Semantics & Pragmatics Flashcards
Semantics
how the meanings of words combine to form the meaning of sentences; at-issue (literal) meaning
Pragmatics
the study of how non-at-issue (non-literal) meanings of utterances arise
Types of meaning
social meaning (sociolinguistics), at-issue meaning (semantics), non-at-issue meaning (pragmatics)
The Cooperative Principle
participants in an interaction are trying to achieve conversational goals; they are not deliberately trying to be uncooperative
Maxim of Quality
Say what you believe to be true and only what you have sufficient evidence for; don’t lie
Maxim of Quantity
Don’t be more informative or less informative than is needed
Maxim of Relation/Relevance
Make your contribution relevant to what’s being discussed
Maxim of Manner
Be brief and as clear and orderly as possible; don’t obfuscate
Violating maxims
someone doesn’t observe a maxim, so there is confusion, or else communication breaks down
Flouting maxims
someone deliberately violates a maxim to make someone draw an inference
Neurodiversity
conversational expectations are neurotypical-centric
In the Southern U.S., some people have double (or even triple) ______ in their mental grammar.
modals
Double modals in doctor-patient interaction
the expectation was that patients would use double modals more frequently than doctors (because doctors are highly educated); they found that doctors actually use double modals more frequently than patients
