pragmatics seminar2 2011 a

7/28/2019 Pragmatics Seminar2 2011 A

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3rd YEAR - PRAGMATICS SEMINAR (2)

SPEECH ACT CATEGORISATION. INDIRECT SPEECH ACTS

1. Read the following excerpt from D. Lodges Deaf Sentence and specify:a) how does the protagonist highlight the locution-illocution-perlocution

distinction

b) How does the protagonist apply this distinction to the understanding ofsuicide notes

What kind of a speech act is a suicide note? It depends of course on whatclassification system youre using. In the classic Austin scheme there are threepossible types of speech act entailed in any utterance, spoken or written: thelocutionary (which is to say what you say, the propositional meaning), theillocutionary (which is the effect the utterance is intended to have on others)and the perlocutionary (which is the effect it actually has). But there are lots offurther distinctions and subcategories and alternative typologies like Searlescommissive, declarative, directive, expressive and representative, indirect

speech acts and so on. Most utterances have both locutionary meaning andillocutionary force. The hazy area is the line between the illocutionary and theperlocutionary. Is the perlocutionary properly speaking a linguistic act at all?Austin gives an example of a man who says Shoot her! (a rather odd exampleto invent, when you think about it, a symptom of male chauvinism and misogynyamong Oxford dons perhaps). Locution: He said to me Shoot her meaning byshoot shoot and by her her. Illocution: he urged (or advised, ordered, etc.) meto shoot her. Perlocution: he persuaded me to shoot her. The interesting level isthe illocutionary: even in this example you can see how the same words canhave quite different illocutionary force in different contexts. A little exercise Iused to give first-year students was to imagine such contexts. He ordered me to

shoot her, for example, might describe an SS officers command to a guard in aconcentration camp. He advised me to shoot her needs a little moreimagination, theres such a moral gap between the cool finite verb and thebrutal infinitive; some Mafia godfather perhaps, speaking to a member of hisfamily whose wife has been unfaithful to him. (On further reflection, only betaminus for that one: normally both the weapon and the target must be presentfor shoot to be felicitous.)What about a suicide note that consisted entirely of the words I intend to shootmyself? Locution: he stated his intention to shoot himself, meaning by intendintend, by shoot shoot and by myself himself. Illocution: here are severalpossibilities here. He could be explaining, to those who would find him dead,

that he shot himself deliberately, not accidentally, or that he was not shot byanother person. He could be expressing the despair which had driven him to thisextreme step. He could be making his family and friends feel bad about nothaving realized he might kill himself, and not having prevented it. Without morecontext, theres no way of knowing. As to the perlocutionary effect, I supposethat would depend on whether or not he actually committed suicide. Or wouldit? You dont need to say or write the words, I intend to shoot myself in order tohave the effect of shooting yourself. You dontperform suicide in words, as, say,you perform marriage. The perlocutionary level of a suicide note is inseparable

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from the illocutionary level its intended effect on those who read it. But thatwill probably be affected by whether you succeed or not.

(David Lodge Deaf Sentence)

2. According to the conventions of everyday usage could the utterance Would

you like a cup of coffee? be an act of:a) warning; b) thanking; c) apologizing; d) offering; e) enquiring; f) questioning.

3. Say whether the following acts are directives, commissives or expressives:a) volunteering; b) advising; c) forbidding; d) accepting; e) requesting; f)

congratulating; g) insulting; h) undertaking.

4. Specify which acts are performed by making each of the utterances belowand whether they can be regarded as directives, commissives or expressives:a) Im happy to see youve lost some weight.b) Wow, isnt that an interesting point of view!

c) You know your blood pressure is a bit high, dont you?d) Why are you always staying extra hours?e) Will that waitress ever bring us some menus?f) You must have been blind when you bought this pair of shoes!g) Feel free to see yourself out!h) Tomorrows going to be a better day.i) Was he... lets say.... a little intoxicated when he made that awful blunder?j) We have agreed to disagree.

5. In your own words, formulate ISAs intended to count as:

- a piece of advice addressed to a shopaholic- a warning addressed to a shopaholic- an expression of satisfaction with a shopaholics taking their problem seriously- an interdiction issues to a person who constantly reads the Speakers e-mails- an expression of dissatisfaction with a persons habit of reading the Speakersemails- a threat directed at a person who constantly reads other Speakers e-mails- an expression meant to signal need for help with moving the furniture- an expression meant to signal volunteering to help the interlocutor move thefurniture- a promise to cater to a friends extravagant tastes

- a threat not to cater to a friends extravagant tastes

5. Examine the following dialogues and infer what is indirectly intended to be

conveyed by each utterance

(1) Phoebe: Hey, Mon, what is this?

Monica: Oh, um, that was my bathing suit from high school. I was, uh, a little

bigger then.

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Chandler: Oh, I thought that was what they used to cover Connecticut when it

rained. (Friends)

(2)Niles: Miss Babcock for you, sir.Max: Thank you Niles, I'll take her in the library.Niles: Miss Babcock loves to be taken in the library.

(3)C.C.: Maxwell, I adore children. It's a natural thing, a female thing.Niles: I hear some females eat their young.

(6) C.C.: (To Max) I dont know why...I just love weddings.Niles: Yeah. We all want what we cant have

(The Nanny)

(7) Patient: Whats that? What are you doing?House: Painkillers.Patient: Oh, for you, for your leg.

House: No, cause theyre yummy. You want one?

(8) Patient: Do you live alone?House: You writing a book?

(9) Foreman: Ten year olds do not have heart attacks. Its gotta be a mistake.House: Right. The simplest explanation is shes a forty-year-old lying about herage. Maybe an actress trying to hang on.Foreman: I meant, maybe the tests were wrong.

(10) House to his patient, a young boy: What would you want, a doctor who holds

your hand while you die, or a doctor who ignores you while you get better? Iguess it would particularly suck to have a doctor who ignores you while you die.(House, MD)

6. Translate into Romanian:What do you do at the end of a date when you know you dont want to see this personever again, for the rest of your life? [U1] What do you say? [U2] What do you say?[U3] No matter what you say, its a lie. [U4] Ill see you around. [U5] See you around.[U6] If youre around, and Im around, Ill see you around that area. [U7] Youll bearound other people. [U8] You wont be around me. [U9] But you will be around.[U10] Take care now. [U11] Did you ever say that to somebody? [U12] Take carenow. [U13] Take care, now. [U14] Because, Im not gonna take care of you. [U15] So,

you should take care, now. [U16] Take care. [U17] Take care. [U18] What does thismean? [U19] Take off! [U20] Isnt that what you really want to say? [U21] Take offnow. [U22] (Seinfeld - The Baby Shower)

Ladies and gentlemen, last year, our City Council by a vote of twelve to two, passed aGood Samaritan Law. Now, essentially, we made it a crime to ignore a fellow humanbeing in trouble. Now this group from New York not only ignored, but, as we will prove,they actually mocked the victim as he was being robbed at gunpoint. I can guarantee

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you one other thing, ladies and gentlemen, this is not the first time they have behavedin this manner. On the contrary, they have quite a record of mocking and maligning.

This is a history of selfishness, self-absorption, immaturity, and greed. And you will seehow everyone who has come into contact with these four individuals has been abused,wronged, deceived and betrayed. This time, they have gone too far. This time they aregoing to be held accountable. This time, they are the ones who will pay.

(The Finale)

[Cut to House and Cuddy in her office trying to persuade her to put a patients name onthe list for kidney transplant. The patient needs a new kidney due to kidney failurecaused by a disease which the team hasnt been able to diagnose yet]

Cuddy: You want me to put Hank Wiggen on the transplant list. (U1)House: He needs a new kidney. (U2) I was thinking the kidney people might havesome. (U3)Cuddy: Well, they like to save them for people who have how do I put this -kidney problems. (U4)House: Hes a professional ballplayer, brings joy to millions. (U5) Do you really

want to be known as the hospital that sent him home to die? (U6) [Puts a fist downon some papers on her desk]Cuddy: Thats a great idea, we can be the hospital that killed two people. (U7) Theguy who deserved the kidney, and the ballplayer we bumped up the list when wewerent even sure what was wrong with him. (U8)House: Everything else is related to the Addisons. (U9)Cuddy: The test for Addisons was inconclusive. (U10)House: The test for Addisons is always inconclusive. (U11)Cuddy: Why do we do it at all? (U12) We should just ask you. (U13) [tries to takea paper from under Houses fist; he doesnt budge. She gives him an irritatedlook.]House: Youre not putting him on the list. (U14)[Moves his hand, Cuddy takes

paper]Cuddy: Your powers of deduction are breathtaking. (U15)House: You take a perverse pleasure at turning me down. (U16)Cuddy: Its what I live for. (U17) Once in a while, though, try to ruin my day. (U18)Ask me something I can say yes to. (U19) [House leaves]

(Season 1, Episode 12)[Cut to House entering the clinic.]

Cuddy: Youre half an hour late. (U1)House: Busy case load. (U2)Cuddy: One case is not a load. (U3)

House: So, how are we doing on cotton swabs today? (U4) If theres an acuteshortage I could run home (U5)Cuddy: [looks at his leg] No, you couldnt. (U6)House: Nice. (U7) [He walks over to the waiting room full of patients.] Hello, sickpeople and their loved ones! (U8) [Cuddy looks at him incredulously.] In theinterest of saving time and avoiding a lot of boring chit-chat later, Im Dr. GregoryHouse. (U9) You can call me Gregg. (U10) Im one of three doctors staffing thisclinic this morning. (U11)Cuddy: Short, sweet. (U11) Grab a file. (U12)

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House: This ray of sunshine is Dr. Lisa Cuddy. (U13) Dr. Cuddy runs this wholehospital so, unfortunately, shes much too busy to deal with you. (U14) I am abored [looks at Cuddy] certified diagnostician with a double specialty of infectiousdisease and nephrology. (U15) Im also the only doctor currently employed at thisclinic who is here against his will. (U16) That is true, isnt it? (U17) [Cuddy justlooks at him.] But not to worry, because for most of you this job could be done by amonkey with a bottle of Motrin. (U18) Speaking of which, if youre particularly

annoying, you may see me reach for this. (U19) This is Vicodin. (U20) Its mine.(U21) You cant have any. (U22) And no, I do not have a pain managementproblem, I have a pain problem. (U23) But who knows? (U24) Maybe Im wrong.(U25) Maybe Im too stoned to tell. (U26) So, who wants me? (U27) [None of theclinic patients seem too eager.] And who would rather wait for one of the other twodoctors? (U28) [Everyone raises their hands.] Okay, well, Ill be in Exam Room 1 ifyou change your mind. (U29)

(Season 1, Episode 3)

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