Pragmatics & Syntax Flashcards
What is ‘Pragmatics’?
The ways in which social conventions and implied meanings are encoded in spoken and written language
What are the three types of modality?
Epistemic - regarding certainty (I might)
Boulomaic - regarding desire (I want)
Deontic Modality - regarding obligation (I must)
What are the 3 ways modality ‘shades’ the text?
Positive shading - A promoninent use of deontic and boulomaic forms and/or epistemic forms that show strong certainty
Negative shading - The prominent use of epistemic forms that display uncertainty and a feeling of anxiety
Neutral shading - A flat narrative with little or no modalised expressions
What is ‘Deixis’?
Deixis is used in literary narration to construct and convey the parameters of a fictional world and the position and perspective of a speaker within it
We use deixis in spoken discourse, too, to depict remembered places linking to the concept of ‘Time-thickening’
What are ‘Deictic words’?
Deictic words ‘point’ to entities, places or moments in time, but, notably, in doing so signal the subjective position of the speaker
“As I stand here looking at this family now”,
The words ‘here’, ‘now’ and ‘I’ are only meaningful and interpretable if you know who the speaker is, where their ‘here’ is, and the date/time at which they spoke
What are the 3 types of Deixis
Person deixis: e.g. personal pronouns ‘I’, ‘you’, and ‘we’, etc.; demonstrative pronouns ‘it’, ‘this’, ‘that’, etc.
Spatial deixis: e.g. locative expressions ‘here’, ‘there’, ‘nearby’, etc. and verbs suggesting direction towards or away from the speaker (‘come’ and ‘go’)
Temporal deixis: e.g. temporal adverbs ‘now’, ‘then’, etc., and other temporal expressions such as ‘tomorrow’, ‘next year’, ‘a while ago’, etc.
What are Leech’s politeness maxims?
Leech’s maxims:
Tact maxim: minimise cost to other; [maximise benefit to other]
Generosity maxim: minimise benefit to self; [maximise cost to self]
Approbation maxim: minimise dispraise of other; [maximise praise of other]
Modesty maxim: minimise praise of self; [maximise dispraise of self]
Agreement maxim: minimise disagreement between self and other; [maximise agreement between self and other]
Sympathy maxim: minimise antipathy (dislike) between self and other; [maximise sympathy between self and other]
What are the 3 speech acts?
Locutionary acts - are simply the speech acts that have taken place
Illocutionary acts - are the real actions which are performed by the utterance
Perlocutionary acts - are the effects of the utterance on the listener, who accepts the bet or pledge of marriage, is welcomed or warned
What are ‘Felicity conditions’?
These are conditions necessary for the success of a speech act
For example, only certain people can declare war
What is ‘Prosody’?
How rhythm and intonation are used in speech
What is ‘Syntax’?
The fundamental structures and functions of English: the written word, spoken utterances, sentences and texts
What is the difference between ‘Passive voice’ and ‘Active voice’?
Active voice: Jerry knocked over the lamp
(Subject effecting object)
Passive voice: The lamp was knocked over by Jerry
(Object affected by subject)
What is ‘Parataxis’?
Placing short, independent clauses next to each other
Give some examples of ‘Interjections’.
Oh, hurray, woah, really
(When not used as an adverb and also at the end of a sentence such as “it was shocking really”)
What is the difference between a ‘prefix’ and a ‘suffix’?
A prefix is where letters are added at the start of words whilst a suffix is where letters are added at the end of words to change meaning
In the adverb ‘Unlikelihood’
Un… - is the prefix
…hood - is the suffix
