intro linguistics pragmatics

• analyzes utterances
• concrete linguistic contributions to communicative interactions made by individuals, cf. parole
• interested in how and why people actually use language
• functional analysis

• analyzes sentences
• abstract linguistic, grammatical units, cf. langue
• interested in the language people potentially use
• descriptive analysis

intention/ function behind the speech act

effect on the hearer

actual act of producing language

• apology
• thanking
• offer
• suggestion
• request
• threat
• complaint

• assertives
• directives
• commissives
• expressives
• declarations

• statements about the world
• e.g. asserting, concluding, stating, remarking

• attempt by the speaker to get the hearer to do something
• e.g. requesting, questioning, commanding

• express a psychological state of speaker, excalamtions
• e.g. greeting, thanking, apologising, congratulating

• changes the institutional state of affairs
• e.g. declaring war, firing from employment, baptizing

performative verbs/ hereby test

Illocutionary Force Indicating Devices

• the ability of an utterance to fulfill a specific function
• e.g. imperative form for requests, sorry for apology

hearer has to infer the meaning of what is said

hearer correctly infers the intention, understands

hearer reacts as intended, perlocutions as expected

• propositional content: past act by S that S believes offended H
• preparatory: S is held responsible for act
• sincerity: S wants hearer to forgive
• essential: counts as an attempts to get the H to forgive the previous act

• content: future act to be perfomed by the H
• preparatory: H is able to do the A. The S believes H is able to do the A. It is not obvious to both S and H that H will do A in the normal course of events of his own accord
• sincerity: S wants H to do A
• essential: counts as an attempt to get the H to do A

• speaker wants to communicate the literal meaning that the words conventionally express
• form-function- relationship

S wants to communicate a different meaning from the apparent surface meaning

people cooperate in communication and rely on this cooperation to make conversation efficient

give as much information as is necessary for the interlocutors to understand your utterances, do not give more information than is necessary

say only what you believe to be true and for what you have evidence

be relevant: say what is relevant in the present context

be orderly and clear, avid obscurity of expression and ambiguity, be brief

• they don´t observe one or more of Grice´s maxims, but not to mislead or sabotage their interlocutor
• generartes conversational implicature

conversational maxim is purposely violated, uncooperative behavior, does not lead to conversational implicature

• not part of the conventional meaning of what is said
• interpretation is context dependent
• as additional meaning conveyed by a speaker adhering to the cooperative principle
• H needs to make inferences to find the intended meaning of what is said

politeness: appropriate communicative behavior relative to a social situation

• is not the same as politeness
• can work as a politeness strategy

the public self- image that members of a society want to claim for themselves

• the want that one´s action be unimpeded by others
• desire to be left alone

• the want that one´s self-image is approved of by others
• desire to be liked

• act that by their nature run contradictory to the face wants of the addressee and/ or speaker
• e.g. orders, requests, threats, remindings

• used to minimize/avoid face damage
• do FTA vs. don´t do FTA
• FTA: on record: baldy, without redressive action or with redressive action
• positive vs. negative politeness

• e.g. make compliments
• use nicknames or endearment terms

• e.g. apologize
• use titles, full names

• D: social distance
• P: relative power
• R: (absolute) ranking of impositions