Chap1: PRAGMATICS
 A study of speaker meaning:
- Concerned with the study of meaning as communicated by a speaker and interpreted by a listener
- more to do with the analysis of what people mean by their utterances than what the words or
phrases in those utterances might mean by themselves
 A study of contextual meaning -
Involves the interpretation of what people mean in a particular context and how the context influences what is said. -
Considerations of how speakers organize what they want to say in accordance with who
they’re talking to, where, when, and under what circumstances
 A study of how more gets communicated than is said -
Explores how listeners can make inferences about what is said in order to arrive at an
interpretation of the speaker’s intended meaning. -
Explores how a great deal of what is unsaid is organized as part of what is communicated
 A study of the expression of relative distance -
Raises the question of what determines the choice between the said and the unsaid => notion of distance -
Closeness (physical, social, conceptual) implies shared experience -
On the assumption of how close or distant the listener is, speakers determine how much needs to be said  Syntax:
 the study of the relationships between linguistic forms, how they are arranged in sequence, and
which sequences are well-formed
 Without concerning any world of reference or any user of the forms  Semantics:
 The study of the relationship between linguistic forms and entities in the world, that is, how words literally connect to things
 Establish the relationships between verbal descriptions and states of affairs in the world as accurate
(true) or not, regardless who produces that description  Pragmatics: •
The study of the relationship between linguistic forms and the users of those forms • Allows human into the analysis
Studying language via pragmatics
 Advantage: One can talk about people’s intended meanings, their assumptions, their purposes or goals,
and the kinds of actions (for example, requests) that they are performing when they speak. ( E.g. Can you lift that box?)
 Disadvantage: All these very human concepts are extremely difficult to analyze in a consistent and
objective way. (A: So- did you?)( B: Hey- who wouldn’t?)
 Pragmatics is appealing because it’s about how people make sense of each other linguistically
 It can be a frustrating area of study because it requires us to make sense of people and what they have in mind  Regularity: -
Source of regularity: most people within a linguistic community have similar basic
experiences of the world and share a lot of non-linguistic knowledge.
Eg: prepositions in English and Vietnamese -
The more two speakers have in common, the less language they’ll need to use to identify similar things
Chap2: DEIXIS AND DISTANCE  Deixis: •
A phenomenon meaning ‘pointing’ via languages •
The use of certain linguistic expressions to locate entities in a context  Deictic expressions:
 Any linguistic form used to accomplish ‘pointing’ is called a deictic expression (trực chỉ)
 Sometimes called: deictic words/ markers
 Deictic expressions are meaningful in a given context
 In order to be interpreted correctly, the speaker and listener have to share the same context.
 They have their most basic uses in face-to-face communication
 Classification of deixis:  Person deixis: -
Person deixis deals with the encoding of the role of participants in the speech event in which the
utterance in question is delivered (Levinson, 1983) -
A speech event includes at least two persons: -
first person = addresser; second person= addressee -
If the two persons do not only refer to themselves while talking, there is a third person (= the person
they are talking about), that does not have to take part in the conversation. (Levinson, 1983) -
The pronouns of the first (I-my-mine) and second person (you- your-yours) are a deictic – reference to the speaking person. -
There are two first-person `plural` pronouns, corresponding to `we-inclusive-of-addressee` and `we- exclusive-of-addressee`: -
Let’s go to the cinema = “we-inclusive-of-addressee` -
Let’s go to see you tomorrow. =`we-exclusive-of-addressee` (Levinson, 1983)  Place deixis: -
Place deixis concerns the encoding of spatial locations relative to the location of the participants in the speech event. -
English place deixis deals with the proximal (close to speaker) or distal (close to hearer) dimension. -
Some pure place-deictic words: here and there (adverbs); this and that (demonstrative pronouns) -
Symbolic usage of here = pragmatically given unit of space that includes the location of the speaker -
E.g. I'm writing to say I'm having a marvelous time here. -
here and there = contrast on a proximal/distal dimension -
here = proximal (near); there = distal (more distant) -
E.g. Bring that here and take this there. -
Demonstrative pronouns are more clearly organized in a proximal/distal dimension. -
this = the object in a pragmatically given area close to the speaker's location -
that = the object beyond the pragmatically given area close to the speaker's location
 Motion verbs = signs of place deixis: -
come vs. go makes a distinction between the direction of motion. -
He's coming = he is moving towards the speaker's location -
He's going = he is moving away from the speaker's location. -
I'm coming = the speaker is moving towards the location of the addressee. -
come = movement towards either the location of the speaker, or towards the location of the addressee  Time deixis: -
Time deixis deals with the encoding of
relative to the time at which an
temporal points and spans
utterance was spoken or a message was written, exemplified with now, then, yesterday, and of tense. (Levinsion, 1983)  Discourse deixis: -
Discourse deixis is defined as “the encoding of reference to portions of the unfolding discourse in
which the utterance (which includes the text referring expression) is located”. (Levinson, 1983) -
The use of this to point to part of a discourse which are about to be said -
E.g Listen to this, it will kill you! -
That to point to what has already been said -
E.g. That was not a very nice thing to say.  Social deixis: -
Social deixis which basically concerns the encoding of social distinctions that is relative to participant-
roles, particularly aspects of the social relationship holding between speaker and addressee(s) or speaker
and some referent. (Levinson, 1983) -
The example in French “tu” and “vous” -
(informal and formal versions of “you”)
 Use of distance in Deixis: -
In linguistics: the space between the speaker and the addressee/listener kept in the speaker’s mind -
The Distance is associated with: -
A third person to indicate the second person for an ironic or humorous purpose. - Ex: Would like some coffee? his highness  Deictic center: -
A reference point in relation to which a deictic expression is to be interpreted. -
Deictic center is especially assumed as the following: the central person - the speaker -
the central time - the time at which the speaker produces the utterance -
the central place is - speaker’s location at utterance time -
The speaker’s location/time in utterance (proximal) E.g. I’m standing here now  Deictic projection: -
the speaker's ability to project himself or herself into a location not yet at which he or she is present. (I am not now). (rec here
order of a telephone answering machine) - “here” home location  -
“now”- anytime someone tries to call -
Speaker projects his/her presence to be in the required location.  Deictic center = at the time of utterance location of speaker
 Deictic projection = shifting deictic center
 Physical and psychological distance: Physical distance: -
When deictic expression is used to refer to objects that physically have distance from the speaker.
(Where is your car? - It’s over there.) (Look at this picture) Psychological distance: -
Speaker’s marking of how close or distant something is perceived. -
The basis of spatial deixis is psychological distance (rather than physical distance)
Relationship between physical distance and psychological distance: -
Usually physical and psychological distance will appear the same. -
E.g. I like this shirt.// That man over there. -
But a speaker may wish to mark something physically close as psychologically distant. -
When you indicate an item of food on your plate with: E.g. I don't like that.
CHAPTER3: REFERENCE AND INFERENCE
 Reference: an act in which a speaker/ writer uses linguistic forms to enable listeners/ readers to identify something (Yule, 2010:131)
 The categories of referring expressions -
Proper nouns: Hanoi / Nguyen Xuan Phuc - Pronouns: he,she,it -
Definite noun phrases: The capital /The President -
Indefinite noun phrases: A place / A man  The type of reference:
 Personal reference -
Personal pronouns (eg: I, we, you) -
Possesive pronouns (eg: mine, ours, yours) -
Possesive determiners ( Eg: my, our, your)
 Demonstrative reference: essentially a form of verbal pointi ng -
the speaker identifies the referent by locating it on a scale of proximity - this, these
and here imply proximity to the speaker - tha t, those
and there imply distance from the speaker. -
Like personals, the demonstratives regularly refer exophorically to something within the context of situation. -
E.g. How do you like a cruise in that yacht?
 Comparative reference: contributes to textual cohesion by setting up a relati on of contrast -
adjectives as same, identical, equal -
adjectives in a comparative degree such as bigger, faster -
adverbs such as identically, likewise, so, suc - E.g. She has a furnished room to mine. similarly -
The little dog barked as noisily as the big one
 Characteristics of reference:  Refer ence as an action -
The speaker intend the listener to be able to pick out a reference in a particular context - The listener needs to:
 understand that the speaker intend him to identify an entity
 identify that entity according to the referring expression the speaker produced
Eg: Can you see the tall man in the red shirt? I don’t like him.  Speaker’ s goals and belief
 Speaker’s goals to identify something
 Speaker’s belief (Listener is capable of identifying the thing due to mutual knowledge)  Refer
ence needn’t be precise
 Speakers and listeners still manage to understand each other in the absence of the precise information
 We often use vague expressions, or expression that aren’t literally of the referent
Eg: Mr. Whoever knows is over there
 Referential and attributive use
 “It is important to recognize that not all referring expressions have identifiable physical referents”
 NPs used by a speaker who is able to identify a referent or has one specific entity in mind
E.g. The man I live next door to has some very strange habits
 Even if the description content is wrong, they may still refer successfully
 (The listener can still manage to infer what referent is intended) -
Imagine that somebody called Smith has just been murdered. Jones has been charged with the murder
and he’s on trial. He behaves oddly. Afterwards, you tell a friend: “The man who murdered Smith is insane” -
The description suggests a referential use. -
The speaker intend to refer the murder is Jones, a particular man, regardless of whether or not he is
actually responsible for the death of Smith  Attributive use
 NPs used by a speaker who assumes the existence of a referent that satisfies some descriptive content
 Meaning: “Whoever/ Whatever fits the description”
 An “invitation” to the listener to assume that such a referent exists (even it can’t be identified) -
Imagine that somebody called Smith has just been murdered. You come across the murdered body of
Smith. You’ve no idea who did it. You turn to your friend and say: “The man who murdered Smith is insane” -
The description is not a particular person; “The man who murdered Smith” isn’t really referring to someone identifiable -
The description has an “Attributive use”, equivalent to Whoever murdered Smith
 Remember: the descriptive properities of speaker decide whether a NP is a referential use or attributive use.
 E.g. He wants to marry a woman with a lot of money
 Referential use: when speaker has a person in mind without having a name
 Attributive use: when speaker want to infer any woman who has a lot of money
 the word “a” could be replaced by “any”  Inferences:
 is connecting prior knowledge to text based information to create meaning beyond what is directly stated.
 The role of inference in communication is to allow the listener to identify correctly which particular
entity the speaker is referring to.
 We can even use vague expressions relying on the listener’s ability to infer what is the referent that we have in mind.
 Eg: I just rented a house. The kitchen is really big
 Listeners make infer
ences about what is said in order to arrive at an interpretation of the
speaker’s intended meaning.
 The choice of one type of referring expression rather than another seems to be based on what the speaker
assumes the listener already knows.  I nferenc
e: as there is no direct relationship between entities and words, the listener's task is to infer
correctly which entity the speaker intends to identify by using a particular referring expression.
 Types of inferences:
 Coreference: A referential relation between expressions where they both refer to the same entity - Repetition of nominal -
E.g: I saw a beggar. The beggar looked curiously at me. -
An independent nominal used as an epithet -
E.g: Ann is a daughter of Mary. I met in the bus yesterday this beautiful girl - An anaphoric pronoun -
E.g: Susan dropped the plate. It shattered loudly.
 Bridging inferences: Links the nominals to the preceding sentences and creates coherence based on the basic of background knowledge -
John owned a house. The plumbing was blocked. -
John owned a house. The ceilings were sagging. -
John owned a house. The valuation was too low. -
The speaker assumes that referent is accessible to the listener REFERENCE (Situational) (Textual) {EXO}{PHORA} { ENDO}{PHORA} {ANA}{PHORA} {CATA}{PHORA }  Endophora vs exophora
 Endophora: referring to something inside the text -
E.g. Wash and core six cooking apples. Put them into a fireproof dish. -
An example of an endophoric reference when them referred back to apples. - them,
therefore, signals to the reader that he or she needs to look back in the text to find its meaning.
 Exophora: referring to something outside the text -
E.g. For he's a jolly good fellow. And so say all of us. -
As readers outside of this environment, we are unfamiliar with who the he is that is being referred to -
But, most likely, the people involved are aware of the he -
When the meaning is not explicit from the text itself, but is obvious to those in a particular situation, this
is called exophoric reference. Endophora Anaphora Cataphora to preceding text to following text
 Anaphoric reference: -
In the film, a man and a woman were trying to wash a cat. The man was holding the cat while the
woman poured water on it. He said something to her and they started laughing. -
a man, a woman, a cat → initial references -
the man, the woman, the cat, it, he, her, they → the second or subsequent references.  In technical term,
 the first/ initial references are antecedents
 Ex: a man, a woman, a cat → indefinite NP
 the second/subsequent references are anaphoras
 Ex: the man, the woman, the cat, it, he, her, they → definite noun phrases, pronouns
 Anaphoric reference can change
 Peel and slice six potatoes
 Put them in cold water
 the anaphoric pronoun them  not → six potatoes
 but→ six peeled and sliced potatoes.
 The key to making sense of reference is that pragmatic process whereby the speakers select
linguistic expressions with the intention of identifying certain entities and with the assumption
that listeners will collaborate and interpret those expressions as the speakers intended.
 Zero anaphora/ ellipsis
 Peel an onion and slice it. Drop the slices into hot oil. Cook for 3 minutes
 In “Cook (?) for 3 minutes”, no linguistic expression is referent, it is called zero anaphora or ellipsis.
 The use of zero anaphora to maintain reference creates an expectation that the listeners are able
to infer what/ who the speaker intends to
 Associative anaphora/ bridging
 Instead of referring back to an entity, we refer back to something with it. associated
Ex: I walked into (a room)(antecedent). (The windows)(Associative anaphora) looked out to the bay.  Cataphoric reference:
 E.g: I turned the corner and almost stepped on it. There was a large snake in the middle of the path
 In this case, we refer forward, instead of backward.
 This case is called cataphoric reference.  Ex: -
demonstrative reference “this” is used to points to the referring item “expression” specifically the word
“this” refers to a famous expression in English: "Stop the world, I want to get off!" 
Anaphoric( because we can see the referring item in the previous sentence) -
demonstrative reference “that” refers to “a feeling of panic, or stress” which used earlier in the sentence. (anaphoric) -
personal reference “they” refers to “a person” which used earlier in the sentence. (anaphoric)  'Stress' It
means pressure or tension. is one of the most common causes of health problems in modern
life. Too much stress results in physical, emotional, and mental health problems. -
personal reference “it” refers to “stress” which used earlier in the previous sentence. ( ) anaphoric -
personal reference “it” refers to “stress” which used earlier in the previous sentence. ( ) anaphoric -
personal reference “it” refers to “stress” which used later in the next sentence. (cataphoric) -
Alcoholism and other addictions often develop as a result of overuse of alcohol or drugs to try to relieve stress.
 comparative reference “other” shows the differences of addictions which cannot be found by looking
forward or backward of the text (exophoric) -
Stress has a great influence on the health and well-being of bodies, our feelings, and our minds. So, our
reduce stress: stop the world and rest for a while.
The word “our refer the writer and the readers of the text who cannot be found by looking forward or ”
backward of the text, so we can look it in outside of the text. ( ) exophoric
 Referring expressions can be pronouns or definite noun phrases
 Ex: He walked into his room and was frightened by the woman. She is his mother.  The role of co-text
 The ability to identify intended referents does not just depend on the understanding of the referring
expression, but is aided by the co-text and context, accompanying it.
 co-text: linguistic part of the environment in which a referring expression is used (văn cảnh)
 context: physical environment and (speech) conventions (cảnh huống) Eg: (co-text) •
The heart-attack mustn't be moved (hospital) •
Your ten-thirty just cancelled (dentist) •
A couple of rooms have complained about the heat (hotel)
CHAPTER 4 : PRESUPPOSITION AND ENTAILMENT
 Presupposition: the information that a speaker assumes to have already known.
 Implicit meaning conveyed by the speaker through the use of particular words Eg: The Cold War has ended.
 Presupposition: the existence of the entities it refers to
 The relationship b/w two propositions. -
Mary’s cat is cute (p) / Mary has a cat (q) p>>q =p presupposes q  -
If the speaker denies the proposition p(Not p), the presupposition q doesn’t change.
Mary’s cat isnt cute (not p) / Mary has a cat (q) Not p>>q= not p presuposes q  the prepposition will  remain true.
 Presupposition is a background belief, mutually assumed by the speaker and the addressee for the
utterance to be considered appropriate in context.
 Survives when the utterance is negated, questioned or embedded in an attitude context.
 Is triggered by a lexical item or a grammatical construction in the utterance.  Types of presupposition
 Presupposition are associated with the use of a large number of words, phrases and structures.
 These linguistic forms are considered as indicators of potential presupposition, which can only become
actual presupposition in contexts with speakers.
 Existential presupposition -
It is the assumption of the existence of the entities named by the speaker Eg: Tom’s car is new.
 Presupposition: Tom exists and that he had a car.
 Factive presupposition -
It is the assumption that sth is true due to the presence of some verbs such as know, realize, and of phrases involving glad
Eg: She didn’t realize someone was ill.
 Presupposition: Some one is ill Eg: I’m glad it’s over
 Presupposition: it’s over
 Lexical presupposition -
It is the assumption that, in using one word, the speaker can act as if another meaning(word) will be understood. Eg: Andrew stopped running.
 Presupposition: He used to run Eg: You’re late again
 Presupposition: You were late before.
 In this case, the use of the expressions “stop”, “again” are taken to presuppose another (unstated-chuwa dk xdinh) concept.
 Structural presupposition -
It is the assumption associated with the use of certain words or phrases. -
Wh-question in EL are conventionally interpreted with the presupposition that the information after the
wh-form(eg when and where) is already known to be the case.
Eg: When did she travel to the USA?
Presupposition: She travelled to the USA
Eg: Where did you buy the book?
Presupposition: You bought the book
 The listener perceives that the information presented is necessarily true rather than just the
presupposition of the person asking the question.
 Non-factive presupposition -
It is an assumption that sth is not true. (dream, imagine, pretend) are used with the presupposition that what follows is not true.
Eg: I dreamed/imagine/pretend that I was rich/ was in London
Presupposition: I’m not rich/am not in London
 Counter-factual presupposition( Caau dk 2,3) -
It is the assumption that what is presupposed is not only untrue, but is the opposite of what is true, or contrary to facts. -
For instance, some conditional structures, gernerally called counterfactual conditionals, presupposed that
the information, in the if-clauses, it not true at the time of utterance.
Eg: If you were my daughter, I would not allow you to do this.
Presupposition: You’re not my daughter. Ex: •
The man with glasses is Mr. Brown • They stopped talking • I know Tom came late • I regret telling him the news • We approved of his plan •
Before we arrived, they had gone •
Paul John the critic is intelligent • The man has glasses • 2. They were talking before • 3. Tom came late • 4. I told him the news • 5. He has a plan • 6. We arrived there • 7. Paul John is a critic Presupposition entailment -
is what the speaker assumes to be the case -
is what logically follows from what is prior to making an utterance asserted in the utterance - Speaker has presupposition - Sentences have entailments - held by the speaker -
The truth of (A) requires the truth of (B) - all can be wrong •
This shows that entailments (necessary consequences of what is said) are simply more powerful than
presuppositions (earlier assumptions). •
The power of entailment can also be used to cancel existential presuppositions. •
E.g. The King of Brazil visited us.
(The king of Brazil does not exist). •
Entailment is not a pragmatic concept (i.e. having to do with speaker meaning) •
Entailment is considered a purely logical concept. •
E.g. Rover chased three squirrels. •
(i). Something chased three squirrels. •
(ii). Rover did something to three squirrels. •
(iii). Rover chased three of something (iv). Something happened.
CHAPTER 5: COOPERATION AND IMPLICATURE •
Man: Does your dog bite? • Woman: No •
(The man reaches down to pet the dog. The dog bites the man’s hands). •
Man: Ouch! Hey! You said your dog doesn’t bite. •
Woman: He doesn’t. But that’s not my dog. -
Nothing wrong with the presupposition because the assumption in “your dog” (ie. The woman has a
dog) is true for both speakers. -
Problem caused by the man’s assumption that more was communicated than was said. -
The man’s questions: “Does your dog bite?” and the woman’s answer “No” both apply to the dog in front of them. -
From the man’s perspective, the woman’s answer provides less information than expected.  Cooperative principle
 Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the
accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you’re engaged.
 In other words, the listener presumes that the speaker is being cooperative and is speaking truthfully,
informatively, relevantly, and appropriately.  Conversational maxims  Quantity: -
make your contribution as informative as is requirrred forr the current purpose of exchange -
do not make your contribution more informative than is required Ex: John has fourteen children
 John has no more than fourteen children  Quality : -
Super-maxim: try to make your contribution one that is true: -
do not say what you believe to be false -
do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence Ex: John has two PhD’s
 I believe John has two PhD’s, and have adequate evidence that he has.
 Relation : be relevant(có liên quan, phù hợp)
Ex: That cake looks delicious. I would like a piece of that cake.   Manner: -
Super maxim: Be perspicuous(Hãy kiên định) -
avoid obscurity of expression(tránh sự mù mờ về cách diễn đạt) -
avoid ambiguity(tránh mơ hồ) -
be brief(avoid unnecessary prolixity)( ngắn gọn (tránh rườm rà không cần thiết)) - be orderly(có trật tự)  Hedges
 The importance of the maxim of quality for cooperative interaction in EL may be best measured by the
number of expression we use to indicate that what we’re saying may not be totally accurate. Implicature Cooperation Implicature • What is said • What is implicated •
is part of meaning that is determined by truth- •
is that part of meaning that can not be conditional . semantics
captured by truth conditions and therefore it • Presupposition belongs to pragmatics. •
Associated with linguistic forms • Implicature •
Remains constant under negation test •
Associated with context and inference •
Identified with the help of presupposition •
Modifiable or changeable when utterance triggers subject to negation •
Identified via context and inference only
 Implicature is based on explicit meaning and presupposition
 Conventional implicature (hàm ẩn quy ước)
 Conversational implicature(hàm ẩn hội thoại) -
There is a general idea that people involved in a conversation will cooperate with each other. In most
cases, the assumption of cooperation is so pervasive that it can be stated as a cooperative principle of
conversation and elaborated in four sub-principles called . maxims Context: Speaker A: What time is it?
Speaker B: Some of the guests are already leaving.
PCI: “It must be late.” (Dependent- context)
GCI: “Not all of the guests are already leaving.”( (Independent- context)  Scalar implicature -
The basic of scalar implicature is that when any form in a scale is asserted, the negative of all forms
higher on the scale is implicated. -
This is particularly obvious in terms of expressing quantity. -
Eg.: I don’t like her -- I love her. -
Bill has got some of Chomsky’s papers. - Bill hasn’t 
got all of Chomsky’s papers. - Conversation 1: -
John: Where is my box of chocolates? -
Peter: Oddie was in your room this morning. -
Peter's implicature: .......................................................................... - Conversation 2: -
Student A: (while waiting for class to begin) Isn’t Professor X a jerk? -
Student B: Uh, It really is a nice day out, isn’t it? -
Student B 's implicature: -
................................................................................ Conversation 3: •
LAURA: Come on, I’m taking you to the gym. •
MEREDITH: Yeah, and pigs can fly. •
MEREDITH's implicature: .......................................................................... Conversation 4: A: Do you like Rosie?
B: Well, she has a nice husband. • B's implicature: •
............................................................ • Conversation 5: •
A: What are you thinking about? • B: Something. •
B's implicature: ....................................................................... • Conversation 6: •
A: How did you find the lecture? •
B: I read my newspaper throughout. •
B's implicature:................................................ • Conversation 7. •
Man: Michael passed the GRE test easily. • Woman: You're surprised? •
Woman's implicature: ...................................................................... • Converstion 8. •
Student A: Do you like Linguistics? •
Student B: Well, let’s just say I don’t jump for joy before class. •
Student B 's implicature: .......................................................................... • Conversation 9: •
Teacher A: Do you have any rude students this semester? •
Teacher B: All students are rude. •
Teacher B 's implicature: ........................................................................ • Conversation 10. •
Student: I was absent on Monday - did I miss anything important? •
Teacher: Oh no, of course not, we never do anything important in class. •
Teacher's implicature: ..................................................................... • Conversation 11: •
A: Would you like to go camping with us next weekend? •
B: My parents are coming to visit me. • B's implicature:
........................................................................... • Conversation 12: • Mother:
Can you go downstairs and get me a glass of water? •
Son: I'm busy doing my homework •
Son's implicature: .......................................................................... • Conversation 13: •
Mom: What did you think of Junior’s childish behavior last night? • Dad: Well, boys will be boys. • Dad 's implicature: •
.......................................................................... CHAP6: SPEECH ACT •
Actions performed via utterances are generally called speech acts •
the circumstances surrounding the utterance •
determine the interpretation of an utterance as performing a particular speech act  Components
 Locutionary act: the act of saying something(what is said) -
the basic act of utterance which produces a meaningful linguistic expression
 Illocutionary act: the act in saying something (what is meant) -
is performed via the communicative force of an utterance. -
We form an utterance with some kind of function in mind -
E.g. I’ve just made some coffee. -
a statement, an offer, an explanation -
Indeed, the term “speech act” is generally interpreted quite narrowly to mean only the illocutionary force of an utterance. -
The same utterance can potentially have quite different illocutionary forces.
 Perlocutionary act: the act by saying something (what happened as a result) -
We do not simply create an utterance with a function without intending to it to have an effect.
 IFIDs vs. Felicity conditions
 It is how the speaker can assume that the intended illocutionary force will be recognized by the hearer.
 IFIDs: Illocutionary Force Indicating Devices -
(Các phương tiện chỉ lực tại lời/ lực ngôn trung) - The most common IFIDs are
(i.e. verbs that explicitly name the illocutionary performative verbs. act being performed) - e.g. “I promise you that…” - “I warn you that…” - “I predict that…” - Word order - Stress - Intonation - e.g.
“You’re going!” (I tell you) -
“You’re going?”( I request confirmation) -
“Are you going?”( I ask you if) -
 Searle’s classification of speech acts -
Austin isolates three basic senses in which in saying something one is doing something. •
Verdictives(phán xử): Giving a verdict by a jury, umpire such as acquit, grade, estimate,... •
Exercitives(hành xử): The exercising of powers, rights or influence such as order, warn, ... •
Commisives( cam kết): Commit Sp to do sth, declarations, announcements: promise, guarantee ,.. •
Behabitives( ứng xử): Attitudes and social behaviors such as: apologize, criticize, challenge, ... •
Expositives(trình bày): Clarify how utterances fit into ongoing discourse: argue, affirm, concede, ... -
Searle classifies five types of general functions performed by speech acts. •
Declarative(tuyên bố): a speech act that change the state of affairs in the world via an utterance. (tuyên bố, buộc tội)
 The speaker has to have a specific role, in a specific context, in order to perform a declaration appropiately.
 e.g. “I now pronounce you husband and wife” (Priest)  “You’re out” (referee) •
Representative(tái hiện): a speech act that describes states or events in the world, such as an assertion,
a claim, a report, than thở, khoe
 e.g. “It is a Japanese robot”. •
Expressive(biểu cảm): a speech act that state what the speaker feels.
 It expresses psychological states and can be a statement of pleasure, pain, likes, dislikes, joy, or sorrow, vui thích,  khó chịu, mong muốn
 e.g. “I am terribly sorry!” •
Directive(điều khiển) ): a speech act that has the function of getting the listener to do sth, such as a
command, an order, a request, or a suggestion, ra lệnh, yêu cầu, cho phép, hỏi
 e.g. “Gimme a cup of coffee. Make it black”.  “Don’t touch that”. 
“Could you lend me a pen, please?” •
Commissive(cam kết): a speech act used by speaker to commit himself to some future actions, such as a promise, or a threat.  e.g. “ I’ll be back”. 
“We are going to get it right next time.”
 Direct & Indirect Speech acts
 A different approach to distinguishing types of speech acts can be made on the basis of structure.
 Austin argued that what is said (the locutionary act- hành động tạo lời) does not determine the
illocutionary act(s) (hành động tại lời) being performed. Thus, we can perform a speech act directly or
indirectly, by way of performing another speech act.
Direct speech acts: Form and function • Declarative (statement)
E.g. She is a kind-hearted woman. •
Interrogative (question) E.g. Are you kidding? •
Imperative (command/ request) E.g. Cry on my shoulder! •
Exclamative (exclamation) E.g. What a beautiful day! • Example1 : Are you free tonight? •
Interrogative form functioning as a question •
Interrogative form functioning as a invitation/ suggestion Example2: A request -Interrogative form: Could you give me some money? -Declarative :
Mum, I like that book but I don’t have enough money. -Imperative: Give your money!
-How to interpret the function of a sentence Grammatical forms & phonological forms examined
separately: unreliable indicators of function
-When they are taken together & looked at in context/ situation, we can come to some decisions about the function
+ on the basis of the phonological forms (stress, intonation) + on the basis of situation • Example 1 : What are you laughi ng at? • Situation 1 : between friends • This interrogative question, could be interpreted as a
a sincere request for information • Situation 2 : in the classroom •
It may be interpreted as a command of teacher to stop students laughing • Example 2 : It’ s too cold! • A statement •
(the speaker simply states that it is too cold) (the speaker’s comment on the weather • An exclamation • (the speaker’s feeling) • A request •
(when the Speaker wants the Hearer sitting near the window to close the window) • Example 3
: Where are you going? •
It can be a question (by the English) •
It can be a greeting (by Vietnamese people)
 How to make a direct speech act
 Use the typical association between sentence forms and speech acts.
 Use the performative verbs performatively.( I advise you to wash the dishes.)
 Whenever there is a direct relationship between the function of a speech act and its structural form, we
have a direct speech act.
 The speaker’s wish to communicate the literal meaning that the words conventionally express (i.e. the literal force).
 How to make an indirect speech act
 When there is an indirect relationship between a structure and a function, we have indirect speech act (ISA).
 A speaker using an ISA wants to communicate a different meaning from the apparent surface
meaning. ISAs are generally associated with greater politeness in English rather than direct speech acts.  Felicity conditions •
Conditions that must be fulfilled for a speech act to be satisfactorily performed or realized. (Yule, 1996)
 For an utterance to achieve its illocutionary force, certain conditions must be met.
e.g. The felicity conditions necessary for promises are:
a. A sentence is used which states a future act of the Sp.
b. The Sp has the ability to do the act.
c. The Hr prefers the Sp to do the act rather than not to do it.
d. The Sp would not otherwise usually do the act.
e. The Sp intends to do the act. •
Searle’s classification of felicity conditions:
i. Propositional content conditions ii. Preparatory conditions iii. Sincerity conditions iv. Essential conditions
i. Preparatory conditions – those existing prior to the utterance
e.g. For a directive statement to have the force of an order, the person uttering it must have authority/status over
the other person and that person must recognize that authority.
ii. Sincerity conditions – relate to speaker’s state of mind
e.g. For a commissive statement to be taken as a promise the speaker must intend to do X
iii. Essential conditions – utterance recognizable as instance of particular illocutionary act
e.g. For a directive to have the force of a request, the hearer must recognize that the speaker is attempting to get the hearer to do X.
iv. Propositional Content conditions – state of affairs predicated in utterance
e.g. An expressive that performs the act of congratulating/apologizing must predicate a past act of the hearer. CHAPTER 7: POLITENESS  POLITENESS THEORY- FACE
 Face: The public self-image of a person
 Face wants: The expectation that one’s self-image is respected. POSITIVE FACE NEGATIVE FACE -
To be accepted, even liked by others - To be independent -
To be treated as member of the same group - To have freedom -
To know his/ her wants is shared by others - Not to be imposed by others
-> The need to be connected (connection with others)
-> The need to be independent (autonomy, freedom from imposition)  POLITENESS
 In everyday social interactions, people act in such as way to show respect for the face wants or needs of
their conversational partners.
 Politeness in common sense: showing good manners and consideration for other people.
 Linguistic politeness: the use of language to carry out social actions where mutual face wants are respected. Positive politeness Negative politenes •
Positive politeness orients to preserving •
Negative politeness orients to preserving
the positive face of other people.
the negative face of other people. •
When we use positive politeness, we use •
This is much more likely if there is a
speech strategies that emphasize our
social distance between the speaker and
solidarity or friendliness with the hearer. the hearer. •
When we use negative politeness, we use
speech strategies that emphasizes our
deference or respect for the hearer.
 Face threatening act (FTA)
 Face threatening act: a speaker says something that represents a threat to another individual’s
expectations regarding self-image.
 Face saving act: a speaker says something to lessen the possible threat.
STRATEGIES FOR POSITIVE
STRATEGIES FOR NEGATIVE POLITENESS POLITENESS
1.Notice, attend to hearer (his interests,
1. Be conventionally indirect wants, needs, goods)
E.g. “Can you please shut the door?”
E.g. “What a beautiful dress! Where was
E.g. “You could possibly tell me the time, it bought?” please?”
2. Exaggerate (interest, approval, 2. Question, hedge sympathy with hearer)
It says of that membership that it is partial
E.g. “You are a fantastic cook, the lunch
or true only in certain respects was great!”
E.g. “I’m pretty sure, I’ve seen that movie
3. Intensify interest to hearer before.”
E.g. There are a million people in the pub
E.g. “I rather think you shouldn’t do that.” tonight! 3. Be pessimistic
4. Use in-group identity markers
E.g. “I don’t imagine there’d be any
E.g. “Hey, brother, what’s going on?” chance of …”
E.g. Here mate, I am keeping that seat for
E.g. “You couldn’t give me a cigarette, a friend of mine. could you?”
E.g. Help me with this bag here, will you
4. Minimize the imposition buddy. E.g. Just a moment 5. Seek an agreement
E.g. Could I have a tiny bit of …
E.g. “Oh my god, an accident!”
E.g. I just want to ask if I can borrow a 6. Avoid disagreement single sheet of paper.
The desire to agree or appear to agree
5. Give deference (chiều theo, tôn
with hearer leads also to mechanism for trọng)
pretending to agree: white lies and
E.g. “I look forward very much to seeing hedges. you again.” White lies: 6. Apologize E.g. Yes, I do like your hat
E.g. “I hope this isn’t going to bother you
Hedging opinions: S may choose to be too much ...”
vague about his own opinions, so as not
E.g. “Please forgive me if …”
be seen to disagree. (sort of/ kind of, etc.)
7. Impersonalize S and H (Avoid the
E.g. You really should sort of try harder.
pronoun “I” and “you”)
7. Presuppose/ raise/ assert common
E.g. “We feel obligated to inform you ground about …”
Assert or imply knowledge of Hearer’s
8. State the FTA as a general rule
wants and willingness to fit one’s own
To dissociate S and H from the particular wants in with them.
imposition in the FTA (S doesn’t want to
E.g. Well, I was watching High Life last
disturb H, but is merely forced to by night and …
circumstances), it can be generalized as a
Assuming that S and H share common social rule
ground and both know that High Life is a
E.g. “Passengers will please refrain from TV program. smoking in this room.” 8. Joke
E.g. “We don’t sit on tables, we sit on
Jokes are based on mutual shared chairs”
background and values and putting Hearer 9. Nominalize “at ease”
The more you nominalize an expression, E.g. A: My hair is too short.
the more you dissociate from it B: You’ll save money buying
E.g. “Your performing well on the exams shampoo. was impressive to us.”
9. Assert on presupposed S’s knowledge
10. Go on record (nói thẳng) as
of and concern for H’s wants
incurring a debt (mắc nợ) or as not
E.g. Look, I know you want the car back indebting H
by 5 p.m, so shouldn’t I go to town now?
S can redress an FTA by explicitly
claiming his indebtedness to H, or by 10. Offer and promises
disclaiming any indebtedness of H.
E.g. “I’ll try to get it next week.”
E.g. “I’ll never be able to repay you if …” 11. Be optimistic
E.g. “I could easily do this for you – no
S assumes that H wants for S or for H ad problem.”
S and will help him to obtain them.
E.g. “You’ll lend me your apartment key for the weekend, I hope.”
12. Include both S and H in the activity
E.g. “Let’s have a break!”
E.g. “We will shut the door. The wind is coming in.” 13. Give (or ask) reasons
E.g. “Why don’t we go shopping or to the cinema?”
E.g. “Why not lend me some money?”
14. Assume or assert reciprocity
S and H may claim or urge by giving
evidence of reciprocal rights or
obligations obtaining between S and H.
E.g. “Yesterday I washed the dishes, so today it’s your turn.”
15. Give gifts to H (goods, sympathy,
understanding, corporation)
S may satisfy H’s positive face wants by
actually satisfying some of H’s wants
(action of gift-giving, not only tangible)
 Leech’s theory of politeness
 Leech addressed the issue of “why people are often so indirect in conveying what they mean”
 Leech’s politeness principle: -
Minimize (other things being equal) the expression of impolite beliefs -
Maximize (other things being equal) the expression of polite beliefs
 Leech’s set of maxims
1. Tact (lịch thiệp/ khéo léo) •
Minimize cost to other, maximize benefit to other • E.g. “Close the window” •
-> less indirect , more impolite •
“ Will/ Can you close the window?” •
“ Would you mind closing the window?” •
-> increase indirectness & degree of optionality
2. Generosity (Rộng lượng) •
Minimize benefits to self, maximize cost to self. •
(1) You can lend me your car. (x) • (2) I can lend you my car. (v) •
3) You must come and have dinner with us. (v) •
( 4) We must come and have dinner with you. (x)
3. Modesty (Khiêm tốn) •
Minimize the expression of praise of self •
Maximize the expression of dispraise of self. •
E.g. A: “ That’s very smart”. •
B1: “ Oh, indeed it is” -> impolite •
B2: “ Oh, not really” -> polite
4. Approbation (Chấp thuận) • Minimize dispraise of others • maximize praise of others •
-> avoid saying unpleasant things about others. •
E.g. A: “What do you think of my performance?” •
B: “Your technique was excellent. •
B implies B didn’t enjoy the performance much. •
B follow the maxim of approbation
5. Agreement (Đồng tình) •
Minimize disagreement between self and other. •
Maximize agreement between self and other. • In a birthday party •
A: “I don’t think you should give Coke to the kids” •
B1. “I don’t care what you think.” •
B2: “Yeah, but it is just a day, right?” •
B3: “You’re so right, they get so nervous. But I’ll only give them a little sip.”
6. Sympathy (Cảm thông) •
Minimize antipathy between self and other. •
Maximize sympathy between self and other.” •
Sympathy maxim: in polite speech act such as congratulation or condolence.(lời chia buồn) •
e.g. “I’m so glad you’ve passed all your exams!” •
“I was sorry to hear about your father.” •
“I was sorry to hear your father’s death.”(impolite)