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What is Pragmatics?
Deixis
Cooperative Principle
Implicature
Potpourri
100
Which one of the following is NOT studied within the field of Pragmatics? (A) speech acts, (B) presuppositions, (C) conversational implicatures, (D) politeness, (E) none of the above
(E) none of the above
100
Which one of the following could be considered a deictic expression? (A) this, (B) you, (C) computer, (D) A & B, (E) B & C.
(D) A & B
100
TRUE or FALSE? The four maxims are included within the Cooperative Principle.
TRUE
100
TRUE or FALSE? An implicature can only result from breaking a maxim.
FALSE. (consider conventional implicatures)
100
A sentence such as "WAR IS WAR" is considered: (A) ambiguous (B) a metaphor (C) a tautology (D) anaphoric.
(C) a tautology
200
What is the main difference between semantics and pragmatics?
Semantics is concerned with word meaning whereas pragmatics is concerned with meaning in CONTEXT.
200
Explain the notion of a deictic center and how it can shift during a conversation.
The deictic center revolves around the speaker, who is the "I". The "here" is where the speaker is at the moment of speaking, and the "now" is the moment in which the speaker is speaking. As the conversation progresses in time, a new speaker can become "I" and "here" can become "there", etc.
200
What is another name for the Maxim of Relevance and what does it state?
Relation - Be relevant, do not say a non-sequitur
200
What maxim is broken in speaker B's utterance and what implicature is created? A: I wonder if there's a test today... // B: The desks are all separated.
Maxim of Relevance - implicates that there IS in fact a test today.
200
Explain the concept of honorifics and give an example.
Terms used to denote relative rank or respect, social hierarchy. Familiar vs. formal treatment, ex: 2nd person pronouns.
300
What is mutual knowledge? Explain it and give an example.
It is the information that the speaker and the interlocutor share that can assist in the interpretation of a given message.
300
What is another name for "deictic" expressions?
Indexical expressions
300
What is the specific term (verb) for breaking a maxim and what is the result?
Flout a maxim, resulting in an implicature
300
What does it mean for an implicature to be cancelable? Give an example.
That the listener's interpretation can be said to be wrong and be corrected by the speaker. A: Is the teacher here yet? // B: The computer is on. /// Interpretation: Yes, she is because she turned the computer on. But I could say no, that I meant the computer was left on by the previous teacher so she's probably not here yet.
300
What is the difference between "sentence" and "utterance"?
A sentence is an abstract theoretical entity defined within a theory of grammar, while an utterance is a fragment or sentence within a context.
400
What is inference? Explain it and give an example.
That which an interlocutor deduces based on grammatical, lexical, and context clues.
400
Give an example of an anaphoric and a non-anaphoric expression.
Anaphoric (needs an antecedent to be interpreted): "Melody is such a nice girl. The other day she made cookies for everyone." Non-anaphoric (doesn't need an antecedent): "I got married two years AGO."
400
What is the maxim of Manner? Give an example in which a speaker obeys it and one in which he doesn't.
Avoid obscurity and ambiguity, be brief and orderly. A: How was class yesterday? // B: It was fine, we reviewed for the test. / B: Considering the conditions in which we found ourselves, the day and time, the material covered by the professor, and the progression of the course itself, it could be considered to have been a satisfactory class. We went over all the material that we have covered since the beginning of the semester in order to prepare for our upcoming examination.
400
Explain what a conventional implicature is and give an example.
Non-truth-conditional inferences that are NOT derived from pragmatic principles like maxims, but rather are associated by convention with certain lexical items or expressions. (but, and, therefore, even, yet)
400
Explain the difference between a generalized and particularized conversational implicature and give an example of each.
Generalized: those that arise without any particular context (engrained in grammar and semantics). Particularized: require a specific context to be interpreted. G: A car got stolen in my neighborhood. (not my car) P: A: Do you recommend the coffee from that cafe? // B: If you like drinking toilet water.
500
Grice explained that there can be "interesting discrepancies between speaker meaning (meaning-nn) and sentence meaning". Explain what he meant by this.
Surface meaning vs. deeper meaning. "I love Trump!" on the surface seems like the speaker appreciates the U.S. President. But said by someone else (in a given context), it can mean the exact opposite.
500
Vocatives can be divided into two groups: calls and addresses. Give an example of each.
Call: Hey, sir! You didn't pay for your parking!! Addresses: The truth is, Professor, I didn't do my homework.
500
What is the difference between the maxim of Quality and the maxim of Quantity? How can you apply each to the utterance, "The flag is white?" You must answer all parts of the question correctly to earn the points!
Quality: do not lie or say something you don't have adequate evidence for. Quantity: do not make your contribution more or less informative than the exchange asks for.
500
Describe the four properties of conversational implicatures that Grice put forth: cancelability, non-detachability, calculability, and non-conventionality.
Cancelability: can be said implicature is wrong; Non-detachability: you should be able to replace words in the utterance with synonyms and still get the same implicature; Calculability: referring to the maxims we can assume that the speaker said something that does in fact on a deeper level obey the maxims and follow the Cooperative Principle; Non-conventionality: not part of the inherent meaning of linguistic expressions (beyond semantics).
500
Explain the difference between nominal, predicative, and sentential metaphors. Then explain how a metaphor is interpreted. Be sure to use the word "simile" and "maxims" in your answer.
Nominal: SO or STh is N. (Jamie is a leech.) Predicative: SO or STh . (John just kept trucking.) Sentential: entire sentence is a metaphor. (The beast reared its ugly head.) // A metaphor is interpreted by converting it into a simile using "like" or "as" (easier to process) and by assuming the speaker is following the maxims despite the fact that on the surface he may seem to be flouting one or more (especially Quality or Relevance).