Lecture 9 - Pragmatics Flashcards
What are the three key components influencing he meaning of language?
1) Semantics: Word meanings (e.g., “dog” = image of a dog
2) Syntax: Grammatical structure that assigns roles (e.g., subject, object)
3) Pragmatics: Context-dependent aspects of meaning (e.g., figurative speech, tone)
Define pragmatics and give examples
- Pragmatics is how context influences meaning
Examples: - Figurative speech: “Love is a journey”
- Inferences: “He’s got a nice personality” (implying unattractiveness)
- Anaphora: “I hit it with that thing” (referring back to unnamed objects)
- Indirect speech: “Can you tell me the time?”
What is the “processing problem” in figurative language?
- Words usually map to specific concepts (e.g., “dog” –> dog concept)
- Figurative meanings do not map directly (e.g., “cold shoulder”)
- This raises the question: how do we infer non-literal meaning?
Why is the processing problem considered a real issue?
- 1 metaphor every 25 words in political speech (Graesser et al., 1989)
- 1.5 novel & 3.4 cliched figures per 100 words (Pollio et al., 1977)
- Estimated 15 million in a lifetime: Hence, it can’t be memorised or rare, making processing necessary
What is the Three-Stage Model of figurative language? (Grice, Searle) What is always accessed first?
1) Compute literal meaning
2) Check if it fits the context
3) If not, derive figurative meaning
Literal meaning is always is always accessed first making figurative slower
What is Grice’s Cooperative Principle (1975)?
Communication works because people follow shared conversational rules: “Make your conversational contribution as required by the accepted purpose of the exchange.”
What are Grice’s 4 Maxims of Conversation?
1) Quantity: Say enough, but not too much
2) Quality: Be truthful and evidence-based
3) Manner: Be clear, orderly, and unambiguous
4) Relevance: Be relevant to the conversation
Why might speakers violate Grice’s Maxims?
- Politeness
- Speed or efficiency
- Social manipulation (e.g., humour, sarcasm)
- To imply something indirectly or powerfully
What did Gibbs (1979) test, what were the results and conclusion?
- Tested indirect vs direct requests in reading tasks
- Isolated sentences: indirect = slower
- In context: no difference
- Conclusion: Figurative language is not necessarily slower in natural contexts –> evidence against the Three-Stage Model
Blasko & Connine (1993) - What was the method and result? What does it suggest?
- Used cross-modal priming (sentence with metaphor, followed by word recognition task)
- Equal priming for literal (“water”) and figurative (“confusion”) meanings
- Suggests simultaneous access –> contradicts Three-Stage Model
What is the One-Stage View of figurative language (e.g., Gibbs, Glucksberg & Keyser)?
- Literal meaning not accessed first
- Figurative and literal language use the same processes
- Interpretation is context-driven, not sequential
What is Glucksberg & Keysar Class-Inclusion Model?
- Metaphors treated like category assertions
- “Lawyers are sharks” = lawyers belong to a class with shark-like traits (aggressive, predatory)
What is metonymy? (Give examples)
- Metonymy means using a related concept to stand in for another (automatic figurative process)
Examples: - “Shakespeare is on the top shelf” (his works)
- “The White House said…”
- “The kettle is boiling” (its contents)
How does autism affect figurative language comprehension? (Rundblad & Annaz, 2010)
- Autistic children show general impairments with metaphor
- Delayed development of metonymy
- Suggests figurative difficulties are partly due to perspective-taking deficits
What were the key findings of Rundland & Annaz (2010)? Conclusion?
- Metaphor: ASD group had persistent difficulties
- Metonymy: ASD group showed delays, but eventual understanding
- Conclusion: ASD = general deficit in figurative language, especially those needing perspective-taking
Name the three influences for language meaning
Semantics, Syntax, Pragmatics
Pragmatics example?
“He ate the whole dog!” (actually a hotdog)
What is the Processing Problem?
Figurative meanings don’t map to direct concepts
Is figurative language rare?
No - used frequently (Graesser, 1989; Pollio, 1977)
Three-Stage Model sequence?
Literal –> Context check –> Figurative
Name Grice’s 4 Maxims
Quantity, Quality, Manner, Relevance
Is figurative language rare?
No - Gibbs (Graesser, 1989; Pollio, 1977)
