Pragmatics Flashcards
pragmatics
the study of how language is affected by context
context
the relationship between speakers in a conversation or the immediately preceding utterances in a text
conversational maxims
guiding principles for how participants should cooperate with one another in conversation; define how we interpret what we hear
maxim of quantity
each participant’s contribution should be informative
maxim of quality
each participant’s contribution should be truthful and based on sufficient evidence
maxim of relation
each participant’s contribution should be relevant to the subject of conversation
maxim of manner
each participant’s contribution should be expressed in a relatively clear fashion
speech act
a speech event, which consists of both a locutionary act and an illocutionary act
locutionary act
the act of simply uttering a sentence or statement
expressed locutionary
contains all elements of the propositional content of the illocutionary act involved
implied locutionary
does not express the propositional content of the illocutionary act involved
literal vs. nonliteral locutionary
literal: the utterance means what it says
nonliteral: the utterance does not mean what it says, often impossible or absurd within its context
illocutionary act
what the speaker does in uttering a sentence (stating, requesting, etc.); sometimes referred to as illocutionary force
illocutionary force
the speaker’s intention in making an utterance, or the kind of illocutionary act being performed
felicity conditions
define whether or not an illocutionary act is valid
must be appropriate, executed completely by all participants, and participants must have the appropriate intentions
performative verb
a verb that names its own illocutionary force
a performative verb used in the performative sense…
must be positive, present tense, have a first person agent, and refer to a specific event
explicit performative
an utterance that contains a performative verb in the performative sense (I deny)
nonexplicit performative
an utterance that does not contain a performative verb used in the performative sense
types of illocutionary acts
representative, directive, question, commissive, expressive, declaration
representative
used to describe some state of affairs
directive
used to try to get the hearer to do something
question
used to get the hearer to provide information
commissive
used to commit the speaker to do something
expressive
used to express the speaker’s emotional state
declaration
used to change the status of some entity
