Pragmatics Flashcards
What is ‘Pragmatics’?
Refers to the study of language through a filter of social context
What is the difference between ‘Pragmatics’ and ‘Semantics’?
In Pragmatics, words have multiple meanings in different contexts. We read between the lines, decode subtext and interpret implied meanings to understand what is being said. Where Semantics, are meanings rooted in words, either through denotative or associative meaning
What is ‘Dexis’?
Deictic expressions are words that require a context, often of time, place or, person to be fully understood
What is the ‘Cooperative Principle’?
Grice created four Maxims that describe a listener’s assumptions about the other interlocutors during communication
What are the four Maxims?
The four Maxims Include:
- Maxim of Quality
- Maxim of Quantity
- Maxim of Relation
- Maxim of Manner
What is the ‘Maxim of Quality’?
Be truthful; have adequate evidence for what you say
What is the ‘Maxim of Quantity’?
Be as informative as required
What is the ‘Maxim of Relation’?
Be relevant
What is ‘Maxim of Manner’?
Avoid being ambiguous; be brief
What is ‘Flouting’?
Intentionally breaking a Maxim is called ‘Flouting’. When someone flouts a Maxim, they generate an ‘Implicature’
What is ‘Implicature’?
When an utterance or piece of text has an underlying meaning not present in the surface force of words
What are the five types of ‘Politeness’?
The five types of ‘Politeness’ Include:#
- Positive Politeness
- Negative Politeness
- Deferential Politeness
- Face
- Indirectness
What is ‘Positive Politeness’?
A desire to be liked
What is ‘Negative Politeness’?
A desire not to impose
What is ‘Deferential Politeness’?
Showing respect and deference
What is ‘Face’?
Someone’s conscious concept of public self-image
What is ‘Indirectness’?
Avoiding threatening someone’s face
What is a ‘Politeness Strategy’ for Positive Politeness’?
Show interest; seek agreement
What is a ‘Politeness Strategy’ for ‘Negative Politeness’?
Apologise; hedge; pessimism
What is a ‘Politeness Strategy’ for ‘Deferential Politeness’?
Show the other speaker is more powerful; terms of address
What are ‘Face Threatening Acts’ (FTA)?
An FTA refers to the potential power of something we say to inflict harm on someone’s face during interaction
What are three examples of FTA?
Examples of FTA Include:
- No attempt to preserve the target’s face
- Politeness marker to preserve the target’s face
- Indirectness to preserve the target’s face
What is meant by ‘No attempt to preserve the target’s face’?
Speakers may not attempt to preserve the target’s face if they’re speaking to a member of a less powerful social group
What is meant by ‘Politeness marker to preserve the target’s face’?
Negative Politeness is used to lessen the impact of a potentially intrusive request
What is meant by ‘Indirectness to preserve the target’s face’?
Indirectness is used to give the target of the veiled request an easy way to disagree
