Meaning in Interaction: an Introduction to Pragmatics

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1 Meaning in Interaction: an Introduction to Pragmatics Jenny Thomas An imprint of Pearson Education Harlow, England London New York Reading, Massachusetts San Francisco Toronto Don Mills, Ontario Sydney Tokyo Singapore Hong Kong Seoul Taipei Cape Town Madrid Mexico City Amsterdam Munich Paris Milan

Massachusetts San Francisco Toronto Don Mills, Ontario Sydney Tokyo

2 Contents Preface xiii Acknowledgements xiv 1 What is pragmatics? Introduction Defining pragmatics From abstract meaning to contextual meaning Assigning sense in context Assigning reference in context Structural ambiguity Interaction of sense, reference and structure Ambiguity and intentionality Utterance meaning: first level of speaker meaning Importance of utterance meaning Force: the second level of speaker meaning Understanding both utterance meaning and force Understanding utterance meaning but not force Understanding force but not utterance meaning Understanding neither utterance meaning nor force Interrelationship of utterance meaning and force Definitions of pragmatics (revisited) Speaker meaning Utterance interpretation Pragmatics: meaning in interaction Summary 23

4 Utterance meaning: first level of speaker meaning 16 1.4.1 Importance of utterance meaning 16 1.5 Force: the second level of speaker meaning 18 1.5.1 Understanding both utterance meaning and force 18 1.

3 viii Contents 2 Speech acts J.L.Austin Ordinary language philosophy Logical positivism and truth conditional semantics The performative hypothesis Metalinguistic performatives Ritual performatives Felicity conditions Explicit reference to felicity conditions Collaborative performatives Group performatives Overlap of categories Cross-cultural differences in use of performatives Collapse of Austin's performative hypothesis The grammatical distinctiveness of performatives Do performatives always perform actions? How to do things without performative verbs Explicit and implicit performatives Utterances as actions Locution, illocution, perlocution Speech acts Conclusion 51 3 Conversational implicature Introduction H. P. Grice Implicature Conventional implicature Conversational implicature Implicature and inference The Cooperative Principle The four conversational maxims Observing the maxims Non-observance of the maxims 64

4.6 Cross-cultural differences in use of performatives 42 2.4.7 Collapse of Austin's performative hypothesis 43 2.4.7.1 The grammatical distinctiveness of performatives 44 2.4.7.2 Do performatives always perform actions?

4 Contents ix 3.6 Flouting a maxim Flouts necessitated by a clash between maxims Flouts which exploit a maxim Flouts exploiting the maxim of Quality Flouts exploiting the maxim of Quantity Flouts exploiting the maxim of Relation Flouts exploiting the maxim of Manner Other categories of non-observance of the conversational maxims Violating a maxim Infringing a maxim Opting out of a maxim Suspending a maxim Testing for implicature Non-detachability and non-conventionality Implicature changes Calculability Defeasibility Conclusion 84 4 Approaches to pragmatics Introduction Problems with Grice's theory When is non-observance intentional? Distinguishing between types of non-observance Different nature of maxims Maxims may overlap Problems of calculability Grice's informal approach J. R. Searle Indirect speech acts Searle's conditions for speech acts Distinguishing speech acts Plugging the gaps in Searle's rules The speech act of apobgizing: a case study Over-generality of rules The speech act of warning: a case study 103

7.3 Opting out of a maxim 74 3.7.4 Suspending a maxim 76 3.8 Testing for implicature 78 3.8.1 Non-detachability and non-conventionality 78 3.8.2 Implicature changes 80 3.8.3 Calculability 82 3.8.4 Defeasibility 82 3.

5 x Contents 4.5 Searle's formal approach to the categorization of speech acts Rules versus principles Rules are all or nothing, principles are more or less Rules are exclusive, principles can co-occur Rules are constitutive, principles are regulative Rules are definite, principles are probabilistic Rules are conventional, principles are motivated Conclusion Pragmatics and indirectness Introduction Pragmatics and indirectness Intentional indirectness Indirectness is costly and risky Assumption of rationality The principle of expressibility Indirectness an illustration How do we know how indirect to be? Power Social distance Size of imposition Rights and obligations The negotiation of pragmatic parameters Measuring indirectness The role of context in interpreting indirectness The role of belief in interpreting indirectness Background knowledge and interpreting indirectness The role of co-text in interpreting indirectness Goals and the interpretation of indirectness Why use indirectness? Interestingness Increasing the force of one's message Competing goals Conclusion 146

7 Conclusion 111 5 Pragmatics and indirectness 119 5.1 Introduction 119 5.2 Pragmatics and indirectness 120 5.2.1 Intentional indirectness 120 5.2.2 Indirectness is costly and risky 120 5.2.3 Assumption of rationality 121 5.

6 Contents xi 6 Theories of politeness Introduction Delimiting the concept of politeness Politeness as a real-world goal Deference versus politeness Register Politeness as an utterance level phenomenon Politeness as a pragmatic phenomenon Politeness explained in terms of principles and maxims Ambivalence and politeness Pragmatic principles The Tact maxim The Generosity maxim The Approbation maxim The Modesty maxim The Agreement maxim The Pollyanna Principle Problems with Leech's approach Politeness and the management of face Face-threatening acts Superstrategies for performing facethreatening acts Performing an FTA without any redress (bald-on-record) Performing an FTA with redress (positive politeness) Performing an FTA with redress (negative politeness) Performing an FTA using off-record politeness Do not perform FTA Criticisms of Brown and Levinson Politeness viewed as a conversational contract Politeness measured along pragmatic scales Conclusion 178

3.2 Pragmatic principles 159 6.3.2.1 The Tact maxim 160 6.3.2.2 The Generosity maxim 162 6.3.2.3 The Approbation maxim 162 6.3.2.4 The Modesty maxim 163 6.3.2.5 The Agreement maxim 165 6.3.2.6 The Pollyanna Principle 166 6.

7 xii Contents 7 The construction of meaning Introduction How does pragmatics fit into linguistics? Pragmatics versus sociolinguistics Overlap between pragmatics and sociolinguistics Activity types versus speech events The construction of meaning Pragmatic ambivalence The collaborative nature of speech acts The negotiability of force Preparing the ground for a speech act Successive utterances in situated discourse Discoursal ambivalence Dynamic pragmatics What counts as evidence in pragmatics? Perlocutionary effect Explicit commentary by speaker Explicit commentary by others Co-text (subsequent discourse) Conclusion 208 References 211 Author Index 219 General Index 221

5.4 Preparing the ground for a speech act 199 7.5.5 Successive utterances in situated discourse 201 7.5.6 Discoursal ambivalence 202 7.5.7 Dynamic pragmatics 203 7.

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