PRAGMATICS
Chapter I
1.1
Background of the problem
Language is a tool for human to communicate and relate
to many people. Language is a blessing
from the Almighty God for human. Human uses language every time in their life.
We can not express what we want to share, if we don not use language in our
life. It is the reason why language is very important for human. Language is
expressed in a word and arranged in sentence. These sentences have specific
meaning which is a purpose from the speaker. Communication word has explicit
and implicit meaning. This matter will be explained in Discourse Analysis , Pragmatic Sentence.
In Pragmatic sentence, there are some
misunderstandings of interpreting meaning. So, the purpose of the sentence
isn’t accepted. It makes people difficult to interpret the meaning of the
pragmatics sentences. However, in our paper, we want to explain the factors
that make people misunderstanding about the pragmatic meaning and how to
minimize this misunderstanding.
1.2 PURPOSE
1.
To
analyze what the speaker’s intention and beliefs are.
2.
To inform to the
readers about the factors of misunderstanding of pragmatic meaning.
3.
To
inform how to minimize the misunderstanding of the pragmatic meaning
about what the
speaker talk about.
1.3 THEORITICAL BASES
Pragmatics is a subfield of linguistics which studies
the ways in which context contributes to meaning. Pragmatics encompasses speech act theory, conversational
implicature, talk in interaction and other approaches
to language behavior in philosophy, sociology, and linguistics. It studies
how the transmission of meaning depends not only on the linguistic knowledge
(e.g. grammar, lexicon etc.) of the
speaker and listener, but also on the context of the utterance, knowledge about
the status of those involved, the inferred intent
of the speaker, and so on. In this respect, pragmatics explains how language
users are able to overcome apparent ambiguity, since meaning
relies on the manner, place, time etc. of an utterance. The ability to
understand another speaker's intended meaning is called pragmatic competence.
So an utterance describing pragmatic function is described as metapragmatic.
Pragmatic awareness is regarded as one of the most challenging aspects of
language learning, and comes only through experience.
Pragmatics is the study of the aspects of meaning and
language use that are dependent on the speaker, the addressee and other features of the context of utterance, such as the following:
The effect that
the following have on the speaker’s choice of expression and the addressee’s
interpretation of an utterance:
- Context of utterance
- Generally observed principles of communication
- The goals of the speaker
·
Programmatic concerns, such as
- the treatment of given versus new information, including presupposition
- deixis
- speech acts, especially illocutionary acts
- implicature, and
- the relations of meaning or function between portions of discourse (see interpropositional relation) or turns of conversation (see conversation analysis)
Pragmatics deals with utterances, by which we will mean specific events, the
intentional acts of speakers at times and places, typically involving language.
Logic and semantics traditionally deal with properties of types of expressions, and not with
properties that differ from token to token, or use to use, or, as we shall say,
from utterance to utterance, and vary with the particular properties that
differentiate them. Pragmatics is sometimes characterized as dealing with the
effects of context. This is
equivalent to saying it deals with utterances, if one collectively refers to
all the facts that can vary from utterance to utterance as ‘context.’ One must
be careful, however, for the term is often used with more limited meanings.
1.4. The kinds of
pragmatics
1.4.1 Classical Pragmatics
A.
Far-side Pragmatics: Beyond Saying
Our initial focus will be on
the traditions in pragmatics inaugurated by the J.L. Austin and H.P. Grice.
Both of these philosophers were interested in the area of pragmatics we call
‘beyond saying.’ In the classic period, these phenomena were studied on the
premise — a premise increasingly undermined by developments in pragmatics
itself — that a fairly clear distinction could be made between what is said,
the output of the realm of semantics, and what is conveyed or accomplished in
particular linguistic and social context in or by saying something, the realm
of pragmatics. What is said is sort of a boundary; semantics is on the near
side, and those parts of pragmatics that were the focus of the classic period
are on the far side.
Far-side pragmatics deals with what we do with
language, beyond what we (literally) say. This is the conception
according to which Voltaire's remarks belong to pragmatics. It's up to
semantics to tell us what someone literally says when they use expressions of a
given type; it's up to pragmatics to explain the information one conveys, and
the actions one performs, in or by saying something.
The facts with which pragmatics deals are of various
sorts, including:
- Facts about the objective facts of the utterance, including: who the speaker is, when the utterance occurred, and where;
- Facts about the speaker's intentions. On the near side, what language the speaker intends to be using, what meaning he intends to be using, whom he intends to refer to with various shared names, whether a pronoun is used demonstratively or anaphorically, and the like. On the far side, what he intends to achieve by saying what he does.
- Facts about beliefs of the speaker and those to whom he speaks, and the conversation they are engaged in; what beliefs do they share; what is the focus of the conversation, what are they talking about, etc.
- Facts about relevant social institutions, such as promising, marriage ceremonies, courtroom procedures, and the like, which affect what a person accomplishes in or by saying what he does.
Based on their essential conditions, and attending to
the minimal purpose or intention of the speaker in performing an illocutionary
act, Searle (1975a) proposes a taxonomy of illocutionary acts into five
mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive classes:
- Representative or assertive. The speaker becomes committed to the truth of the propositional content; for example, asserting: “It's raining.”
- Directive. The speaker tries to get the hearer to act in such a way as to fulfill what is represented by the propositional content; for example, commanding: “Close the door!”
- Commissive. The speaker becomes committed to act in the way represented by the propositional content; for example, promising: “I'll finish the paper by tomorrow.”
- Expressive. The speaker simply expresses the sincerity condition of the illocutionary act: “I'm glad it's raining!”
- Declarative. The speaker performs an action just representing herself as performing that action: “I name this ship the Queen Elizabeth.”
In logic and in many of the investigations of logical
empiricists in the first two-thirds of the twentieth century, artificial
languages were the focus of attention. First the predicate calculus, and then
various extensions of it incorporating modal and temporal operators seemed the
appropriate linguistic vehicles for clear-thinking philosophers. Issues about
the use of natural languages were often thought to be beyond the scope of the
proof-theoretic and model-theoretic tools developed by logicians. As Stalnaker
put it in 1970,
The problems of
pragmatics have been treated informally by philosophers in the ordinary
language tradition, and by some linguists, but logicians and philosophers of a
formalistic frame of mind have generally ignored pragmatic problems.
(Stalnaker
1970/1999, 31.)
(For an important exception, see Reichenbach's Elements
of Symbolic Logic (1947).)
The idea that techniques of formal semantics should be
adapted to natural languages was forcefully defended by Donald Davidson, on
general philosophical principles, and Richard Montague, who applied the
techniques of possible worlds semantics to fragments of English in a body of
work that was influential in both philosophy and linguistics.
These attempts make clear that, on the near side of
what is said, semantics and pragmatics are quite enmeshed. The interpretation
of indexicals and demonstratives seems squarely in the realm of pragmatics,
since it is particular facts about particular utterances, such as the speaker,
time, and location that determine the interpretation of ‘I,’ ‘you,’ ‘now’ and the like. But the relevance of
these varying factors is determined by a non-varying rule of meaning, as
Bar-Hillel (1954) had already observed.
1.4.2. Contemporary Pragmatic
Theory
a. Relevance theory
According to relevance theory this is a mistake.
Sperber and Wilson (1986) see things the second way. Following Grice's model,
understanding what someone means by an utterance is a matter of inferring
the speaker's communicative intention: the hearer uses all kinds of information
available to get at what the speaker intended to convey. The semantic
information obtained by decoding the sentence uttered is but one example of
such information. But much more information has to be used to infer what the
speaker meant — that includes both what she said and what she implicated — by
her utterance. So central is intention-recognition to understanding language
that the code model, with autonomous semantics at its core, should largely be
abandoned in favor of the inferential model. One kind of pragmatic reasoning
pervades language use, near-side and far-side, and the areas in which the code
model is applicable are basically marginal
CHAPTER 2
2.1. Definition of Pragmatics
Pragmatics is a subfield of linguistics which studies
the ways in which context contributes to meaning (Wikipedia). Pragmatic has
four definitions, 1. The study of what the speaker means, 2. The study of
context, 3. The study of utterance interpretation. 4. The study of expression
according the social distances which limited particioent who is in the
conversation (Yule 1996:3). Thomas (1995:2), Pragmatics consists of using
social point of view link the pragmatic with the speaker meaning and using
cognitive point of view link pragmatic with utterence interpretation.
Pragmatics is the study of the
aspects of meaning and language use that are dependent on the speaker,
the addressee
and other features of the context of utterance.
So, pragmatics is the study of meaning that which studies the ways in which
context contributes to meaning.
2.2. The Concern of Pragmatic
2.2.1. The function
of Speech act
Based on their essential conditions, and attending to
the minimal purpose or intention of the speaker in performing an illocutionary
act, Searle (1975a) proposes a taxonomy of illocutionary acts into five
mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive classes:
- Representative or assertive. The speaker becomes committed to the truth of the propositional content; for example, asserting: “It's raining.”
- Directive. The speaker tries to get the hearer to act in such a way as to fulfill what is represented by the propositional content; for example, commanding: “Close the door!”
- Commissive. The speaker becomes committed to act in the way represented by the propositional content; for example, promising: “I'll finish the paper by tomorrow.”
- Expressive. The speaker simply expresses the sincerity condition of the illocutionary act: “I'm glad it's raining!”
- Declarative. The speaker performs an action just representing herself as performing that action: “I name this ship the Queen Elizabeth.”
2.2.2 Corporated Principle
In the mean time Grice, an Oxford philosopher, concentrated on studying the difference between what is said and what is meant. He realized that to understand an utterance one needs not only shared general knowledge of the world and linguistic knowledge but also knowledge of communicative principles which guide interlocutors and which are part of their communicative competence as well as shared contextual knowledge. These principles can be described as common expectations in a given communicative situation between rational human beings. They are not ethical principles, but express typical communication values. He called the sum of these principles The Cooperative Principle (CP) which consisted of 4 basic maxim.
- Quantity
- Make your contribution as informative as is required (for the current purposes of the exchange).
- Do not make your contribution more informative than is required, e.g.:
For example:
“My
Daughter has a boy friend”
“My little girl has a boy friend”
In these sentences has represented meaning of”girl”.So, “My little girl”
in that sentence gives too much contribution.
- Quality
- (Supermaxim): Try to make your contribution one that is true.
- (Submaxims):
- Do not say what you believe to be false.
- Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.
For
example:
Example
1
Lia :
Where is Unila?
Ayu : Unila is located in Rajabasa.
Example
2
Putri : Where is Unila?
Tika : I
think Unila is located in Rajabasa.
The answer in first conversation is a
fact. But the answer in second conversation is an opinion and still in doubt. “I think, maybe, in my opinion” show
divider that fulfill maxim quality.
- Relation
- Be relevant
For example:
Lita : Would you like to drink?
Ani : Something
hot, please
Example:
Fani : Would you like to drink?
Dona : Yes.I washed it yesterday
In these
conversations above, the first conversation is relevant between the question
and the answer. But, in the second example, it isn’t relevant.
- Manner
- (Supermaxim): Be perspicuous.
- (Submaxims):
- Avoid obscurity of expression.
- Avoid ambiguity.
- Be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity).
- Be orderly.
- Frame whatever you say in the form most suitable for any reply that would be regarded as appropriate; or, facilitate in your form of expression the appropriate reply (added by Grice 1981/1989, 273).
For example:
Example 1
Ayu : Which one do you want to
watch? OVJ or Antara Cinta dan Dusta?
Ina : I think OVJ is better
Example 2
Mitha : Which one do you want to watch? OVJ or Antara Cinta
dan Dusta?
Mifta : I think Antara Cinta dan Dusta is good, but I don’t
like the actor, Ivan Sanders as Doctor Sultan. OVJ also good, but it’s bored.
Mitha : So, what actually do you want to watch???????
In these conversations above, the answer in first
conversation is better than in second conversation. The manner that is used in
second conversation is redundant and doesn’t get the main point.
2.2.3. IMPLICATURE
Implicature is a technical term in the pragmatics subfield of linguistics, coined by H. P. Grice,
which refers to what is suggested
in an utterance, even though neither expressed nor strictly implied (that is, entailed) by the utterance.
There
is a distinction between two main types of implicature:
example: I am crying although I am happy.
It is by convention
expected that if somebody cries than s/he is unhappy and the word
"although" signals this expectation.
· Conversational implicature
Conversational implicature that arises from the addressee's assumption that the speaker is being cooperative by directly observing the conversational maxims.
For
example:
Dwi :
Could you follow me go to my home?
Chai :
Actually, I want to go to bali tomorrow.
This conversation
above is an implicatur utterance that has “no” meaning and it is an answer from
the question.
2.2.4 POLITENESS
Politeness theory
is the theory that accounts for the redressing of the affronts to face posed by
face-threatening acts to addressees (1978 by Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson).
For
example:
- Excuse me Sir, would you mind to tell me where is the Hospital?
- Guys, where is the hospital?
In this example
above, the first example is said by speaker who has lower social status than
the partner, such as the student and the teacher. Otherhand the second example
is said to partner who has same status social.
A social interaction
will be involved well if it fulfill with qualifictions, one of the
qualifications is awareness of politeness.
2.2.5. DEXIS
Dexis is the way how
to relate with speaker’s context. There are 3 kinds of dexis:
1.
Dexis of room
Dexis of room
related to the location of the speaker and “mitra tutur” that involved in this
interaction, For example:
Marry and John
is involving in the conversation. Marry takes a cake and she says” This cake is delicious”. “This
cake “is refers to Mary’s location. But, John will say it “That cake”. This case is caused by the different of location each
person.
2.
Dexis of Personal
Dexis of Persona
can be seen in form of pronominal. The forms pronominal consist of pronominal
of first speaker, pronominal of second speaker, and pronominal of third
speaker. For example:
In Indonesian,
we know that form of plural and singular is still used in conversation. Like:
I, you, she, he,
we, they. Sometimes, the speaker calls himself/herself by his name/her name.
3.
Dexis of Time
Dexis of time
related with time when the speaker’s utterance. There are some differences in
every language. There is a lexical utterance with specific word.
2.3. Pragmatic Problem
Pragmatic meaning must to pay intention so that we understand what speaker say. An individual with pragmatic problems may:
- say inappropriate or unrelated things during conversations
- tell stories in a disorganized way
- have little variety in language use
2.4. Pragmatics skills
Pragmatics involves three major communication skills:
- Using language for different purposes, such as
- greeting (e.g., hello, goodbye)
- informing (e.g., I'm going to get a cookie)
- demanding (e.g., Give me a cookie)
- promising (e.g., I'm going to get you a cookie)
- requesting (e.g., I would like a cookie, please)
- Changing language according to the needs of a listener or situation, such as
- talking differently to a baby than to an adult
- giving background information to an unfamiliar listener
- speaking differently in a classroom than on a playground
- Following rules for conversations and storytelling, such as
- taking turns in conversation
- introducing topics of conversation
- staying on topic
- rephrasing when misunderstood
- how to use verbal and nonverbal signals
- how close to stand to someone when speaking
The facts with which pragmatics deals are of various
sorts, including:
- Facts about the objective facts of the utterance, including: who the speaker is, when the utterance occurred, and where;
- Facts about the speaker's intentions. On the near side, what language the speaker intends to be using, what meaning he intends to be using, whom he intends to refer to with various shared names, whether a pronoun is used demonstratively or anaphorically, and the like. On the far side, what he intends to achieve by saying what he does.
- Facts about beliefs of the speaker and those to whom he speaks, and the conversation they are engaged in; what beliefs do they share; what is the focus of the conversation, what are they talking about, etc.
- Facts about relevant social institutions, such as promising, marriage ceremonies, courtroom procedures, and the like, which affect what a person accomplishes in or by saying what he does.
CHAPTER 3
3.1. CONCLUSION
1. Pragmatics is a study of meaning that which studies the ways in which
context contributes to meaning.
2. There are four Concerns of Pragmatic, The function of Speech act, Corporate
Principle, implicature, Politeness, and Dexis.
3. There are some pragmatic problems:
- say inappropriate or unrelated things during conversations
- tell stories in a disorganized way
- have little variety in language use
3.2. SUGGESTIONS
There is a lot of problem of pragmatic in social community. So, to avoid
those problem :
a.
We have
to be able to use language for different purposes and in many
situations.
b.
We have
to be able to change our language according to the needs of a listener or
situation.
c.
We
have to be able to follow rules for conversations and storytelling.
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