2. 1. Definitions and background
Pragmatics:
The study of speaker meaning
The study of contextual meaning
The study of how more get
communicated than said
The study of the expression of relative
distance
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
3. 1. Definitions and background
Pragmatics:
What people mean in a particular
context
How the context influences what is
said
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
4. 1. Definitions and background
Syntax, semantics and Pragmatics:
The study of the
relations between
linguistic forms, how
they are arranged in
sequence, which
sentences are well
formed
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
5. 1. Definitions and background
Syntax, semantics and Pragmatics:
The study of the
relations between
linguistic forms and
Concerned entities in the world.
with the truth- How words conect to
conditions of things
propositions
expressed in a “The duck, the dog and
sentence the bottle of ketchup”
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
6. 1. Definitions and background
Syntax, semantics and Pragmatics:
The study of
linguistic forms and
their users. People’s
intended meaning
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7. 1. Definitions and background
Regularity:
To be pragmatically appropiate in a
context
If not: convey the meaning of a
social outsider
Basic experiences share non-
linguistic knowledge
“I found an old bike lying on the ground. The chain
was rusted”
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
8. 1. Definitions and background
The pragmatics wastebasket:
Interpret order of mention as order
of occurrence (and = and then)
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9. 2. Deixis and distance
Deixis:
Pointing via language What’s that?
Indexicals = deictic expressions
Person deixis: “me” - “You”
Spatial deixis: “here” - “there”
Temporal deixis: “now” - “then”
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
10. 2. Deixis and distance
Deictic center (the speaker)
Proximal deictic expression:
this - here - now
Distal deictic expression:
that - there - then
person deixis:
speaker and addressee
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
11. 2. Deixis and distance
Deictic center (the speaker)
person deixis:
shifts from “I” to “you”
Social deixis:
Honorifics (UD - vos)
T/V distinction
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12. 2. Deixis and distance
Person deixis
INCLUSIVE
Let’s go
EXCLUSIVE
Let us go
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13. 2. Deixis and distance
Person deixis
Third person pronouns are DISTANT
forms of person deixis
Would his highness like some coffe?
To make potential accusations
Somebody didn’t clean his teeth
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
14. 2. Deixis and distance
Spatial deixis
The speaker’s perspective can be
fixed mentally as well as physically
I’m not here now (deictic projection)
Psychological distance On the
answering
machine
I don’t like that perfume
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15. 2. Deixis and distance
Temporal deixis
Then applies to both, past and future
Point of
reference???
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16. 3. Reference and inference
Reference
Linguistic forms to enable the
listener to identify something
Inference
The meaning the addressee gives to
the speaker’s speech
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
17. 3. Reference and inference
Referencial and attributive uses
“whoever / whatever finds this
description” (attributive)
He wants to marry a woman with lots of money
“the speaker knows that the
referent does exist” (referential)
There was no sing of the killer
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18. 3. Reference and inference
Names and referents
Convention between all members of
a community
Can I borrow your SHAKESPEARE?
Where is the cheeseburger sitting?
Pragmatic connection
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
19. 3. Reference and inference
The role of co-text
The co-text limits the range of
possible interpretations of the text
Possible
interpretations???
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20. 3. Reference and inference
The role of co-text
Wins the World Cup
Wins first round of trade talks
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21. 3. Reference and inference
Anaphoric reference
The man was holding the cat. He left it
The man is the antecedent
“He” is the anaphor
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22. 3. Reference and inference
Cataphoric reference
I stepped on it. The large snake in the
middle of the path.
“It” is the cataphora
Zero anaphora or ellipsis
Cook for 3 minutes
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
23. 4. Presupposition and entailment
A presupposition is:
something the speaker assumes to
be the case prior to making an
utterance
An entailment is:
something that logically follows
from what is asserted in the utterance
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
24. 4. Presupposition and entailment
A presupposition is:
something the speaker assumes to
be the case prior to making an
utterance
An entailment is:
something that logically follows
from what is asserted in the utterance
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
25. 4. Presupposition and entailment
Presupposition
Relation between at least two
propositions
Mary’s dog is cute (=p)
Mary has a dog (=q)
p q
Constancy under negation
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26. 4. Presupposition and entailment
Types of Presuppositions
Potential pressupositions
Existencial pressupositions
Factive pressupositions
Lexical pressupositions
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27. 5. Cooperation and implicature
Implicature
Additional conveyed meaning
The cooperative principle
Man: Does your dog bite?
Woman: No
Man: Ouch!. Hey! You said YOUR dog
doesn’t bite
Woman: He doesn´t, but that’s not my dog.
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
28. 5. Cooperation and implicature
The cooperative principle (Grice 1975)
The Maxims:
Quantity:
Make your contribution as
informative as required
Do not make your contribution more
informative than required
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29. 5. Cooperation and implicature
The Maxims:
Quality:
Do not say what you believe to be
false
Do not say that for which you lack
adequate evidence
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30. 5. Cooperation and implicature
The Maxims:
Manner: be perpicuous
Avoid oscurity of expression
Avoid ambiguity
Be brief
Be orderly
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31. 5. Cooperation and implicature
The Maxims:
Relation
Be relevant
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32. 5. Cooperation and implicature
Hedges (cautious notes):
Expressions used to mark danger in
not fully adhering to the principles
Good indicators that the speakers
want to observe the maxims
“say no more” “no comments” “My lips are sealed”
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
33. 5. Cooperation and implicature
Generalized Conversational
implicature
Scalar implicature
ALL
MOST
MANY
SOME
FEW
“When any form in the scale is asserted, the negative
of all forms higher on the scale is IMPLICATED”
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
34. 5. Cooperation and implicature
Conventional Implicatures
The words. BUT - EVEN -YET
To express contrast: contrary to
expectation
Even John came to the party!
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35. 6. Speech acts and events
Speech acts:
Actions performed via utterances
The speaker’s intention in producing
an utterance
apology - complaint - compliment -
invitation - promise - request
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36. 6. Speech acts and events
Speech acts:
locutionary act (first dimension)
The basic act of an utterance
Illocutionary act (second dimension)
Performed via the communicative force
of the utterance
Perlocutionary act (third dimension)
The intended effect of the utterance
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
37. 6. Speech acts and events
Speech act classification:
Declarations
“I pronounce you husband and wife”
Representatives
“The earth is flat”
Expressives
“I’m really sorry”
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
38. 6. Speech acts and events
Speech act classification:
Directives
“Gimme a cup of coffee”
Commissives (commitment)
“I’ll be back”
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
39. 7. Politeness and interaction
Politeness: The idea of polite social
behavior - to show awareness of
another person’s face
Face
The public self-image of a person
Relative social distance
“Mr. Buckingham” - “Bucky”
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
40. 7. Politeness and interaction
Face wants
Face threatening act
A threat to another’s face
Face saving act
Say something to lessen a possible
threat
Power point presentation by Guillermo Torres
