Meaning in Interaction: An Introduction to Pragmatics

by Leech dec'd; Geoffrey

• ISBN13: 9780582291515
• ISBN10: 0582291518
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1995-11-22
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Meaning in Interaction: An Introduction to Pragmatics is a comprehensive introductory text which discusses the development of pragmatics - its aims and methodology - and also introduces themes that are not generally covered in other texts.Jenny Thomas focuses on the dynamic nature of speaker meaning, considering the central roles of both speaker and hearer, and takes into account the social and psychological factors involved in the generation and interpretation of utterances. The book includes a detailed examination of the development of Pragmatics as a discipline, drawing attention to problems encountered in earlier work, and brings the reader up to date with recent discussion in the field. The book is written principally for students with no previous knowledge of pragmatics, and the basic concepts are covered in considerable detail. Theoretical and more complicated information is highlighted with examples that have been drawn from the media, fiction and real-life interaction, and makes the study more accessible to newcomers. It is an ideal introductory textbook for students of linguistics and for all who are interested in analysing problems in communication.

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
Acknowledgements	xiv
What is pragmatics?	1	(27)
Introduction	1	(1)
Defining pragmatics	1	(1)
From abstract meaning to contextual meaning	2	(14)
Assigning sense in context	5	(3)
Assigning reference in context	8	(4)
Structural ambiguity	12	(1)
Interaction of sense, reference and structure	12	(2)
Ambiguity and intentionality	14	(2)
Utterance meaning: first level of speaker meaning	16	(2)
Importance of utterance meaning	16	(2)
Force: the second level of speaker meaning	18	(3)
Understanding both utterance meaning and force	18	(1)
Understanding utterance meaning but not force	19	(1)
Understanding force but not utterance meaning	19	(1)
Understanding neither utterance meaning nor force	20	(1)
Interrelationship of utterance meaning and force	21	(1)
Definitions of pragmatics (revisited)	21	(2)
Speaker meaning	21	(1)
Utterance interpretation	22	(1)
Pragmatics: meaning in interaction	22	(1)
Summary	23	(5)
Speech acts	28	(27)
J. L. Austin	28	(1)
Ordinary language philosophy	29	(1)
Logical positivism and truth conditional semantics	29	(3)
The performative hypothesis	32	(17)
Metalinguistic performatives	33	(3)
Ritual performatives	36	(1)
Felicity conditions	37	(2)
Explicit reference to felicity conditions	39	(1)
Collaborative performatives	40	(1)
Group performatives	41	(1)
Overlap of categories	42	(1)
Cross-cultural differences in use of performatives	42	(1)
Collapse of Austin's performative hypothesis	43	(1)
The grammatical distinctiveness of performatives	44	(1)
Do performatives always perform actions?	45	(1)
How to do things without performative verbs	45	(2)
Explicit and implicit performatives	47	(2)
Utterances as actions	49	(2)
Locution, illocution, perlocution	49	(1)
Speech acts	50	(1)
Conclusion	51	(4)
Conversational implicature	55	(32)
Introduction	55	(1)
H. P. Grice	56	(1)
Implicature	57	(4)
Conventional implicature	57	(1)
Conversational implicature	58	(1)
Implicature and inference	58	(3)
The Cooperative Principle	61	(2)
The four conversational maxims	63	(2)
Observing the maxims	64	(1)
Non-observance of the maxims	64	(1)
Flouting a maxim	65	(7)
Flouts necessitated by a clash between maxims	65	(2)
Flouts which exploit a maxim	67	(1)
Flouts exploiting the maxim of Quality	67	(2)
Flouts exploiting the maxim of Quantity	69	(1)
Flouts exploiting the maxim of Relation	70	(1)
Flouts exploiting the maxim of Manner	71	(1)
Other categories of non-observance of the conversational maxims	72	(6)
Violating a maxim	72	(2)
Infringing a maxim	74	(1)
Opting out of a maxim	74	(2)
Suspending a maxim	76	(2)
Testing for implicature	78	(6)
Non-detachability and non-conventionality	78	(2)
Implicature changes	80	(2)
Calculability	82	(1)
Defeasibility	82	(2)
Conclusion	84	(3)
Approaches to pragmatics	87	(32)
Introduction	87	(1)
Problems with Grice's theory	87	(6)
When is non-observance intentional?	88	(2)
Distinguishing between types of non-observance	90	(1)
Different nature of maxims	91	(1)
Maxims may overlap	91	(1)
Problems of calculability	92	(1)
Grice's informal approach	93	(1)
J. R. Searle	93	(12)
Indirect speech acts	93	(1)
Searle's conditions for speech acts	94	(2)
Distinguishing speech acts	96	(2)
Plugging the gaps in Searle's rules	98	(1)
The speech act of apologizing: a case study	99	(3)
Over-generality of rules	102	(1)
The speech act of warning: a case study	103	(2)
Searle's formal approach to the categorization of speech acts	105	(2)
Rules versus principles	107	(4)
Rules are all or nothing, principles are more or less	108	(1)
Rules are exclusive, principles can co-occur	108	(1)
Rules are constitutive, principles are regulative	109	(1)
Rules are definite, principles are probabilistic	110	(1)
Rules are conventional, principles are motivated	111	(1)
Conclusion	111	(8)
Pragmatics and indirectness	119	(30)
Introduction	119	(1)
Pragmatics and indirectness	120	(4)
Intentional indirectness	120	(1)
Indirectness is costly and risky	120	(1)
Assumption of rationality	121	(1)
The principle of expressibility	122	(1)
Indirectness - an illustration	123	(1)
How do we know how indirect to be?	124	(9)
Power	124	(4)
Social distance	128	(2)
Size of imposition	130	(1)
Rights and obligations	131	(1)
The negotiation of pragmatic parameters	131	(2)
Measuring indirectness	133	(9)
The role of context in interpreting indirectness	136	(1)
The role of belief in interpreting indirectness	137	(1)
Background knowledge and interpreting indirectness	138	(1)
The role of co-text in interpreting indirectness	138	(1)
Goals and the interpretation of indirectness	139	(3)
Why use indirectness?	142	(4)
Interestingness	143	(1)
Increasing the force of one's message	144	(1)
Competing goals	145	(1)
Conclusion	146	(3)
Theories of politeness	149	(34)
Introduction	149	(1)
Delimiting the concept of politeness	149	(9)
Politeness as a real-world goal	150	(1)
Deference versus politeness	150	(4)
Register	154	(1)
Politeness as an utterance level phenomenon	155	(2)
Politeness as a pragmatic phenomenon	157	(1)
Politeness explained in terms of principles and maxims	158	(10)
Ambivalence and politeness	158	(1)
Pragmatic principles	159	(1)
The Tact maxim	160	(2)
The Generosity maxim	162	(1)
The Approbation maxim	162	(1)
The Modesty maxim	163	(2)
The Agreement maxim	165	(1)
The Pollyanna Principle	166	(1)
Problems with Leech's approach	167	(1)
Politeness and the management of face	168	(8)
Face-threatening acts	169	(1)
Superstrategies for performing face-threatening acts	169	(1)
Performing an FTA without any redress (bald-on-record)	170	(1)
Performing an FTA with redress (positive politeness)	171	(1)
Performing an FTA with redress (negative politeness)	172	(1)
Performing an FTA using off record politeness	173	(1)
Do not perform FTA	174	(2)
Criticisms of Brown and Levinson	176	(1)
Politeness viewed as a conversational contract	176	(1)
Politeness measured along pragmatic scales	177	(1)
Conclusion	178	(5)
The construction of meaning	183	(28)
Introduction	183	(1)
How does pragmatics fit into linguistics?	184	(1)
Pragmatics versus sociolinguistics	185	(2)
Overlap between pragmatics and sociolinguistics	186	(1)
Activity types versus speech events	187	(8)
The construction of meaning	195	(9)
Pragmatic ambivalence	195	(1)
The collaborative nature of speech acts	196	(2)
The negotiability of force	198	(1)
Preparing the ground for a speech act	199	(2)
Successive utterances in situated discourse	201	(1)
Discoursal ambivalence	202	(1)
Dynamic pragmatics	203	(1)
What counts as evidence in pragmatics?	204	(4)
Perlocutionary effect	205	(1)
Explicit commentary by speaker	205	(1)
Explicit commentary by others	206	(1)
Co-text (subsequent discourse)	207	(1)
Conclusion	208	(3)
References	211	(8)
Author Index	219	(2)
General Index	221