Chapter 6

Pragmatics
 Definition
the study of language in use or
language communication;
the study of the use of context to
make inference about meaning
 Some basic notions in Pragmatics
• Context

• Pragmatics vs. semantics

• Sentence meaning vs. utterance meaning

• Correctness vs. appropriateness

 Context
• Context is a basic concept in the study of
pragmatics.
• It is generally considered as constituted
knowledge shared by the speaker and the
hearer, such as cultural background,
situation(time, place, manner, etc.), the
relationship between the speaker and the
hearer, etc.….
 Pragmatics vs. semantics

• Semantics---- is the study of the literal

meaning of a sentence (without taking
context into consideration).
• Pragmatics---- the study of the intended
meaning of a speaker (taking context
into consideration).
Example
• “Today is Sunday”, semantically, it
means that today is the first day of
the week; pragmatically, you can
mean a lot by saying this, all
depending on the context and the
intention of the speaker, say,
making a suggestion or giving an
invitation…
Sentence meaning vs. utterance meaning

---- Sentence meaning:

• Abstract and context-independent meaning;
• literal meaning of a sentence;
• What does X mean?
----utterance meaning:
• concrete and context-dependent meaning;
• intended meaning of a speaker;
• What did you mean by X?
 Example
• “The bag is heavy” can mean
• a bag being heavy (sentence
meaning);
• an indirect, polite request, asking
the hearer to help him carry the bag;
• the speaker is declining someone’s
request for help.
 Note
• The meaning of an utterance is based on
the sentence meaning; it is the
realization of the abstract meaning of a
sentence in a real situation of
communication, or simply in a context;
utterance meaning is richer than
sentence meaning; it is identical with
the purpose for which the speaker
utters the sentence.
 Correctness vs. appropriateness
• *“John plays golf”---- grammatically
correct;
• ?“Golf played John” ---- logically
incorrect; but it might be appropriate
pragmatically in certain context.
Note: Pragmatics can make sense out of
nonsense, given a suitable context.
Appropriateness is very important in
linguistic communication, especially in
cross-cultural communication. If you say
something grammatically incorrect, you
are at worse condemned as “speaking
badly”, but, if you say something
inappropriately, you will be judged as
“behaving badly”, such as insincere,
untruthful, or deceitful. (Thomas, 1983)
 Speech act theory
• Speech acts is a term derived from the work
of the philosopher J. L. Austin (1962);
• and now used to refer to a theory which
analyzes the role of utterances in relation to
the behavior of the speaker and the hearer in
interpersonal communication.
• It aims to answer the question “What do we
do when using language?”
 Two types of utterances

• Constatives ( 叙 述 句 ) ---- statements that

either state or describe, and are thus
verifiable;
• Performatives ( 施为句 ) ---- sentences that
do not state a fact or describe a state,
and are not verifiable.
 Some Examples of Performatives
• “I do”
• “I name this ship Elizabeth.”
• “I give and bequeath my watch to my
brother.”
• “I bet you six pence it will rain tomorrow.”
• “I declare the meeting open.”
Austin’s new model of speech acts

According to Austin’s new model, a

speaker might be performing three acts
simultaneously when speaking:
locutionary act
illocutionary act
perlocutionary act
• The locutionary act----an act of saying
something, i.e. an act of making a
meaningful utterance (literal meaning of
an utterance);
• The illocutionary act----an act performed
in saying something: in saying X, I was
doing Y (the intention of the speaker
while speaking).
• The perlocutionary act----an act
performed as a result of saying
something: by saying X and doing Y, I did
Z.
 Example
“It is cold in here.”
• Its locutionary act is the saying of it with its
literal meaning the weather is clod in here;
• Its illocutionary act can be a request of the
hearer to shut the window;
• Its perlocutionary act can be the hearer’s
shutting the window or his refusal to comply
with the request.
 • Exercise
• Analyze the illocutionary acts of the
following conversation between a
couple:
----(the telephone rings)
----H: That’ the phone. (1)
----W: I’m in the bathroom. (2)
----H: Okay. (3)
• This seemingly incoherent conversation
goes on successfully because the speakers
understand each other’s illocutionary acts:
• (1) Making a request of his wife to go
and answer the phone.
• (2) A refusal to comply with the request;
issuing a request of her husband to
answer the phone instead.
• (3) Accepting the wife’s refusal and
accepting her request, meaning “all right,
I’ll answer it.”
Searle’s classification of speech acts

• Assertives/representatives( 陈述 )
• Directives( 指令 )
• Commissives( 承诺 )
• Expressives( 表达 )
• Declarations( 宣布 )
 Assertives/representatives

---- Stating or describing, saying what the

speaker believes to be true
• I think the film is moving.
• I’m certain I have never seen the man
before.
• I solemnly swear that he had got it.
…
 Directives
---- Trying to get the hearer to do
something
• I order you to leave right now.
• Open the window, please.
• Your money or your life!
…
 Commissives
---- Committing the speaker himself
to some future course of action
• I promise to come.
• I will bring you the book
tomorrow without fail.
…
 Expressives
----Expressing the speaker’s
psychological state about something
• I’m sorry for being late.
• I apologize for the sufferings that
the war has caused to your people.
…
 Declarations

----Bringing about an immediate change

in the existing state or affairs
• I now appoint you chairman of the
committee.
• You are fired.
• I now declare the meeting open.
…
 Note
• (1) All the acts that belong to the same
category share the same purpose but
differ in their strength or force.
I guess / am sure / swear he is the
murderer.
• (2) In order to get someone open the
door, we can choose one from a variety
of the forms in below:
Could you open the door, please!
Can you open the door!
Do you mind opening the door?
Open the door!
The door please!
Principle of conversation (Paul Grice)

• Cooperative principle (CP)

• ---- According to Grice, in making
conversation, there is a general
principle which all participants are
expected to observe.
 Four maxims of CP
• The maxim of quality
• The maxim of quantity
• The maxim of relation
• The maxim of manner
• The maxim of quality
----Do not say what you believe to be
false.
----Do not say that for which you lack
adequate evidence.
• The maxim of quantity

----Make your contribution as

informative as required for the
current purpose of the exchange.
----Do not make your contribution
more informative than is
required.
• The maxim of relation

----Be relevant ( make your

contribution relevant).
• The maxim of manner
----Avoid obscurity of expression.
----Avoid ambiguity.
----Be brief.
----Be orderly.
 Conversational implicature
• In real communication, however, speakers
do not always observe these maxims
strictly.
• These maxims can be violated for various
reasons. When any of the maxims is
blatantly violated, i.e. both the speaker
and the hearer are aware of the violation,
our language becomes indirect, then
conversational implicature arises.
 Violation of Maxim of quality
----A: Would you like to go movie with me
tonight?
----B: The final exam is approaching.
----A: would you like to come to our party
tonight?
----B: I’m afraid I’m not feeling so well tonight.

----A: Who was that lady I saw you with last

night?
----B: That was no lady, that was my wife.
 Violation of maxim of quantity
• “War is war.”
• “Girls are girls.”

----A:When is Susan’s farewell party?

----B:Sometime next month.
 Violation of maxim of relation
----A: How did the math exam go today, Jonnie?
----B: We had a basketball match with class 2 and we
beat them.

----A: The hostess is an awful bore.

----B: The roses in the garden are beautiful, aren’t
they?

----A: What time is it?

----B: The postman has just arrived.
 Violation of maxim of manner

----A: Shall we get something for the

kids?
----B: Yes. But I veto I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M.
Thank you