Do ex. 1-8 (Dirven & Verspoor, pp.

174-177)

Ex. 1

a. Shall I get you some coffee? - Obligative; offer; direct, the speaker offers to get the
coffee. It is direct; would be indirect if we asked somebody if they would like some
coffee

b. I hereby declare the meeting closed. - (b) Constitutive; declarative; by saying this,
the speaker closes the meeting.

c. (In a book shop): Where is the linguistics department, please? - Informative;

information question; direct request for information

d. (In a Bed and Breakfast): Are you ready for coffee now? - Obligative; also
Commissive: offer; indirect

e. (On a shop door): Closed between 12 and 2 p.m. - Informative; assertive, it states
to shoppers that this shop is closed at the given times. Indirect, it is a reminder for
customers.

f. Oh, Jesus, there he goes again. - Constitutive; expressive; this is an emotional

expression about something;

g. What the hell are you doing in my room? - Depending on the situation, this could
be interpreted as an obligatory speech act with directive as a subtype, indirectly
ordering someone out of the speaker's room. It could also be that the speaker feels
that his privacy has been invaded, in which case it would be a constitutive with
expressive as a subtype.

h. Can’t you make a little less noise? - Obligative; directive; it is an indirect order or
request to make less noise.

Ex. 2

a. “Many thanks for your presents.” – reason: gift/present; informal, appropriate

b. Margaret handed him the butter. “Thank you”, Samuel said, “thank you very

much.” – reason: handing over something, formal, not appropriate

c. “Can I give you a lift to town?” — “Oh, thank you.” – reason: offer, informal,
appropriate

d. “How was your trip to Paris?” — “Very pleasant, thank you.” – reason: person is
curious about smth; informal, appropriate

e. The president expressed deep gratitude for Mr. Christopher’s service as State

Secretary. – reason: obligatory situation; formal; appropriate

Ex. 3

a. Go say you are sorry to your sister for hitting her. – Spoken, informal order (e.g.
to a child); word “apologize” would be too formal for this context and inappropriate

b. I must apologize for the delay in replying to your letter. – formal; written;
“apologize” here is appropriate and neutral, while ‘sorry’ would be too informal.

c. I apologize for being late. – spoken, formal apology; sorry is possible, but less
appropriate

d. Your behaviour was atrocious. I demand an apology. – very formal, showing

disapprove; “sorry” is possible here if people are close.

Ex. 4

a) The information is "obscure" because Alice takes the word "glory" literally,
whereas Humpty Dumpty uses the word metaphorically. He invokes the conceptual
metaphor argument is war.

b) By saying that she does not know what the word glory means, Alice makes an
obligatory act: he must tell her. She is asking indirectly what the word glory means.
She could have asked Humpty Dumpty a direct question, e.g: What does the word
"glory" mean?

c) The first type of implicature is conversational, because Humpty Dumpty interprets

Alice's statement as a request to explain the meaning of glory correctly, so that he
understands what she means. He overlooks the fact that
words that are not immediately clear in context can have metaphorical meaning. This
is conventional implication.

d) Humpty Dumpty again uses the conceptual metaphor argument is war. Therefore,
if you knock someone down, you have won. A knock-down argument is an argument
with which you can win the discussion.

e) Because Alice only takes Humpty Dumpty's words literally. Alice does not
understand that "glory" after winning a fight and after winning an argument is a
competitive encounter.

f) Humpty Dumpty uses conventional metaphorical extensions of words; in other

words, his choice of words is not at all arbitrary. However, he is arrogant enough to
think that he is the only one to have thought of these extensions.

Ex. 5

a) The maxim of quantity has been flouted here, because it is unlikely that a
schoolchild only ate fish.

b) The maxim of quantity has been flouted here, because this person answers the
question with too many details.

c) The maxim of relevance.

d) Maxims of relevance and manner.

e) It is a word-play

Ex. 6

a. Please, come quick and see who’s coming. – negative politeness; invitation; joint
action

b. Could you tell him I am not here? – negative, request, indirect obligative

c. Will you please be so kind to keep him off. - negative, request, indirect obligative

d. I am sorry, I must go and see my boss now. – negative, indirect exclamation;

refusal by apology
e. Let’s tell him we have a meeting. – positive, invitation, joint action

f. Why don’t we tell him we are busy today? - positive, invitation, joint action

Ex. 7

a. Could you stop doing that now, please? - Negative politeness strategy

b. Could you stop that now, please? - Negative politeness strategy

c. Will you stop that now, please? - Negative politeness strategy

d. Did you hear me? Stop it! - Direct command

Each request gets shorter – mother becomes impatient, indirect.

Ex. 8

Agent (b) is distinguished by her indirect approach, in contrast to Agent (a), who uses
both her name and the addressee's name openly. By framing her communication as a
statement rather than a direct question, the former prevents the listener from rejecting
it outright and elicits only a hesitant assent. In contrast, the latter's direct question
conceals a volitional speech act aimed at forcing acceptance of the speaker's offer.
The listener, recognising the hidden agenda, refuses not on the merits of the offer but
as a rejection of the contract for a novel investment. Agent (b) first uses informative
speech acts, providing the hearer with details, and then commissive speech acts,
committing herself to the customer. Moreover, her use of longer sentences reflects a
commitment to the principle of quantity, demonstrating greater respect and hence
greater politeness towards the hearer.