07 Pragmatics Free Online FlashCards

What does pragmatics study?

Pragmatics studies how people use and understand language in context, including how circumstances and communicative goals contribute to meaning.

How do semantics and pragmatics differ?

Semantics concerns conventional meanings of words and sentences; pragmatics explains what a speaker means by using them in a particular situation.

What contextual information clarifies “I’ll meet you here tomorrow”?

The surrounding conversation, participants, place, time, and shared knowledge help identify the referents of “I,” “you,” “here,” and “tomorrow.”

What does “Can you pass the salt?” usually do at dinner?

At dinner, “Can you pass the salt?” is ordinarily understood as a request, even though its literal wording asks about ability.

What is an inference in pragmatics?

An inference is a conclusion a hearer draws from an utterance and relevant contextual information.

What is a conversational implicature?

A conversational implicature is an inferred meaning communicated indirectly rather than stated outright.

A: “Are you coming to the picnic?” B: “I have to work.” What might be implied?

A hearer may infer that B will not attend because work commonly prevents it, but B’s statement does not rule out finishing work early and coming.

What is Grice’s Cooperative Principle?

Grice’s Cooperative Principle says speakers generally make contributions suited to the purpose of the conversation.

What are Grice’s four conversational maxims?

Quantity: give enough information, but not more than needed; Quality: aim for truth supported by evidence; Relation: be relevant; Manner: be clear, orderly, and reasonably concise.

How can an apparent maxim violation suggest irony?

A speaker may deliberately appear to break a maxim so the hearer searches for an implied meaning; “Wonderful weather!” during a downpour can suggest irony.

Why is “not all” usually an implicature of “some,” not an entailment?

“Not all” is often inferred, but it is not entailed by “some”: “Some arrived—in fact, all did” is not contradictory.

What are the locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary aspects of an utterance?

A locutionary act produces a meaningful expression; an illocutionary act performs a communicative act in saying it; a perlocutionary act is an effect on a hearer.