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WHAT IS PRAGMATIC?
We have different definitions of Pragmatic Pragmatic is the study of speaker meaning but it’s also the study of contextual meaning,the study of principles of language focusing not on the rules of grammar,but in its use. One example of pragmatic competence can be “Praise to God” that functions as a greeting in Saudi Arabia. But the idea is that literal meaning is not functional,we need to understand the function of lexical items in specific contexts. Another definition of Pragmatic: relationships between linguistic forms and the users of those forms. WHAT IS THE FALLACY OF THE CONTAINER VIEW OF MEANING? It’s reflected in the “conduit metaphor. The idea is that communication send ideas through words as if language were a vehicle for thoughts. The process of communication not only decodify linguistic meaning,but they also have to make inferences about the intended meaning. So communication isn’t a simple process,we have to perform other operations like sense,reference assignment etc. UTTERANCE MEANING is defined as a “sentence-context paring” and it’s the first component of speaker meaning. Operations we have to perform at the level of what is said: SENSE ASSIGNMENT:it’s about searching for the right sense of a word in the context. Coke can be have 3 possible senses or meanings: -coca cola -cocaine
- one type of coal heating Levels of meaning:Abstract meaning,contextual meaming(utterance meaning) and the force of an utterance(speaker’s intention)what is meant. REFERENCE ASSIGNMENT: We have to determine in context what or who is being referred to. HE is on coke He can be John,Peter etc.. PRESUPPOSITIONS:are INFERENCES; Presupposition is something that the speaker assumes to be the case prior to making an utterance. It concerns the level of implication rather than at the level of assertion. It not only concerns shared knowledge(true or false) but also desires,fears,interests etc.
In Presuppositions we have: Power through coercion of various sorts,including Physical violence; for example some people use presuppositions to coerce others into accepting responsibilities they don't want or can't fulfill. Here's an example: "Jesse, when can you have this done?". Power through the manufacture of consent to. The IDEOLOGY is the prime means of manufacturing consent. WHAT IS AN IDEOLOGY? A set of naturalised beliefs. We can say that a language is used to communicate a message that involves values and beliefs,in short, a world view. SPEECH ACT THEORY: it’s an act of oral communication. This theory is by a philosopher of language,Austin in 1962. There are different speech acts:
- What’s happening? Can be a greeting
- Where is my computer? That it’s a question 3)I promise to do the laundry. It is a commitment.
- Is that your coat on the floor? It’s a order to pick it up and not a question. LANGUAGE AS ACTION: language can be considered as an action because it can perform communicative acts ,such as: making,promises,apologizes and making decisions.Speech act theory is designed to help us understand how people accomplish things with their words. Speech acts are the basic units of human communication. Ex: I Apologize,I warn you,I hereby christen this child,are not true or false. They aim to do things with language. Speech acts have to meet contextual conditions,called FELICITY CONDITIONS(term by Austin). We can do examples of performatives: ritual performatives: 1)I hereby name this ship the Queen Elizabeth.
- I noow pronounce you husband and wife. 3)I order you to stop.
- I promise I will help you. Austin and Searle established THREE LEVELS OF SPEECH ACTS: -Locutionary Acts: Basic utterance. -Illocutionary Act: the intention behind an utterance.(announce,promise,state,order) -Perlocutionary Act: the effect produced,interpretation of listener. I WARN YOU TO STOP SMOKING(locutionary) I WILL DO MY HOMEWORK LATER,PROMISE.(illocutionary)
“Make your Contribution such as is required,at the stage at which it occurs,by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.” This means that you have to make your contribution sufficient.More information. Make your contribution necessary. This rational,universal principle has subprinciples or maxims:These maxims are cognitive models regarding: 1)QUANTITY: the amount of information 2)QUALITY:saying what is true 3)MANNER:the way of presenting it(clarity,etc) 4)RELATION: a sense of relevance. FLOUTING THE MAXIMS If the maxims are not observed(or flouted),the assumption is that the principle of cooperation is still working. For instance, flouting the maxims can be seen in this conversation: GUEST A: What a boring party this is GUEST B:We’ve had such a lovely weather this month. This is an INDIRECT WAY of saying “Yes,it’s a boring party,but i’m not going to say it directly.” Flouting one or more maxims generates CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURE(another level of meaning) For example we have these metaphors: EX: You are the sunshine of my life(exploitation of the expectation of cooperation) VIOLATING THE MAXIMS: To deceive,not to create a conversational implicature EX:lying. OPTING OUT OF THE COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLE This happens when we don’t want to convey a message. For example: a politician asked about a recent scandal and she \he responds:”I have nothing to say on this matter.” She doesn’t want to cooperate. Since we have to use INFERENCE in the communicative process. Grice’s theory of meaning says that speaker’s meaning can be understand by the recognition of speaker’s intention. So,what do we need to arrive at speaker meaning?INFERENCING but also RECIPROCITY OF PERSPECTIVES. That is , both parties have a ‘common definition of the situation.” KEY WORDS TO COMPREHENSION: INFERENCE and DECODING. COMPETITIVE DISCOURSE: In Individualistic capitalist cultures in which wheter it involves selling goods or oneself,maxims switch:
-minimize information; -be prepared to lie; -use amibiguity etc. AIM: maximize the chances of gaining personal goals at the expense of the competitor. THE FACE APPROACH TO POLITENESS: BROWN AND LEVINSON. Brown and Levinson created the first model of linguistic politeness.They created this model around the concept of FACE that is a public image of oneself and not in visual sense but face linguistically constructed. Face has 2 dimensions or aspects: POSITIVE FACE: that is the wish to be apprecciated or approved of by others. NEGATIVE FACE:the wish to be freedom from imposition,to act. The wish not to feel threatened. Whenever we talk to somebody about an issue or make a request, we have the potential to commit a “FACE-THREATENING-ACT” (FTA). Threats to positive face are expressions of criticism,complaint,insult,accusation etc.. Threats to negative face are requests,orders,advice etc.. The paradox of face is that both aspects,negative and positive,must be projected simultaneously in any communication,but emphasizing one of them risks a threat to the other. POLITENESS STRATEGIES: are used to redress such risks to face,to save the speaker and hearer’s face. Connected with the two aspects, we find negative and positive politeness redress or mitigation
Opting out:when the face threat is so strong ,the speakers decide not to do it. Positive politeness strategies: the aim is to make the hearer feel good about himself or herself. These strategies include solidarity,compliments. Negative politeness strategies: the aim is to satisfy or respect the hearer’s need for freedom from imposition.Include apologies or other distancing styles. The greater potential for loss of face requires greater redressive action(mitigation) of the FTA. How do you misure these threats(fta)? The choices depend on 3 contextual variables: D SOCIAL DISTANCE between S and H. P THE RELATIVE POWER OF THE INTERLOCUTORS R DEGREE OF IMPOSITION The Politeness needed will depend on the weightiness of the face loss involved. BMW SERIES 7: In this advert we have a series of FTAS in the first part of the ad(sois imperfectos) 1 objetivo:llamar la attenciòn. La campana dura poco. Then a redress with the perfection of a Bmw. Finally a surprising climax. SCOLLON AND SCOLLON’S MODEL OF POLITENESS: Scollon and Scollon(1995) differentiate between: 1)Deference politeness system(-P,+D);symmetrical
- Solidariety politeness system(-P,-D);symmetrical 3)Hierarchical politeness system(+P,+-D);asymmetrical The first is symmetrical because participants are considered to be equals but treat each other at a distance. Ex: relationships between professionals who don’t know each other well. The second is symmetrical because there is no power difference and no distance between participants. Ex: a conversation between friends The third is asymmetrical because participants recognize and respect social differences that place on in a superordinate position and the other in a subordinate position. Ex: a boss and an employee RELATIVITY OF LINGUISTIC STRATEGIES.
We speak of a relativity of linguistic strategies because the strategies of negative politeness entail deference(but not imposing) ,but they may also show somethig else. Negative politeness may also show LACK OF POWER,or inferior status if it is not symmetrical(because it evokes a hierarchical system) POWER REIGNS WHEN IT’S NOT RECIPROCAL. When two people call each other bu their first name,we have SOLIDARITY POLITENESS SYSTEM, but if they call each other by their title and last name we have DEFERENCE POLITENESS SYSTEM. But when it’s not reciprocal we have HIERARCHICAL POLITENESS SYSTEM. In conclusion: WAYS OF TALKING SEND METAMESAGES ABOUT STATUS. INTENDED OR NOT. THE POWER AND SOLIDARITY AXES: Power and Solidarity are 2 theoretical concepts,abstractions. The Act of Power has a range of potential meanings: -RESPECT,HIGH STATUS,DISTANCE,BEING FORMAL,CONTROL OR DOMINANCE,INDEPENDENCE,HIERARCHY,ASYMMETRY. The Act of Solidarity also has a range of potential meanings: -CLOSENESS,CONNECTION,AFFECTION,BEING FORMAL,AFFILIATION,SYMMETRY. Nevertheless,sometimes power and solidarity can be paradoxically related. Intention and effect are not always synonyms. Ex: In “Thanks,honey” (man to a woman) the man’s intention was solidarity In “Thanks but don’t call me Honey”(woman to a man) it’s an effect on her,was power over her. Salience(salient) is an important concept in the analysis of messages,communication and publicity. Some meanings are salient,others are hidden. Thereforre,solidarity may entail power. But you may only see solidarity as salient because power can masquerade as solidarity. That is what happens in publicity. RELEVANCE THEORY(Sperber and Wilson) relevance theory is the principle that the communication process involves not only encoding, transfer, and decoding of messages, but also numerous other elements, including inference and context. It is also called the principle of relevance. Example: My FIRST wife gave me this watch. By introducing the word “first” the speaker gives RELEVANT information to the hearer in order to decode the meaning of the message.
They follow THE PRINCIPLE OF RELEVANCE. Anuncio Power and Solidariety: en el anuncio se puede ver el poder al final,en un momento emocionante(climax) cuando gana, supera los obstàculos y se pone por encima. Asociacion emocional. Contextual implication: in the end of the advert we see an exciting moment(CLIMAX) that is a connection\union between the participants( representing the minority )and the brand’s name. LOOKING FOR A CONTEXT These authors also said that a hearer who wants to establish the relevance of an utterance should be looking for a context with which it will interact to yield contextual implications. We see this idea in the ADVERT of “BE WATER MY FRIEND” There are 2 types of interpretative paths: Overt Communication and Covert Communication. We see this difference reflected in the adverts of DGT(OVERT) and Cocacola(COVERT). Normally,the adverts of Traffics use OVERT COMMUNICATION,because they want us to be aware of what is being said. P(proposition) may combine with contextual assumptions:
- to create a contextual implication which is not derivable from P(explicature) or C(contextual assumptions) alone 2)to strengthen an existing assumption 3)to contradict and lead to the elimination of an existing assumption. In publicity we have BRANDING,the aim of which is to have these emotional connections with the brand name. There are 2 types of implicatures: STRONG IMPLICATURES(some are cheap in processing terms,from small,easily accessible contexts) WEAK IMPLICATURES(some are more expensive,,from larger ,less accessible contexts) ex: I never said that.
REMAINDER: RELEVANCE:P+C=C Contextual assumptions are the most important part of this theory.Contextual assumptions of the hearers are different.
