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1、Linguistics Chapter 6 Pragmatics6.1 Some basic notions 6.1.1 Definition Pragmatics: Pragmatics can be regarded as a kind of meaning study.A general definition is that it is the study of how speakers of a language use sentences to effect successful communication. As the process of communication is es
2、sentially a process of conveying and understanding meaning in a certain context, pragmatics can also be regarded as a kind of meaning study.6.1.2 Pragmatics vs. semantics As pragmatics and semantics are both linguistic studies of meaning, then how are they related, and how do they differ?Semantics:
3、The context is not considered in the study of meaning. Pragmatics: The context of use is considered in the study of meaning. 6.1.3 ContextThe situational context: Every utterance occurs in a particular spatiotemporal situation, the main components of which include, apart from the place and time of t
4、he utterance, the speaker and the hearer, the actions they are performing at the time, the various objects and events existent in the situation.The linguistic context, sometimes known as context, is concerned with the probability of a words co-occurrence or collocation with another word, which forms
5、 part of the “meaning” of the word, and also with the part of text that precedes and follows a particular utterance.6.1.4 Sentence meaning vs. utterance meaningA sentence（句子）: As has been said before, a sentence is a grammatical concept, and the meaning of a sentence is often studied as the abstract
6、, intrinsic property of the sentence itself in terms of predication. The meaning of a sentence is abstract, and decontextualizd.An utterance(话语): But if we think of a sentence as what people actually utter in the course of communication, it becomes an utterance, and it should be considered in the si
7、tuation in which it is actually uttered (or used). The meaning of an utterance is concrete, and context-dependent. The features of meaning of utterance:1) 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 comm
8、unication, or simply in a context.e.g. My bag is heavy2) While most utterances take the form of grammatically complete sentences, some utterances do not, and some cannot even be restored to complete sentences. e.g. Good morning!e.g. Hi! e.g. Ouch!6.2 Speech act theory（言语行为理论）6.2.1 Austins model of s
9、peech actsSpeech act theory is an important theory in the pragmatic study of language. It was originated with the British philosopher John Austin in the late 50s of the 20th century. It is a philosophical explanation of the nature of linguistic communication. It aims to answer the question What do w
10、e do when using language?The speech act theory: we are performing actions when we are speaking.According to his model, a speaker might be performing three acts simultaneously when speaking: A locutionary act（言内行为） is the act of uttering words, phrases, clauses. It is the act of conveying literal mea
11、ning by means of syntax, lexicon and phonology. An illocutionary act （言外行为）is the act of expressing the speakers intention; it is the act performed in saying something. A perlocutionary act （言后行为）is the act performed by or resulting from saying something; it is the consequence of, or the change brou
12、ght about by the utterance; it is the act performed by saying something.e.g. You have left the door wide open.Of the three speech acts, linguists are most interested in the illocutionary act because this kind of speech act is identical with the speakers intention, and in their study of language comm
13、unication, linguists are most interested in how a speaker expresses his intention and also how his intention is recognized by the hearer.6.2.2 Searles classification of speech actsThe speech act theory provided great philosophical insight into the nature of linguistic communication. The theory arous
14、ed great interest among scholars in the 1960s and 1970s. One of those who made notable contributions to it is the American philosopher-linguist John Searle.One of the contributions Searle has made is his classification of illocutionary acts. According to Searle, speech acts fall into five general ca
15、tegories, i.e. , there are five general types of things we do with language. Specific acts that fall into each type share the same illocutionary point, but differ in their strength.1. declarations（宣告类）: bringing about immediate changes by saying something; words change the world.The characteristic i
16、s that the successful performance of an act of this type brings about the correspondence between what is said and reality. This reminds one of Austins famous classical examples. Other examples are :e.g. I now declare the meeting open.e.g. I appoint you chairman of the committee.e.g. I fire you!2. representatives（阐述类）: stating or describing, saying what the speaker believes
