Pragmatics Test 2

Speech Act performative-verb examples Optative

wish, call for

Verdictives

alter EXPERIENCE PATH by changing how someone or something is PERCEIVED.

Effectives

alter EXPERIENCE PATH by changing how someone or something is to ACT.

What felicity condition(s) on directives are met in the above scenario?

Father has authority to give the instruction. Apparently the instruction isn't something the son already intended to do.

Indirect Command

STATE: Boss to employee A: My boss wants this done tonight or else... B's action in response = Does it; stays late.

Indirect promise

STATE: Friends deciding on movie time. A: Let's meet at 1pm? I'm free at 1pm. A's action promised = show up at 1pm.

Indirect affirmation

STATE: Grandma and grandpa get a wedding-dinner invitation, asked to RSVP. A: We'll be there. Count us in. A's action promised = To show up at the wedding dinner, eat the food, etc.

Indirect Request

STATE: It's lunchtime. Two friends out and about. A: I'm getting kinda hungry. Could we find someplace to eat? B's action in response = Look for a place to eat.

Indirect offer

STATE: Neighbor Bob moving A: Neighbor Mark: Those boxes look heavy. Let me help you. A's action promised = Mark will help with boxes if Bob says nothing.

So-called "Rhetorical Questions" are not question speech acts. They are interpreted instead as what two kinds of speech act?

Directive or Representative: the hearer ACTS or AGREES.

Ballesteros recognized three types of strategies for realizing the speech acts. direct, indirect conventional, and indirect nonconventional utterances

"I'm asking you to stop smoking!" "Could you run to the store and get a few things for me?" "Excuse me but we're in a non-smoking carriage"

Bless

Anyone can bless (or curse) but it requires some kind of priesthood authority to expect that God will honor the blessing.

Hearer positive face

Approbation Maxim (in expressives and assertives): minimize dispraise of other; maximize praise of other

Explain the following exchange: Mrs. Hale: I wish I'd come over here once in awhile. That was a crime. That was a crime. Who's going to punish that? Mrs. Peters: We mustn't take on.What is the intended speech act behind Mrs. Hale's question?

A neighbor (Mrs. Wright) killed her husband. Mrs Hales thinks the crime might not have happened if she'd paid more attention to Mrs. Wright, so Mrs. Hale feels she shares responsibility for the crime. Mrs. Peters reads this as regret/lament and tries to console Mrs. Hale. Regret/Expressive

See Wang, p. 43-44. Explain what "metonymy" is. Give an example showing how rhetorical questions rely on metonymy.

A part is taken to represent or signify the whole: "Wheels" is a metonym for a car. A question is part of a question-answer script, so a question becomes a metonym for an answer/representative. Isn't Bob the one who agreed to take out the trash => Bob agreed to take out the trash. Didn't you want to take out the trash, Bob? => Take out the trash. A question is also part of a request-compliance script, so a question becomes a metonym for a directive.

Recall that an explicit speech act requires a performative verb AND first person subject AND present tense.

A performative verb names the action performed by the utterance itself and works when prefaced by the phrase "I hereby ___ " where "I" refers to a speaker with sufficient authority to make the declaration. There are performative verbs for every kind of speech act.

Scripted: Condole or Console Raw emotion shared: rested (on sympathy)

A: I'm sorry you lost your purse. B: It's ok: nothing in it mattered. A: I just stubbed my toe: I hate that. B: Yeah I hate it when that happens too.

Scripted: Lament Raw emotion shared: concerned

A: It totally turned winter while we were gone. A: The fall broke my arm. B: I know: that's terrible.

Scripted: Compliment Raw emotion shared: stimulated

A: Nice shirt. Love the color B: Thanks. It was a steal. Cause I stole it from my bro.

Scripted: Rejoice Raw emotion shared: amused

A: Six day weekend! B: Whoo!

Scripted: Regret Raw emotion shared: focused

A: You look sick, dude. B: Yeah, shouldn't have eaten the whole jar of mayo.

Scripted: Deplore Raw emotion shared: agitated

A: You made that test super hard. Why? Why? B: Sorry: they made me do it. A: They're stupid. B: You shouldn't be so judgmental, dummy.

Hearer positive face

Agreement Maxim (in assertives): minimize disagreement between self/other; maximize agreement between self/other

ARFSCA, EPCEPM, DBOAWA

Amuse, Rest, Focus, Stimulate, Concern, Agitate Entertain, Peace, Commit, Excite, Proactive, Motivate Distract, Bored, Obsess, Anxious, Worry, Anger

"Have another cookie." is considered more polite when speaker and hearer know each other well. "Would you have another cookie?" is considered more polite when speaker and hearer don't know each other well. Explain this in terms of how positive and negative face are prioritized for people who are NOT familiar with each other.

Being liked is not so much an issue with people who aren't known well and so priority is given to negative face: the autonomy of strangers to act.

offer:

COMMISSIVE

But Commissives also have another range of subtypes based on some degree of mutual commitment between speaker, hearer, or other third parties.

Concur < Trade < Contract < Covenant

change topic of conversation

DECLARATION

reprimand/blame:

DECLARATION

start/maintain conversation:

DECLARATION

get attention:

DIRECTIVE

Harry Potter defeated Voldemort. Harry Potter married Ron W.'s sister. Ron W. married Hermione. Harry Potter later divorced Ron W.'s sister and married Hermione. Assume the first three statements are true but the last one is false. 1. But in that case, what kind of speech act is the act of writing fiction? Explain your answer in terms of the definition of that speech act.

Declaration. J.K. Rowling made those first three statements true just by saying so, and she didn't say the last one, so it's not true.

exclamation:

EXPRESSIVE 1.5

irritation:

EXPRESSIVE 3.1

sarcasm/irony:

EXPRESSIVE 3.3

disapproval or disagreement:

EXPRESSIVE or REPRESENTATIVE 3.1

surprise/disbelief:

EXPRESSIVE- 11.8

If a declaration is also simultaneously another speech act, it only counts as a declaration overall IF the other speech act has lower weight in the hierarchy of speech acts. Not that the above is not an arbitrary declaration of a rule but rather a representative description of how people actually perceive speech acts.

Expressive=1, directive=2, declaration=1+2, optative=1+3, question=2+3, representative=1+3+2+3, commissive=1+2+1+2+3+3 In other words, expressives and directives phrased as explicit declarations are declarations with expressive or directive implications. but optatives, representatives, questions, and commissives are taken as optatives, representatives, questions, or commissives even if phrased as explicit declarations.

Hearer negative face

Generosity Maxim (in impositives and commissives): minimize benefit to self; maximize cost to self

Explicit, direct:

I (hereby) declare that this message is approved.

Explicit, indirect:

I (hereby) request/ask that this message be posted.

Indirect Instruction

STATE: Parent and child; room messy; parent wants to teach responsibility. Child can't find toy. A: I bet if you clean your room, you'll find it. B's action in response = cleans their room

Approve

Individually, you can approve things, like you can surrender just yourself, but you need authority over the group to approve for the group.

What is the intended speech act behind the father's question?

It isn't a question, but rather a directive.

Indirect oath

STATE: Somebody owes a million bucks to the mob. Will be killed if they don't come up with it. A: You'll have the money on Thursday, guaranteed. A's action promised = deliver the money or die.

Hearer positive face

Modesty Maxim (in expressives and assertives): Minimize praise of self, maximize dispraise of self

Indirect suggestion

STATE: Two students talking about class struggles. A: You could try redoing the homework, right this time. B's action in response = (Maybe) redo the homework.

Haven't you thought about reading this book? English, less polite Have you thought about reading this book? English, more polite

No has pensado en leer este libro? Spanish, more polite Has pensado en leer este libro? Spanish, less polite

Thus, the public image called "face" is based on a balancing act between feeling (Firstness) and action (Secondness).

Non-Peircean linguists commonly refer to the feeling aspect of face as "positive face": Each speaker and each hearer wants to be liked; each speaker and hearer wants to feel unity with the in-group. Non-Peircean linguists commonly refer to the action aspect of face as "negative face": Each speaker and hearer wants to get things done. Each speaker and hearer wants to have active control over what they do.

What kind of authority is required in order for a writer's fictional statements to be taken as true?

Not only do you have to be an author, but you have to be an author who is read by some wider community and the wider community has to accept your writing as "canon." Fan fiction doesn't count: it's not widely read and it's "non canon."

Commissives correspond in turn with Peirce's thirdness (pattern, predictability, law). Commissives can likewise vary according to the degree of commitment from just the speaker:

Offer < Promise < Affirm < Swear

Lorry: A solitary old bachelor. There is nobody to weep for me. Carton: How could you say that? Wouldn't she weep for you? Wouldn't her child?" Lorry: Yes, yes, thank God. I didn't quite mean what I said.

STATE Lorry: A solitary old bachelor... GOAL: ... There is nobody to weep for me. CAUSE Carton: How could you say that? Wouldn't she weep for you? Wouldn't her child?" EXP. PATH Lorry: Yes, yes, thank God... RESULT ... I didn't quite mean what I said.

Analyze the following exchange from Jane Eyre as a speech-act script. Treat the rhetorical question as CAUSE. Maid: What shocking conduct, Miss Eyre, to strike a young gentleman, your benefactress's son! Your young master! Jane: How is he my master? Am I his servant? Maid: No, you are less than a servant, for you do nothing for your keep. There, sit down, and think over your wickedness. And Jane does think it over for a bit.

STATE Maid: What shocking conduct, Miss Eyre, to strike a young gentleman, your benefactress's son! Your young master! CAUSE Jane: How is he my master? Am I his servant? RESULT Subplot CAUSE Maid: No, you are less than a servant, Subplot EXP. PATH for you do nothing for your keep... Subbplot GOAL ...There, sit down, and think over your wickedness. Subplot RESULT And Jane does think it over for a bit.

request advice:

QUESTION-1.2

seek agreement:

QUESTION-1.8

request information:

QUESTION-19.6

request confirmation:

QUESTION-5.4

request clarification:

QUESTION-9.7

deny/negate:

REPRESENTATIVE - 3.3

cast suspicion:

REPRESENTATIVE - 3.6

assert or confirm:

REPRESENTATIVE - 5.7

What is the intended speech act behind Mrs. Hale's question?

Regret/Expressive

Baptize

Religious authorization required, in order for the religious organization to honor the baptism. Interestingly, Catholicism authorizes any lay person to baptize if no priest is available, but it's still an authorization.

Explain what is odd/funny in the following exchange: Father: How many times do I have to tell you to brush your teeth? Son: Five times.

Son gives direct express answer to the direct express question, even though it isn't meant directly or expressly. We know this because the son and father know the right answer to the question is "once."

What felicity condition(s) on questions are NOT met in this scenario?

Speaker doesn't actually know the answer, but hearer does.

What felicity condition(s) on expressives are met in the above scenario?

Speaker intends to share feeling with Hearer; Speaker has negative emotion about speaker's PAST (in)action impacting Speaker goals.

Directives correspond in turn with Peirce's secondness (contrast, opposition, action). Secondness is much narrower and specific: Directive subtypes are generally placed on a single spectrum of intensity:

Suggest < Request < Instruct < Command

Hearer positive face

Sympathy Maxim (in assertives): minimize antipathy between self/other; maximize sympathy between self/other.

Hearer negative face

Tact Maxim (in impositives and commissives): minimize cost to other; maximize benefit to other

Explain the difference between "Take care of yourself" and "It takes care of you" in terms how each reading of "Cuida de ti" would be interpreted as a speech act.

Take care of yourself has the form of a directive, but violates the condition on directives that a hearer wasn't already intending to do the referenced action. It's an indirect commissive, implying that the speaker's product WILL help with that goal. It takes care of you has the form of a representative, and it may indeed be a representative (new information) but it likewise implies a commitment that the speaker's product WILL take care of hearer. Commissives have a higher rank than representatives in the speech act hierarchy so the Commissive interpretation still operates.

What felicity condition(s) on questions are NOT met in this scenario?

That speaker wouldn't know answer: She knows she'll punish herself. That hearer would know the answer.

Explain the problem with this overgeneralization below. Give examples. The more indirect a speech act is, the more politeness it conveys, [so] the imperative is direct and seemingly impolite.

There are at least THREE problems (kudos if you saw any of these three): 1. An imperative only counts as more direct IF all the felicity conditions for directives are met. A directive form that references something a hearer already means to do is not a directive at all but may be an indirect (implied) commissive, and therefore be read as polite. 2. An directive that urges action for a hearer (that they didn't already intend) might nevertheless be an action that imposes little burden and great benefit for the hearer. In those cases a direct directive may seem MORE polite, according to Leech's hierarchy on p. 13. 3. In Wise's actual data, imperative forms dominate over other forms and yet (we assume) the language of advertisements strives to be polite so therefore we may conclude that the assumption that imperatives are less polite isn't consistent with the evidence.

non-explicit, direct:

This message is (hereby) approved.

non-explicit, indirect:

This message will work fine, thanks—spoken by someone who has the authority to approve the message.

A valid declaration is by definition essentially made TRUE simply by virtue of having been uttered under the essential felicity conditions of declarations: Speaker has authority for the speech act, AND Hearer consents to the speech act, OR has insufficient authority to challenge it.

Thus, if an umpire declares a ball player OUT that player is OUT, and if someone in the stands says that player is SAFE, the player is still OUT. You should note that, by this definition, every EXPLICIT speech act is also a declaration.

Vote

You belong to the community who is voting, and qualify to vote by age, legal status, etc.

Forgive

You have to be the one offended to forgive.

Renounce

You have to belong, have, or believe before you can renounce.

Abdicate

You have to have a "royal" position before you can abdicate.

Resign

You have to have a position before you can resign.

Surrender

You have to have held a militant position of some kind before you can surrender. You have to be the general of the whole army/navy, etc. before you can surrender in the sense of ending a war.

Disown

You have to own before you disown.

Bequeath

You have to own something to bequeath it.

Condemn

You need some kind of authority over the thing or person condemned, unless this is simply a synonym of disapproval.

Speech Act performative-verb examples Expressive

approve, compliment, praise, laud, extol, plaudit, applaud, acclaim, brag, boast, complain, disapprove, blame, reprove, deplore, protest, grieve, mourn, lament, rejoice, cheer, boo, condole, congratulate, thank, apologize, greet, and welcome

Speech Act performative-verb examples Q/A

ask, question, inquire, interrogate

Speech Act performative-verb examples Representative

assert, reassert, negate, deny, correct, claim, affirm, state, disclaim, declare, tell, suggest, guess, hypothesize, conjecture, postulate, predict, forecast, foretell, prophesy, report, retrodict, advise, alert, describe, inform, reveal, divulge, notify, insinuate, sustain, insist, maintain, assure, aver, avouch, certify, attest, swear, testify, agree, disagree, assent, dissent, acquiesce, recognize, acknowledge, admit, confess, concede, recant.

Speech Act performative-verb examples Commissive

commit, pledge, undertake, engage, promise, guarantee, threaten, vow, avow, swear, assure, certify, accept, agree, consent, acquiesce, abide, reject, refuse, renounce, offer, counter-offer, bid, rebid, tender, dedicate, bet, wager, contract, covenant, subscribe.

Speech Act performative-verb examples Declaration

declare, renounce, disclaim, disown, resign, repudiate, disavow, retract, abdicate, abjure, deny, disinherit, yield, surrender, capitulate, approve, confirm, sanction, ratify, bless, curse, dedicate, consecrate, disapprove, stipulate, name, call, define, abbreviate, nominate, authorize, licence, install, appoint, establish, institute, inaugurate, convene, convoke, open, close, suspend, adjourn, terminate, dissolve, denounce, vote, veto, enact, legislate, promulgate, decree, confer, grant, bestow, accord, cede, rule, adjudge, adjudicate, condemn, sentence, damn, clear, acquit, disculpate, exonerate, pardon, forgive, absolve, cancel, annul, abolish, abrogate, revoke, repeal, rescind, retract, sustain, bequeath, baptize, and excommunicate.

verdictive

declare1, repudiate, disavow, retract, deny, approve, confirm, bless, curse, dedicate, disapprove, stipulate, name, call, define, abbreviate, denounce, rule, licence1, adjudge, condemn1, damn, clear, acquit, disculpate, exonerate, forgive, absolve, sustain. 1 = verdictive meaning of the word: expresses a label or opinion or assertion; consequences may follow but they are vague, indeterminate, not specific and necessary. 2= effective meaning of the word: causes actions to directly follow the declaration, definite, specific, necessary actions, as opposed to vague, possible actions.

effective

declare2, resign, renounce, disclaim, disown, abdicate, abjure, disinherit, yield, sanction, surrender, capitulate, ratify, consecrate, nominate, authorize, licence2, install, appoint, establish, institute, inaugurate, promulgate, decree, confer, grant, bestow, accord, cede, convene, open, close, convoke, suspend, adjourn, terminate, dissolve, ajudicate, condemn2, sentence, pardon, cancel, annul, abolish, abrogate, revoke, repeal, rescind, retract, vote, veto, enact, bequeath, baptize, excommunicate.

Speech Act performative-verb examples Directive

direct, request, urge, encourage, discourage, solicit, appeal, petition, invite, convene, convoke, beg, supplicate, beseech, implore, entreat, conjure, pray, insist, tell, instruct, demand, require, claim, order, command, dictate, prescribe, enjoin, adjure, exorcise, forbid, prohibit, interdict, proscribe, commission, charge, suggest, propose, warn, advise, caution, alert, alarm, recommend, permit, allow, authorize, consent

I'm asking you to stop smoking:

explicit, indirect, express

Thus, the declaration that someone is GUILTY

is a verdictive declaration and affects the guilty person's positive face.

Thus, the declaration that someone is SENTENCED to four years in jail

is an effective declaration and affects the sentenced person's negative face.

Excuse me but this is a non-smoking section:

non-explicit, DIRECT, sort of implied.

Could you put that cigarette out?

non-explicit, indirect, express