Pragmatics

Question 1

pragmatics

Answer 1

study of how we recognize what is meant rather than what is said or written (beyond one sentence). Speaker intended meaning. Possible through shared assumptions, expectations and context.

Question 2

pragmatics

Answer 2

study of how we recognize what is meant rather than what is said or written. Speaker intended meaning. Possible through shared assumptions, expectations and context.

Question 3

linguistic context (co-text)

Answer 3

set of other words used in the same phrase or sentence. ex: meaning of “bank” is determined based on context in which it appears.

Question 4

physical context

Answer 4

set of physical conditions: time, space/location, etc.

Question 5

deixis - deictic expressions

Answer 5

expressions that can only be understood in context, in terms of speaker intended meaning, ex: here, there, she, that girl, there, this, that, etc.

Question 6

person deixis

Answer 6

“point” to things (this, that) or people (she, him, those idiots).

Question 7

spacial deixis

Answer 7

“point” to location (there, here, near that).

Question 8

temporal deixis

Answer 8

“point” to time (now, then, last week).

Question 9

reference

Answer 9

an act by which the speaker/writer uses language to enable the listener/reader to identify something. each word has a range of references - may refer to more than one entity.

Question 10

inference

Answer 10

an additional information used by the listener/reader to create connection between what is said/written and what is meant. First mention - antecedent,

Question 11

inference

Answer 11

an additional information used by the listener/reader to create connection between what is said/written and what is meant. First mention - antecedent, subsequent mentions - anaphora (referring back).

Question 12

presupposition

Answer 12

what speaker believes is true or know to the listener

Question 13

constancy under negation test

Answer 13

test identifying presuppositions by means of negating the initial sentence and checking if the presupposition is still valid.

Question 14

speech act

Answer 14

action performed by the speaker with the utterance: request, command, question, etc.

Question 15

direct speech act

Answer 15

syntactic structure of the utterance corresponds with its function, ex: can you ride a bicycle - interrogative form to pose a question.

Question 16

indirect speech act

Answer 16

syntactic structure does not correspond with the function of the utterance, ex: can you pass the salt? interrogative form used to make request.

Question 17

face

Answer 17

public self-image; emotional and social sense of self which everybody has and expects others to recognize.

Question 18

politeness

Answer 18

showing awareness of and consideration for another person’s face. Face threatening act vs. face saving act.

Question 19

negative face

Answer 19

need to be independent and free of imposition.

Question 20

positive face

Answer 20

need to belong, to be connected, member a group.

Question 21

face saving act emphasising negative face

Answer 21

showing concern about being an imposition, ex: sorry to bother you…

Question 22

face saving act emphasising positive face

Answer 22

showing solidarity, drawing attention to common goal, ex: let’s do it together… we have a common goal…

Question 23

performative verbs

Answer 23

verbs which can be used to perform the acts they name.

Question 24

felicity conditions

Answer 24

set of conditions necessary for a given speech act to make sense in a given situation.