Pragmatics weeks 1-4

Conversational analysis

Sentence

Well-formed string of words put together by grammatical rules of a language. It is an abstract entity defined within a theory of grammar. 

Sentence meaning

Aspects of meaning that are ascribed to a sentence in the abstract. 

Utterance

Particular piece of language (Word, phrase etc.) spoken or written by a particular speaker/writer in a particular context on a particular occasion.

Utterance meaning

What a speaker intends to convey by making an utterance. 

Proposition

What is expressed by a declarative sentence when a sentence is used to make a statement. (To say something about some state of affairs in the external world.) 

Context

Refers to any relevant features of the dynamic setting or environment in which a linguistic unit is systematically used. 

Ariel (1990) 3 ways to split up context

Physical, Linguistic and General knowledge

Common ground

Background assumptions shared by speaker and addressee (communal and personal)

Static context

Context is considered to consist of a set of variables that encircles an utterance or a stretch of discourse. 

Dynamic context

Context is not given, but is established during the dynamic process of utterance production and comprehension.

Semantics

The coded meaning, more or less constant from one context to another

Grammatical form

What type of sentence it is, the form of the statement

Social action value

the meaning behind the statement

Emic approach

How do interactions themselves react with things, first-order approach, interactive

Etic approach

What are the distinctions in the data independently, an outsiders perspective, second order perspective

Bottom-up approach

Build from scratch with no expectations of the context beforehand

Top-down approach

Going into an interaction with expectations of what it will be like - also called frames

Frames

The principles that define “what is going on” in an interaction.

Basic structure of interactions

Question, answer, evaluation

Evaluation

Optional (e.g. courtrooms) / evaluation, correctness or appropriateness

Reframing

Making an understanding of the situation, having to adapt a previous frame due to unexpected behaviors/events

Ethnomethdology

The study of how members use commonsense methods to produce orderly social life. 

Garfinkel

Founder of ethnomethodology

Sacks, Schlegoff and Jefferson

Founded Conversation Analysis

Conversational analysis

A method for studying how talk is sequentially organised in face‑to‑face interaction. 

Turn-taking system

Conversation Analysis focus on how there is nothing to prevent people from listening to multiple people, yet we take turns. There are sets of rules that we follow. (Schlegoff, Sacks + Jefferson)

Turn taking rule (1)

S1 may choose S2

Turn taking rule (2)

If (1) does not apply, S2 may self select

Turn taking rule (3)

If neither (1) or (2) apply, S1 may self select

Transition-relevant place (TRP) (Levinson)

Places where people know when to enter a conversation or take their turn.

Turn-constructional units (TCU) (Levison)

A unit of meaning where another speaker can meaningfully take the floor and start talking. They make up TRPs. Typically have ascending intonation.

Overlap

The TRP has not formally been reached by someone begins to speak anyway. The TRP is predicatable.

Interruption

The TRP has not been reached but someone else speaks. The TRP was NOT predictable.

Back channels

Words that show active listening but don’t actually take a turn. Aren’t defined as interruptions as they are not full turns.

Gaps

Silence where somebody else is expected to say something contextually

Lapse

Silence where no one is expected to talk

Attributable silence

Silence has been given to someone specifically (e.g. if someone has been asked a question, it is their silence)

Non-attributable silence

Silence that is not attributed to anyone in particular.

Open competition for the floor

Increased loudness, recycling overlapped turn beginnings, discourse markers. If there is a TRP at the beginning, competition can sometimes stem from overlap.

Adjacency pairs

One of the ways that we control what happens in conversation, there are lots of different types (e.g. invitations, offers, greetings)

Insertion sequency (A.P)

A new adjacency pair is inserted within the initial adjacency pair

Intertwined sequency (A.P)

Two adjacency pairs are intertwined (e.g. apology and minimization, then question-answer)

Burundi

Turn taking is pre allocated by the rank of the participants (power dynamics have an effect)

Pre-closing

Utterances such as ‘okay okay’ ‘all right’ that indicate that the conversation is ending, open the floor for the other party to mention any deferred mentionables before closing the conversation.

Pre-sequences

Prepare the ground for later actions, often to avoid rejection or a dispreferred answer

Preference organisation

Structural bias toward socially affiliative responses (e.g., accepting rather than refusing). 

Repair

Mechanisms for fixing problems in speaking, hearing, or understanding. 

Self‑Repair

When the speaker fixes their own trouble source. 

Other‑Initiated Repair

When another participant signals a problem (e.g., “Sorry?”, “Who?”). 

Politeness

The way linguistic conduct enables people to interact harmoniously and recognize one another as fellow human beings

Face

A concept derived from Goffman referring to a person’s public self-image or self-esteem, which is at risk during interaction.

Brown and Levinson main theory

Self image consists of negative and positive face. Face is not bestowed upon you but something that you carry with you throughout your whole life

Goffman main theory

Face is something given to you by society, it can be taken away and bestowed.

Negative face

A person’s desire:

• not to be imposed upon,

• to act freely,

• to maintain autonomy and independence.

Positive face

A person’s desire:

• to be liked,

• approved of,

• understood,

• admired,

• treated as a friend or equal.

Face-Threatening Act (FTA)

Any communicative act that threatens someone’s positive or negative face

E.g. requests, complaints, criticism, interruption

Redressive Language

Language used to compensate for or soften a face-threatening act (hedges, indirectness, humour)

Bald-on-record

Performing an FTA directly without redress or mitigation.

Positive Politeness

Politeness oriented toward the addressee’s positive face by emphasizing solidarity, friendliness, shared identity, or approval.

Strategies of positive politeness

• Notice/attend to H

• Use in-group identity markers / Assert common ground

• Joke

• Offer/promise

• Include speaker and hearer together

• Give reasons

• Slang

• Compliments

Negative politeness

Politeness oriented toward the addressee’s negative face by minimizing imposition and respecting autonomy

Negative politeness strategies

• Be conventionally indirect

• Question/hedge

• Minimize imposition

• Apologize

• Passive (omits the speaker/hearer)

• Past tense

• General extenders

Off-Record Politeness

An indirect strategy where the speaker hints rather than states intentions explicitly, allowing plausible deniability.

Off-Record Politeness strategies

• Be ambiguous

• Presuppose

• Use ellipsis/incomplete utterances

The formula for the weight of FTA’s

Wx = D(S,H) + P(H,S) + Rx

Social Distance (D)

The degree of familiarity or closeness between speakers.

Power Differential (P)

The relative social power or status difference between participants in an interaction.

Rank of Imposition (R)

The seriousness or burden of a request or action imposed on another person.

On Record

Communicating openly and directly without hiding communicative intentions.

Honorifics

Special linguistic forms marking social hierarchy, status, or respect. The chapter discusses whether honorifics are genuine politeness strategies or simply social conventions.

Culpeper

Distinguishes 3 types of impoliteness. target can be someone else other than the hearer, rudeness can be directed at a 3^rd party (Different from B&L)

Affective impoliteness

Expresses the speakers negative feelings and emotion towards the target. 

Coercive impoliteness

Rude to the target in order to get them to do something. (threats, orders etc.) 

Entertaining impoliteness

Having fun at the targets expense (often directed at a 3^rd party)