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ENGLISH LINGUISTICS 2
ACADEMIC YEAR 2020-
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Analysing language:
- “the lift on the left shall be the next lift”.
- “fiona kindly fill and send the attached reference document to the email mentioned in the document. regards sadia”
- “dear joe and jim, just a gentle reminder that we’ll need a module log for ABI23. best john”
yes, indeed! joe What is this all about?
- (At an international conference, waiting for the conference to start...) a. "May l introduce myself? My name is Aiko Tokonnoto" b. Hi mate, I'm Paola! How are you doing?"
- Anything wrong with this? a. (n the library) → it's hot in here!" What do l really mean?
- (At school. Your English lesson is about to start. The teacher comes in…) a. You: “Bye!”
- You are late for a meeting with a friend.What do you say? a. Sorry. l’m late… b. I apologize for my delay
- You need your Professor to sign something urgent for you. Which of the following solutions would you use, and why? a. "Can you sign this for me?" b. "Could you please sign this for me?" c. “I know you are terribly busy, but could you sign this for me?"
- (Two friends talking about another two people) a. "Do you like John and Kate?"" b. "Kate is fun." What is happening here?
- (Two Italian friends) a. “Allora ci vediamo domani. Bye!" b. "Ciao!" What is happening here?
- (In the classroom, you are sitting next to another student. The lesson is going to start and you realize you do not have anything to write with. You keep on looking into your bag...
- a. You: "Gosht I've left my pencil case at home!" What is your intention behind these words?
- (Husband and wife, on the phone) a. "Hello! Where are you?" b. "Here" What's wrong with B's answer?
- (Husband and wife, in the kitchen) a. "Can you help me with the dishes?" b. "it's been a long day. What does B actually mean? Have you ever… ★ ...asked someone to put the kettle on and expected them to make a tea? ★ ...told someone you are cold and intended for them to close the window? ★ ...complimented someone before asking them to do you a favour? ★ ...heard the words "1 hereby pronounce you man and wife"? ★ ...purposefully insulted someone? ★ ...told a lie not to offend/hurt another person? ★ ...Used a specific tone of voice to indicate an upcoming request, or an apology? → This is what PRAGMATICS is about! Pragmatics Which of the following descriptions best explains what pragmatics is?
- The structure of sentences and how they are related to the way people think.
- How people communicate and interpret intentions, and how they react to them, in a context of language use.
- The study of the brain and how it generates thoughts through language.
- How sounds and their meanings are produced by language users ● Pragmatics from the Greek pragma=action. ● Language analyzed as a way of acting, interacting and communicating in specific communicative contexts → human interaction. ● Focus ➔ different speakers in different circumstances may mean different things using the same words. ➔ how people communicate and interpret intended meanings ➔ how meaning is constructed in interaction ● In a nutshell: ➔ the relationship between the meaning of words, what the speaker means when uttering those words, the particular circumstances of his/her utterance, his/her intentions, what he/she manages to communicate, and what the hearer interprets. PRAGMATICS IS THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE IN CONTEXT
- the speaker, the listener, the place and time when the utterance is produced ● it generally implies the physical presence of the referent for the reference to be understandable = ex: (on the phone) → hey, look at this → it wouldn’t make sense because there wouldn’t be anything for the other speaker to look at! Examples of deixis
- In the following examples, identify the deictic expressions: She looked at me and frowned, like this. → ike this can only have a meaning if contextualized at the time of utterance (the speaker showing the frowning) Look at that picture! → that is a deictic expression indicating the location of the picture (=far from the speaker) The changing rooms are over there. Can you see them? → over there is a deictic expression indicating somewhere far from the speaker; you/them are examples of person deixis. More examples of reference and deixis Which of the following utterances contain deictic expressions?
- I went on holiday with my boyfriend in June. We went to Spain.
- We all know where Spain is, don't we?
- Mary bought a lovely dress in a new shop in Oxford street. It's the third one she has bought there.
- This is the new shop where Mary bought the dress. Do you like it?
- Do you prefer this color or that one?
- Come here, please!
- I met my boyfriend in a pub two years ago. Reference to the context inside Reference to the context inside is possible through COHESION. COHESION : how words relate to each other within the text so that the text is held together. Cohesive devices are those words or strategies that hold the text together. As for words, typically: ● demonstratives ● conjunctions ● linkers ● pronouns Cohesion and cohesive devices ● COHESION is what provides a text with connectivity, and makes a unified whole because all the parts are connected. ● Cohesive devices are those grammatical and lexical items within a text that create such connections by relating to each other.
● Cohesive devices help us understand what writers/speakers want to say by showing the surface structure of the text, that is, how words and sentences are organized to form a cohesive whole. ● Cohesion can be grammatical or lexical. COHESION → My father once bought a Lincoln convertible. He did it by saving every penny he could. That car would be worth a fortune nowadays. However, he sold it to help pay for my college education. Sometimes I think l'd rather have the convertible. (example from http://fac.ksu.edu.sa/sites/defaulvfiles/3-discourse_analysis.pdf) Grammatical cohesion obtained through the use of grammatical means, for ex the use of grammar words (ex pronouns, possessives, demonstratives, linkers), the use of tenses, the use of comparative structures… Forms of grammatical cohesion
- endophora = when the referring expressions refer to items within the same text a. anaphora: when a referring expression links backwards to something in the preceding text chunk b. cataphora: when a referring expression links forwards to something in the following text chunk
- substitution = when substitutes (one, ones, so…) are used to avoid repetition
- ellipsis = when the speaker omits words (which the hearer will be able to retrieve from the co-text) to avoid repetition (are you there? yes, i am!) Examples of grammatical cohesion
- Endophora: in the following example, identify cohesive devices and analyze endophonic reference. Although he didn't know the time, Tom knew his interview was about to start and he was beginning to feel nervous about it. → Cohesive devices are the conjunctions although,, and; the two occurrences of he; the possessive adjective his, the pronoun it. The first he links cataphorically with Tom, while his and the second he link anaphorically with Tom. It links anaphorically with interview.
- Substitution: in the following examples, identify occurrences of substitution. I like all science fiction films, both the old ones and the new ones. → ones is used 2 times to substitute films. Boys aren’t born more confident than girls. Society makes them so. → so is used in replacement of more confident than girls.
- Ellipsis: in the following exchange, where’s the ellipsis? A: I hope she’ll send me a letter B: Don’t worry, she’ll
Lexical cohesion exercise In the following examples, identify lexical cohesive devices.
- Where did you go on Easter Monday? Nowhere, it's a bad day to go anywhere.
- There has been an increase in unemployment this year. The rise is due to the financial crisis.
- There are many reasons why Britain voted for Brexit. Certainly, one of the factors was the difficult situation the country was facing when asked to vote.
- John got a snake underneath a bucket. The snake is going to suffocate if it stays there very long. Poor thing!
- The art gallery was exhibiting all his paintings but not the sculpture or his early watercolors. The speech Act Theory British philosopher John Austin: intrigued by the way we can use words to do different things (suggesting, promising, persuading etc.) This depends on: ● the literal meaning of words ● the speaker's intentions ● the institutional and social setting in which the linguistic activity occurs Austin elaborated the Speech Act Theory (How to Do Things with Words, 1962) primarily based on the assumption that language is a mode of action. The Speech Act Theory is a field of pragmatics concerned with the way in which words can be used not only to present information but also to carry out actions. Utterances perform different types of acts → speech acts are actions performed in saying something. The three levels of a speech act
- the level of locution (= the actual words uttered by the speaker) → locutionary act: it is simply the act of producing a meaningful unit of speech which has its own phonetic, lexical and syntactic structure
- the level of illocution (= what the speaker intends to do with the words he utters) → illocutionary act: it corresponds to the speaker's purpose or intention behind the words uttered (= illocutionary force > the intended language function
- the level of perlocution (= what is obtained by the speaker uttering the words) → perlocutionary act: it corresponds to the action or state of mind brought about by the produced utterance (= perlocutionary effect) Speech Acts- Examples For each example, describe the three levels of the speech act. (A teacher to a noisy pupil) That is the door!
- locutionary act: the act of producing this unit of speech -> the act of saying
- illocutionary act: the act of ordering inviting the hearer to leave
- perlocutionary act the (possible) effect produced on the hearer: his leaving the room starting to cry/getting offended etc. Would you pass me the salt?
- locutionary act: the act of producing this unit of speech
- illocutionary act: the act of making a request to the hearer
- perlocutionary act: the (possible) effect produced on the hearer: his passing the salt Speech Acts -Examples (A father to his daughter) What time do you call this?
- locutionary act: the act of producing this unit of speech
- illocutionary act: the act of asking for an explanation/an apology
- perlocutionary act: the (possible) effect produced on the hearer: his giving an explanation /his apologizing (A bartender in his bar) The bar will close in 5 minutes.
- locutionary act: the act of producing this unit of speech -> the uttered wards
- illocutionary act: the act of informing the customers of the bar imminent closing and maybe also the act of urging them to order a last drink
- perlocutionary act:y the (possible) effect produced on the hearers: their being aware that the bar is about to close and their (possibly) ordering a last drink Speech Acts - Examples of illocutionary force Can you identify the illocutionary force of the following speech acts?
- Can I borrow your pencil?
- Give me your pencil!
- Would you like to use this pencil?
- How about using a red pencil?
- You’d better use this pencil?
- I was wondering if you could lend me your pencil
- Will you stop using my pencil?
- You mustn't use a pencil during the exam.
- I might need a pencil
- He must have used my pencil Indirect speech acts
- Indirect speech acts are used by the speaker to communicate something the meaning of which is not in the words themselves but is implied (= there is an underlying meaning).
- In indirect speech acts there is not a direct relationship between (form and function Examples: (A driver toa gas station attendant): My car has a flat tyre. → the speaker uses a declarative form whose function is making an indirect request to the attendant = he should change the tyre. A: I was wondering if Jenny has passed the test. B: I have no idea. → speaker A uses a declarative form whose function is asking an indirect question.
Searle’s classification of speech acts The Speech Act Theory was further developed by American philosopher J.R. Searle who, in the 1970s, proposed a taxonomy of illocutionary acts into five macro- classes:
- declaratives (or declarations) a declarative speech act is a statement that brings about a change in status or condition to someone or somebody by virtue of the statement itself: I pronounce you husband and wife. The court sentences you to jail. We declare war!
- representatives a representative speech act commits the speaker to the truth and represents the speaker’s belief that something is the case: I suspect the patient has pneumonia. I think girls work hard than boys. We claim this is not fair.
- commissives a commissive speech act occurs when the speaker commits him/herself to a future course of action : I intend to make him an offer. We will not tell you if you keep on asking! I promise I will help you.
- directives a directive speech act occurs when the speaker expects the listener to do something as a response : I want you to tell me. Don’t cheat! I advise you not to speak.
- expressives an expressive speech act occurs when a speaker expresses his feelings / psychological state to the hearer: I really appreciate the suggestion. I wish I had gone! I’m terribly sorry! The Cooperative Principle
- Verbal exchanges tend to run smoothly when the participants follow certain social conventions of conversational cooperation:
- The cooperative principle British linguist Grice (1975): people engaged in a conversation will be conversationally cooperative. This conversational cooperation manifests itself in a number of conversational maxims. Conversational maxims ● Maxim of QUANTITY→ give the right amount of information ● Maxim of QUALITY → do not say what you believe to be false ● Maxim of RELATION → be relevant (=pertinent) ● Maxim of MANNER → put what you say in the clearest, briefest, and most orderly manner
Breaking the maxims Conversational maxims are ‘rules’ that appear to be broken more often than grammatical or phonological rules. We can break conversational maxims in two main ways: →we can violate them →we can flout them Violating conversational maxims We break a maxim covertly, so that other people do not know. It is deceiving and misleading because the hearer is encouraged to take utterances at face value. We violate conversational maxims when we deliberately tell lies. Flouting conversational maxims We break a maxim overtly, so that it is obvious to all concerned that it has been broken. The speaker is expecting the hearer to INFER some extra meaning above what is said, that is, the →conversational implicature: the IMPLIED meaning conveyed by the speaker and recovered as a result of the hearer’s INFERENCES. Maxim-flouting is conversationally cooperative because all the participants in the conversation can see that the maxim has been broken by the speaker to create an extra layer of meaning which is accessible by inference. Flouting conversational maxims - Exercise In each of the following examples, what maxim is B flouting and what implicature follows from the flout? Example 1 (Two friends) A: Do you like John and Kate? B: Kate is fun. → B is flouting the maxim of quantity by answering a question about two people as if it were a question about just one of them. Because B says that Kate is nice but says nothing about John, A can infer that B is implicating that John is not nice. Flouting conversational maxims – Exercise (...) Example 2 (Two colleagues) A: What were you and Anna talking about? B: Oh, well,...why don’t we go get something to drink? → B is flouting the maxim of relation by answering something which is not pertinent to A’s question. A can infer that B doesn’t want to tell him/her (probably to avoid hurting A’s feelings, or for any other reason...) Flouting conversational maxims – Exercise (...)
A: I’ve been dating this new guy for a while, but I think I should break up with him. He’s always late, he never has any money, and I think he’s going out with someone else... B: He is a real keeper! → B is flouting the maxim of quality by saying something he/she does not believe. A’s implicature is that B is suggesting her leaving the guy. More about breaking the maxims (1) There are different ways of flouting the maxim of quality, e.g. by means of →hyperboles (“I could eat a horse!”) →metaphors (“My house is a refrigerator in January”) →conventional euphemisms (“He’s kicked the bucket”) →irony (“He never kicks the ball! What a great footballer!”) →sarcasm (“This is a lovely undercooked egg you’ve given me here, as usual!”) →banter (“You are nasty, mean and stingy. How can you only give me one kiss?”) More about breaking the maxims (2) Violation of the maxim of quality occurs when the speaker does not tell the truth. However, not all violations of quality are blameworthy: → white lie: a lie with good intentions, to protect or to be kind (to a child: “Mummy’s gone on holiday for a while”, instead of saying “Mummy’s dead”) → conventional lie: a lie used as a form of politeness, if one does not know the hearer very well (in a shop to the assistant: “I’ll think about it and maybe come back later”) More about breaking the maxims (3) Other ways of breaking the maxims: →infringing (it occurs because of the speaker’s imperfect linguistic performance, e.g. imperfect command of the language) or →opting out (it occurs when a speaker is unwilling to cooperate, e.g. for legal or ethical reasons). REMEMBER! Different countries and communities have their own ways of (not) observing maxims Politeness In pragmatics, politeness refers to the whole range of linguistic and non-linguistic strategies that display to the hearer that the speaker (a) has a positive opinion of the hearer and (b) does not want to impose on him/her → Examples of (a) are called positive politeness (say positive things about someone else) → Examples of (b) are called negative politeness (try not to get in the way of others and perhaps even try to help them) Politeness American sociolinguists Brown and Levinson (1987) analysed politeness and said that in order to enter social relationship we have to acknowledge and show awareness of and respect for the face of the people we address. → Face: the public self-image; the sense of self that one wants to protect
Face Threatening Acts ● The speaker should avoid Face Threatening Acts (FTAs): acts that might make someone lose their face, or damage it in some way. ● FTAs, which occur regularly in everyday interaction, can be softened by means of politeness. ● There are 4 types of politeness strategies to mitigate/avoid FTAs: Negative Politeness, Positive politeness, Off-Record Indirectness; (Bald) On-Record. Negative Politeness Negative politeness: it respects the hearer’s negative face → the need not to be imposed on and impeded by others Example: I know you’re terribly busy, but could you sign this for me? → the speaker wants to protect the hearer’s negative face (need to be independent). The hearer might need to say he/she can’t. The speaker is giving the hearer the opportunity to say “No”. Positive politeness Positive politeness: it emphasizes the hearer’s positive face → the need to be accepted and connected to others Example: You’re so clever! I knew you would find a solution! Maybe you can help me next time too. → the speaker is praising the hearer by complimenting him on his cleverness, thus showing awareness of the hearer’s positive face, possibly aiming at establishing /maintaining a good relationship Off-record indirectness ● Say nothing You may decide the best way to avoid an FTA is to say nothing. Example: You arrive at a lecture, take out your notebook but discover you have nothing to write with. You think that the person sitting next to you may help you, and lend you a pen. You say nothing and keep on looking in your bag. The other person is likely to say “Here, use this!” Off-record indirectness ● Indirect speech act You may decide to say something without directly asking for help but simply producing a statement. Example: Ops, I left my pen in the car! In this case you perform an indirect speech act which saves you from the potential risk to be imposing (→ you could in theory deny you were asking for help!). This kind of indirectness is ‘safe’ for the speaker and for the hearer!
Politeness is a pragmatic phenomenon. It is influenced by elements of the context. It does not lie in the words themselves, but in their function and intended social meaning: ● If speakers use more polite forms than the context requires, hearers might suspect that there is an intention other than that of avoiding an FTA: Example: So, if you’d be so kind as to shut up, I’d appreciate it. → the choice of the politeness strategy and formulation depends on the social distance and the power relation between speakers: → expressions that are bald on record are used by people who assume that they have got power. Example: (teacher to pupils): Be quiet and listen to me! Politeness strategies - exercise You are in the office with your colleague Elisabeth. You see a cup of pens on her desk, and you want to use one. What would you say? For each utterance, decide which politeness strategy you would be applying and identify any hedges. a) Ooh! I want to use one of those!! b) Annie, dear, is it OK with you if I use one of those nice coloured pens? c) I’m sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to ask you if I could use one of those pens. d) hmm, a red pen would be useful...
