4. Semantics (lexical and phrasal/sentential/compositional
semantics) studies literal meaning of words and sentences.
All the Individual Word Meanings
+
Syntax
=
Sentence Meaning
5. Some meaning is extra-truth-conditional: it comes about how a
speaker uses the literal meaning in a conversation or in a
discourse.
The study of extra-truth-condition is called pragmatics.
Central topics in pragmatics are:
Deixis, implicature, presupposition and speech acts;
6. Pragmatics is the study of invisible meaning or how we
recognize what is meant even when it is not actually said or
written. (Yule 2010: 128)
In order for that to happen, speakers or writers must be able to
depend on a lot of shared assumptions and expectations when
they try to communicate.
1. Pragmatics is the study of speaker meaning.
2. Pragmatics is the study of contextual meaning.
THUS, it is the study of WHAT PEOPLE MEAN by their
utterances rather than what the words or phrases might mean by
themselves.
7. 3. The study of
how more gets communicated than said.
A great deal of what is UNSAID is recognized as part of
what is communicated.
The study of “invisible meaning”
10. What do you think is meant by the statement:
“A context is a psychological construct”
(Sperber and Wilson, 1995)?
11. DEIXIS
Derived from the Greek word for ‘pointing’ or ‘indicating’ (deiktikos: ‘apt for pointing with
the finger’), deixis refers to the way in which speakers orientate both themselves and
their listeners in relation to the context of a conversation. Deixis enables interlocutors to
refer to entities in context, thereby allowing them to identify people and things in relation to
the space they are operating in at the moment at which they are speaking.
There are a number of grammatical items that encode deixis, for example, the
demonstratives, this, that; first and second person personal pronouns, I, you, we;
adverbs of time such as now, then; adverbs of space such as here, there; and a variety of
other grammatical features such as tense markers.
These grammatical items that encode deixis are commonly referred to as deictics.
12. State in which of the two examples the pronoun is used in a non-deictic sense.
A: I owe you a fiver.
A: There’s a school that’s out there that you book in for a week and you can
learn how to hang-glide.
13. State in which of the two examples the pronoun is used in a non-deictic
sense.
A: I owe you a fiver. DEICTIC USAGE/SENSE
A: There’s a school that’s out there that you book in for a week and you can
learn how to hang-glide. NON-DEICTIC USAGE/SENSE
14. State in which of the two examples ‚there‘ is used in a non-deictic sense.
A: There was a good crowd there.
A: There was a good crowd there.
15. State in which of the two examples ‚there‘ is used in a non-deictic sense.
A: There was a good crowd there. DEICTIC
A: There was a good crowd there. NON-DEICTIC SENSE
16. Why is the concept of “deictic projection” necessary for the analysis of the
following deictic expressions?
(1) On a telephone answering machine: I am not here now
(2) On a map/directory: you are here
(3) Watching a horse race: Oh, no. I’m in last place.
(4) In a car that won’t start: Maybe I’m out of gas.
(5) Pointing to an empty chair in class: Where is she today?
17.
18. Bentley must not die
There was never any doubt that Derek Bentley didn’t fire the shot that killed PC Sidney Miles, when the police interrupted an attempted
warehouse burglary in Croydon on the night of 2 November 1952. The gunman was evidently Christopher Craig, who was only sixteen at
the time and too young to be hanged. Nineteen-year-old Bentley wasn’t too young for capital punishment, even though his mental age was
reckoned to be around eleven. Craig was the senior partner in crime and the case against him seemed clear cut. Bentley was certainly an
accomplice in trying to burgle the warehouse of the Barlow & Parker confectionery company. The issue in doubt, when the pair stood
trial at the Old Bailey in December 1952, was whether Bentley was also an accomplice in the murder of PC Miles – in particular, whether
he’d incited Craig to shoot by calling out, ‘Let him have it, Chris’, as was claimed by other police officers present at the scene. Bentley
and Craig denied these words were ever used. In the trial, Bentley's defense claimed he was already under arrest at the time the shots were
fired and was simply urging Craig to give up his gun. A large crowd began gathering outside Wandsworth jail from early this morning.
Some sang the hymn Abide With Me and the 23rd Psalm.
The jury took little more than an hour to find both defendants guilty of murder although, in Bentley’s case, with a recommendation for
mercy. The trial judge, Lord Goddard, sentenced Craig to be detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure and Bentley to death. An appeal was
unsuccessful. The Home Secretary declined to recommend that the Queen exercise the royal prerogative of mercy to commute Bentley’s
sentence to life imprisonment. He was hanged at Wandsworth Prison on 28 January 1953. On this day, a crowd of up to 300 gathered
outside the Houses of Parliament, chanting "Bentley must not die!" The demonstrators marched to the Home Office and later to Downing
Street. The crowd eventually dispersed in the early hours of this morning after handing in a petition at Deputy Prime Minister Anthony
Eden's home. Bentley's execution comes just three months after the warehouse break-in in Croydon in which Pc Miles died. Bentley was
convicted on the basis of police evidence. Three officers told the court they had heard him encourage Craig to shoot by shouting "Let him
have it".
Iris Bentley tried for decades to get posthumous justice for her brother. In July 1993, more than forty years after his execution, Derek
Bentley was granted a royal pardon in respect of the death sentence passed on him and carried out – but the pardon wasn’t tantamount to a
quashing of Bentley’s murder conviction. The Court of Appeal eventually quashed the conviction five years later, on 30 July 1998. Iris
Bentley had died the previous year. When Let Him Have It was made, it therefore had potential value as a reminder of a long-standing
miscarriage of justice and as a contribution to the campaign to clear Bentley’s name. In 1991, this may have constrained criticism of the
film as a piece of drama. It’s hard to be so indulgent now.
19. PRESUPPOSITION (FURTHER EXPLANATION)
What a speaker (or writer) assumes is true or known by a listener (or reader)
can be described as a presupposition. Thus, presuppositions are situations
that must exist for utterances to be appropriate.
Still, there are several types of presuppositions and they arise from a variety of
lexical and syntactic sources. The linguistic items that generate presupposition are
referred to as presupposition triggers.
20. PRESUPPOSITION (FURTHER EXPLANATION)
The following linguistic items (i.e. words, expressions or syntactic structures) may be said to
give rise to specific types of presuppositions:
1. Simpler or compound referring expressions (i.e. proper names, definite descriptions,
quantified noun phrases, etc.) give rise to presuppositions of existence. e.g.
a. Babu is a staunch vegeterian. P: Someone called Babu exists (and the speaker and
the listener know that person (shared knowledge)).
b. The President of the USA is a man of action. P:There is a certain person who is the
president of the USA (we both know who that is, shared knowledge)
c. Ali’s car is the best of its class. P: Ali has a car.
21. PRESUPPOSITION (FURTHER EXPLANATION)
The following linguistic items (i.e. words, expressions or syntactic structures) may be said to
give rise to specific types of presuppositions:
2. Some lexical items such as factive verbs, verbs of judgment generate presuppositions.
Factive verbs like know, realize, regret, etc. and verbs of judgment like blame, approve, etc.
presuppose the truth of their complement clause, e.g.
a. Fadi realized that it was a tough topic. P: It was a tough topic.
b. George regrets joining the activist network. P: George joined activist network.
22. PRESUPPOSITION (FURTHER EXPLANATION)
The following linguistic items (i.e. words, expressions or syntactic structures) may be said to give rise to specific
types of presuppositions:
3. Change of state verb like start, begin, stop, etc give rise to a kind of 'switch' presupposition. Such a verb
describes a new state (or a kind of change in state), and simultaneously presupposes that the newly described
state of affairs did not exist prior to the change, e.g.
a. Nadia started attending seminars. P: Nadia did not use to attend seminars.
b. Nadia stopped attending seminars. P: Nadia used to attend seminars.
4. Cleft and pseudo-cleft constructions give rise to presuppositions. e.g.
a. It was his arrogance that irritated me./ What irritated me was his arrogance . P: Something irritated me.
23. PRESUPPOSITION (FURTHER EXPLANATION)
The following linguistic items (i.e. words, expressions or syntactic structures) may be said to give rise to specific
types of presuppositions:
5. Some subordinate clauses like 'Time adverbial clauses' and 'comparative clauses' also
generate presuppositions, e.g.
a. I was awarded Ph.D. before he had even registered for it. P: He registered for Ph.D.
b. He is more generous than you are. P: You are generous.
24. PRESUPPOSITION (FURTHER EXPLANATION)
Different inferences can have the same sets of presuppositions. Read examples 1-3 and
state the presuppositions present in each inference:
1. Charles, who is a renowned wrestler, stopped wrestling from 25th of March 2002.
2. Charles, who is a renowned wrestler, did not stop wrestling from 25th of March 2002.
3. Did Charles ,who is a renowned wrestler ,stop wrestling from 25th of March 2002?
25. PRESUPPOSITION (FURTHER EXPLANATION)
Different inferences can have the same sets of presuppositions. Read examples 1-3 and
state the presuppositions present in each inference:
P1: Someone called Charles exists.
P2: Charles is a renowned wrestler.
P3: Charles was a practicing wrestler before 25th of March 2002.
26. Analyze the following conversation in terms of presuppositions.
“Take some more tea,” the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
“I’ve had nothing yet,” Alice replied in an offended tone, “so I can’t take more.”
“You mean you can’t take less,” said the Hatter: “It’s very easy to take more than
nothing.”
27. IMPLICATURE (FURTHER EXPLANATION)
An implicature may be said to be that extra meaning attached to the utterance, but distinct
from its sense. The term implicature signifies what a speaker implicates (as opposed to what
he actually says) – speakers mean more than what they say.
A: Are you going to the party tonight?
B: I have to work.
Implicature – what the speaker said is distinct from what the speaker meant. The speaker
said ‘he has some obligations which are work-related’, but the speaker meant ‘I am not
going/cannot go to the party.
28. Each of the following single statements has at least one implicature in the situation
described. What is it?
A. Statement: You make a better door than a window.
Situation: Someone is blocking your view.
B. Statement: If you’d diet, this wouldn’t hurt so badly.
Situation: Someone is standing on your toe.
C. Statement: I thought I saw a fan in the closet.
Situation: It’s sweltering in the room.
D. Statement: Mr. Smith dresses neatly, is well groomed, and is always on time to class.
Situation: The summary statement in a letter of recommendation to graduate school.
E. Statement: Most of the food is gone.
Situation: You arrived late at a cocktail party.
29. In each of the dialogues between Jack and Laura, there is a conversational implicature. What is it?
a. Jack: Did you make a doctor’s appointment? Laura: Their line was busy.
b. Jack: Do you have the play tickets? Laura: Didn’t I give them to you?
c. Jack: Does your grandmother have a live-in boyfriend? Laura: She’s very traditional.
d. Jack: How did you like the string quartet? Laura: I thought the violist was swell.
e. Laura: What are Boston’s chances of winning the World Series? Jack: Do bowling balls float?
f. Laura: Do you own a cat? Jack: I’m allergic to everything.
g. Laura: Did you mow the grass and wash the car like I told you to? Jack: I mowed the grass.
h. Laura: Do you want dessert? Jack: Is the Pope Catholic?
30. Here is a dialog excerpt from the 1945 motion picture The Thin Man Goes Home. The scene
is in a shop that sells paintings and Nick Charles is leaving the shop.
Nick Charles: Well, thank you very much. Goodbye now.
Shopkeeper: I beg your pardon?
Nick Charles: I said, goodbye now.
Shopkeeper: “Goodbye now?” There’s no sense to that! Obviously it’s now! I mean, you
wouldn’t say “goodbye tomorrow” or “goodbye two hours ago!”
Nick Charles: You got hold of somethin’ there, brother.
Shopkeeper: I’ve got hold of some . . . I haven’t got hold of anything . . . And I’m not your
brother!
Analyze this dialogue, intended to be humorous (one assumes), in light of Grice’s maxims
31. Imagine that Alex and Bruce have a plan to throw Colleen a surprise
party at work. It is Alex’s job meet her for lunch at a local restaurant
to get her out of the office, and Bruce’s job to decorate as soon as she
leaves. Alex phones Bruce and says, “The eagle has landed.” What
Maxim is Alex flouting? What does his utterance implicate?
32. SPEECH ACTS and EVENTS
Language is used ‘to do things‘.
Speech act describes actions such as “requesting,” “commanding,” “questioning” or
“informing.” It is the action performed by a speaker with an utterance, i.e. we do
things by language rather than just refer to the truth or falsity of a particular statement.
33. SPEECH ACTS and EVENTS
We use the term speech acts to describe actions such as:
Asking questions
Making requests
Giving orders
Making promises
Giving advice
Making threats
34.
35.
36. SPEECH ACTS and EVENTS
In English they are commonly known as: apology, compliment,
complaint, invitation, promise, or request and apply to the
speaker’s communicative intention.
The circumstances surrounding the utterance are called the
Speech Event and it’s their nature that determines the
interpretation of an utterance as performing a particular speech
act.
37. SPEECH ACTS and EVENTS
A woman says: ‚It‘s hot in here‘.
LOCUTIONARY ACT ILLOCUTIONARY FORCE PERLOCUTIONARY EFFECT
38. SPEECH ACTS and EVENTS
A woman says: ‚It‘s hot in here‘.
LOCUTIONARY ACT ILLOCUTIONARY FORCE PERLOCUTIONARY EFFECT
Referring to the temperature. Request to someone to turn on the
air-conditioning.
Someone getting up and turning n
the air-conditioning.
39. DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH ACTS
We usually use certain sentence structures with the functions
listed beside them in the following table.
STRUCTURE FUNCTION
Did you eat the pizza? Interrogative Question
Eat the pizza, please! Imperative Directive/Request
You ate the pizza. Declarative Statement
What a nice dress this is! Exclamatory Exclamation
40. When one of the structures designated in the table above is used
to express another speech act and its corresponding speech act,
this is an example of an indirect speech act.
41. For example, when an interrogative structure is used as a speech
act of a question, or an imperative structure as a speech act of
command, it is called DIRECT SPEECH ACT.
What time is it?
Go away!
When an interrogative structure is used to express a DIRECTIVE,
it is called the INDIRECT SPEECH ACT.
Could you pass the salt?
That soup is rather cold.
42. For example, Can you swim? Is interrogative in form, and simply
asks a question and it is an example of _____________ speech
act.
On the other hand, Can you pass the salt? Is interrogative in
form, but it‘s a command by its function, so it is ______________
speech act.
The utterance You left the door open. Is a statement by its
structure and as ____________ speech act would be used to
make a statement.
On the other hand, if by using this statement you want to make a
person close the door, you‘re using _______________ speech
act.
43. More example of indirect speech acts:
“Move out of the way!” – (the only direct command.)
“Do you have to stand in front of the T.V?”(A question functioning as an
indirect command)
“You’re standing in front of the T.V!”.( a declarative functioning as an
indirect request)
44. It is not always easy to identify the illocutionary act of what is
being said:
It may depend on the stage of the discourse: Where in the
discourse the utterance occurs.
Example: The utterance “O.K” can have many interpretations.
A: Let‘s grab lunch tomorrow
B: OK
Compared to:
The teacher enters into the room, the students are still talking.
Teacher: OK
So “OK” can mean three different things?
45. Someone stands between you and the TV set you’re watching, so you decide to say one
of the following. Identify which would be direct or indirect speech acts.
(a) Move!
(b) You’re in the way.
(c) Could you please sit down?
(d) Please get out of the way.
46. State whether the speech act expressed is direct or indirect:
1. May I borrow a pen?
2. Could you please choose the correct answer from the following?
3. Can I take your order?
4. Can I have a slice of Pizza?
5. I’m going to finish reading this book tonight. (Friend to friend)
6. Listen carefully, please. (Wife to husband)
7. Are you going to leave the door wide open? (Teacher to student)
8. My pen isn’t working. (student to classmates)
9. Clear your desk by the end of the day. (Boss to secretary)
10.How beautiful you look today!(Husband to wife)
11.You didn’t study last night? (friend to friend)
12. I quit. (employee to manager)
