语用学考试

1.Pragmaticscanbedefinedinvariousways.Ageneraldefinitionisthatitisthestudyofhowspeakersofalanguageusesentencestoeffectsuccessfulcommunication.Astheprocessofcommunicationisessentiallyaprocessofconveyingmeaninginacertaincontext,pragmaticscanalsobedefinedasthestudyoflanguageinuse.2.Pragmaticsvs.SemanticsTheessentialdistinguishbetweensemanticsandpragmaticsiswhetherinthestudyofmeaningthecontextofuseisconsidered.Ifitisnotconsidered,thestudyisrestrictedtotheareaoftraditionalsemantics;ifitisconsidered,thestudyisbeingcarriedoutintheareaofpragmatics.3.Beingessentialtopragmatics,contextisgenerallyconsideredasconstitutedbytheknowledgesharedbythespeakerandthehearer.There’retwotypesofsharedknowledge:theknowledgeofthelanguagetheyuse,andtheknowledgeabouttheworld,includingthegeneralknowledgeabouttheworldandthespecificknowledgeaboutthesituationinwhichlinguisticcommunicationistakingplace.Withoutsuchknowledge,linguisticcommunicationwouldnotbepossible,andwithoutconsideringsuchknowledge,linguisticcommunicationcannotbesatisfactorilyaccountedforinapragmaticsense.4.Sentenceisagrammaticalconcept,itsmeaningisoftenstudiedastheabstract,intrinsicpropertyofthesentenceitselfintermsofapredication.Utteranceisbasedonsentencemeaning;itistherealizationoftheabstractmeaningofasentenceinarealsituationofcommunication,orsimplyinacontext.5.Summary1)Languagemeaningcanbeanalyzedatseverallevels.2)Semanticsconcentratesonthemeaningthatcomesfromlinguisticknowledge,whilepragmaticsconcentratesonthoseaspectsofmeaningthatcannotbepredictedbylinguisticknowledgealoneandtakesintoaccountourknowledgeaboutthephysicalandsocialworld.3)Thefocusofpragmaticanalysisisonthemeaningofspeakers’utterancesratherthanonthemeaningofwordsorsentences.4)Utterancesneednotconsistofcompletesentences.Eachutteranceisauniquephysicaleventcreatedataparticularpointintimeforaparticularcommunicativepurpose.6.Entailment：arelationshipbetweensentencesthatformsthebasisforsomeoftheseinferences(推断).7.Youwouldneedother,non-。linguistic,informationaboutTom’smotherandtheparticularcatreferredtohere.ThesearesometimeslabeledasSyntheticSentence.SyntheticallyTrue/False8.Thetermparaphraseisusedinsemanticswhenthereisarelationshipofmutualentailmentbetweentwosentences.9.Summary:1)Allsentenceshaveanumberofentailments,——othersentenceswhichareautomaticallytrueiftheoriginalsentenceistrue,then‘othersentences’aretheentailmentsof‘theoriginalsentence’.2)Entailmentsareinferencesthatcanbedrawnsolelyfromourknowledgeaboutthesemanticrelationshipsinalanguage.3)Thisknowledgeallowustocommunicatemuchmorethanweactually‘say’.10.Declarativesentencestypicallyfunctionas‘statement’.SuchasyouranawaywithyoutheSubjectandrantheVerbInimperativesentences,whichtypicallyfunctionas‘commands’,thereisnosubjectpresentalthoughitis‘understood’asyouasinRunaway!Interrogativesentencestypicallyfunctionas‘questions’.11.Analyzingtherelationofentailment1）IfXistrue,Yisnecessarilytrue2)IfXisfalse,Ymaybetrueorfalse3)IfYistrue,Xmaybetrueorfalse4)IfYisfalse,Xisfalse12.Forpresupposition,thekeypointisthatifXpresupposesY,YisapresuppositionofX1)IfXistrue,Ymustbetrue2)IfXisfalse,Yisstilltrue3)IfYistrue,Xiseithertrueorfalse4)IfYisfalse,notruthvaluecanbesaidaboutX13.NoticethatpossessivesleadtoaparticularlystrongPresuppositionabouttheexistenceofthechocolatecake,andinadditionleadtothepresuppositionthat‘Anniehasachocolatecake’.ThisbasictypeofpresuppositionissometimescalledanExistentialPresupposition.Hereregretina)triggersthepresuppositionthatwhatfollowsisa‘fact’.ThiskindofpresuppositionssometimesarecalledFactivepresupposition./Non-factivePresuppositionSomesubjunctiveconstructionslikeifIwereyou…arenotonlynotuntruebuteventheoppositeofthetrue,orcontrarytothefacts,theyareusuallycalledCounter-factualpresuppositionActually,presuppositionstriggeredbyanywordscanallbecalledLexicalPresuppositionswhilethosetriggeredbyanystructurescanallbecalledStructuralPresuppositions.14.Summary:1.Wehavedescribedpresuppositionsasinferencesaboutwhatisassumedinanutteranceratherthandirectlyasserted.2.Presuppositionsarecloselylinkedtothewordsandgrammaticalstructuresthatareactuallyusedintheutteranceandourknowledgeaboutthewaylanguageusersconventionallyinterpretthem.3.Presuppositionscanbedrawnevenwhenthereislittleornosurroundingcontext.15.Aconversationalimplicatureis,therefore,somethingwhichisimpliedinconversation,thatis,somethingwhichisleftimplicitinactuallanguageuse.16.Asweseefromtheaboveexample,alogicalimplicationdoesnothavetocorrespondtowhatineverydaylifeweunderstandby‘implies’.Intheabovecase,wewouldsaythatmynephew’snotcuttingthehedge‘implied’hisnotgettingadinner,justlikehiscutting‘implies’hisbeingtakenout.However,logicandeverydaylifedonotalwayslookatthingsthesameway.Thisiswhyweneedanotherterm:inadditiontothelogicalimplications,wewillspeakofconversationalimplicatures.16.TheCooperativeprincipleMakeyourconversationalcontributionsuchasrequiredatthestageatwhichitoccursbytheacceptedpurposeordirectionofthetalkexchangeinwhichyouareengaged.1.ThemaximofquantityMakeyourcontributionasinformativeasrequired(forth