Chapter WPragmatics the study of dynamic meaningof language主讲：宋建勇2ContentsSome basic notionsSpeech Act TheoryThe Theory of ImplicatureRelevance theory3Basic notionsDefinitionDistinction between pragmatics and semanticsContextSentence meaning vs. utterance meaningGeneral features of pragmatic study of the meaning of language in useGenerally acknowledged theories of pragmatics: speech acts, implicature and5PragmaticsThe study of language in use.The study of meaning in context.The study of speakers' meaning, utterance meaning, or contextual meaning.(Speaker' s meaning, utterance meaning, or contextual meaning: all are synonymous. They probe into the intention of the speaker' s utterance.)6Speaker' s meaning(A father is trying to get his 3-year-old daughter tostop lifting up her dress to display her new underwear to the assemble.).Father: We don' t DO that..Daughter: I KNOW, Daddy. You don' t WEARunderwear. (wear = do)relevance4DefinitionPragmatics is the study of the use of language in communication, particularly the relationships between sentences and the contexts and situations in which they are used.Pragmatics is the study of the communicative meaning of the utteranceswhich is largely related to the context of situationfor such communication.Pragmatics is the study of all those aspects of meaning not captured in semantics.Pragmatics can be defined as the study of how speakers use the sentences of a language to effect successful communication.Explanations:.Father: “We don't display underwear to others ” (Yes) vs. “ We don ' t wear underwear”(No).Daughter: I know you don' t wear underwear.7Contextual Meaning: meaning incontext.The meaning of the sentence depends on who the speaker is , who the hearer is, when and where it is used.1. A: Are you going to the seminar?B: It' s on linguistics. (Maybe he is not interested in it, so he wouldn' t go)2. A: Would you like some coffee?B: Coffee would keep me awake. (I don' t like coffee because I would be hard to go asleep with it)8Sentence meaning vs.utterance meaningA sentence is a grammatical concept. An utterance is a communicative concept.Sentence meaning is the abstract, inherent, self-contained, decontextualized property in terms of predication. Utterance meaning is the concrete, context-bound, speakerintended realizations of sentence meaning.Sentence meaning is stable. Utterance meaning is variable.13Semanticists take meaning to be an inherent property of language, pragmaticists regard meaning as something that is realized in the course of communication.Pragmatics = meaning -semantics14语用学要求区分两种意义：说话人要通过这些词语意图表达的意义You are a fool!---What does a foolmean?---What do you mean by afool?Say CHEESE!Lights, please!9.Utterance Meaning vs. Sentence Meaning .Utterance vs. Sentence.Sentence: abstract units of the language system.Utterance: units of language in use. .Sentence meaning:What does X mean?Utterance meaning:What do you mean by X?.Dog!.My bag is heavy.. “Janet! Donkeys!” (David Copperfield )10Distinction betweenpragmatics and semanticsPragmatics is differentfrom traditionalsemantics in that it studies meaning not in isolation but incontext.11ContextContext is essential to the pragmatic study of language.Context is generally considered as constituted by the knowledge shared by the speaker and the hearer.Halliday's three contextual variables: field, tenor and mode.12Pragmatics and semantics are both linguistic studies of meaning.What essentially distinguishes pragmatics and semantics 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.学习语用学的意义：1、语用学是理解语言、使用语言的学问.eg.高高兴兴上班去，平平安安回家来（Go to workhappily, and come back safely!）Good luck!A: Are you going to the seminar?B: It' s on linguistics.（I go to anything that is onpragmatics; I am not going to the seminar真正理解语言和恰当使用语言是语言交 际的两个非常重要的方面。
17General features of pragmatic studyof the meaning of language in usePragmatics is principle-controlled rather thanrule-governed.The principles of pragmatics are motivated interms of conversational goals and therefore non-conventional in nature.Pragmatic explanations are primarily interpersonal, textual and functional.18Generally acknowledgedtheories of pragmaticsSpeech acts（Austin, Searle）How to Do Things with Words, 1962Implicature（Grice）Logic and Conversation, 197521Austin' s original frameworkThe distinction between performatives from constativesAustin distinguishes three levels of a speechact.The focus of study in speech act theory is162、语用学是讲究语言合适、得体的学问。
（语用学主要谈论语言在特定的语境下是否合适、得 体，有时并不十分讲究语法逻辑-语义上的正误公交车上，一位带着孩子的年轻母亲要 一个小男孩 帮忙捡起她孩子掉的红包）。