Unit 1.4 - Inferential Paradigm

Question 1

What is a direct speech act?

Answer 1

Locution (sentence meaning) and illocution (speaker meaning) are the same kind of speech

Question 2

What is an indirect speech act?

Answer 2

when both levels (the locution and illocution) are not the same

Question 3

What is politeness theory? and what are the dependants?

Answer 3

When linguistics establish some distance between the speaker and listener (dependant on hierarchy and familiarity)

Question 4

What is the cooperative principle?

Answer 4

Both participants must cooperate to make communication possible

Question 5

What are the 4 maxims of meaning? brief explanation?

Answer 5

Quantity - be as informative as needed (no more or less)
Quality - be truthful
Relation - be relevant
Manner - be clear

Question 6

What is the Q-principle?

Answer 6

Must make contribution sufficient
Say as much as possible
Listeners perspective
CONTENT

Question 7

What is the R-principle?

Answer 7

Make contribution necessary
Say no more than necessary
Speakers perspective
FORM

Question 8

What is the powerful principle?

Answer 8

We assume that interactions are cooperative- can lead to mistakes/misunderstanding if one member is not cooperating effectively

Question 9

What is scalar implicature?

Answer 9

This is when someone communicates using quantifiers - which leads people to assume there is no higher value than the one stated.

Question 10

What are 2 ways of breaking maxims

Answer 10

Maxim flouting & maxim violation

Question 11

What is a memorable violation?

Answer 11

When you break maxims to infer meaning

Question 12

What are conversational inferences and conversational implicatures in the memorable violation?

Answer 12

Inferences: the listeners’ interpretation. Distracts them from the semantic meaning and focuses on pragmatic meaning (why has she said it like that?

Implicatures (speaker): conveying without saying. Breaking maxims privdes a meaning of its own (breaking relevant maxim = avoidance of question_

Question 13

What is relevance theory?

Answer 13

Framework for interpreting utterances
Use the code paradigm (interpretation of explicatures) and inferential paradigm (meaning of implicatures) to establish speaker’s intention
- Then filter out info, select info perceived to be most relevant
- Cognitive effects: if they have then it is perceived relevance

Question 14

What is the formula for the relevance theory?

Answer 14

Stronger cognitive effects + ease of processing = relevance

Question 15

What are the 2 ways to establish speaker’s intention

Answer 15

Establish explicatures (codes)
Establish implicatures (inferential)

Question 16

What are 3 ways that info can have cognitive effects

Answer 16

REINFORCE listeners assumptions
CONTRADICT listeners assumptions
COMBINE with existing assumptions to generate conclusions that couldn’t be drawn independently.