PRAGMATICS: Meaning and content, and the intention to communicate.

* Pronouns and discourse * Deixis * Maxims of Conversation

Presented by: Hanin, Aisyah, Shaimimey

Pragmatics studies the factors that govern our choice of language in social interaction and the effects of our choice on others. (David Crystal) Pragmatics is all about the meanings between the lexis and the grammar and the phonologyMeanings are implied and the rules being followed are unspoken, unwritten ones. (George Keith)

 The study of what the speakers mean, or speaker meaning, is called pragmatics. In many ways, pragmatics is the study of invisible meaning, or how we recognize what is meant even when it isnt actually said or written. Pragmatics is the study of meaning of words, phrases and full sentences, but unlike semantics which deals with the objective meanings of words that can be found in dictionaries, pragmatics is more concerned with the meaning of words in fact convey when they are used, or with intended speaker meaning as it is sometimes referred to.

 When a diplomat says yes, he means perhaps; When he says perhaps, he means no; When he says no, he is not a diplomat. When a lady says no, she means perhaps; When she says perhaps, she means yes; When she says yes, she is not a lady. Voltaire (Quoted, in Spanish, in Escandell 1993)

Physical context:
This encompasses what is physically present around the speakers/hearers at the time of communication. What objects are visible, where the communication is taking place, and what is going on, etc. Examples: I want that book. (accompanied by pointing) Be here at 9:00 tonight. (place/time reference)

Linguistics context:
What has been said before in the conversation. The history of things said so far. Also known as co-text. Examples: I cant believe you said that! If my mom heard you talk like that, shed wash all your mouths out with soap!

???...

Youll have to bring it back tomorrow because she isnt here today.

The word deixis is a technical term (from Greek)for one of the most basic things we do with utterances, which means pointing via language. Any linguistic form used to accomplish pointing is called a deictic expression. Deictic expressions are also known as indexical.

 A speech event includes at least two persons: 1st person = the speaker 2nd person = addressee If the two persons do not only refer to themselves while talking, there is a 3rd person that does not has to take part in the conversation. The pronouns for the 1st person The pronouns for the 2nd person Definite and specific pronouns Indefinite and specific pronouns Indefinite and non-specific pronouns : I my mine : you your yours : this, that, those or these : somebody, something, who, what : someone, something, nobody, nothing

Concerns the locations relative to anchorage points in the speech event. Locations can be specified relative to other objects. Example: The station is two hundred yards from the college. Locations can be specified relative to the location of participants. Example: Its two hundred yards away. Some pure place-deictic words: here and there (adverbs); this and that (demonstrative pronouns) -Symbolic usage of here: pragmatically given unit of space that includes the location of the speaker. Example: Im writing to say Im having a marvelous time here.

Adverbs: here and there (contrast on a proximal/distal dimension) -here: proximal (near) - there: distal (more distant) Example: Bring that here and take this there. Demonstrative pronouns are more clearly organized in a proximal/distal dimension. -this: the object in a pragmatically given area close to the speakers location. - that: the object beyond the pragmatically given area close to the speakers location. Directions: to the left from; to the right from

Motion verbs- signs of place deixis -Come vs. go makes distinction between the direction of motion. Hes coming he is moving towards the speakers location. Hes going he is moving away from the speakers location. Im coming the speaker is moving towards the location of the addressee.

proximal 'now' indicates both the time coinciding with the speaker's utterance and the time of the speaker's voice being heard (the hearer's now) distal 'then' applies to both past and future time relative to the speaker's present time Examples:

November 22nd, 1963? I was in Scotland then. Dinner at 8:30 on Saturday? Okay, I'll see you then

 all deictic expressions depend on knowing the relevant utterance time (Fillmore 1971). time the utterance was made = coding time (CT) time the utterance is heard/read = receiving time (RT) Deictic Simultaneity: CT = RT (normal verbal utterance situation) complication in written messages and pre-recordings of media programs

Back in an hour Free beer tomorrow

In this case a decision has to be made about whether the deictic center remains on the speaker (and CT) or is projected on the addresse (and RT)

Temporal events can be treated as objects that move toward or away from us Example: i. 1st , ii. be iii. iv. This program is being recorded today, Wednesday April to be relayed next Thursday This program was recorded last Wednesday April 1st, to relayed today I write this letter while chewing peyote I wrote this letter while chewing peyote

choice of verb tense expresses temporal deixis: o present tense is proximal: Example: I live here now o past/future are distal: Examples: I lived there then I will be in London by then o conditional/unlikely event also treated as deictically distant Example: I could be in Hawaii (if I had a lot of money)

Reference: An act by which a speaker (or writer) uses language to enable a listener (or reader) to identify something. These are called referring expressions. To perform an act of reference, we can use proper nouns, noun phrases (definite and indefinite) and pronouns.

a) Proper nouns:

Mercedez-Benz

Sunway Lagoon

b) Noun phrases (definite) :

The school bus

The badminton player

c) Noun phrases (indefinite) :

A vehicle

A girl

d) Pronouns:

It

He, him

We can also refer to things when we are not sure what to call them. Examples: i.The blue thing ii.That icky stuff Invent names: Example: Mr Kawasaki (a man who always drove his motorcycle fast and loud through his neighborhood )

The choice of one type of referring expression rather than another seems to be based, to a large extent, on what the speaker assumes the listener already knows.

For successful reference to occur, we must also recognize the role of inference.

What are inferences?

Inference: Additional information used by listener to create a connection between what is said and what must be meant. Listener makes inferences about what is said in order to arrive at an interpretation of the speakers intended meaning. The choice of one type of referring expression rather than another seems to be based on what the speaker assume the listener already know.

Examples: Situation: students are studying linguistics Student 1: Can I look at your Chomsky? Student 2: Sure, its on the shelf Inference: If Chomsky is the name of a writer of a book, then Chomsky must be used to identify a copy of a book by that writer. Situation: a nurse comes to a doctors room Nurse: The hernia in room 5 wants to talk to you Doctor: Sure, lets go there Inference: If hernia is a name of a disease, then hernia must be referred to a patient suffering hernia.

Practices: Make an inference to interprete each of these utterance. A boy: We saw Shakespeare in London Waiter: The ham sandwich left without paying Dentist: My eleven-thirty canceled so I had an early lunch Teacher: Picasso is in the museum A girl: Jennifer is wearing Calvin Klein

In English, initial reference is often indefinite. The definite noun phrases and the pronouns are examples of subsequent reference to already introduced referents, generally known as anaphoric reference, or anaphora. In technical terms, the second or subsequent expression is the anaphora and the initial expression is the antecedent.

Anaphoric reference
1. After the initial introduction of some entity, speakers will use various expressions to maintain reference: Example: 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 a man a woman he + she the man he the woman they

she

2.

When the interpretation requires us to identify an entity, and no linguistic expression is presented, it is called zero anaphora, or ellipsis. or

The use of zero anaphora clearly creates an expectation that the listener will be able to infer who what the speaker intends to identify Example:

Peel an onion and slice it. Drop the slices into hot oil. Cook for three minutes.

3.

The connection between an antecedent and use of by inference.

anaphoric expression can also be created with the other nouns that are related to the antecedent Example:

We found a house to rent, but the kitchen was very small I caught a bus and asked the driver if it went near the downtown area.

We have used the term inference to describe what the listener (or reader) does. When we talk about an assumption made by the speaker (or writer), we usually talk about a presupposition

What a speaker (or writer) assumes it true or known by a listener (or reader) can be described as presupposition. Examples: o Your brother is waiting outside o Why did you arrive late? o When did you stop smoking?

 Discourse

analysis is about how we make sense of what

we read, how we can recognize well-constructed text as opposed to those that are jumbled or incoherent, how we understand speakers who communicate more than they say, and how we successfully take part in that complex activity called conversation . The word discourse is usually defined as language beyond the sentence and the analysis of discourse is typically concerned with the study of language in text and conversation.

 Trains collide, two die (newspaper headline)

No shoes, no services (on shop windows in summer) My Town, My natal was in a small town, very close to Riyadh capital of Saudi Arabia. The distant between my town and Riyadh 7 miles exactly. The name of this Almasani that means in English Factories. It takes this name from the peopls carrer. In my childhood I remember the people live. It was very simple. Most the people was farmer. (sample essay by a student learning English)

 Ties or connection that exist within texts Also known as cohesive ties Example: 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 Id rather had the convertible. father he he he my my I Lincoln it a Lincoln convertible that car the convertible bought saving penny- worth a fortune sold pay once nowadays - sometimes

However, by itself, cohesion would not be sufficient to enable us to make sense of what we read. It is quite easy to create a highly cohesive text that has a lot of connections between the sentences, but is very difficult to interpret. Note that the following text has connections such as Lincoln-the car, red-that colour, her-she, letter-a letter My father bought a Lincoln convertible. The car driven by the police was red. That colour doesnt suit her. She consists of three letters. However, a letter isnt as fast as a telephone call. It becomes clear from this type of example that the connectedness we experience in our interpretation of normal texts is not simply based on connections between words. There must be some other factors that leads us to distinguish connected texts that make sense from those that do not.

 The key to the concept of coherence (everything fitting together well) is not something that exists in words or structures, but something that exists in people. It is people who make sense of what they read or hear. They try to arrive at an interpretation that is in line with their experience of the way the world is. Example:

HER: Thats the telephone HIM: Im in bath HER: O.K

 English conversation can be described as an activity in which for the

most part, two or more people take turns in speaking.

Only one person speaks at a time and there tends to be avoidance of silence between speaking turns. If more than one participants try to talk at the same time, one of them usually stops, as in the following example Example: A: Didnt you [know whB: [But he mustve been there by two A: Yes but you knew he was going

Completion points: The speakers can mark their turns as complete: i) by asking question ii) by pausing at the end of a completed syntactic structure like a phrase or a sentence

The listeners can indicate that they want to take the speaking turn: i) by making short sounds, usually repeated ii) use body shift or facial expressions to signal that they have something to say

rudeness if one speaker cuts in on another speaker shyness if one speaker keeps waiting for an opportunity to take a turn and none seems to occur The participants characterized as rude or shy in this way may simply be adhering to slightly different conventions of turn-taking One way to keep the turn is: i)dont pause at the end of a sentence, make your sentence run on using connectors like and, then, so, but, ii) place your pauses at points where the message is clearly incomplete, and preferably fill the pause with a hesitation marker such as er, em, ur, ah,

Example 1: Pauses (marked by ) are placed before and after verbs rather than at the end of sentences A: thats their favourite restaurant because they

enjoy French food and when they were in France they couldnt believe it that you know that they had that they had better meals back home

Example 2: Speaker X produces filled pauses (with em, er, you know) after having almost lost the turn at his first brief hesitation X: well that film really was [wasnt that he was good at Y: [when diX: I mean his other em his later films were much more really more in the romantic style and that was more what what he was you know em best at doing Y: so when did he make that one

 Make your contribution as informative as is required, but not more, or less than is required.

Example 1: A girl: Do you have the time? A man: Yes, its 9:30 One finds this normal because the maxim is observed The man contribute only as much information as required -not excessive like: its 9:30 at night, Greenwich Mean Time, 20 May 2009, - not inadequate like: its night time Example 2: Jenny: Liz, can I have Johns number? Liz: Yes Despite her positive answer, we find Lizs behaviour is weird because the maxim is violated. Less information is provided than is required

 Do not say what you believe to be false Do not say that for which you lack of adequate evidences

Example 1: Sophia Jim : Jim, do you know where the Big Ben Clock Tower is? : Its in London

This is normal because the maxim is observed. Jim does not contribute what he believes to be false and to be unsubstantiated. (e.g: Its in Hong Kong) Example 2: Mary: Jenny, how do you like this novel? Jenny: Oh, I like the red cover Jennys reply strange because the maxim is violated. Jenny says something that evidently she does not believes in (she told a lie)

 Be relevant
Example 1: Waiter: How do you like your steak cooked? Customer: Medium rare, please. One finds this normal because the maxim is observed The woman contributes what is relevant for the purpose of conversation. The maxim is violated if the answer given is irrelevant e.g: I like steak very much. What nice weather!

 Be clear, brief and orderly Avoid obscurity of expression Avoid ambiguity

Example 1: A: What did Laura do when she heard Lauris boat had arrived? B: Laura jumped and ran to the pier. One finds this conversation normal because the maxim is observed Example 2: A: What did Laura do when she heard Lauris boat had arrived? B: Laura ran to the pier and jumped. One find this conversation bewildering because the maxim is violated.

For each of the following conversational excerpts, name a maxim that has been violated and explain how. 1.Im a millionaire (actually Im penniless) 2. Dont be silly. I love working 80 hours a week with no vacations 3. Dr. Kawashima received his Ph.D in 1986, his B.A in 1980, and his M.A in 1982. 4. John: When am I going to get back the money I lent you? David: Boy, its hot in here 5. Patient: What should I do to get rid of this awful headache, doctor/ Doctor: Take some medicine 6. Customer: Excuse me, how much is this screwdriver? Seller: $9.95. The saw is $39.50, and the power drill there on the table is $89.00

Book: i)The Study of Language Internet:

i)http://www.ling.ohio-state-edu/~kdk/201/spring02/slides/pragmatics-4up.pdf ii)http://ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/~jilka/index.html iii)www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/lang/pragmatics.htm iv)www.kwary.net/maxim-of-conversation i)Drshadiabanjar.blogspot.com/2009/03/pragmatics-definitions-andbackgrounds.html ii)Drshadiabanjar.blogspot.com/2009/03/deixis-and-distance.html