Lingua inglese 3 - semantics and pragmatics PDF

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Lingua inglese 3 Pragmatics vs Semantics The function of language is to convey meaning, to communicate. The meaning of something in each mind is different. But despite of all these differences we can understand each other through language. What is meaning? The language functions as a code : there is...

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Lingua inglese 3

Pragmatics vs Semantics The function of language is to convey meaning, to communicate. The meaning of something in each mind is different. But despite of all these differences we can understand each other through language. What is meaning? The language functions as a code : there is a sender and a receiver of a message. But the message can be influenced by several factors: 1. context influences the meaning 2. code (inference and reference ) → try to understand the intention of the speaker. Example: '' it's warm in here'' = the temperature is high ; or let's eat outside ; let's open the window Because of the influence of these different factors we can distinguish Word Meaning from Speaker Meaning. Inference it's a logical jump when we take some information from a sentence where there's a gap. Paule Grice was the one who gave us the inference model : he said that what's important is the speaker intended meaning. After decoding there is another process which is interpretation. What matters is not what is said but what is implicated ( intented meaning) Meaning = semantics ( linguistic meaning ) + pragmatics ( meaning in context) SEMANTICS is composed of : word meaning = what a word means in the lexis of language sentence meaning = what a sentence means PRAGMATICS is made of : speaker meaning = what a speaker means when he uses a piece of language ... but it's not so simple because there are contaminations '' she doesn't drink = it's an example of contamination ( it's pragmatic and not semantic) 1. LINGUISTIC MEANING/ SEMANTIC 2 types : descriptive and non descriptive 1) descriptive meaning ( referential or conceptual ) = > relationships between linguistic label and referents . It's the meaning of a sentence or a word , which describes the situation it pontentially refers ( encyclopaedic meaning ). - In referential semantic theory ( the oldest ones) referent is the object in the real world which is denoted by a linguistic label. -In conceptual semantic theory the meaning of a word is the concept of the word in our brain.

2) non descriptive m. = is the meaning you can convey beyond words. It doesn't denote objects but more complex aspects of a word , such as: - social status ( social meaning) : using courtesy form . '' I ain't tired '' → it tells that the person has a low social status or the context is very unformal. -emotional status ( expressive meaning) : ex calling your husband 'honey' . '' what the hell are you doing? ''

2) PRAGMATICS Definitions: Pragmatic studies the context dependent aspects of verbal communication and comprehension ( sender-receiver relation) Pragmatic studies the role of non linguistic factors in verbal communication and comprehension. 1. Pragmatics as an additional level of language analysis 2. Pragmatic as a perspective: - sound symbolism ( slack , slattern , sleazy …. they are all negative because thry start with SL) morphopragmatic ( shortie , fatty = use of ie form to create dimituve and negativ form ) - lexical pragmatic ( I don't drink = i don't drink alchool) PRAGMATICS ( definitions)

DIFFERENCE between PRAGMATICS AND SEMANTICS -Semantics in concerned with the cognitive meaning of sentences, the meaing that is context free. Semantics is concerned as the meaning of speech acts , the meaning that is context dependent. -Semantics reveals the sentece meaning of dyadic relation and answer the question '' what does X means? Pragmatics reveals the speaker meaning of triadic relion and answer the question '' what do you means by X? ''

exercise example: '' It' cold in here '' ( A and B both in living room and B asks A where she wants to eat ; that's A answer ) SM : the temperature is frigid PM : let's eat in the kitchen ex example 2 : '' that's an interesting hat '' B : '' what do you mean by that? '' → they are discussing PRAGMATIC meaning. 28/09

Where is meaning ? It is not only in words but only beyond words, because it depends on differents aspects. - Grammatical meanings: the meaning of the major grammatical categories : Nouns: number, gender , animacy Verbs : tense, verbal class... Adjectives: gradable, absolute, order.. Disciplines which study meaning 1 philosophy 2 psychology 3neurology 4semiotics 5 linguistics Meaning and levels of the language system: evocative power of sounds morphosematics lexical semantics text sematics

Sentences , utterances and propositions SENTENCES = abstract grammatical units UTTERANCES = concrete products of speech and writing (enunciato) . an utterance can be made by more sentences PROPOSITIONS= referent of the utterances ;descriptions of state of affairs.

ENTAILMENT analytic sentences = sentences which are necessary true contradictions = necessary false statements synthetic sentences, which dipends of the contextual knowledge example: 1.My mother is a woman – T ( because we know the mother is woman – analytic sentences) 2.my mothere is a doctor 3.the tiger is unhappy 4.the tiger is an animal T 5. my mother is a boy F contradiction 6.the tiger is a reptile F 1,4 = analytic sentences = sentences which are necessary true 5,6 = contradictions = necessary false statements 2,3--> we can't establish exactly if they are true or fals = synthetic sentences, which dipends of the contextual knowledge A: there's your uncle george B: that man's a snake → she uses metaphor ( something which is analitically not true ) to say that he's an orrible person J: you ate all the cookies S: I ate some of the cookies : pragmatically incorrect , but locically correct What's entailment? All sentences have a number of entailments, which are other sentences that are true automatically true if the original sentence is true. Entailments are inferences which an be drawn only from our knowledge about the semantic reltionship of the language. This knowledge allows us to communicate more than what we say It also called ''inference for free''. In semantic terms paraphrase are a type of entailment the painter broke the window entailment1: someone broke the window entailment 2 : the painters did something to the window entailment 3 : the painters broke something ( substitution with hyperonims) One way and Mutual entailment : a. goldilock saw a bear b. goldilocks saw an animal if A is true, B is true. But if B is true , A is not necessarly true = one way entailment. Mama bear is in front of papa bear Papa bear is behind mama bear = mutual entailment ( paraphrase is of this kind) Tom : what's your stepmother like? Bob : she's a woman and she married my father → he uses redundant information to say that there's nothing interesting in her.

Particular use: sometimes we use entailment to convey other meaning through intonation. To produce a different speaker meaning Annie RUINED the sweater--> entailment= someone ruined the sweater ( interlocutor doesn't knwo what happened to the sweater.) annie ruined THE SWEATER--> annie did something to the sweater ( interlocutor doesn't know what ruined annie ) ANNIE ruined the sweater ---> annie ruined something ( interlocutor doesn't know who ruined the sweater ) the importance given to one entailment overonother by the speaker has important consequences for the pragmatic anaysis of the utterance. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ex : T or F unless you have an extra linguistic info? 1. My hamster is a mammal T analitcally true 2. my cousin is a girl --> Extra linguisitc information 3. my sister is a girl -->extra linguistic information ( it could be a woman) 4. my sister is female T 5 i saw a female rock F --> analitically false 6. i saw a female tortoise --> extralinguistic inform. 7.my cat likes ice cream extra linguisitic information 8.my sick cat is not well.--> T article from a website ( online journal) It's a humoristic article because the entailment of the sentence is negated: demolish vs preservation (there is a contradiction ) Exercise : she designs clothes for men she designs clothes for adult male humans--> negative meaning George saw a nut someone saw a nut George saw something George saw someone ( nut = strange/mad person)

PRESUPPOSITIONS Presuppositions are a kind of interference Different definitions: 1. anything the speaker assumes to be true before making the utterance ( broad and speaker oriented) 2. a necessary precondition for the sentence to be true ( narrow and sentence oriented) In other words presuppositions can be defined as inferences about what is assumed to be true in the utterance rather than directly asserted to be true. Presuppositions seems to be inference that can be made with very little knowledge of the context but requires pragmatic knowledge Presuppositions are closely liked with the grammatical construction of the sentence ,but they come from the knowledge of the world. They are linked with the grammatical structures. Presuppositions can be drawn even when there is little or no surrounding context. Example: ''did you get a good look at my face when I took your purse? '' in this sentence it's presupposed the fact that the speaker has taken the purse ( self accuse) exercise:T or F ?? Abraham lincol is the current president of usa F ( knowledge of the world) The Eiffel tower is in Paris T ( world's knowledge) a car in an automobile T ( semantic knowledge) have a cookie → ? be careful of the crumbs --> ? where was abraham lincoln born → ? How much did the car costs? → ? 1,2,3 = T = statements / declarative sentences ( they assert a state of affairs ) 4,5,6,7 = non declarative sentences ( two imperative and 2 interrogative ) we can't say if they are true or false. Only declarative sentences can be said to be true or false. Does it means that we cannot draw strong inferences from utteranced based on imperative and interrogative sentences ? Also from a question we can state something : Where has faye looked for the keys? We state that Faye has looked for the keys. Where has Faye looked for the keys? Presupposed : Faye has looked for the keys , which however is not the topic of the utterance. Presuppositions remain constant under negation of the main sentence. Ex : Lucy knows that George is a crook ( George is a crook) Lucy doesn't know that Geroge is a crook ( George is crook) 10 kind of presuppositions: 1- existential presuppositions : very strong presuppositions , is the inference you derive from something else that exists or existed ( triggered by a definite noun phrases ) 1.2 – possesive presuppositions ( kind of existential pres.) : presuppositions that you posses something ( triggered by possesive expressions )

2- change of state presuppositions: they presuppose a change of state ( change of state verbs such as stop, continue, finish ; start/ begin ; lhheave ( Jenny left school ) ; arrive ) 3- factive presuppositions → introduced by factive verbs : regret, be aware, be proud that, be glad that, be sorry that , be amazed that, … 4- conterfactual presuppositions → are triggered by counterfactual conditionals ( past perfective tense and tense/ aspect is crucial ) If A had done X , Y wouldn't have happened. X did not happened. If A hadn't done X , Y wouldn't have happened. A did do X 5- implicative presuppositions : pres. Triggered by implicative verbs, such as : manage--> which implies try forget to → should have to / intended to something happens→ don't intend or plan something 6- temporal presuppositions --> triggered by temporal clauses: before / since / when / while : pressupose that something happened or is happening 7- cleft presuppositions : triggered by cleft constructions It wasn't Any that broke the window. ( someone else broke the window) 9- comparative and contrastive presippositions: A is a better C than B. A and B are C other,also, another, superlative forms 10- presuppositions Triggered by non defining relative clauses ----------------------------------------------

exercise Tell which of the sentence in each couple is true basing of the presupposition ''there was a chocolate cake'' : 1a Mike might find the chocolate cake in the kitchen . 1b. Mike might find a chocolate cake in the kitchen . 2a. Is Mike giving annie that chocolate Cake ? 2b.Is Mike giving Annie a chocolate cake? 3a. Did mike hide a chocolate cake? 3b. Did Mike hide Annie's chocolate cake?\ 1a , 2a, 3b are T because they have expressions ( the,that, Annie's -possessive) = existential presuppositions you will want DomebeGone , my revolutionary cure for baldness Existential presupposition: 1 there is a cure for baldness 2 the cure is revolutionary 3 I have the cure

exercise ( Mike smashed the television ) 1- Did Mike smashed the television ? 2-When did Mike smashed the television 3- I was eating pop corn when Mike smashed television 4-why did mike smashed television 5- I don't understand why mike smashed television 6-I wonder if mike smashed television 7- I wonder how mike smashed television 1 and 6 are not True basing on the Presupposition that make smashed the television. The other sentences , which are true, contains wh-questions and subordinates. Exercise : which presuppositions ? 1- steve regrets buying a dog : steve bought a dog ( regret) 2- meredyth pretends she's a rock star : meredyth is not a rock star. ( pretend) 3- Ed should stop eating raw oysters : ed eats raw oysters ( stop)

exercise: If I hadn't won the lottery , I would still be very poor. I won the lottery I am not poor anymore ( I used to be very poor) John can see the child with ten toes there is a child with ten toes ( existential pres.)

exercise : what comparative presuppositions can you detect in the following humorous utterances? Do they help the general inferences? 2) he had his eyebrown plucked , so now he's got nothing in front of his eyes either. 3) a sign of getting old: your ears are hairer than your head 4) do you realise that man is the only animal that chews the ice in its drinks? 2) he has nothing behind his eyes ( no brain ) 3) both ear and head are hairy 4) other animals have ice in its drinks ; men are animals exercise : which presuppositions might have been objected to ? 1) how did you know that the defendant had bought a knife ? → the defendant bought a knife 2) how long have you being selling cocaine ? → you have been selling cocaine 3) when was your bracelet stolen ? → your bracelet have been stolen 4) why did you leave the scene of crime ? → you were on the scene of crime. → there was a crime

exercise: which are presuppositions ? The secret of Blasee's effectiveness is Calming Fluid. → Blasee's is effective → it's a secret

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ENTAILMENTS AND PRESUPPOSITIONS Presuppositions survives negation and remains costant in interrogative costructions , while entailment does not. So to see if a it's an entailment or a presupposition we must put the utterance in negative form. Ex: John's dog was killed E: John's dog died P : John has a dog if a put the utterance in negative: John's dog was not killed P : John has a dog the previous entalìilment is now FALSE!! exercise : says which bewteen B and C is a presupposition and which an entailment of A A .I always manage to wake up at the crack of ice B.I always wake up at the crack of ice = Entailment C. I always try to wake at the crack of ice. = Presupposition

MEANING AND CONTEXT Pragmatics studies how meaning in construed in context. We can say that pragmatics is the study of the use of context to make inferences about meaning. Inferences are deductions made by partecipants in available evidence A statement , spoken in real life , is never detached from the situation in which it has been uttered. The utterance has no meaning except in the context of the situation. So , in order to understand what someone else says we have to know something about the context , the situation , the world which he/she refers to .

Ex: ''It will take you more than this thing here to make you into James Dean.” → '' to become james dean'' could mean: - to become a good actor - to be a sex symbol - to be charmy '' I'm starting to talk like Michael Jackson '' → we have to know how Michael Jackson speeks. '' The woman got tired of the kid's screming , so she took the first one and give it to him” → This utterance is written as if we already know the woman . There is a previuous text which is important to understand this utterance. What is context ? Context is a complex entity which has many different facets . It's a dynamic entity. Context is very important for the speaker's meaning , because it depends on assumptions of knowledge that are shared by both speaker and hearer. The contextual information: - immediate cotext = what is written / said before or after - Physical and social world -socio and psycological factors influencing communication -knowledge of the time/ space where words are uttered/written

These tow people know each other , they have friends in common . We understand that Arran is a sort of mountain and that people are used to think it's not so good ( common attitude ) The 3 levels of context : 1. cotextual context 2. situational context 3. background knowledge context Situational context = is the immediate physical copresence in the situation of the utterance 4 types of situational information you need to interpret a speech : -time -place -the speaker and its social role - information about the medium ( oral, a book...)

Background knowledge context= what interlocutors know about each other and the world. Two types: cultural and interpersonal 1) CULTURAL : General knowledge about different areas of life It consist in knowing about a certain theme/ thing/ concept ( for example a specific kind of music) Cultural general knowledge has a very important impact in specialised discourses , used in specialised communities ( economic, financial , medical discourses )

Specialised community have coherent and cohesive knowledge . It can also refer to a socio -psycological entity : the shared attitudes towards something ''Aran is nice actually '' → Aran was thought not to be nice. We can also have changes with HUMOUR Don't mention the war ( said to a German by a English ) Differences can also be produced with different generations

2)INTERPERSONAL = specific and possibly private knowledge about the history of the speaker themselves.

→ they could be boyfriend and girlfriend . Last night they where not together. Many information are omitted for the economy of the language because they have an interpersonal private knowledge of each other

Usually a mix of contextual information is involved in meaning construal. - Intrisic aspects : cognitive, affective - exstrinsic aspects : social , cultural , interactive Example : A '' I haven't eaten yet. I'm starving''. B I can lend you some money we need interpersonal info ( know about their relationship) we need contextual info ( there's a bar nearby , there a machine in the office... ) A''Do you like my dress ? B “ It's pink.” If you like pink the dress is nice for you, if you don't like pink the dress isn't nice . No one answer , but more answers are possible.

REFERENCE = is the way the language refers to the world. There are different ways in which laguage can refers to the world. Exophoric reference → if the language refers to something in the context Endophoric reference→ reference to a known entitity in the text ( cotext ) I went with francesca and David (ex) We did a lot of hill walking (end--> Francesca and David)

DEIXIS Deixis is the linguistic device that allows the interlocutors to point something in the context . It is the most common way in which the relationship between language and context is reflected in the structure of language. To call something as deictic it has to be dependent on the context. Deixis or anaphora/cataphora ? If a linguistic expression it's not connected with the context outside the text we talk about anaphora or cataphora , which are related with the cotext or the cotextual context : cataphora → if the expression refers to the preceding cotext anaphora → if the expression refers to the forthcoming cotext Ex: I owe you a fiver VS There's a school that's out there that you book in for a week and you can lea...