INDIRECTNESS Course Instructor: Veronica Tomescu

Transcription

1 INDIRECTN ESS Course Inst ructor: Vero nica Tomes cu

2 0 what if literal interpretation irrelevant? Sam is a pig.

3 0 the Aigurative meaning of an utterance = what the speaker might mean by uttering it in a way that departs from the normally accepted syntactico- semantic use of the language

4 0 hearer assumes speaker is cooperative 0 statement is not true => 0 context mental lexicon - analogy 0 transfer of property from one semantic sphere to another

5 metaphor 0 transference from one cognitive domain or conceptual sphere to another Sam is a pig. tenor vehicle

6 0 novel metaphors: no change in word meaning 0 standardized metaphors: Alood of tears, a storm of indignation, a gleam of hope, a Alight of fancy, a shadow of a smile, a ray of hope - > dead metaphors, trite metaphors 0 it is metaphor as long as it is calculable 0 frozen: idioms : give up the ghost, push up the daisies, kick the bucket, go to that great hunting ground in the sky

7 0 new Aigurative meaning - > synonyms/antonyms: warm/cold day: warm/cold reception The soup is boiling/simmering/seething. John is boiling/simmering/seething.

8 0 extended metaphor: overlap of domains Misfortunes denuded me of all pride. The ship ploughs the sea. 0 not all metaphorical utterances can be given literal paraphrases 0 metaphor is actually a word formation device: introducing new terminology 0 metaphor: fundamentally creative use of language

9 0 our ordinary conceptual system is fundamentally metaphorical in nature 0 metaphors are basic schemes by which people conceptualize their experience and the external world 0 Aigurative language is omnipresent in everyday speech (Lakoff)

10 1.Structural metaphors: one entity/concept is structured in terms of another 0 TIME IS A VALUABLE COMMODITY You re wasting your time. There s little time left let s hurry. Come on, we re running out of time. Sorry to take away some of your precious time... This project is not worth considering for a second. Lucky him he s got so much time on his hands!

11 2. Orientational metaphors: organize a whole system of concepts in terms of oppositions related to spatial orientation: 0 HAPPY IS UP vs. SAD IS DOWN I m feeling up. My spirits rose., perk up, cheer up, things are looking up, jump for joy, on top of the world, walking on air He s really low these days. I fell into a depression., down in the dumps, my heart sank

12 0 CONSCIOUS IS UP vs. UNCONSCIOUS IS DOWN Get up, wake up, He rises early in the morning. He dropped off to sleep., He s under hypnosis.

13 0 HEALTH AND LIFE ARE UP vs. SICKNESS AND DEATH ARE DOWN He s at the peak of health. Lazarus rose from the dead. He s in top shape. He fell ill., down in the mouth, He came down with the Alu. His health is declining. He dropped dead.

14 0 MORE IS UP VS. LESS IS DOWN My income rose/fell last year. The number of errors he made is incredibly low/high. He is underage. turn the heat down/up scale down, phase down

15 0 GOOD IS UP vs. BAD IS DOWN Things are looking up. Things are at an all- time low. high/low quality. Her enthusiasm was ebbing. raise the bar, touch up soar/mount/lift/up/spike/ascend/arise dip/dive/ nose- dive/plummet/sink

16 0 VIRTUE IS UP vs. DEPRAVITY IS DOWN She has high standards. She is upright. That was a low trick. I wouldn t stoop to that. That would be beneath me. low- minded, fallen high- minded, elevated, upstanding

17 0 RATIONAL IS UP vs. EMOTIONAL IS DOWN The discussion fell to the emotional level, but I raised it back up to the rational plane. He couldn t rise above his emotions.

18 3. ONTOLOGICAL METAPHORS: viewing activites, events, emotions, ideas as entities and substances 0 container metaphors: body is a container => environment: There s a lot of land in Kansas. He s out of sight now. The ship is coming into view. He s immersed in washing the windows right now. I put a lot of energy into washing the windows. be in love, out of trouble, enter/emerge from a state

19 0 emotions: liquids with varying degrees of temperature in our bodies ANGER IS HEAT: You make my blood boil.he is boiling/seething with rage.simmer down!i had reached the boiling point.let him stew.he often gets hot under the collar.keep cool.stay calm.keep one s anger bottled up inside oneself.he s just letting off steam.i m sorry I blew my top.hot under the collar, he just exploded. outbursts. I blew my stack.i blew my top.she Alipped her lid.he hit the ceiling.i went through the roof.inalammatory remarks.they were having a blazing/alaming row. He was breathing Aire. add fuel to the Aire. After the argument, Dave was smoldering for days. That kindled my ire.

20 0 personiaication Life has cheated me. The experiment gave birth to a new theory in genetics. Cancer Ainally caught up with him. InAlation has attacked the foundation of our economy. Our biggest enemy right now is inalation. The Grim Reaper (metaphorical mapping: people are plants) the Ainger of death surrender one s life

21 1. I m a horrible human being. I m the Darth Vader of Pasadena. You re far too short to be Darth Vader. 2. Have you met Bernadette s parents? You mean Adolf and Eva? Not yet, one goose step at the time. 3. "You remind me so much of those Knights of the Round Table Of course I had heard of them- - Lancelot, Galahad and all that lot, but I didn't see where the resemblance came in. It seemed to me that she must be thinking of a couple of other fellows.

22 overstatement (hyperbole) and understatement 0 violate Grice s maxims of quantity No one understands me A pig wouldn t eat this food Not bad!

23 overstatement 0 epic grandeur 0 stir curiosity 0 enhance positive face: That was a delicious meal. 0 advertisement:.. 0 standardized cases of hyperbole: a thousand pardons, scared to death, I d give the world, work one s Aingers to the bone, move heaven and earth, be all ears

24 1. I don't see how things could possibly be worse than they are, but no doubt you will succeed in making them so. Your genius and insight will Aind the way. Carry on, Bertie. Yes, carry on. I am past caring now. I shall even Aind a faint interest in seeing into what darker and profounder abysses of hell you can plunge this home. 2. Since he only went outdoors for things like earthquakes and holocausts, he was rarely guilty of movement.

25 understatement 0 pragmatic purposes: restore credibility There are some rather splendid murals on the North Wall.They were rather enthusiastic 0 used to underplay aspects of meaning which are pragmatically disfavoured, criticism, pessimistic judgements I wasn t overimpressed 0 minimize praise of oneself: I m rather good at crossword puzzles. That wasn t such a bad meal that I cooked 0 specialization of adverbials of degree towards negative items: a little bit dirty /?a little bit clean

26 0 Litote: particular case of understatement: negate a predicative in order to conversationally assert less than the opposite He is no coward. He is not without taste. 0 negation does not merely suggest the absence of the quality negated but the presence of the opposite

27 1. Koven had made a dive for the door. I caught him before he reached it, got an arm and his chin and heaved. There was a lot of feeling in it, and big as he was he sailed to a wall, bounced off and went to the Aloor. I returned to the phone, Excuse me Koven tried to interrupt. 2. I spent a mainly sleepless night, worrying about Simon and realizing that there was at least this to be said about fun divorce cases: very few of them ended in a sentence of death.

28 Indirect Speech Acts Something wrong with your knees? My mouth is parched. 0 primary illocutionary intent 0 secondary illocutionary intent 0 Airst step: hearer notices that literal SA is not relevant enough under the circumstances => the speaker could not merely be stating p

29 0 indirect speech act differs from literal speech act both in illocutionary force and propositional content The door is over there = Leave! It s getting late = Hurry up

30 You could be a little more quiet. p = be quiet IF1: IF2:

31 Locutionary strategy: 0 speaker says: My mouth is parched 0 Literal strategy: Speaker says: mouth is parched 0 Literally based indirect strategy: H has not asked info about S; therefore S is violating the Maxim of Relevance; nevertheless: H presumes Speaker obeys Cooperative Principle => (since dry mouth is symptomatic of thirst) Speaker desires a drink => wants me to get him a drink

32 I should never have done that 0 it is mutually believed by S and H that the act was adverse to H 0 if S merely stating p = violate Maxim of Quantity => apology

33 Can you pass the salt? *Yes I can. 0 S alludes to preparatory condition (is H able to perform proposition conveyed by directive)

34 Pardon me, m lord, can you see Sir Gregory Parsloe? No, said Lord Emsworth, having glanced about the room and failed to do so.

35 0 mutual contextual beliefs are crucial for understanding indirectness: 0 1. I thought she might listen to you about the dangers of owning unhygienic furniture. For general educational purposes or has she acquired a bar- stool dipped in cholera? Cholera is water- borne.you re mocking me. Yes I am [Penny is lying on the couch with her feet in the air] AMY: Is this a way to break in new shoes? PENNY: Once they touch the ground they re mine and I ll have to wear them walking up and down Hollywood boulevard in order to pay them off.

36 0 examples where felicity conditions are highlighted in indirect speech acts q preparatory condition: ² directives: H is able to perform Could you be a little more quiet? ² commissives: S is able to perform I can do that for you. ² assertions: there is evidence I can say that Harry is a fool.

37 0 examples where felicity conditions are highlighted in indirect speech acts q the point of the SA : ² directives Is the door closed? You haven t closed the door. ² commissives: Nobody has helped you. Hasn t anybody helped you? ² assertions: Haven t I already said that.

38 0 examples where felicity conditions are highlighted in indirect speech acts q sincerity condition : ² directives:speaker wishes H to do I would like you to go now. ² commissives:s intends to do I intend to do it. ² assertions:s believes p I believe he is a fool

39 0 examples where felicity conditions are highlighted in indirect speech acts q politeness condition: ² metalinguistic utterances May I ask you to help me?

40 0 The essential condition cannot be used directly (what the act counts as) 0 the closest we can get: Can I get you to help me? Can you believe that he is bald?

41 0 Speakers often feel the need to give a hint regarding the reasonableness of an act 0 reasons: 1. willingness: Would you mind... Would it be convenient/too much trouble... I d be delighted... I want to say that...

42 0 Speakers often feel the need to give a hint regarding the reasonableness of an act 0 reasons: 2. asserting the propositional content: OfAicers will henceforth wear ties at dinners. You will be here at Aive. I m going to do it. I ll give it to you next week.

43 0 Speakers often feel the need to give a hint regarding the reasonableness of an act 0 reasons: It wouldn t hurt if... You re standing on my foot. I can t see while you have your hat on. should

44 0 indirectness = non- literalness: 0 irony: I m sure the cat likes to have its tail pulled - > indirect request 0 hearer will infer both meanings: the literal one and the indirect illocutionary force

45 Speech Act can be: 0 direct and literal: Stop talking! 0 direct and Aigurative: Stop being a parrot. 0 indirect and literal: I work best in silence. 0 indirect and Aigurative: My head is exploding.

46 Shut your trap! That rings a bell! Take a number! he s a card- sharping dark horse with a mysterious past. I ve done it again! I ve hit it smack on the nose! Right in the bull s eye! We mustn t give the game away! Just feast your eyes on that! This is some cider!

47 Modal verbs 0 Modal verbs as performatives 0 deontic permission, deontic obligation 0 a deontic modal is performative/subjective if the deontic source is the speaker himself You may go now. cf. Here is the brochure which tells you what employees may or may not do. : objective

48 a. You must never say that again. b. You must go now, visiting hours are over and the head nurse is very strict. c. Passengers must cross the lines by the footbridge. d. We must make an appointment if we want to see the Dean. We have to make an appointment. (have to, need is preferred to must with objective necessity) e. We may borrow up to six books. f. You may join us with pleasure.

49 You must never say that again. (performative) You must go now, visiting hours are over and the head nurse is very strict. (non- performative) Passengers must cross the lines by the footbridge. (non- performative)

50 0 pragmatic weakening: You must have more cake. 0 pragmatic strengthening: You may leave (boss to secretary) *You may have more cake. - > giving permission implies the power to withhold permission *You may not take any notice of him - > no authorization needed

51 0 Contextually, the force of obligation may be weakened to express emphatic advice, invitation, suggestion, in contexts where the hearer/addressee is the beneaiciary of the action described; the state of affairs described by the proposition is desirable to the hearer and bene8icial to him What happens to them will affect you, you must understand this. You mustn t be too disappointed.

52 0 pragmatic weakening only in subjective cases One must make an effort for an old school friend. We must see what can be done.

53 0 1 st person must: hedged performative there is also a confession I must make () I have to say you re not exactly easy on the eye.

54 0 ironic use: (dispositional must) Must you make such a dreadful noise? If you must smoke, use an ashtray. Must you drivel, Bertie? Won't you stop it just this once? I wish there was something else you could call him except 'Uncle Tom'. Yes, Uncle Tom, if you must have it.

55 Epistemic modality pragmatic strength MUST 0 subjective uses: pragmatic weakening The only explanation I can think of Yes, as I thought. It must have got mixed up with my letters. 0 objective: stronger than subjective use: only possibility there is If I m older than Ed then I must be older than Jo.

56 MAY 0 subjective: put forward the proposition as a possibility We may be out of fuel. = one possibility of many: perhaps there s something else wrong with the plane = strong implicature: I don t know if proposition is true 0 objective: public knowledge, not speaker s knowledge: He may have misled Parliament: there s going to be an inquiry.

57 0 special case of pragmatic strengthening: cancels implicature that proposition is not true to speaker s knowledge 0 concessive may 0 may = presupposed 0 the speaker does not indicate doubt about the proposition, but rather accepts it as true, in order to contrast one state of affairs with another No matter what differences they may have had. = they had differences, but they don t matter

58 A person may object to many institutions, in my case it might be banks and fast- food outlets, but such strong feelings might well fall short of the tendency to murder.

59 0 Embedded performatives: I regret to inform you... I am pleased to offer you the job I would like to congratulate you 0 Hedged performatives: I must advise you to remain quiet I can promise you... I will henceforth stipulate that... I might suggest that...

60 0 embedded and hedged performatives are indirect speech acts: the inference becomes more complex 0 purpose of hedging: face preservation: politeness I must ask you to leave?i must welcome you /congratulate you

61 0 can ability + Av I can Ainally promise you... I can now admit 0 would, might, could, should in performatives: elliptical conditionals: the suggestion is that there is some implicit condition which is not fulailled I might suggest (if it were appropriate..., if my opinion were asked)

62 0 Illocutionary Av sentence Av Obviously, I have to / I obviously have to. 0 they determine the truth condition of the proposition: 1. Carefully, John sliced the salami.??? 2. Necessarily, he must be taken to hospital. 3. John kissed Cecilia again.????? 0 discourse- level Speaking of linguistics, /Moreover, /By the way,... 0 speaker/subject oriented adverbs (Jackendoff) a. Carefully, John spilled the beans. b. Cleverly, John walked out at the right time. c. Evidently, Frank is avoiding us. d. Happily, Frank is avoiding us.

63 0 Speaker intrusion: John falsely believes p = John believes p = speaker does not believe p John rightly claims that p =. 0 Moorean paradox:?i falsely believe that 1. true 2. logically consistent 3. not contradiction cf. the liar s paradox: This sentence is false.

64 0 modal adverbs: necessarily, possibly, probably, allegedly, certainly, clearly, evidently, obviously, presumably, reportedly, supposedly, undoubtedly, unquestionably, surely, hopefully, predictably 0 difference between sentences with and without modal adverbs: strength of illocutionary force 0 characterize the speaker s claim to the truth 0 adverb affects truth of the proposition

65 0 evaluative adverbs: astonishingly, annoyingly, fortunately, oddly, interestingly, ironically, luckily, naturally, paradoxically, regrettably, surprisingly, unbelievably, understandably, unfortunately, p = true 0 adverbs modify the circumstance of the proposition being true Luckily (for me/you/everybody)...: it was lucky for everyone that p

66 0 Style disjuncts: frankly, truthfully, conaidentially, briealy, bluntly, cross my heart 0 initial position: speaker/discourse orientation: Truthfully, you lied to me.?you lied to me truthfully. 0 subject orientation when they are VP adverbs: He told you frankly that he hated her.?he lied to you frankly.

67 0 Adverbial qualiaies indirect illocutionary force, making it explicit: Please, I worked very hard for this exam. => not assertive, but directive : please don t let me fail

68 0 Qualifying if- clauses: express felicity conditions if you don t mind my saying so if I can ask if you haven t done so yet... if you can believe it if you are so smart, 0 - > no causal connection 0 - > conventional paraphrase = a sentence whose literal utterance has the same force as the utterance of the sentence

69 0 reason- clauses: giving reason not for proposition, but for performing the speech act: Since you ll Aind out anyway Since I have my arms full, will you open the door

70 0 Hierarchy of indirect speech acts (Lakoff s rule) 0 a question may implicate another question, a declarative or an imperative 0 a declarative may implicate an imperative or a declarative, not a question 0 an imperative may only implicate an imperative 0 => imperative: most marked, interrogative: least marked a. Where s the peanut butter? =You ve put it someplace weird./= Give me!/= Why isn t it on the table? b. It s cold.= Close the window!/= I m uncomfortable/ *=? c. Take out the garbage! = Do as I say/*it smells. /*?

71 0 because: questions require nothing but verbal answer (easiest), declaratives require belief (commitment, more difaicult), imperatives are the rudest: they require action 0 imperatives are oftenest hedged

72 0 parenthetical constructions: metalinguistic function, comments with respect to illocutionary force interpretation: He lives here, I think./is he here, do you suppose? I wonder, I swear, I am certain, I believe, I suppose, I warn you 0 weakening/strengthening force of utterance

73 0 also 3 rd person: a. He would be late, John said subject oriented (What did John say?) b. John will be late, he said speaker oriented - weaken responsibility of speaker (variety of contexts: Where is John? Will everybody be on time?) c. Tom will be early, or so he promised 0 differences: direction of pronominalization, sequence of tenses

74 0 Tag Sentences reversed polarity 0 falling intonation: belief of the speaker: He lives here, doesn t he. 0 rising intonation: conairmation expected: You didn t mean that, did you? 0 seek compliance with a directive: But you will wait, won t you?

75 0 Tag Sentences constant polarity 0 reactive tags 0 host sentence = echoic mention 0 tag: irony, delight, incredulity, doubt, sarcasm... It means that, does it? = I don t believe you The money s all spent, is it? You ve tricked him, have you? 0 + imperatives:\sit down, will you? 0 afairmative tags: reinforce the illocutionary force: I regret it, I do, I do. She said I ought to go to Hollywood, she said

76 Some syntactic properties: 0 Orders: allow adverbials to be fronted: With you right hand, pat your stomach. 0 Instructions: null object permitted: Place chicken in the pot and boil. Shake well before use. 0 fronting: Carefully, remove the lid. 0 warnings: optional deletion of subject: Don t (you) eat too much 0 Contingent promises/threats Cry and I ll smack you again Show that air pollution increases soil fertility and General motors will love you.

77 0 Orders vs. demands:demands: no institutionalized authority, no circumstantial power: Butt out, why don t you! Let my people go! Moses demanded that... Let my people go*why don t you!

78 0 Standardization 1. relationship form and meaning - > predicts properties of usage: If you don t mind indirect requests: it is the meaning of the sentence which achieves polite hedging 2. direct connection between form and usage, without mediation of meaning: ok, well, hey 3. illocutionary standardization with structural consequences (syntactic liberties) Will you close the door? standardized: compatible with standardized phrases When will you close the door? - > non- standard

79 a. *When/Will you kindly/please close the door? b. Will you close the door, someone? c. Will you buzz off? d. Since I ve got my hands full, will you close the door? e. *Will the door be please closed by you? f. When will the door be closed by you? g. *Are you going to please close the door? h. When are you going to close the door? 0 real questions can t be coordinated with afairmative sentences: Will you close the door and I ll open the window? *Do you have any relatives and I ll tell you about my relatives

80 0 tenseless questions: Why do you paint your house purple? request for info Why paint your house purple? directive (suggestion) *For what reason paint your house purple?...*or don t you know? 0 contextual restrictions on tenseless wh: *Why not go to hell? *Why do the dishes every night? (=I) You live here too. Why drive to Chicago? (=shouldn t drive ) Why not drive to Chicago? (should drive)