戴炜栋英语语言学概论Chapter6要点.ppt

Chapter 6 Pragmatics Some basic notions Speech act theory Principle of conversation Cross-cultural pragmatic failure What is pragmatics? Pragmatics studies the meaning in the context of language use. The view of traditional semantics The meaning of language was considered as something intrinsic, and inherent, i.e., a property attached to language itself. Therefore, meanings of words, meanings of sentences were all studied in isolation from language use. 语言的意义被认为是内在的、固有的，即依附于语言自身的特征。因此，词的意义和句子的意义都应该从语言运用中孤立出来加以研究。 Pragmatics vs. semantics What essentially distinguishes semantics and pragmatics is whether in the study of meaning the context of use is considered. If it is not considered, the study is confined to the area of traditional semantics; if it is considered, the study is being carried out in the area of pragmatics. Context It is generally considered as constituted by the knowledge shared by the speaker and the hearer. Context determines the speaker’s use of language and also the hearer’s interpretation of what is said to him. Sentence meaning vs. utterance meaning (句子意义与话语意义) A sentence is a grammatical concept, and the meaning of a sentence is abstract and isolated from context. If the sentence is uttered in a certain situation with a certain purpose, it becomes an utterance. The meaning of an utterance is concrete, and context-dependent. The relationship between the two The meaning of an utterance is based on sentence meaning; it is the realization of the abstract meaning of a sentence in a real situation of communication, or simply in a context. Speech act theory (言语行为理论) It was proposed by the British philosopher John Austin (约翰·奥斯汀) in the late 50’s of the 20th century. According to the speech act theory, we are performing actions when we are speaking. According to his new model, a speak might be performing three acts simultaneously when speaking: locutionary act, illocutionary act, and perlocutionary act. locutionary act (言内行为): the act of