1、Chapter Eight Language in Use,2,8.1.1 Definition of Pragmatics,The study of language in use. The study of meaning in context. The study of speakers meaning, utterance meaning, If it is considered, the study is being carried out in the area of pragmatics.,6,8.2 Speech Act Theory,John Austin (1911-196

2、0) How to Do Things with Words (1962) Speech acts: actions performed via utterances,1. I got up very early this morning. 2. We are having a class on linguistics. 3. Im sorry for making you bored. 4. Lets go and have a drink. 1 and 2: verifiable constatives(述事話語) 3 and 4: unverifiable performatives(行

3、事話語),7,Constatives: utterances which roughly serves to state a fact, report that something is the case, or describe what something is, e.g.: I go to the park every Sunday. I teach English.,8.2.1 Constatives vs. Performatives,8,Performatives: utterances which are used to perform acts, do not describe

4、 or report anything at all; the uttering of the sentence is the doing of an action; they cannot be said to be true or false. Performative verbs: name, bet, etc.,Constatives vs. performatives,9,I do. I name this ship Queen Elizabeth. I bet you sixpence it will rain tomorrow. I give and bequeath my wa

5、tch to my brother. I promise to finish it in time. I apologize. I declare the meeting open. I warn you that the bull will charge.,Performatives,10,Felicity conditions: A. (i) There must be a relevant conventional procedure. (ii) the relevant participants and circumstances must be appropriate. B. The

6、 procedure must be executed correctly and completely. C. Very often, the relevant people must have the requisite thoughts, feelings and intentions, and must follow it up with actions as specified.,Performatives,11,1. 第一人稱單數(shù)為主語、現(xiàn)在時態(tài)、陳述語氣、主動語態(tài)動詞為謂語。 I promise/object/agree/swear He promises/I promised

7、(陳述） 2. 第二人稱為主語、現(xiàn)在時態(tài)、陳述語氣、被動態(tài)動詞為謂語。 Passengers are requested to ,Grammatical and lexical criteria,12,Problems with felicity conditions No strict procedure for promising. I promise. I give my word for it. I bequeath my watch to my brother. (T or F?),Performatives,Conclusion: The distinction between c

8、onstatives he likes his colleagues, and he hasnt been to prison yet.,20,Origin of the theory,Case 2: A boy says to a girl “你不戴眼鏡的時候很漂亮”. And the girl immediately responds: “那我戴眼鏡的時候一定很丑了”.,21,Grices theory Logic and Conversation is an attempt at explaining how a hearer gets from what is said to what

9、 is meant, from the level of expressed meaning to the level of implied meaning. The Cooperative Principle (CP) Make your contribution such as required at the stage at which it occurs by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.,Definition,22,Maxim of Quality: D

10、o not say what you believe to be false. Do not say something if you lack adequate evidence; Maxim of Quantity: Make your contribution as informative as required (for the current purposes of the exchange). Do not make your contribution more informative than required.,8.3.2 Maxims,23,Maxim of Relation

11、: Be relative. Maxim of Manner: Be perspicuous. Avoid obscurity of expression. Avoid ambiguity. Be brief. Be orderly.,Maxims,24,CP is meant to describe what actually happens in conversation. People tend to be cooperative and obey CP in communication. However, CP is often violated. Since CP is regula

12、tive, CP can be violated. Violation of CP and its maxims leads to conversational implicature.,8.3.3 Violation of CP and its maxims,25,Violation of the maxims (Quantity),Make your contribution as informative as is required. A: 昨天上街買了些什么? B: 就買了些東西。 I dont want to tell you what I bought.,26,Dear Sir,

13、Mr. Xs command of English is excellent, and his attendance at tutorials has been regular. Yours Mr. X is not suitable for the job.,Violation of the maxims (Quantity),27,2. Do not make your contribution more informative than is required. Aunt: How did Jimmy do his history exam? Mother: Oh, not at all

14、 well. Teachers asked him things that happened before the poor boy was born. Her son should not be blamed.,Violation of the maxims (Quantity),28,A: Your kid broke the window. B: Boys are boys. War is war. ,Violation of the maxims (Quantity),29,Violation of the maxims (Quality),1. Do not say what you

15、 believe to be false. You are the cream in my coffee. X runs as fast as a deer. He is made of iron.,30,2. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence. A: Beirut is in Peru, isnt it? B: And Rome is in Romania, I suppose. Its ridiculous.,Violation of the maxims(Quality),31,Violation of the ma

16、xims (Relation),Be relevant. A: Prof. Wang is an old bag. B: Nice weather for the time of year. I dont want to talk about Prof. Wang.,萍：爸爸，不過四鳳同魯貴在家里都很好,很忠誠的。 樸：恩，我很累了。 我預備到書房歇一下。你叫他們送一碗濃一點的普洱茶來。 ,32,Violation of the maxims (Manner),1. Avoid obscurity of expression A: Lets get the kids something. B:

17、 Ok, but I veto C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E. Dont give them chocolate.,2. Avoid ambiguity A: Name and title, please? B: John Smith, Associate Editor and professor. Cf: 買一贈一。,33,3. Be brief A: Did you get my assignment? B: I received two pages clipped together and covered with rows of black squiggles. not sati

18、sfied.,Violation of the maxims (Manner),34,Exercises,Tell what maxim is violated in the following utterances, and whats their conversational implicatures. 1. Suppose Mary knows that Tom knows she is very well. But when Tom invites Mary to a party for the weekend, Mary answers: “Sorry, I dont feel ve

19、ry well.”,35,Exercises,2. A: 你打算什么時候結婚？ B: 我結婚的時候結婚。 3. A:我的那盒巧克力呢？ B:剛才我餓了。,36,Exercises,4. A: Can you answer the phone? B: Im in the bath. 5. A: What songs did Miss X sing last night? B: She produced a series of sounds that corresponded closely with the score of “Home, Sweet Home.”,37,8.3.4 Charac

20、teristics of implicature,Calculability: hearers work out implicature based on literal meaning, CP and its maxims, context, etc. The girl said to the boy: “圣誕節(jié)到了！” The boy said: “又快放假了?！?38,Cancellability / defeasibility: If the linguistic or situational contexts changes, the implicature will also ch

21、ange. A: Do you want some coffee? B: Coffee would keep me awake. I do not like coffee. B: Coffee would keep me awake. I want to stay up. A: Youre the cream in my coffee. B: But Im afraid I dont quite like cream in my coffee.,Characteristics of implicature,39,Non-detachability: implicature is attache

22、d to the semantic content of what is said, not to the linguistic form; implicatures do not vanish if the words of an utterance are changed for synonyms.,A: Shall we go the cinema tonight? B: Therell be an exam tomorrow. Ill take an exam tomorrow. Isnt there an exam tomorrow?,Characteristics of impli

23、cature,40,Non-conventionality: implicature is different from its conventional meaning of words. It is context-dependent. It varies with context. A1：下午踢球去吧！ A2：老王住院了？ B：上午還在 換草皮。 A3: 足球場安裝了一個新門柱。,Characteristics of implicature,41,8.3.5 Flouting of the maxims and rhetoric 1. Main idea,反語（irony）、隱喻（metaphor）、夸張法（hyperbole）和弱言法（meiosis）等都是說話人有意違反會話的質量準則所產(chǎn)生的結果（Grice 1975: 312）。 使用修辭格的目的可以說是通過使用比較含蓄的語言來達到更加強烈的語氣、更加生動的表達。就其