5. Interaction between Speaker and Hearer — Information, Reality and Belief We shall focus on the ways in which information is given and received and then try to define people's attitudes to information and the reality it deals with, ie. truth, hypothesis, belief, probability, et. The most important reason why we have a language and, of course, make use of itis that ‘we wish to give someone some piece of information. This occurs with the help of statement questions and responses, in other words sentences. Sentences are units made up of one or more clauses [the principal structures of which sentences are composed]. Sentences containing just one clause are called SIMPLE, and sentences containing more than one clause are called COMPLEX. The clause is considered to be the major grammatical unit which a speaker or writer uses when communicating with a hearer or reader, in order to give information, to ask for information or to give a directive Linguistically, an illocutionary act (a speech act) assumes the form of a statement, ot a response, a question and a directive. Grammatically, these three main illocutionary acts are realized in the following way: the in is typically used for the exchange of information, or to provide replies and comments to previously made statements, in contrast to the imperative, which realizes a directive. The exchange of information occurs through declarative elauses, which typically express a statement, and interrogative clauses, which express questions. ‘A further illocutionary act to which a correspon: that of expressing an exclamation, structurally achieved by modifying the declarative clause, which can therefore be either exelamative or non-exclamative. Here we have a representation of the basic correspondences between mood structures and illocutionary acts: g mood structure can be assigned is ‘Mood Mlocutionary Act ‘Example Declarative making a statement We had a nice weekend Interrogative asking a question Did you have a nice weekend? Imperative aiving a dircotive Have a nice wockend! Exclamative expressing an exclamation _| What a nice weekend we had! It is important to separate the concepts of statement, question and directive, wi UTTERANCE categories, from the SYNTACTIC categories of declarative, and imperative, which realize them. When a syntactic mood type is used to carry out the illocutionary aot typically associated with it, it is considered to be a direct illocution or direct speech act. In reality, however. the relationship is more complex. In fact, almost any locutionary act can be realized by almost any mood structure, and almost every mood structure can earry out different illocutionary acts. When a mood structure is used to carry out nary acts but the typical, we consider it an indirect illocutionary act. The motivation for using this latter form is that of tact and politeness. By expressing the intended ‘meaning in an indirect form, the speaker allows the hearer to make the necessary deductions in order to arrive at the correct interpretation. For e.g... the interrogative in “Pave you walked 10 office today?” may lead the hearer to infer that the speaker is politely requesting to be given a lint ‘The three main illocutionary acts of stating, questioning and commanding are typically realized in English by variation in the order of one part of the clause, called Mood Element (Subject and Finite), while the rest of the clause is called Residue and remains unchanged. any other illocuti 38‘The structures of the declarative, interrogative and imperative moods are manifested by the presence or absence of the Subject and the order in which the Subject and the Finite occur in relation to each other. Only finite independent clauses have mood. Subordinate clauses and minor clauses, despite their illocutionary foree, do not present the altemative orderings of Subject and Finite, which are essential to the Mood Element as the expression of interpersonal interaction, We cannot say, in a subordinate ifclause for instance, “*if are you sure” instead of “if you are sure’. However, elliptical structures such as It is, You can, which consist of the Mood Element, do have altemative orderings of Subject and Finite (Is it?, Can you?) characteristic of this element. These are called abbreviated clauses. In conversational exchanges of English, minor clauses and abbreviated elauses play an important part in their ability to realize initiations and responses to initiations. Initiations can be expressed by: (@) moodless WH-questions with illocutionary force: invitation (How about going there?), encouraging suggestion (Why not give it another try?), inquiry (Why do it right away?), ete. (b) subordinate clauses preceded by well (Well, itt isn’t the great man himself?) Responses to initiations are of two types: complying and rejecting, e.g. Would you like some wine? Yes, I would. / No, I wouldn't. Whose is that coffee? Mine. I don’t know. To sum up: Statements: are declarative clauses that give information [grammatically, the subject is present and generally comes before the verb]. ‘Questions: are interrogative clauses by which someone asks the hearer to give information. Directives: are imperative clauses by which we get the hearer to carry out some action, by means of an order, request, or invitation Responses: are clauses by which we provide replies and comments to previously uttered statements, Since Statements do not scem to pose too many problems, we shall focus mainly on the way Questions, Directives, Responses and Exclamations occur, combine and operate in the interaction between speaker and hearer. JUESTIONS AND ANSWERS In conversation, both statements and questions generate a response in the form of comments and replies. For questions, the natural response is an answer that offers the speaker the information he asked for. We distinguish four major types of questions: (@) “Yes” or “No”-type [in a long version or a short one], also known as polar questions: e.g. Is the dinner ready? {Yes, it’s already cooked. / No, it’s not cooked yet.} {Yes, it is./Yes. // No, it isn’t./No, not yet. Not yet/No.} (b) Wh-questions / non-polar questions, with which too, part of the answer can be omitted: e.g, Where are you going? {I'm going to the cinema, / To the cinema} © Clause tags: a little question added at the end of a statement, inviting the hearer to respond to it. They are not interrogative clauses, but only an interrogative signal appended to declarative, exclamative and imperative clauses (@) Indirect questions: are reported questions, ic. questions that somebody else formulated. eg. Is it raining? > The old lady asked if it was raining 391. Questions about alternatives There are two kinds of questions 1.1 Limited questions about alternatives are mainly “Yes-No” questions with which only one of two answers (positive or negative) is possible. * Another type of limited question is one which expects as an answer one of two or more alternatives mentioned in the question 4 . 4 €.g. Shall we go by bus o by tube? By bus. ‘The intonation rises on each alternative except the last, on which it fi + Moreover, there is another type of alternative question which is like the “Yes-No” question in terms of expecting a positive or negative answer. Such altemative questions have a rather impatient tone, a . ‘ e.g. Are you going there or not? [or aren’t you (going)] + Last but not least, another type of alternative question is more like a wh-question in form. Here too, the intonation rises on each alternative except the last, on which it falls s , . e.g. How shall we go there? By bus or by tube? 1.2 Unlimited questions about alternatives are mainly 1W-questions, because any number of, answers ean be provided as long as they give information required by the wh-question (who, what, when, where, how, ete.). Such questions normally have falling intonation . . e.g. Where do you live? (I ive in) London, 2. Questions with positive and negative bias (inclination) — several types: uestions with some, always, already, ete Most *Yes-No” questions are neutral, midway between positive and negative replies, but make often use of words like: any, ever, yet, etc. Nevertheless we can use words like some, always, already, indicating that a positive answer is expected, e.g. Did anyone call last night? (neutral) 4 Did someone call last night? (meaning = Is it true that someone called last night?) For politeness, it is customary to use some-forms in making an offer: s e.g. Would you like something to eat? (I expect you would!) 2.2 Questions in statement form ‘The positive bias can be strengthened if the question is put in the form of a statement but using the rising tone of a question: 4 e.g. You got home safely then? With these questions the tone is rather casual as if' we are assuming in advance that the answer is YES. With a negative, such questions assume the answer NO 404 e.g. The shops weren’t open? (when seeing someone coming home with an empty basket) 2.3 Clause tags — requests for confirmation When we have an opinion or belief about something and want to check if it is true or to find out if someone agrees with us We add short structures to the end of a statement turning it into a question and asking for confirmation of the truth of our statement. Tags are most often used in spoken English. There are two types of declarative mood tags distinguished by polarity sequence © Type 1 (the more common) — reversed polarity: If the main clause is in the affirmative, we use a negative tag. Negative tags are always contracted, except in old~ fashioned or very formal English. If the main clause is in the negative, we use an affirmative tag. The negative tag with ‘I’ is “aren’t I’ when ‘am’ is the verb of the main clause: eg. I'm controlling eg. It is quite warm aren’tT? isn't it? // You didn’t know he was an artist, did you? In Type 2 — same polarity as the main clause: This appears to be always positive in Standard BrE; negative forms are not found. However, in some dialects such as South Wales English, negative tags are found on negative clauses, as in: So you haven't done it, haven't you? Type 2 tags express a conelusion drawn by the speaker. and occasionally an attitude of irony. or sincere interest, or thoughtful consideration: , eg. So you believe in democracy, do you? Oh, that’s what you believe, is if? And you've lived in this village all your life, have you? Here the statement expresses a conclusion, the tone being sometimes sareastie. The person ‘we are speaking to replies to the content of our statement rather than to the tag. Negative tags express a “Yes” answer, positive tags expect a “No” answer. With Type 1, if the tag has a rising tone, it indicates doubt, meaning I’m not sure, so please confirm that what I said is true, a eg. (A) He's quite a friendly dog, isn’t he? (I'm doubtful.) (B) Yes, he is, if you treat him nicel I the tag has a that what I said is true, so please agree with me! — The tag merely asks for routine confirmation of what the speaker alrcady belicves. The sentence is more like a statement than a ques ng tone, it indicates a greater degree of certainty, meaning I know . e.g. (A) He's quite a friendly dog, isn’the? (I'm sure) (B) Yes, he is. ‘Type 2 tags typically have a rising tone on the tag, and the statement is often preceded by a discourse marker such as of, so or well now which indicate that the speaker is expressing a conclusion drawn from the situation or from what has been said before: 4. , e.g. Oh, so you're the new assistant, are you? ‘So your father is a doctor, is he? Well now, this is the Norman chapel, és i? Second person positive imperatives can be followed by positive or negative tags containing one of the modal auxiliaries will / won't Avould / can ‘can’t /eould accompanied by either rising or falling tone. The former is typically polite, the latter is more insistent: e.g. Check this for me, will you? rising) polite, anticipates wil ign this for me, would you? rising) polite, anticipates wil ep this for me, can you? rising) familiar, anticipates w Hold this for me, could you? Grising)less familiar, anticipates wi Keep quiet, can’t you? (falling) insistent, anticipates willingness Do make yourself at home, won't you? (falling) polite insistent Negative imperatives arc followed only by the positive tag will you, which is a persuasive softener spoken with a falling tone: x . e.g. Don't be late, will you? Don’t say a word, will you? More insistent is the intensifier mind, added as a tail to the falling intonation on fate and word: . . €.g. Don’t be late, mind, Don’t say a word, mind, First person plural imperatives take a positive tag with a rising tone: , 4 eg. Let’s take a taxi, shall we? Let’s not walk any further, shall we? Exclamative clauses, abbreviated exclamatives too, take negative tags with a fall into x . e.g. What a good time we had, didn’t we? How cold it is in here, isn’t What lovely roses, aren't they! What a waste of time, wasn’t it! 2.4 Negative questions “Yes-No” questions containing a negative form imply a negative answer. In fact, such questions have a mixture of positive and negative bias. 4 e.g. Haven't you had your breakfast yet, Mary? (You should have had it by now!) , Can’t you drive straight? (I thought you could, but apparently you can’t!) Nomnally, this kind of construction expresses some degree of surprise (disappointment or even ‘snnoyance) as the later assumption contradicts the former. 3. Questions with more than one wh-word In this case only one of the wh-words is moved to the front of the sentence (unless the two wh- elements are coordinated. eg. Who's bringing what? I’m bringing the beer, and Pete’s bringing the sandwiches. 424. Polite questions When addressing a stranger or an elderly person we ean make a more polite question by adding please, by using an introductory formula like “Could you tell me...” or the use of modal verbs: can, may, and could. e.g. Would you mind opening the window? May Task you if you are driving there? Please could I have your telephone number? 5. Responses to statements ‘Nonmally a statement does not need a response. But in conversation we often make a response to a statement in order to express interest, surprise, pleasure, regret, clc, or simply to show the speaker that we are still attending. For this purpose we resort to “attention signals,” which are particularly important in telephone conversations: “Mm{mj.” “Mhm[mhm].” “Uh- Iuhfaha}” and “Yeahljea}” are casual alternatives to “Yes.” Other signals of this kind are “Oh?” and “Really” — to express surprise and interest. “I hear Paula’s getting married. Really.” Other atten 6. Short questions When the hearer wants more information, he may resort to short questions as responses to statements. These shortened questions are rather familiar and abrupt. In formal English, and for greater politeness a fuller question should be used. Like other responses, omitting repeated matter often shortens these questions. They ean n signals of more limited use are: “Well! Fancy that! etc.” often be shortened to the question word alone / two-word questions with an end-placed preposition: eg. (A) The old lady's buying a house. (B) When?/Where?/Why?/Which house?/ What old lady? or (A) I'm going to write an adventure story (B) What for?/Who for?/What about? For a negative statement, “hy not?” should be used rather than “Why eg. (A) Joan is very upset. (B) Why? (A) She hasn't been invited. (B)Why not? 7. Echo structures: requests for repetition ~ are very commonly used; It is a response question in which the speaker is asked to repeat some information (because the interlocutor failed to hear it or because he can’t believe his ears). The speaker echoes part of what has been said, sometimes using a wh-question word (which can also be placed later in the sentence) to indicate the part of sentence that he did not hear, using a sharply rising a question intonation: (A) He’s a dermatologist. (B) What is he? — familiar tone , (B) He’s what? — impolite tone , (B) Sorry, what is his job? — polite tone , or (B) I’m somry, I didn’t quite hear: what does he do? 4BEcho questions sometimes refer back to other questions: 4 e.g. (A) Have you ever been to Valladolid? (B) (Sorry), have | ever been where! Conclusion: 2) very commonly used general requests for repetition: ((1) beg your) pardon, Fxcuse me? AmE>, Sorry? , What? ; I'm very sorry, would you mind repeating that/saying that again? . In many instances we use responses which omit information that is already obvious from the preceding context. These responses in some way lack the structure of a “complete sentence,” but are acceptable in communication, because the structure omitted contains information already understood. Possible replies: “I agree/Absolutely/Certainly not/Nonsense/True enough, but how Other incomplete or formulaic utterances = commands: Off with the lid? Out with it! Faster! Not so fast! = questions: More coffee? How about joining us? - _ slogans: Democrats out! Yankees go home! Republicans for ever! - exclamations: Goal! Good! Excellent! You lucky boy! Pity! Shame! Silly boy! ‘Now for some fun! You and your jokes! - alarm calls: Help! Fire! Sometimes, in casual/familiar speech, words carrying little information are omitted from the beginning of a sentence. e.g. "Beg your pardon. (I...) Serves you right. (It...) No wonder he’s late (It is...) Want some coffee? (Do you...) Sorry I missed you. (Tam...) See you later. (I will...) In public notices, headlines ete, a noun phrase, nominal clause, or adjective phrase often stands on its own. Prohibition notices are often put in the form of a Nominal Phrase: e.g. EXIT / WHERE TO EAT IN LONDON / ENGLISH DEPARTMENT B) DENIAL AND AFFIRMATION 1. Negative sentences With the help of negative items: no, not, nothing, nowhere, etc a speaker can deny the truth of something. The clause or the part of sentence that follows the negative word is called the SCOPE OF NEGATION, and itis the part of the sentence that is negated. cg. They weren’tat home, vs. They weren't at home for the whole day. Other negation words that arc used: any, yet, ever which lic within the scope of negation and: some, already, sometimes which lic outside the scope of negation. c.g. I didn’tattend any of the lectures. (none of the lectures) I didn’tattend some of the lectures. (only some I didn’t attend) Occasionally a negative word applies not to the verb at all, but to a phrase or part of a phrase elsewhere in the sentence: e.g. They stayed at a not very attractive hotel. We not infrequently go abroad. 442. Affirmation ‘To place emphasis on the positive meaning of a sentence, the intonation nucleus is put on the operator. This is done especially for contrast, when someone has suggested or assumed the negative: . eg. What a pity Mary isn’t here! But) she is here. If the response is not a straightforward denial, but contains new positive information, the latter is stressed by a fall-rise tone: . v e.g, Surely he can’t drive a bus? No, but he can drive a ear. If there is no other operator, do is used as dummy operator . v eg. So you don’t enjoy Julie's conversation? No, but I do think she’s a good gook. 3. Denial At denial the nucleus is again placed on the operator, but this time on the negative operator (can’t, didn't, etc). When the negative is not contracted, the nucleus falls on not (...he did pot pass it) e.g, So you haven't lost your keys. (I thought you had.) or (A) When did he pass his exam? (B) Well, actually he didn’t pass it. 4. Short affirmat When the speaker simply affirms a question or a statement and docs not need to repeat what has already been said, then a shortened type of affirmation is used. To agree with a negative statement, a negative operator is used: e.g. This book is interesting. Yes, it is. Your mother doesn’t look well. No, she doesn’t. 5. Short denial When the speaker simply answers a question in the negative or denies/contradicts a statement and does not need to repeat what has already been said, then a shortened type of denial is used. e.g. You work too much. No, I don’t Can you speak German? No, I’m afraid I can’t. To deny a negative statement, the positive operator is used with a rising or falling tone: 4 e.g. Tunderstand most people don’t agree with me. Yes, they do. v Iwon't pass the exam. Ibet you will. A denial can seem blunt and unless it is toned down in some way. By tentatively expressing the contrary view a denial can be made more , by a sentence with introductory it and a that-clause sarah will be a 1. Possibility: can, may, could, might Factual possibility (possibility of the fact): may, it iy possible that, perhaps, possibly, maybe: eg. The railways may be improved. It is possible that the railways will be improved, Perhaps/possibly/maybe the railways will be improved, ‘Theoretical possibility (possibility of the idea = weaker than the factual one): can, it is possible for; eg. The railways can be improved. It is possible for the railways to be improved. ‘Tentative possibility (hypothetical sense — something that is possible, but unlikely): could, might; e.g. He could/might be telling lics. (It is just possible...) Could you have left your pen at the Post Office? If someone were to make a mistake, the whole plan could/might be ruined. 2. Impossibility: cannot, can*t: eg. He can’t have done something like that. 3. Abilitv/capability habitual ability) e.g. He ean speak German fluently. Will you be able to meet us tomorrow? He is capable of keeping a scorot when he wants to. She knows how to type and take shorthand. He could play the piano when he was five. can, be able to, be capable of, to know how to; could (permanent or 494. Certainty or logical necessity/expectation: must, should, should have, ought to, have to, have got to. it is certain that, certainly, necessarily, sure to, inevitably, need (esp. in BrE in place of must in questions and negatives) e.g. There must be some mistake. He should speak French very well now, We should have heard from her by now. The bombing’s got to stop sometime. (Br) Many people will certainly/necessarily lose their jobs. Inevitably some changes will take place. It is certain that his father is dead, Strikes need not be caused by bad pay. The Court of Appeal ought to be able to help you. Prediction and predictability/deduction/assumption: will, must, would; eg. That must be my wife. John will have arrived by now. John must have arrived by now. Accidents will happen. He would often go all day without eating. Most listeners will have heard of hormones. The audience will not be aware of such exact details Probability/Jmprobability: ought to, should, probable, likely, probably: shouldn't, oughtn’t to, it is improbable/unlikely that; e.g, Peter should/ought to be home by now. It is quite probable/likely that they didn’t receive the letter. The concert is likely to finish late. (probability) ‘There shouldn’t/oughtn’t to be any difficulties. It is unlikely that there will any difficulties. (improbability) H) ATTITUDES TO TRUTH We now consider the ways in which people ~ the speaker, another person, or a group of people may be committed or uncommitted to the truth or reality of something. In this respect we often use: a that-clause, a WH-clause, adverbials, comment clauses, and other constructions. 1. Certainty: to know that/what, to be certain/sure that, to be convinced that/of, do not doubthave no doubtiwithout doubt, adverbials: clearly, obviously, plainly, indubitably, undeniably, unquestionably, etc; e.g. [know that his answer will be ‘No’. The party will be a success, I'm sure. ‘They were convinced of their success. He has obviously suffered a great deal We have no doubt of his honesty 2. Doubt or uncertainty: to be not certain/sure/convinced that, to doubt if, to have doubts about, do not think, to be uncertain oftabout; e.g. [am not certain/sure/convinced that he deserves promotion. I don’t think many people will come to the meeting. We have doubts about his honesty. 3. Belief, opinion, assumption, appearance: helieve/think that, in one’s opinion, someone's belief, 10 be believed/thought/considered to be.., 10 assume, 10 suppose, to presume, presumably, it seems/looks/appears, apparently, to look as if: e.g. I believe the lecture was well attended. He thinks he can dietate to everybody. In my opinion, he was driving the car too fast. We assume/suppose that you have received the parcel. No one seems to have noticed his escape. I looks/seems as if you're right, (A) Has the race been postponed? (B) I think so. It suppose so. It seems so. Apparently so. I don’t think so. 50HIGHLIG. * Interpersonal meaning between speaker and heater is realized by declarative, interrogative and imperative clauses. A further mood type is the exelamative clause, a variation of the declarative. "Each mood type is basically associated with an illocutionary act declarative can be used to express a statement be it positive or negative; interrogative will be used to formulate a question; imperative will render a directive in the form of a command or a request; exclamative will voice an exclamation, "For social reasons, particularly those of politeness, indirect formulations are often preferred. The relationship between mood and illocutionary acts is, therefore, not one-to-one but many-to-many. PRACTIC ASKS 1.) Identify the mood type of each of the following clauses and suggest what illocutionary force would conventionally be assigned to each of these utterances, Final punctuation is ted. Isn't it amazing The Vice-President is not likely to resign What an extraordinary dancer he is Do you feel harassed by the congestion of city life You're sure you won't have any more Drop that gun Members will refrain from smoking in the dining room You're leaving already T warn you that a villa in that area is not cheap 2.) Decide whether the italicized item is a Subject or a vocative: Keep still, Zahward, there’s a good boy. “Vl read it later.” “Oh, all right, you please yourself.” Somebody pass me the insect repellent, quick! Thank you, Say hello to Unele Arthur, children’ Everybody lift at the same time! Right, up she goes, everybody! Do shut up, Helen, you're making a fool of yourself, You all wait here, that will be best, I'll be back in a moment. You just leave him alone, do you hear? ear. Now you take some, 3.) Try to assign_an_illocutionary act to cach of the abbreviated clauses. Then_add_the necessary constituents in order to make them finite independent clauses and say which type of mood structure they belong: Now then, to business! Anything in the paper tonight? Sounds nasty to me. Why apologize? What awful weather! 31