Pragmatics

Prepared by: Cindy Ho Lai Peng Hazzmira Izzuraini Nur Fatihah

Content
Definition of pragmatics. Examples of pragmatics Samantics vs Pragmatics Ambiguity vs Pragmatics Deixis Types of deixis Maxims of Conversation Conclusion.

Definition
a) Pragmatics studies the factors that govern our choice of language in social interaction and the effects of our choice on others. (Crystal, 1987) b) Pragmatics can be usefully defined as the study of how utterances have meanings in situations. (Leech, 1983)

c) Pragmatics is the study of how more gets communicated than is said. (Yule, 1996) d) There is a distinction between a hearers knowledge of her language and her knowledge of the world. In this section, I shall argue that it is this distinction that underlies the distinction between semantics and pragmatics. (Blakemore, 1992)

Examples (pragmatics)
A father is trying to get his 3 -year-old daughter to stop lifting up her dress to display her new underwear to stop assembled guests. Father: We dont DO that. Daughter: I know, Daddy. You dont wear dresses.

Examples(pragmatics):
A little boy comes in the front door. Mother: Wipe your feet, please.

Based on the understanding of the boy he removes his muddy shoes and socks and carefully wipes his clean feet on the doormat.

Semantics vs Pragmatics
Pragmatics differ from semantic based on the condition on that situation. SEMANTICS concentrates on meaning that comes from purely linguistic knowledge. PRAGMATIC concentrates on those aspects of meaning that cannot be predicted by linguistic knowledge alone.

Examples
Situation 1: Mike and Annie are in the living room. Mike asks Annie whether shed like to eat dinner in the living room or the kitchen. Annie replies: its cold in here. Meaning: lets eat in the kitchen

Situation 2: The Queen and her butler, James, are in the drawing room. The window is open. The queen says: its cold in here. Meaning : James, shut the window

Situation 3: Mike and Annie are in the greenhouse. Mike wonders why his orchids havent bloomed. Annie replies: its cold in here. Meaning: the orchids are not blooming because the greenhouse is too cold

 Based on semantics meaning, its cold in here in all the 3 situations convey the same meaning which is : The temperature in the place is frigid
However, pragmatic brings 3 different meaning based on the 3 different situation.

Ambiguity vs Pragmatics
Ambiguity has a confusing sentence where you can give different interpretation Example : I saw her with glasses pragmatics have no confusing sentence The only difference of ambiguity and pragmatics is the situation that bring different meanings in pragmatics sentence Example : Its cold in here The sentence is not confusing but the situation that cause the sentence to have different meaning

 Examples : We saw her duck. Its an ambiguity where you can interpret the meaning. But, when we include situation, the sentence no longer becomes ambiguity 1. Mary : Where is Mary? Mariah : I saw her duck there. 2. Mary : Do you see her duck? Mariah : I saw her duck in the backyard.

Deixis
'pointing to' something. In verbal communication however, deixis in its narrow sense refers to the contextual meaning of pronouns, and in its broad sense, what the speaker means by a particular utterance in a given speech context. Any linguistic form used to accomplish pointing

is called deictic expression.

Also known as indexical.

 Some words in the language that cannot be interpreted at all unless the physical context, especially the physical context of the speaker, is known.

Speaker

must

share

the

same

context

to

understand each other.

Types of deixis
Person deixis- any expression used to point to person Space/spatial/place deixis- words use to point to location. Time/ Temporal deixis- expression used to point at time.

 Dicourse deixis- any expression used to

refer to earlier or forthcoming segment.

Social deixis- honorifics

 Person deixis
o Includes at least two person o concerns itself with the grammatical

persons involved in an utterance (either

directly or not)

 Example I am going to the movies. Would you like to have dinner? They tried to hurt me, but he came to the rescue.

 Place deixis
o concerns itself with the spatial locations relevant to an utterance. o Similarly to person deixis, the locations may be either those of the speaker and address or those of persons or objects being referred to.

 Example: I enjoy living in this city. Here is where we will place the statue. She was sitting over there

 Time deixis
o Make ultimate reference to participant role. o concerns itself with the various times involved in and referred to in an utterance.

o includes time adverbs like "now", "then", "soon",

and so forth, and also different tenses.

 All this expression has to be interpreted in

term of what person, place or time the

speaker has in mind.

Example:
It is raining out now, but I hope when you

read this it will be sunny

The Cooperative Principles: Maxims of Conversations (Grice, 1989) Name of Maxim Description of Maxim
Quantity Say neither more nor less than the discourse requires Be relevant Be brief and orderly; avoid ambiguity and obscurity Do not lie; do not make unsupported claims

Relevance
Manner Quality

Examples:
1. A: Ill pay you back in full next week, I promise. B: Sure, and pigs will fly and fish will sing.
Violated maxim: Relevance Motivation: Bs response implies sarcastically that he does not believe A.

2. A: What are the three most important things in real estate? B: Location, location, and location.
Violated maxim: Quantity Motivation: To emphasize the overwhelming importance of location

Examples:
3. Im a multimillionaire (Actually, Im penniless.) Violated maxim: Quality Explanation: The speaker has failed to tell the truth. 4. A: When am I going to get back the money I lent you? B: Boy, its hot in here! Violated maxim: Relevance Explanation: Bs answer is not related to As question. 5. A: What should I do to get rid of this headache, Doctor? B: Take some medicine. Violated maxim: Quantity Explanation: B has not provided enough information.

 Pragmatics are depends on situation in the sentences. Pragmatics is a systematic way of explaining language used in context. Pragmatics explain aspects of meaning which cannot be found in the plain sense of words or structures, as explained by semantics.

Conclusion

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