MODULE 1: PRAGMATICS, CONTEXT, DEIXIS AND REFERENCES

pragmatics

the study of

- relationship between linguistic forms and the users of those forms

- how meaning arises from the interactions of linguistic meaning with contextual factors

pragmatics is the study of _______. (4 answers)

- speaker meaning

- contextual meaning

- how more gets communicated than is said (explores how listeners can make inferences about what is said in order to

arrive at an interpretation of the speaker’s intended meaning)

- the expression of relative distance (Closeness, whether it is physical, social, or conceptual, implies shared experience determines the choice between the said and the unsaid. )

Syntax

study of the relationships between linguistic forms, how they are arranged in sequence, and which sequences are well-formed.

Semantics

what linguistic expressions mean out of context (= truth conditions)

Four subareas of context

physical

epistemic

linguistic

social

physical context

where the conversation is taking place, what objects are present, what actions are occurring

epistemic context

what speakers know about the world (background knowledge shared by speakers)

linguistic context

The co-text of a word is the set of other words used in the same phrase or sentence. (you / I)

- tone --> a factor of linguistic context

social context

the social relationship between the speaker(s) and hearer(s)

Deixis (Trực chỉ)

- a technical term from Greek --> means: pointing via language

- any linguistic form used to point --> deitic expression

Deixis usually requires a speaker and hearer sharing ________. (3 words)

the same context

--> the more two speakers have in common, the less language they need to identify familiar things

There are ____ types of deixis

5

- personal deixis (deixis of person)

- spatial deixis (deixis of place)

- temporal deixis (deixis of time)

- discourse deixis (deixis of discourse)

- social deixis (deixis for social purpose)

Person Deixis

- exemplified by pronouns (first person "I", second person "you"; third person "he, she, it"

- proximal forms: I and you

- distal forms: he, she, it

- In English, there is no distinction between exclusive "we" (speaker + others, not the addressee) and inclusive "we" (speaker and addressee included)

Spatial deixis

proximal form: here (near), come

distal form: there (far), go

others: up, down, north, inside, top, bottom

deitic projection

location from speaker's perspective DOES NOT ALWAYS mean physical location. Sometimes, it refers to mental location

Ex: I'll come later (come: movement to addressee's location)

temporal deixis

proximal form: now

distal form: then

others: yesterday, last year, in the future, tonight, this week ...

Calendar time and clock time are forms of ______.

non-deitic temporal reference

The choice of verb tense is a basic type of temporal deixis

present tense: proximal form

past tense: distal form

Discoursal deixis

- self-explicit: it is used primarily in discourse unit and for discoursal purpose

- ex: to begin with, first, second ...

Social deixis

- Forms used to indicate relative social status

- honorifics (title): chức danh

Reference

- the relationship that holds between a word/expression and objects it refers to (referrent)

- use language to refer to persons or things directly or indirectly

Referent

objects referred to

Types of reference

- Endophora: textual

+ Anaphoric

+ Cataphoric

- Exophoric: situational (e.g: it is very nice --> it = the room)

Anaphora - Anaphoric reference

the use of a word/a group of words --> REFER BACK to another part of the text

e.g: the students are excited about their first lesson

Cataphora - Cataphoric reference

the use of a word/a group of words --> REFER FORWARD to another part of the text

Ex: It is the truth that ....

Here is the news: ....

Anaphoric is more ______ than cataphoric

common