Pragmatics 1 outline

(Based on Yule, G. (2009). The Study of Language (4th edition). Cambridge)

Pragmatics=The study of what speakers mean, or 'speaker meaning'

Pragmatics is the study of invisible meaning or how we recognize what is meant even when it is not actually
said.
Speakers depend on a lot of shared assumptions and expectations.
“You use the meanings of the words, in combination, and the context in which they occur, and you try to
arrive at what the writer of the sign intended his message to convey.“

Context
There are two kinds of contexts:

1) one kind is best described as linguistic context, also known as co-text.

The co-text of a word is the set of other words used in the same phrase or sentence.
e.g. I get to the bank to cash a cheque.

2) another type of context is described as physical context.

Our understanding of what we read and hear is tied to the physical context, particularly the environment,
time and place, etc. in which the discourse occurs and the relationship between the participants.
e.g. The word bank on the wall of a building in a city.

Why do we need context?

-it helps establish meaning, avoid ambiguity, can influence what is said and how it is said.
-it influences communication, deals with appropriate behaviour and actions associated with the situation.
-it indicates referents (deixis)
-it detects conversational implicature

Deixis
There are some words in the language that cannot be interpreted at all unless the physical context is known:
“here, there, this, that, now, then, yesterday, come“ , pronouns, such as “I , you, him, her, them“.
e.g. You will have to bring that back tomorrow, because they are not here now.

Personal deixis: expressions used to point to a person (1st person I for the speaker, 2nd person you for the
hearer)
Spatial deixis: words used to point to a location (determiners this, that; verbs come, go, adverbs here, there).
Temporal deixis: expressions used to point to a time (Adverbs, PPs now/then, this year/that year,
yesterday/two days ago; present tense (proximal) vs past/future tense (distal)

Entities close to the speaker (this, that, now).

Entities distant to the speaker (that, there, then).

Reference
Reference is an act by which a speaker uses language to enable a listener to identify something.
e.g. Can I look at your Chomsky? Common referents:-proper nouns (e.g. Chomsky, Jennifer, Whiskas)-nouns
in phrases (e.g. a writer, my friend, the cat, the blue thing up there, that icky stuff)
-pronouns (e.g. he, she, it)

Referent=the thing in the world that a word or phrase denotes or stands for.
a) “When I came home, the cat was waiting by the door”
b) “Suppose John has two sons, Bill and Henry. a nephew Pete, and a grandson Dave. What is the
connection between the phrases: Bill’s father, Henry’s father, Pete’s uncle, Dave’s grandfather?”
 Inference
Inferencing is connecting prior knowledge to text based information to create meaning beyond what is
directly stated.
-Can I look at your Chomsky?-Sure, it's on the shelf over there.
-Where's the ham sandwich sitting?-By the door.

An inference is any additional information used by the listener to connect what is said to what must be
meant. The listener has to infer that the name of the writer of a book can be used to identify a book by that
writer.

A: Do you want another drink? A: Do you want some more coffee? A: Are you coming tonight?
B: I’m driving. B: Coffee would keep me awake. B: I’ve got to work.

Anaphora
- Can I have your book ?
- Yeah, it is on the table.

The second underlined referring expression is an example of anaphora ('referring back') and the first mention is
called antecedent. “Book“ is antecedent, “it“ is the anaphoric expression.
Mostly we use anaphora in texts to maintain reference.

Find an antecedent and anaphoric expressions:

a) We saw a funny home video about a boy washing a puppy in a small bath. The puppy started struggling and
shaking and the boy got really wet. When he let go, it jumped out of the bath and ran away.
antecedent anaphoric
b) We found a house to rent, but the kitchen was very small.
antecedent anaphoric
c) I caught a bus and asked the driver if it went near the downtown area.
antecedent anaphoric
d) I was waiting for a bus, but he just drove by without stopping.

Presupposition
Speakers design their linguistic messages on the basis of assumptions about what their hearers already know.
What a speaker assumes is true or known by the hearer can be described as presupposition.

e.g. Your brother is waiting for you. – There is a presupposition that you have a brother.
Why did you arrive late? – You arrived late.
When did you stop smoking? – …..

How to detect presupposition?

Negation test is applied for presupposition.
My car is wreck. / My car is not wreck. => “I have a car“ remains true in both.
I used to regret marrying him, but I don't regret marrying him now. => the presupposition „I married him”
remains true.

Explain the presupposition in the following examples:

a. Mary saw a man with four hands

b. Mary realised she was fired.
c. Mary regrets agreeing to marry Tom.
d. It was strange how long the class was.
the class was long
 Mary lost the key
e. Mary managed to find the key.
f. Mary forgot to lock her car. Mary had a car
g. Mary carried on singing the song. Mary was singing
h. Marry ceased to sing the song. Mary was singing the song
i. I won’t ask you again/ one more time/ anymore. I won’t repeat my question.
I asked you a question
Entailment
the relationship between two sentences where the truth of one (A) requires the truth of the other (B).
(A) The president was assassinated. entails (B) The president is dead.

Entailment – further examples

a. Mary broke the window ||- The window broke

b. Sue and Fred went to the party ||- Sue went to the party

c. A: The earth goes round the sun. || -The earth moves.

d. Bob chased three rabbits. || -Someone chased three rabbits., -Bob did something to three rabbits., Bob chased
three of something., Something happened

(Based on Yule, G. (2009). The Study of Language (4th edition). Cambridge)

Study questions
1 What kinds of deictic expressions are used in this utterance (e.g. I = person deixis)?
I’m busy now so you can’t stay here. Come back later.

2 What are the anaphoric expressions in this sentence?

Dr. Foster gave Andy some medicine after he told her about his headaches and she advised him to take the pills

three times a day until the pain went away.

3 What kind of inference is involved in interpreting each of these utterances?

(a) Teacher: You can borrow my Shakespeare.

(b) Waiter: The ham sandwich left without paying.

(c) Nurse: The hernia in room 5 wants to talk to the doctor.

(d) Dentist: My eleven-thirty canceled so I had an early lunch.

4 What is one obvious presupposition of a speaker who says:

(a) Your clock isn’t working. You have a clock

(b) Where did he find the money? he lost money

(c) We regret buying that car. We bought a car

(d) The king of France is bald. France has a king

 5 Someone stands between you and the TV set you’re watching, so you decide to say one of the following.

Identify which would be direct or indirect speech acts.

(a) Move!

(b) You’re in the way.

(c) Could you please sit down?

(d) Please get out of the way.

6. Explain the presupposition in the following sentences:

a. She plays the guitar brilliantly. She has a guitar

b. Tom will graduate next year. Tom is a student

c. It was Tom who wrote the letter. His name is Tom

d. John’s daughter will come John has a daughter

e. John knows that Mary hates Bill. Mary hates Bill
g. She is brave! She's a person

h. Mary bakes cookies again. Mary used to bake cookies

7. Presupposition or entailment?

1.Is the B sentence a presupposition or an entailment of the A sentence?

presupposition entailment

A: Where is the man with the megaphone? B: There is a man with a megaphone.
A: At least three students solved the problem. B: At least two students solved the
problem.
A: The Queen of England attended a cooking workshop. B: There is a queen of
England.
A: My dog Richard was killed in a car accident. B: My dog Richard is dead.