. You look beautiful.

b. You look awful.c. You look amazing.

Tom: Do you like the wine I picked out?Gabriela: a. It’s Italian, isn’t it?

b. Yes, I do.c. Not really.


PolitenessPolitenessThe most famous paper on linguistic politeness as a pragmatics phenomenon: “Politeness: some universals in language usage”, Penelope Brown and Stephen C. Levinson (Max Plank Institute for Psycholinguistics, Netherlands).


PolitenessPolitenessConcept of “face”Politeness – “showing awareness of another person’s face” (Yule, 1996: 134).Face-threatening act – “a threat to another person’s self - image” (Yule, 1996: 134).Face-saving act – “saying something that lessens the possible threat to another’s face”.


ReferencesReferences::Required reading:

Yule, G. (1996). The study of language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. P. 131 – 134.

Other references:Peccei, J. S. (1999). Pragmatics. London, N.Y.: Routledge. Thomas, J. (1995). Meaning in Interaction: An Introduction to Pragmatics. London & N.Y. Longman: 1995. Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

ling1003 08 lecture 14 slides

Technology

friends brothers

man called

hong kong

modern city

speech acts

dim sum

ling1003 language

thought amp