7/30/2019 Meaning in Interaction - An Introduction to Pragmatics

1/7

Meaning inInteract ion:an Introduct ion toPragmaticsJenny Thomas

An imprint of P e a r s o n E d u c a t i o nHarlow, England London New York Reading, Massachusetts San FranciscoToronto Don M ills, On tario Sydney Tokyo Singapore Hong Kong SeoulTaipei Cape Town Madrid Mexico City Amsterdam Mu nich Paris Milan

7/30/2019 Meaning in Interaction - An Introduction to Pragmatics

2/7

Contents

Preface xiiiAcknowledgements xiv1 W hat is pragm atics? 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Defining pragmatics 11.3 From abstract meaning to contextual meaning 21.3.1 Assigning sense in context 51.3.2 Assigning reference in context 81.3.3 Structural ambiguity 121.3.4 Interaction of sense, reference and structure 121.3.5 Ambiguity and intentionality 141.4 U tterance meaning: first level of speaker meaning 161.4.1 Importance of utterance meaning 16

1.5 Force: the second level of speaker meaning 181.5.1 Understand ing bo th utterance meaning and force181.5.2 Understand ing utterance m eaning but not force191.5.3 Understanding force but not utterance meaning191.5.4 Understanding neither utterance meaning norforce 201.5.5 Interrelationship of utterance meaning and force211.6 Definitions of pragmatics (revisited) 211.6.1 Speaker meaning 211.6.2 Utterance interpretation 221.6.3 Pragmatics: meaning in interaction 22

1.7 Summary 23

7/30/2019 Meaning in Interaction - An Introduction to Pragmatics

3/7

viii Contents

2 Sp eec h acts 282.1J.L.Austin 282.2 Ordinary language philosophy 292.3 Logical positivism and truth conditional semantics 292.4 The performative hypothesis 322.4.1 Metalinguistic performatives 332.4.2 Ritual performatives 36

2.4.2.1 Felicity conditions 372.4.2.2Explicit reference to felicity conditions 39

2.4.3 Collaborative performatives 402.4.4 Group performatives 412.4.5 Overlap of categories 422.4.6 Cross-cultural differences in use of performatives422.4.7 Collapse of Austin's performative hypothesis 432.4.7.1 The grammatical distinctiveness ofperformatives 442.4.7.2 Do performatives always perform actions?452.4.7.3How to do things withou t performativeverbs 452.4.8 Explicit and implicit performatives 472.5 Utterances as actions 492.5.1 Locution, illocution, perlocution 492.5.2 Speech acts 502.6 Conclusion 51

3 Conversational im plicatu re 553.1 Introduction 553.2 H. P. Grice 563.3 Implicature 573.3.1 Conventional implicature 573.3.2 Conversational implicature 583.3.3 Implicature and inference 583.4 The Cooperative Principle 613.5 The four conversational maxims 633.5.1 Observing the maxims 643.5.2 Non-observance of the maxims 64

7/30/2019 Meaning in Interaction - An Introduction to Pragmatics

4/7

Contents ix3.6 F louting a maxim 653.6.1 F louts necessitated by a clash between maxims 653.6.2 Flouts which exploit a maxim 67

3.6.2.1 Flouts exploiting the maxim of Quality 673.6.2.2 Flouts exploiting the maxim of Quantity693.6.2.3 Flouts exploiting the maxim of Relation 703.6.2.4 Flouts exploiting the maxim of M anner 713.7 O ther categories of non-observance of theconversational maxims 723.7.1 Violating a maxim 72

3.7.2 Infringing a maxim 743.7.3 Opting out of a maxim 743.7.4 Suspending a maxim 763.8 Testing for implicature 783.8.1 Non-detachability and non-conventionality 783.8.2 Implicature changes 803.8.3 Calculability 823.8.4 Defeasibility 823.9 Conclusion 844 Approaches to pragm atics 874.1 Introduction 874.2 Problems with Grice's theory 874.2.1 W hen is non-observance intentional? 884.2.2 Distinguishing between types of non-observance

904.2.3 Different nature of maxims 914.2.4 Maxims may overlap 914.2.5 Problems of calculability 924.3 Grice's informal approach 934.4 J. R. Searle 934.4.1 Indirect speech acts 934.4.2 Searle's conditions for speech acts 944.4.2.1 Distinguishing speech acts 964.4.2.2 Plugging the gaps in Searle's rules 984.4.2.3The speech act of apobgizing: a case study994.4.2.4 Over-generality of rules 1024.4.2.5 The speech act of warning: a case study 103

7/30/2019 Meaning in Interaction - An Introduction to Pragmatics

5/7

x Contents4.5 Searle's formal approach to the categorization of speechacts 1054.6 Rules versus principles 1074.6.1 Rules are all or nothing, principles are m ore or less1084.6.2 Rules are exclusive, principles can co-occur 1084.6.3 Rules are constitutive, principles are regulative1094.6.4 Rules are definite, principles are probabilistic 110

4.6.5 Rules are conventional, principles are motivated1114.7 Conclusion 1115 Pragm atics and indirectness 1195.1 Introduction 1195.2 Pragmatics and indirectness 1205.2.1 Intentional indirectness 1205.2.2 Indirectness is costly and risky 1205.2.3 Assumption of rationality 1215.2.4 The principle of expressibility 1225.2.5 Indirectness an illustration 1235.3 How do we know how indirect to be? 1245.3.1 Power 1245.3.2 Social distance 1285.3.3 Size of imposition 1305.3.4 Rights and obligations 1315.3.5 The negotiation of pragmatic parameters 1315.4 Measuring indirectness 1335.4.1 The role of context in interpreting indirectness1365.4.2 Th e role of belief in interpreting indirectness 1375.4.3 Background knowledge and interpretingindirectness 1385.4.4 The role of co-text in interpreting indirectness1385.4.5 Goals and the interpretation of indirectness 1395.5 Why use indirectness? 1425.5.1 Interestingness 1435.5.2 Increasing the force of one's message 1445.5.3 Com peting goals 1455.6 Conclusion 146

7/30/2019 Meaning in Interaction - An Introduction to Pragmatics

6/7

Contents xi6 Th eories o f po liteness 1496.1 Introduction 1496.2 Delimiting the concept of politeness 149

6.2.1 Politeness as a real-world goal 1506.2.2 Deference versus politeness 1506.2.3 Register 1546.2.4 Politeness as an utterance level phenomenon 1556.2.5 Politeness as a pragmatic phenom enon 1576.3 Politeness explained in terms of principles and maxims1586.3.1 Ambivalence and politeness 1586.3.2 Pragmatic principles 1596.3.2.1 The Tact maxim 160

6.3.2.2 The Generosity maxim 1626.3.2.3 The Approbation maxim 1626.3.2.4 The Modesty maxim 1636.3.2.5 The Agreement maxim 1656.3.2.6 T he Pollyanna Principle 1666.3.3 Problem s with Leech's approach 1676.4 Politeness and the managem ent of face 1686.4.1 Face-threatening acts 1696.4.1.1 Superstrategies for performing face-threatening acts 1696.4.1.2 Performing an FTA without any redress(bald-on-record) 1706.4.1.3 Performing an FTA with redress (positive

politeness) 1716.4.1.4 Performing an FTA with redress (negativepoliteness) 1726.4.1.5 Performing an FTA using off-recordpoliteness 1736.4.1.6 Do not perform FTA 1746.4.2 Criticisms of Brown and Levinson 1766.5 Politeness viewed as a conversational contract 1766.6 Politeness m easured along pragmatic scales 1776.7 Conclusion 178

7/30/2019 Meaning in Interaction - An Introduction to Pragmatics

7/7

xii Contents7 T he constru ction o f m eanin g 1837.1 Introduction 1837.2 How does pragmatics fit into linguistics? 1847.3 Pragm atics versus sociolinguistics 1857.3.1 Overlap between pragmatics and sociolinguistics1867.4 Activity types versus speech events 1877.5 The construction of meaning 1957.5.1 Pragmatic ambivalence 1957.5.2 The collaborative nature of speech acts 1967.5.3 The negotiability of force 1987.5.4 Preparing the ground for a speech act 1997.5.5 Successive utterances in situated discourse 2017.5.6 Discoursal ambivalence 2027.5.7 Dynamic pragmatics 203

7.6What counts as evidence in pragmatics? 2047.6.1 Perlocutionary effect 2057.6.2 Explicit com mentary by speaker 2057.6.3 Explicit com mentary by others 2067.6.4 Co-text (subsequent discourse) 2077.7 Conclusion 208References 211Author Index 219General Index 221