Introduction to Linguistics 6
Spoken Language
Prof. Jo Lewkowicz
1
The spoken language
• Read through this short dialogue and decide where it is taking place.
1
A: Morning
B: Morning
2 A: Nice day, again.
B: Yep. Gonna be another good one.
3 A: What can I get you?
B: Coffee, thanks?
4 A: Regular or decaf?
B: Regular.
5 A: Cream and sugar?
B: Just a little cream.
6 A: Here you go.
B: Cheers
• How do the first 2 exchanges differ from the remaining part of the
dialogue?
• Identify all the ellipses in this dialogue.
2
Adjacency pairs
• What would you expect to be the response to
the following utterances:
– Hi Jo, how are you?
– Would you like some tea?
– I’m so sorry
– I loved the film we saw last night.
– Thanks for a great evening!
3
Insertion sequences
• What lines of this dialogue extract make up
the adjacency pair?
1. J: It’s a worry , isn’t it?
2. B: What?
3. J: Your money (yes) organizing your money
affairs.
4. B: ‘tis ... a big worry.
• What else is happening in this extract?
4
Complex insertion sequence
A: Peach Bellini, please.
B: Are you twenty-one?
A: Why do you want to know?
B: We don’t sell alcohol to anyone under twenty-one.
A: Do I look as though I’m under twenty-one?
B: That’s beside the point. Can I see your ID, please.
A: Here.
B: Great. Thanks. One Bellini coming up.
A: Thanks.
5
Negotiation of meaning
• In real conversation we frequently resort to:
– Clarification requests: Do you mean ...?
• Example A: I don’t feel too hot today.
B: Sorry, what do you mean by that, exactly?
– Confirmation requests: Did you say ....?
• Example A: I saw Philip a couple of weeks ago.
B: Philip, really?
– Comprehension checks: Do you follow?
• Example A: You need to fold the masking take along the
edge of the cardboard. Know what I mean?
B: I think so.
6
Conversational analysis
•
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Analyse the following conversation extract in
terms of adjacency pairs, insertion sequence
and negotiation of meaning:
S: Could you pick up some little fish?
J: Er ... What sort of little fish?
S: You know, if you’re going to be in Bayswater...
J: You mean the little fish biscuits?
S: Yea ... for Tim
J: Sure, if they have some.
7
Transactional interaction
Operator: Cabcharge –account name?
Customer: Macquarie University.
Operator: Passenger’s name?
Customer: Nunan.
Operator: Pick-up address?
Customer: 13, Firth Avenue, East Ryde.
Operator: Is that a private house or a flat?
Customer: Yes.
Operator: Going to?
Customer: The airport?
Operator: How many passengers?
Customer: One
8
Understanding context
• How can you interpret the exchange below?
A: So. if we go to the party how are we going
to get there?
B: Well, one of us could drive.
C: OK, but who?
B: Susie's on antibiotics.
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Summary
• Spoken language can be broken down into 2 basic functions: transactional
/interpersonal
• Ellipses is a feature of spoken language
• Much of interpersonal conversation relies on background knowledge and
prior information about the participants of the interaction and requires
top-down processing (schema theory)
• Conversations can be broken down into a series of 2-utterance pairing
called adjacency pairs
• Adjacency pairs are frequently interrupted by an insertion sequence
• Negotiation of meaning is part and parcel of real spoken interaction
• Negotiation of meaning involves requests for clarification, confirmation
checks as well as comprehension checks.
• Transactional interaction relies less heavily on negotiation of meaning
than interpersonal conversation
10
Textbook dialogue:
What features of real interaction are present / absent
in this dialogue?
SA: Can I help you?
SA: Erm, no, sorry we haven’t got any at
the moment.
SA: Ah. sorry, no.
SA: Sorry we don’t sell crisps.
C: Yes, please. Have you got any cartons
of milk?
C: Oh, have you got any cans of Sprite?
C: OK. I’d like 4 packets of crisps.
SA: Yes, they’re over there next to the
cans of Coke.
C: Well, do you have any bottles of
water?
C: Great. I’d like 2 bottles of water,
please.
SA: Is that everything?
C: Yes, thanks.
SA: OK. That’s $2.50 please.
C: OK ... Oh no! I haven’t got any money!
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Co-construction of meaning
• Often interlocutors help each other as a dialogue progresses as in
the following instance:
A: How do I get to Kensington Road?
B: Well, you go down Fullarton Road ...
A: ... what down Old Belair and around ...?
B: Yeah, and then you go straight ...
A: ... past the hospital?
B: Yeah, keep going straight, past the racecourse to the roundabout. You
know the big roundabout?
A: Yeah.
B: And Kensington Road’s off to the right.
A: What, off the roundabout?
B: Yeah.
A: Right.
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Grice’s cooperative maxims
• When interacting people cooperate with each
other and in so doing help discourse to proceed
• The cooperative principle formulated by Grice in
1975 accounts for how people interpret discourse
• The 4 maxims of the cooperative principle are:
–
–
–
–
Be brief
Be true
Be relevant
Be clear
• If the speaker breaks any one of these maxims,
then misunderstanding is likely to occur.
13
Indirectness in conversation
• We do not always say exactly what we mean when we
speak – we may express our intention indirectly
Compare: Please pass me the salt &
I like my chips with lots of salt
• Degree / strength of indirectness may vary, we may hedge
what we say to varying degrees:
Could you give me a little wine please?
Would you mind passing me the wine bottle?
That’s an interesting looking bottle.
Hmm, my glass appears to be empty again.
This cheese would go with a little of that wine.
Is that the delicious Chilean Cabernet you were talking about?
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Degrees of indirectness
• Degree of indirectness will be governed by:
– Relative power of the speaker over the hearer
– Social distance between the speaker and hearer
– Degree to which X is rated an imposition in culture
Y
– Relative rights and obligations between speaker
and hearer
15
Risk of indirectness
• Indirectness may be costly in that an indirect
utterance takes longer to say and longer to
process.
Compare: Pass me that hammer.
I wonder whether you would mind passing
me that hammer
• Indirectness may be risky as it may be
intentionally or unintentionally misunderstood.
• Directness may be face threatening and
indirectness face saving
16
Speech acts
• Speech acts are a description of utterances in
terms of what they are doing functionally.
• There are 3 dimensions to a speech act:
– Its locutionary aspect: the propositional meaning
of an utterance
– Its illocutionary force: the function the speaker
intends to perform making the utterance
– Its perlocutionary effect: the effect that an
utterance has on a listener, or the interpretation
that the listener places on the utterance
17
Dimensions of speech acts illustrated
• What is the locutionary aspect, the illocutionary force and the
perlocutionary effect of A’s utterance in each of the examples below?
• Example 1
A: It’s 1:20!
B: I know, I’m sorry the traffic was awful.
• Example 2
A: It’s 1:20!
B: Is it really?
• Example 3
A: This cheese would go well with a little of that wine.
B: Here you are. Shall I pour some for you?
• Example 4
A: This cheese would go well with a little of that wine.
B: I agree, French reds tend to complement French cheese better than any other
wines.
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Types of speech acts
• Certain utterances are performative – they are not
meant to convey information, but to perform an act
Example: I now pronounce you man and wife
There is no truth value in the above utterance.
• John Searle, building on John Austin’s original work on
speech acts, identified 5 basic speech act types:
–
–
–
–
–
Directives
Commissives
Representatives
Declaratives (Performatives)
Expressives
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Taxonomy of speech acts
•
Directives:
– speaker wants hearer to do something
– speaker may ask, challenge, command, insist, request as in the following examples:
•
•
Tidy your room!
Gran is coming this evening so it would be nice if you could show her your room.
– directives may be more or less direct / indirect
•
Commissives:
– speaker is committed to varying degrees to some action or refusing to act
– commissives include guarantees, pledges, promises, vows as in the following examples:
•
•
–
•
Don’t worry! I’ll be there on time
I swear I didn’t do that.
vary in directness and strength
Representatives:
– speaker is committed to a varying degree to the truth of a proposition
– representatives may affirm, conclude, deny, report, express a belief as in the following
examples:
•
•
I finished my homework before switching on the television
I think that man is right.
– representative can be evaluated for their truth value
– representatives may vary in terms of how hedged they are
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Taxonomy of speech acts (cont.)
• Declaratives:
– speaker alters the external status or condition of an object or situation
solely by making the utterance
– Examples include:
•
•
•
•
I resign
I baptize you
You’re fired
Class dismissed
– Speaker must be empowered to make the declaration.
• Expressives:
– speaker expresses an attitude about a state of affairs,
– include likes and dislikes, statements of joy and disappointment,
compliments as in the following examples:
• Thanks for a wonderful meal!
• I don’t really like fish.
• Congratulations on your success!
21
Match the speech act type with the
utterance
• Speech act types: directive, commissive, representative,
performative, expressive:
1. What a terrific party!
2. I want to apologise for my behaviour last night.
3. The coffee pot is empty.
4. Don’t worry, I’ll be there by ten.
5. I went to the movies on Saturday.
6. Pass me the matches.
7. I’m really proud of your success!
8. War is hereby declared.
9. Darwin’s theory is at least partially correct.
10. I’ll pay you back tomorrow.
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