Pragmatics

Definition:
Regularity: (sự quen thuộc đối với những mẫu câu, cụm từ hay dùng trong một
nhóm ngôn ngữ, cộng đồng)
Some of that regularity derives from the fact that people are members of social
groups and follow general patterns ò behavior expected within a group.
Deictic form:
Proximal: Near speaker (this here, now)
Distal: Away from the speaker (that, there, then)
Deixis & Distance
Definition: Deixis is a technical term (from Greek) for one of the most basic
things we do with utterance, which means “pointing” via language. Any
linguistic form used to accomplish this “pointing” is called a deictic expression.

Personal deixis refers to the way language points to the participants in a

conversation.
First Person: encoding of the speaker’s reference to himself. (I, We)
Second Person: encoding the speaker’s reference to one or more addressees.
(You)
Third Person: encoding of reference to person and entities which are neither
speakers nor addressees of the utterance. (He, she, it)
In many languages, these deictic expressions are elaborated with makers of
social status. Expressions that indicate higher status are described as honorifics.
There is also a potential ambiguity in using the first-person plural in English.
There is an exclusive we (speaker plus others, excluding addressee) and
inclusive we (speaker and addressee included).

Spatial deixis: The concept of distance is relevant to spatial deixis, where the
relative location of people and things is being indicated.
Proximal form: ‘here’; distal form ‘there’
Other example: this, that, there, up, down,…
Some verbs of motion such as ‘come’ (movement toward the speaker); and ‘go’
(away from the speaker)

Temporal deixis: refers to the use of language to refer to the time in which an
event takes place.
Distance from current time
Adverb of time: yesterday, tomorrow, tonight, today, next week, this week, last
week
Proximal form: indicate both the time coinciding with the speaker’s utterance
and the time the speaker's voice is being heard - now
Distal form: applies both past and future - then
Calendar time and clock time: June 25, 2025, 8 p.m
Verb tenses:
Proximal form: present tense
Distal form: past tense
Distance from current reality & facts
Something that is treated as extremely unlikely (or impossible) from the
speaker’s current situation is also marked via the distal (past tense) form.

Deixis and Grammar:

I’m leaving here now. – Direct speech
She said she was leaving there then. – Indirect speech
(Direct speech) Proximal deictic forms -> (Indirect speech) Distal deictic form
Reference & Inference
Reference:
Definition: an act in which a speaker, or writer, uses linguistic forms to enable
a listener, or reader, to identify something.
The categories of referring expressions: proper noun (Hawaii, Murphy),
definite noun phrase (the country, the baby), infinite noun phrase (a man, a
beautiful place), pronoun (her, them)
Referring Giới thiệu -> SPEAKER
Inferring Suy luận -> LISTENER
Intention - Chủ đích
Interpretation - Diễn dịch

Inference: When there is no direct relationship between entities and words, the
listener’s task is to infer correctly which entity the speaker intends to identify
by using a particular referring expression. (vague expression) (the blue thing,
Can I borrow your Shakespeare?/ Yeah, it’s on the table)

Referential and Attributive uses:

Referential use: the speaker actually has a definite entity in mind (đối tượng
cụ thể mà theo người nói được biết thì có tồn tại)
In indefinite noun phrases a specific person is referred to, although his/her
name or some other description is not used. It's a choice the speaker makes.
Attributive use: whoever/whatever fits the description. (bất cứ đối tượng nào
mà theo giả định của người nói là có tồn tại)
In indefinite noun phrases in which 'a' can be replaced by 'any’.
In definite noun phrases in which 'the' is assumed to exist but cannot be ensure
yet.
Expressions themselves do not have reference but are invested with referential
function in a context by a speaker/writer.
Names and referents (tên và vật được ám chỉ)
E.g. Can I borrow your Shakespeare? Name – Reference (referring expression)
 Inference (‘Shakespeare’ – referent is a book)
Yup, it is on the table  Reference

The role of co-text

(co-text: ngữ cảnh [ngữ cảnh của một từ là chuỗi từ kết hợp với nó hoặc liên
quan đến nó, làm cho từ ấy được cụ thể hóa và xác định về nghĩa]
context: bối cảnh)
The co-text clearly limits the range of possible interpretations.
The referring expression provides a range of reference

Anaphoric reference
Anaphora (phép lặp): reference to already introduced referents. It consists of:
+ Antecedent: the initial expression or introductory mention.
+ Anaphor: the second or subsequent expression
In the film, a man and a woman were trying to wash a cat. The man was
holding the cat while the woman poured water on it. He said something to her
and they started laughing.
Initial/ Introductory Reference is often indefinite ('a man', 'a woman', 'a cat')
=> Antecedent
Subsequent reference with definite NPs ('the man, 'the cat', 'the woman') or with
the pronouns (''it', 'he', 'her’, ‘they') => Anaphor
Anaphoric: need not be exactly identical to antecedent:
Cataphora (phép lặp ngược):
E.g. I turned the corner and almost stepped on it. There was a large snake in
the middle of the path.
+ The reversal of antecedent-anaphor pattern.
+ If an anaphora (in this case = it) come first and antecedent
come next.
+ less common than anaphora.
Zero anaphora/ Ellipsis (tỉnh lược – lược bỏ): When the interpretation requires
us to identify an entity, and no linguistic expression is presented. It frequently
uses verbal anaphora.
E.g. Peel an onion and slice it. Drop the slices into hot oil. Cook for three
minutes.
+“it” is anophoric pronoun of the antecedent “an onion”.
+ The definite nounphrase “the slices” is anophor of the antecedent “an
onion”.
+ Cook Ø => Ø was omitted = [the slices/them]
+ Ellipsis = Cook [The peeled onion slices]
The last utterance 'Cook for three minutes' works with the expectation that the
listener can infer that the speaker intends to identify “the peeled onion slices”
Presupposition & Entailment (Tiền giả định & Phép kéo theo/suy luận)
Presupposition: something the speaker assumes to be the case prior to making
an utterance. They are speakers, who have the prepositions.
In many discussions of the concept, presupposition is treated as a relationship
between two propositions.
Types of presupposition:

Existential preposition: The existential presupposition is not only assumed to

be present in possessive constructions, but more generally in any definite noun
phrase.
E.g. Your car >> you have a car
Rahat’s car is new - we can presuppose that Ragat exists and that he has a car.
Factive preposition: The presupposed information following a verb like
'know' can be treated as a fact, and is described as a factive presupposition.
- Identified by the presence of some verbs such as "know", "realize", "be glad",
"be sorry"
E.g. She didn't realize he was ill. (>> He was ill)
Lexical preposition: the use of one form with its asserted meaning is
conventionally interpreted with the presupposition that another (non-asserted)
meaning is understood.
- The lexical items, 'stop', "start', and again', are presented with their
presuppositions.
E.g. He stopped smoking (>> He used to smoke)
Structural preposition: Structural presupposition, is the assumption associated
with certain words and phrases.
- For example, the WH-question construction in English below is
conventionally interpreted with the presupposition that the information after the
WH-form (i.e. 'when' and 'where') is already known to be the case.
E.g. When did he leave? (>> He left)
- The type of presupposition illustrated in example can lead listeners to believe
that the information presented is necessarily true, rather than just the
presupposition of the person asking the question.
Non-factive preposition: A non-factive presupposition is one that is
assumed not to be true.
- Verbs like dream', 'imagine', and 'pretend', are used with the presupposition
that what follows is not true.
E.g. I dreamed that I was rich. (>> I was not rich)
Counter-factual preposition: meaning that what is presupposed is not only not
true, but is the opposite of what is true, or 'contrary to facts'.
- Presupposes that the information in the if-clause is not true at time of utterance
E.g. If you were my friend, you would have helped me. (>> You
are not my friend)

Projection problem: is the meaning of some presuppositions (as 'parts) doesn't

survive to become the meaning of some complex sentences (as 'wholes').
(thường thì trong câu đơn, tiền giả định được nhắc đến như thế nào thì ta hiểu
nó có nghĩa như vậy. Nhưng trong câu ghép, tiền giả định được nhắc tới chưa
chắc đã có ý nghĩa ‘ý trên mặt chữ’ mà tiền giả định đó đề cập)
E.g. a. Nobody realized that Kelly was ill. (=p)
b. Kelly was ill.(=q)
C. p >>q
(At this point, the speaker uttering (a), presupposes (b))
d. I imagined that Kelly was ill. (= r)
e. Kelly was not ill. (= NOT q)
f. r>> NOT q (At this point, the speaker uttering [d.] presupposes [e.], the
opposite of [b.].)
g. I imagined that Kelly was ill and nobody realized that she was ill. (= r & p)
h. r & p >> NOT q (At this point, after combining & p, the presupposition q
can no longer be assumed to be true.)
- The power of entailment can also be used to cancel existential presupposition
E.g. The King of Russia visited us
The King of Russia doesn’t exist!

Entailment: something that logically follows what is asserted in the utterance.

They are sentences, which have entailments (Mệnh đề kế thừa là một sự suy
luận hoặc ngụ ý, nghĩa là một điều gì đó diễn ra một cách hợp lý từ hoặc được
ngụ ý bởi một điều gì đó khác.)
Background vs. Foreground entailment
In one occasion, one sentence can has a number of background entailments but
one foreground entailment. While background entailment gives information
related to the context, foreground entailment contributes to the main point of
the sentence
The speaker will necessarily produce a very large number of background
entailments but the speaker will indicate how these entailments are to be
ordered.
- How? It can be done by stress and by using special structures. A ‘it-cleft’
structure is also used to indicate foreground entailment
E.g. It wasn’t ME who took your money
So that the hearer will understand which entailment is assumed to be more
important for interpreting the intended meaning.