The document discusses pragmatics and indirectness. It defines a spectrum of degrees of indirectness from direct to highly conventionalized polite request forms. Context, beliefs, background knowledge, goals, and competing goals all play a role in interpreting indirectness. Indirectness can be used to make conversations more interesting or to increase the force of one's message. People may rely on indirectness when they have competing goals in a conversation.

1. Pragmatics
Pragmatics and Indirectness

2. Group 7
Alfiani Safitri 0902534
Fira Nursya’bani 0906856
Ismy Fauziah Ainun 0902350
Luciyana Dwiningrum 0902428

3. Measuring
Indirectness
Degree of Indirectness
Highly
Direct Conventionalized
Polite Request
Form
Unmodified
Imperative (Total
Proportional
Transparency)

4. Examples:
• Direct:
‘Stand ! ’
• Unmodified Imperative:
‘Would you like to stand’
• Highly conventionalized polite request form:
‘I think we would sing better if we stood’

5. No, I won’t marry you! Directly Expresses
Conclusion
I don’t respect you and
Logically Implies
I couldn’t marry a man I Conclusion
don’t respect
I could never marry a Directly Pragmatically
Expresses
clergyman
Conclusion
I refuse to marry a Indirectly Pragmatically
complete buffoon! Expresses
Conclusion

7. The role of context in interpreting
indirectness
“It is usual with young ladies to reject the addresses
of the man whom they secretly mean to accept, when
he first applies for their favour ”
Mr. Collins is not totally irrational

8. The role of belief in interpreting
indirectness
“Elizabeth will not marry a complete buffoon;
I am not a complete buffoon;
Therefore Elizabeth will marry me”
Expresses Mr. Collins’s hubris,
stupidity and crass insensitivity

9. Background Knowledge and
Interpreting Indirectness
..One person is able to retrieve from memory,
another may have to construct..
construct
ex. a: What’s the difference between Oxford University
and Jurrasic Park?
b: One’s a theme park inhabited by dinosaurs, the
other’s a film by Stephen Spielberg.
..You need to be familiar with a particular
elements of background knowledge..

10. The Role of Co-Text and
Interpreting Indirectness
Adjacency Pairs (Schegloff and Sacks)
..Consecutive, Contingently related utterances
produced by two different speakers..
-- First Pair Part
-- Second Pair Part
ex. a: I’d like to go to walking on Saturday if it’s fine.
b: It’s Lenin birthday
a: It’s my niece’s birthday. And Shakespeare’s birthday

11. Goals and the Interpretation of
Indirectness
Leech:
Initial Action 1 Intermediate Action 2 Final
State State State
S feels cold S says: H H S feels
“Switch on understands Switches warmer
the heater” that S wants on heater
the heater on
Initial Action 1 Intermediat Intermedia Action 2 Final
State e State 1 te State 2 State
S feels S says: H H H S feels
cold “Cold in understands Understand Switches warmer
here, that S is s that S on heater
isn’t?” aware that it wants the

12. Goals and the Interpretation of
Indirectness
..If we have a good idea of the speaker’s
goal, we can make the conversation short..
..The term indirectness covers a range of
phenomena, the illocutionary goal which is
unclear..

13. Interestingness
..Interestingness is probably the least
significant of the reasons given above, but
nevertheless its importance should not be
underestimated..
..People may use indirectness because they
enjoy having fun with language..

14. Increasing the Force of One’s
Message
..It is quite closely related to the
interestingness..
..People can increase the ‘impact’ of
effectiveness of your message by employing
indirectness..

15. Competing Goals
..According to Pyle (1983), the user of indirect
utterance relies upon his or her interlocuter’s ability
to detect the problem..