Language levels- PRAGMATICS Flashcards
Define pragmatics.
The choices of words made depending on their situation.
Define physical context.
A type of context which includes:
-Where the conversation if taking place.
-What objects are present.
-What actions are occurring.
-Anything else in the immediate area which might affect the conversation.
Define epistemic context.
What speakers know about the world. (e.g. what background knowledge is shared by the speakers).
Define linguistic context.
What has already been said in the utterance. (e.g. the reflexive reference to a named person in a conversation as “he”, “she”, or “they”. The linguistic context here allows the listener to know who the pronoun is referencing). It can also include tone of voice.
Define social context.
Refers to the social relationship among speakers and hearers, so a conversation between friends and equals will differ from one between strangers.
Give the three types of deixis and definitions.
Personal (refers to personal pronouns); spatial (usually refers to adverbs of time and place, such as ‘here’ and ‘there’, or demonstrative pronouns such as ‘this’ and ‘that’); and temporal (refers to the time that a speaker is referring to, usually relating to adverbs of time, e.g. ‘yesterday’, becoming meaningless if take out of context).
Define synthetic personalization.
The process of addressing a mass audience as though they were individuals through inclusive language usage. This often comes in the form of personal pronouns like “I”, “We”, and “You”.
(Context-dependent language) Define idiom.
An expression which cannot be understood with the meanings of its individual words, but has a separate meaning of its own due to their shared understanding of semantics (e.g. “a can of worms”, “a chip off the old block”).
(Context dependent language) Define collocation.
The habitual positioning of a particular word or words with a frequency greater than chance. Collocations require a deeper understanding of societal agreements than is produced solely by fluency in English. (e.g. ‘take risks’, ‘heavy rain’, ‘blurred vision’).
Define figurative language with examples.
Language that deviates from the conventional meaning in order to convey a more complicated, implicit meaning. It uses our understanding of pragmatic meaning to convey an underlying message.
(e.g. metaphor, similes, personification, pathetic fallacy, irony).
(Pragmatic theories on spoken language) Outline Grice’s Maxims theory.
A maxim is a statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct. Grice proposed that there are unspoken maxims of conversation that people agree upon without discussion. Grice’s maxims are also known as “co-operative principles”.
A speaker can either flout or observe a maxim. Flouting a maxim demonstrates a lack of co-operation and a possible level of animosity between speakers, or a lack of awareness of the conventions of normal conversation.
Give Grice’s four maxims.
The maxim of quantity- not saying too much or too little. Make your contribution to the conversation as informative as is necessary for the purpose.
The maxim of quality- truthfulness. Try to make your contribution true and accurate; don’t say something false or not backed up by evidence.
The maxim of manner- talk clearly. Make your contribution unambiguous and clear.
The maxim of relevance- follow the conversation. Do not contribute anything irrelevant that does not fit into the conversation.
Outline Goffman’s face theory.
Goffman suggested that we present a particular image of ourselves to others, e.g. as a good friend in one context and a knowledgeable student in another. This image is callled “face”.
One occassions where a persons “face” is rejected or challenged, a “face-threatening act” has been committed. Face -threatening acts have the potential to damage a speaker’s self esteem.
Define positive and negative face needs.
Positive face needs are associated with feeling appreciated and valued.
Negative face needs are associated with the desire to feel independent and not imposed upon.
Give examples of politeness according to Goffman’s face theory.
Appropriate terms of address- “sir”, “madam”, “mate”.
Appropriate speech according to your social relationship with them.
Appropriate degree of formality.
Understanding the conventions of a situation (e.g. refusing or accepting an invitation).
