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language in use
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Language in use Pragmatics Pragmatics is the study of how language is used to communicate within its situational context. It concerns with situational meaning as opposed to linguistic meaning, i.e. language in use and linguistic communication. Speech act theory Speech act: an utterance conceived as an act by which the speaker does something. Austin suggests three basic senses in which by saying something one is doing something and three kinds of acts are performed simultaneously: Locutionary act: 言内行为 is the actual uttering of a sentence with a particular meaning. Illocutionary act: 言外行为 is the intent that the speaker has in uttering the sentence. Perlocutionary act: 言后行为 is the result achieved in uttering the sentence. One must keep in mind that perlocutionary act may be drastically different from the illocutionary act, that is the speaker-intended meaning. E.g. the uttering of “morning” may convey the meaning that the speaker want to keep friendly relations with the hearer, however, the perlocutionary act, or the perceived meaning in different contexts might totally differ, i.e. if the hearer really interprets it as a friendly gesture, then the illocutionary and perlocutionary may coincide, on the contrary, if the hearer interpret it as a show of hypocrisy, then the illocutionary and perlocutionary may diverge. Among the three above-mentioned acts, it is the illocutionary acts that interest speech act theorists most. The reason is that it attempts to account for the ways by which speakers can mean more than what they say. Felicity conditions Conditions that a performative must meet if it is to be appropriate or successful. A: (1) There must be a relevant conventional procedure, and (2) the relevant participants and circumstances must be appropriate. B: The procedure must be executed (1) correctly and (2) completely. C: Very often, (1) the relevant people must have the requisite thoughts, feelings and intentions, and (2) must follow it up with actions as specified. Types of illocutionary acts Assertives: sentences that commit the speaker to the truth of something. E.g. I think the film has started. Directives: sentences by which the speaker tries to get the hearer to do something. E.g. I beg you to give me some advice. Commissives: sentences that commit the speaker to some future action. E.g. If you do that again I’ll beat you to death. Expressives: sentences that express the speaker’s psychological state about something. E.g. I do apologize for what I have said. Declarations: sentences that bring about immediate change in the existing state of affairs. E.g. You are fired! Cooperative principle CP refers to the set of assumptions guiding the conduct of conversation, i.e. the set of maxims of cooperation between the speaker and hearer.
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