Chapter-6-Pragmatics

TeachingProgramWhatisPragmatics?*ThebasicnotionsofPragmatics*ContextandutterancemeaningSpeechacttheoryPrincipleofconversationCross-culturalpragmaticfaliure1999年4月朱镕基在MIT演讲时说：1947年我在清华大学上学时，清华被称为中国的MIT。教科书大部分来自MIT……我当时就憧憬有一天能来MIT学习，拿一个学位。但是，校长先生请不要误会，我绝对不是要个荣誉的学位。……如果我要学位，一定要经过考试、答辩。语言的艺术A:Youlookprettywithoutglasses.B::DoIlookuglywithglasses?语言的艺术DefinitionofPragmatics---thestudyofhowspeakersofalanguageusesentencestoeffectsuccessfulcommunication.P77---thestudyoflanguageinuseorlanguagecommunication;thestudyoftheuseofcontexttomakeinferenceaboutmeaning.意会大于言传。语用学要解释为什么“意会大于言传”。找出其中的规律。找出语言运用的规律。1.Itdealswithhowspeakersusedlanguageinwayswhichcannotbepredictedfromlinguisticknowledgealone.2.Itdealswithhowlistenersarriveattheintendedmeaningofspeakers.3.Itdealswiththegeneralprinciplesfollowedbyhumanbeingswhentheycommunicatewithoneanother.PragmaticsSomebasicnotionsContextPragmaticsvs.semanticsSentencemeaningvs.utterancemeaningCorrectnessvs.appropriatenessContextContext---abasicconceptinthestudyofpragmatics.Itisgenerallyconsideredasconstitutedknowledgesharedbythespeakerandthehearer,suchasculturalbackground,situation(time,place,manner,etc.),therelationshipbetweenthespeakerandthehearer,etc.….Johnislikeafisha)Heswimswell.b)Hecandrinkalotofbear.c)Heisascoldasafish.)Hewenttotownyesterday.(Ifthehearerhascommittedsomecrime,andheisaninspector.Itmaymean:Becareful,youmaybefoundout.)ContextPragmaticsvs.SemanticsSemantics---isthestudyoftheliteralmeaningofasentence(withouttakingcontextintoconsideration).Pragmatics---thestudyoftheintendedmeaningofaspeaker(takingcontextintoconsideration),e.g.“TodayisSunday”.semantically,itmeanstodayisthefirstdayoftheweek;pragmatically,youcanmeanalotbysayingthis,alldependingonthecontextandtheintentionofthespeaker,say,makingasuggestionorgivinganinvitation…Sentencemeaningvs.UtterancemeaningSentencemeaning:Abstractandcontext-independentmeaning;literalmeaningofasentence;havingadyadicrelationasin:WhatdoesXmean?Utterancemeaning:concreteandcontext-dependentmeaning;intendedmeaningofaspeaker;havingatriadicrelationasin:WhatdidyoumeanbyX?Forexample“Thebagisheavy.”abagbeingheavy(sentencemeaning);anindirect,politerequest,askingthehearertohelphimcarrythebag;thespeakerisdecliningsomeone’srequestforhelp.Note:Themeaningofanutteranceisbasedonthesentencemeaning;itistherealizationoftheabstractmeaningofasentenceinarealsituationofcommunication,orsimplyinacontext;utterancemeaningisricherthansentencemeaning;itisidenticalwiththepurposeforwhichthespeakeruttersthesentence.Correctnessvs.Appropriateness*“Johnplaygolf.”---grammaticallyincorrect;?“GolfplayedJohn.”---logicallyincorrect;butitmightbeappropriatepragmaticallyincertaincontext.Note:Pragmaticscanmakesenseoutofnonsense,givenasuitablecontext.Appropriatenessisveryimportantinlinguisticcommunication,especiallyincross-culturalcommunication.Ifyousaysomethinggrammaticallyincorrect,youareatworsecondemnedas“speakingbadly”,but,ifyousaysomethinginappropriately,youwillbejudgedas“behavingbadly”,suchasinsincere,untruthful,ordeceitful.(Thomas,1983)SemanticsPragmaticsrelationshipsinsidebetweenlanguage&thethelanguageworldabstractconcrete,entitystudyofsentencesstudyofutterancesComparisonbetweenS&PSpeechacttheorySpeechactsisatermderivedfromtheworkofthephilosopherJ.L.Austin(1962)andnowusedtorefertoatheorywhichanalyzestheroleofutterancesinrelationtothebehaviorofthespeakerandthehearerininterpersonalcommunication.Itaimstoanswerthequestion“Whatdowedowhenusinglanguage?”TwotypesofutterancesConstatives(叙述句)---statementsthateitherstateordescribe,andarethusverifiable;Performatives(施为句)---sentencesthatdonotstateafactordescribeastate,andarenotverifiable.Note:Sometimestheyareeasytogetconfused,e.g.“Itisrainingoutside”canbeaconstative,andalsoaperformative,forbyutteringsuchasentence,wemaynotonlystateafact,butinvolveintheactofinformingsomeoneabouttherain.表述句（言有所述）言有所述的句子是可以验证的。真假Theearthisglobe.Itisdescribedwhatthespeakerisdoingatthetimeofspeaking.1)Ipoursomeliquidintothetube.2)I’llshowyouthepicture.ConstativesTherelevantparticipantsandcircumstancesmustbeappropriate.Theproceduremustbeexecutedcorrectlyandcompletely.Therelevantpeoplemustfollowitupwithactionsasspecified.Theprinciplesforperformatives1.第一人称单数做主语用一般现在时，陈述语气，主动语态，可以插入therebyhereby(以此，特此)如：2.Ipromise…,Iobject…,Iagree…,Iswear…I+VPPatternsofPerformativesExamplesofPerformatives“Ido”“InamethisshipElizabeth.”“Igiveandbequeathmywatchtomybrother.”“Ibetyousixpenceitwillraintomorrow.”“Ideclarethemeetingopen.”Austin’sspeechactsAccordingtoAustin’snewmodel,aspeakermightbeperformingthreeactssimultaneouslywhenspeaking:locutionaryact,illocutionaryactandperlocutionaryact.Thelocutionaryact---anactofsayingsomething,i.e.anactofmakingameaningfulutterance(literalmeaningofanutterance);Theillocutionaryact---anactperformedinsayingsomething:insayingX,IwasdoingY(theintentionofthespeakerwhilespeaking).Theperlocutionaryact---anactperformedasaresultofsayingsomething:bysayingXanddoingY,IdidZ.LOCUTIONILLOCUTIONPERLOCUTI