ET118_2-8_Pragmatics1_Lecture__1_

Introduction to Pragmatics

Course: ET118 (LUL)Title: Linguistics: Understanding LanguageInstitution: WARWICKInstructor: Evi SifakiTopic Focus: Entailment, Presupposition, Conversational Implicature, & Applied Linguistics

Overview of Key Concepts

Pragmatics is the study of how context influences the interpretation of meaning in language. Key concepts include the relationships and implications between sentences, how conversational contexts shape meaning, and the underlying assumptions that accompany statements.

• Entailment: Logical implications of sentences where the truth of one sentence guarantees the truth of another.

• Presupposition: Background assumptions that are taken for granted within the context of a statement.

• Context Dependency: The significance of contextual cues that affect how meaning is derived from sentences, emphasizing that meaning is not inherently found within the sentences themselves.

• Implicature: The implicit meanings drawn from conversations, which rely on contextual hints rather than direct statements.

Inferences and Sense Relations

Previous lectures emphasized the importance of how words relate to each other in terms of meaning:

• Hyponymy: Refers to more specific terms under a broader category (e.g., "rose" is a specific type of "flower").

• Synonymy: Words that have similar meanings, illustrating how interchangeable word choices can affect clarity and tone.

• Antonymy: The relationship between words with opposite meanings, which enriches the semantic landscape of language.

Meaning Postulates Examples:

Understanding meaning postulates can clarify relationships:

• If (x) is a rose, then (x) is a flower.

• (x) is a fiddle if and only if (x) is a violin.

• (x) is happy implies (x) is not sad; thereby demonstrating the necessary condition derived from emotional states.

True or False Exercise

This section aids in understanding entailment and presupposition through validation exercises:

• Statement validation: Analyze statements for truth based on logical implications.

  • a. "The wolf is friendly."

  • b. "If John killed a raccoon, then John killed an animal."

  • c. "My neighbor is lazy."

  • d. "My aunt is a woman."

  • e. "A bachelor is married."

  • f. "Jack is dead."

  • g. "Jack is alive."

Understanding Entailment

Delving deeper into entailment involves recognizing the core meanings tied to words and their implications:

• Short Version: Entailment refers to things that follow logically from terms and their definitions (e.g., "cat" entails "animal").

• Long Version: A detailed examination of logical relationships through established rules indicates how various statements interrelate.

Propositions and Their Evaluation

Defining propositions helps frame discussions in terms of truth evaluation:

• Propositions Defined: These are statements that hold the capacity to be either true or false, necessitating a subject-predicate structure to assess truth conditions effectively.

• Each proposition is evaluated with an understanding of its context, and some involve direct entailments demonstrating relational reliability.

Meaning Postulates and Inference

Understanding how one true statement can imply the truth of another is crucial in linguistic semantics:

• For instance, the statement "Peter gave Mary a rose" entails, logically, that "Peter gave Mary a flower."

• Similarly, statements regarding actions or states, such as "John played a fiddle," imply related truths about instruments and habits, facilitating clarity in everyday communication.

Types of Sentences

A comprehensive understanding of sentence types contributes to effective communication:

• Declarative: Statements providing information or assertions.

• Interrogative: Questions designed to elicit information.

• Imperative: Commands or directives that instruct behavior.

• Exclamative: Sentences expressing strong emotions or reactions.

Testing Declarative Sentences

Evaluating whether a sentence qualifies as declarative enhances understanding:

• Example: "You live in London" can be embedded under the condition of "if" successfully (valid test).

• Conversely, interrogative and imperative sentences like "Do you live in London?" and "Live in London!" cannot be embedded without losing their interrogative or imperative nature, respectively.

Activity on Statement Validity

This interactive section prompts students to distinguish between valid declarative statements and other types of sentences.

• Examples include interpreting:

  • "London is to the north of Paris."

  • "Is Peter skinny?"

  • "We ate cod."

  • "Mary is married to Peter."

  • "What a beautiful day!"

  • "Follow the rules."

Understanding and Applying Entailment

Analyzing pairs of sentences for entailment cultivates deeper understanding:

• Example pairs to evaluate include:

  • "Mary loves Peter" does not entail "Peter loves Mary."

  • "Mary is Peter's wife" entails "Peter is Mary's husband."

Additionally, analyze various provided examples to strengthen inferencing skills related to entailment.

The content presented provides a well-rounded introduction to the key concepts of pragmatics, laying the groundwork for understanding complex interactions in language and communication.