Chapter 8 Language in Use
Chapter 8 Language in Use
I. Choose the best answer. (20%)
1. What essentially distinguishes semantics and pragmatics is whether in the study of meaning _________ is considered.
A. reference
B. speech act
C. practical usage
D. context
2. A sentence is a _________ concept, and the meaning of a sentence is often studied in isolation.
A. pragmatic
B. grammatical
C. mental
D. conceptual
3. If we think of a sentence as what people actually utter in the course of communication, it becomes
a (n) _________.
A. constative
B. directive
C. utterance
D. expressive
4. Which of the following is true?
A. Utterances usually do not take the form of sentences.
B. Some utterances cannot be restored to complete sentences.
C. No utterances can take the form of sentences.
D. All utterances can be restored to complete sentences.
5. Speech act theory did not come into being until __________.
A. in the late 50’s of the 20the century
B. in the early 1950’s
C. in the late 1960’s
D. in the early 21st century
6. __________ is the act performed by or resulting from saying something; it is the consequence of, or the change brought about by the utterance.
A. A locutionary act
B. An illocutionary act
C. A perlocutionary act
D. A performative act
7. According to Searle, the illocutionary point of the representative is ______.
A. to get the hearer to do something
B. to commit the speaker to something’s being the case
C. to commit the speaker to some future course of action
D. to express the feelings or attitude towards an existing state of affairs
8. All the acts that belong to the same category share the same purpose, but they differ __________.
A. in their illocutionary acts
B. in their intentions expressed
C. in their strength or force
D. in their effect brought about
9. __________ is advanced by Paul Grice
A. Cooperative Principle
B. Politeness Principle
C. The General Principle of Universal Grammar
D. Adjacency Principle
10. When any of the maxims under the cooperative principle is flouted, _______ might arise.
A. impoliteness
B. contradictions
C. mutual understanding
D. conversational implicatures
II. Decide whether the following statements are true or false. (10%)
11. Pragmatics treats the meaning of language as something intrinsic and inherent.
12. It would be impossible to give an adequate description of meaning if the context of language use was left unconsidered.
13. What essentially distinguishes semantics and pragmatics is whether in the study of meaning the context of use is considered.
14. The major difference between a sentence and an utterance is that a sentence is not uttered while an utterance is.
15. The meaning of a sentence is abstract, but context-dependent.
16. The meaning of an utterance is decontexualized, therefore stable.
17. Utterances always take the form of complete sentences
18. Speech act theory was originated with the British philosopher John Searle.
19. Speech act theory started in the late 50’s of the 20th century.
20. Austin made the distinction between a constative and a performative.
III. Fill in the blanks. (20%)
21. The notion of __________ is essential to the pragmatic study of language.
22. If we think of a sentence as what people actually utter in the course of communication, it becomes an __________.
23. The meaning of a sentence is __________, and decontexualized.
24. __________ were statements that either state or describe, and were thus verifiable.
25. __________ were sentences that did not state a fact or describe a state, and were not verifiable.
26. A(n) __________ act is the act of uttering words, phrases, clauses. It is the act of conveying literal meaning by means of syntax, lexicon and phonology.
27. A(n) __________ act is the act of expressing the speaker’s intentio n; it is the act performed in saying something.
28. A(n) _________ is commit the speaker himself to some future course of action.
29. A(n) ________ is to express feelings or attitude towards an existing state.
30. There are four maxims under the cooperative principle: the maxim of __________, the maxim of quality, the maxim of relation and the maxim of manner.
IV. Explain the following terms, using examples. (20%)
31. Conversational implicature
32. Performative
33. Locutionary act
34. Q-principle (Horn)
V. Answer the following questions. (20%)
35. Explain the following remarks with examples or make some comments.
“Both semantics and pragmatics are concerned with meaning, but the difference between them can be traced to two diff erent uses of the verb mean: (a) What does X mean? (b) What did you mean by X?” （东北师范大学，2006）
36. Do you think B is cooperative in the following dialogue? Support your argument with Cooperative Principle. （南开大学，2004）
A: When is the bus coming?
B: There has been an accident further up the road.
VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%)
37. What is the function of context in communication? Try to explain the following utterances rather than just state facts.
(1) The room is messy.
(2) It would be good if she had a green skirt on.
Key:
I.
1~5 DBCBA 6~10 CBCAD
II.
11~15 FTTFF 16~20 FFFTT
III.
21. context 22. utterance
23. abstract 24. Constatives
25. Performatives 26. locutionary
27. illocutionary 28. commissive
29. expressive 30. quantity
IV.
31. Conversational implicature: In our daily life, speakers and listeners involved in conversation are generally cooperating with each other. In other words, when people are talking with each other, they must try to converse smoothly and successfully. In accepting speakers’ presupposit ions, listeners have to assume that a speaker is not trying to mislead them. This sense of cooperation is simply one in which people having a conversation are not normally assumed to be trying to confuse, trick, or withhold relevant information from one another. However, in real communication, the intention of the speaker is often not the literal meaning of what he or she says. The real intention implied in the words is called conversational implicature.
32. Performative:In speech act theory an utterance which performs an act, such as Watch out (= a warning).
33. Locutionary act: A locutionary act is the saying of something which is meaningful and can be understood.
34. Horn’s Q-principle: (1) Make your contribution sufficient (cf. quantity); (2) Say as much as you can (given R).
V.
35.
Pragmatics is the study of the use of language in communication, particularly the relationships between sentences and the contexts and situations in which they are used. Pragmatics includes the study of
(1) How the interpretation and use of utterances depends on knowledge of the real world;
(2) How speakers use and understand speech acts;
(3) How the structure of sentences is influenced by the relationship between the speaker and the hearer.
Pragmatics is sometimes contrasted with semantics, which deals with meaning without reference to the users and communicative functions of sentences.
36.
Yes, B is cooperative. On the face of it, B’s statement is not an answer to A’s question. B doesn’t say “when.” However, A will immediately interpret the statement as meaning “I don’t know” or “I am not sure.” Just assume that B is being “relevant” and “informative.” Given that B’s answer contains relevant information, A can work out that “an accident further up the road” conventionally involves “traffic jam,” and “traffic jam” preludes “bus coming.” Thus, B’s answer is not simply a statement of “when the bus comes”; it contains an implicature concerning “when the bus comes.”
VI.
37.
It occurs before and / or after a word, a phrase or even a longer utterance or a text. The context often helps in understanding the particular meaning of the word, phrase, etc.
The context may also be the broader social situation in which a linguistic item is used.
(1)
a. A mild criticism of someone who should have cleaned the room.
b. In a language class where a student made a mistake, for he intended to say “tidy.”
c. The room was wanted for a meeting.
(2)
a. A mild way to express disagreement with someone who has complimented on a lady’s appearance.
b. A regret that the customer had not taken the dress.
c. That she wore a red shirt was not in agreement with the custom on the occasion.