PRAGMATICS
by Don L. F. Nilsen
and Alleen Pace Nilsen
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It was on this date that Donati’s comet was
visible over large parts of Southern England.
The comet is barely visible in the picture.
The people in the picture are not looking at the
comet. They are gathering shells, talking to
each other, or doing other unrelated things.
Mey says that the comet is like “pragmatics,”
which happens mostly beneath people’s
levels of awareness.
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Pragmatics is the study of language in its
social context. It assumes that words have
different meanings in different contexts.
For example, what is the meaning of “club,”
“spade,” “diamond,” and “heart”?
Or what is the meaning of “King,” “Queen,”
“Jack,” “Ace,” or “ten”?
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You might say that all of these words have different
meanings in the social context of “playing cards,”
but that’s not the whole story.
In Pinochle there are expressions like “100 Aces,” “80
Kings,” “60 Queens,” “40 Jacks,” and “Jack of
Diamonds and Queen of Spades” that have special
significance.
And in Pinochle there is no “two,” “three,” “four,”
“five,” “six,” “seven,” “eight,” or “nine.”
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Consider also the word “bridge.” If you’re playing
cards, this word has a different meaning than if
you’re a dentist or a road builder. In cards, the
“bridge” is the partner of the person who wins the
bid. The bid winner plays both his hand and the
hand of the “bridge.”
And in “Bridge,” there are special meanings of “to
bid,” “to trump,” “to pass,” and “to finesse.”
And “seven” means “seven”; and there is no “eleven,”
but in Dice, “seven” and “eleven” are “craps,” which
means you win on the first throw but lose on all
subsequent throws with these numbers.
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And in Poker, things get really wild. The “Joker” is
always wild; but One-Eyed Jacks might be wild or
not.
And there is a “raw deal,” and a “big deal,” and the
“New Deal,” in politics.
And there are “straights,” “flushes,” and “full houses;”
and there is “Stud Poker,” “Draw Poker,” “Texas
Hold ‘Em,” and “Strip Poker.” And a person can
“ante up,” into the “kitty,” be “in” or “out,” and can
“hold,” “fold” or “raise.”
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And in “21 Poker,” an Ace can count as either “one” or
“eleven,” and all face cards count as “ten.”
And in “Hearts,” the hearts count one point, and the
Queen of Spades counts 27 points. And you want to
get as few points as possible. Unless you think you
can get all of the points.
Only for Alice in Wonderland could it be more
complicated.
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DIALECTS OF FORMALITY
In The Five Clocks, Martin Joos suggests 5 levels of formality:
Frozen: Prissy Text Book
Formal: Most Text Books
Consultative: Conversations among Strangers or Large Groups
Casual: Conversations among Close Friends
Intimate: Conversations among Family Members or Lovers
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DISAMBIGUATION
Explain how context could help to disambiguate the following:
He waited by the bank.
Is he really that kind?
The proprietor of the fish store was the sole owner.
The long drill was boring.
When he got the clear title to the land, it was a good deed.
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It takes a good ruler to make a straight
line.
He saw that gasoline can explode.
You should see her shop.
Every man loves a woman.
Bill wants to marry a Norwegian
woman.
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OBSCENITIES
Obscenities are based on taboos, and taboos are
culturally determined and change through time.
The religious right is offended by words relating to
certain body parts and functions, or other
vulgarities, obscenities, profanities, swearing, etc.
The liberal left is offended by words degrading to
particular genders, ethnicities, disabilities, etc.
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Something obscene in one culture is not obscene in a
different culture. Consider the following:
derriere
fag or faggot
Grand Tetons Mountain Range
solicitor
to knock someone up
NOTE: Refined foreign students discussing American
slang often don’t realize the power of American
obscenities
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The name Voldemort is taboo and is not to be uttered
by anyone at Hogwarts Academy.
The words corset, shirt, leg, and woman used to be
taboo words in English.
In Shaw’s Pygmalion, Professor Higgins asked, “Are
you walking across the Park, Miss Doolittle?” and
Eliza Doolittle responded, “Walk! Not bloody likely. I
am going in a taxi.”
This use of bloody startled London when the play was
first produced in 1910.
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FOUR-LETTER WORDS
English has many Anglo-Saxon or four
letter words; however for each of these
it is possible to find a Latinate
paraphrase that is more polite. Think
without speaking of the four-letter
words associated with each of the
following:
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Defecate
Eliminate
Expectorate
Feces
Fornicate
Intercourse
Mammary gland
Penis
Vagina
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ORIENTATION
Charles Fillmore says that a three-dimensional box has six sides.
But if you put it on the floor, it has four sides and a top and a
bottom.
And if you place it against a wall, it has two sides a top a bottom
and a front and a back.
And if you put drawers in it, it has a right side, a left side, a top, a
bottom, a front and a back.
And “right” and “left” are your right and left as you face it, not the
dresser’s right and left which is “facing” you.
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PIDGINS AND CREOLES
Pidgins and creoles tend to be quite metaphorical and poetic. Here are some
examples:
Fella belong Mrs. Queen = Prince Philip, Husband of Queen Elizabeth II
muckamuck = to eat, drink, or pucker the mouth
him brother belong me = friend
lamp belong Jesus = sun
gubmint catchum-fella = policeman
grass belong face = whiskers
him belly allatime burn = thirsty man
him cow pig have kittens = Has the Master’s sow given birth to a litter yet?
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Haitian Creole is a creole based on French.
Jamaican Creole is a creole based on English.
Gullah is an English-based creole spoken by descendants of
African slaves off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina.
Louisiana Creole is spoken in Louisiana.
Tok Pisin as a Melanesian Pidgin English spoken in Papua, New
Guinea.
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PRECONDITIONS FOR SPEECH ACTS
Explain how linguistic and social context help in understanding
the following sentences:
You make a better door than a window.
It’s getting late.
The restaurants are open until midnight.
If you’d diet, this wouldn’t hurt so badly.
I thought I saw a fan in the closet.
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Mr. Smith dresses neatly, is well-groomed, and is always on
time to class.
Most of the food is gone.
John or Mary made a mistake.
Did you make a doctor’s appointment?
Do you have the play tickets?
Does your grandmother have a live-in boyfriend?
How did you like the string quartet?
What are Boston’s chances of winning the World Series?
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Do you own a cat?
LAURA: Did you mow the grass and wash the car like I
told you to? JACK: I mowed the grass.
LAURA: Do you want dessert? JACK: Is the Pope
Catholic?
When did you stop paying alimony to your ex-wife?
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SLANG, JARGON AND ARGOT
Slang, Jargon and Argot are all gate-keeping languages used as
much to identify members of a particular group as to
communicate.
Slang is age related—mainly high school and college students.
Jargon is profession related—every profession has its own
jargon.
Argot is underworld related—it’s designed to communicate to the
group and not to the authorities.
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Carl Sandburg said, “Slang is language which takes off
its coat, spits on its hands—and goes to work.
SLANG EXAMPLES: spaced out, right on, to barf, to dis
someone, rave (wild party), ecstasy (drug), crib
(home), posse (friends)
JARGON EXAMPLES: phoneme, morpheme, case,
lexicojn, phrase structure rule
ARGOT EXAMPLES: “He was hoopty around dimday
when some mud duck with a tray-eight tried to take
him out of the box.” TRANSLATION: “He was in his
car about dusk when a woman armed with a .38
caliber gun tried to kill him.
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THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING
Penelope Eckert said that the use of
variation does not simply reflect, but
actually constructs, social categories
and social meaning.
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SOCIAL-VARIABILITY
IN LINGUISTIC RULES
William Labov says that there are at least four levels of
formality:
Minimal Pairs
Word Lists
Reading Style
Careful Speech
Casual Speech
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WEBSTER’S THIRD NEW
INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY
This dictionary, published in 1961, was the first
major dictionary that obliterated the “older
distinction between standard, substandard,
colloquial, vulgar, and slang.”
Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Explain.
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ROGER SHUY’S MAP SHOWING NORTHERN,
MIDLAND & SOUTHERN EXPANSION WESTWARD
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PHONOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES
greasy [grizi]
with [wIð]
spoon (noon) [spjun]
creek [krIk]
roof [rUf]
However, wash with an intrusive [r] is not so much regional as
rural.
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PHONOLOGICAL DISTINCTIONS
THAT ARE BECOMING LOST
cot-caught
witch-which
mourning – morning
However, pin-pen is remaining stable.
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BRITISH-AMERICAN
PRONUNCIATION DIFFERENCES
calf, bath, pass, aunt
learn, fork, core, brother
carry, very
either, neither, potato, tomato
clerk, schedule
captain, bottle (glottals [in Cockney])
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BRITISH-AMERICAN
STRESS DIFFERENCES
aluminum
applicable
cigarette
dictionary
formidable
kilometer
laboratory
necessary
missionary
secretary
stationery
territory
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CALIFORNIA VALLEY-GIRL
AND SURFER-DUDE SPEECH
Rising Inflections (like Australian English)
Animated Body Language (like sticking a finger
down the throat)
Specialized Vocabulary (like “dude”, esp.
relating to shopping malls, the beach, and
personality types)
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CANADIAN PHONOLOGY
out and about the house
schedule
Canadian -eh
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NEW ENGLAND PHONOLOGY
lot (New England)
park the car; Cuba-r-is
merry – marry – Mary
calf (pass, path, dance)
Brooklyn: dis, dat, dese, dose, dem
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SOUTHERN PHONOLOGY
Mrs. [mIz]
hog (frog, dog, Deputy Dog)
south => souf
during => doin’, and going => gon,
help => hep
test => tes
ring => rang,
boy => boah,
car => cah
POlice
nasal twang (Texas and Oklahoma)
southern drawl
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GRAMMAR DIFFERENCES
Double Modals: might could
Negative Modals: hadn’t ought
Strange Past Participles: larnt
Strange Possessive Pronouns: yourn, hisn, hern, ourn, theirn
Strange Prepositions: a quarter before eight
Strange Conjunctions: unless => without, lessen, thouten
Strange Adverbs: anywheres, nowheres
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VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES
What do you fry your eggs in?
creeper, fryer, frying pan, fry pan, skillet, or spider
What do you call a soft drink?
pop, soda, soda pop, or tonic?
What do you call a long sandwich containing salami etc.?
hero, submarine, hoagy, grinder or poorboy
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What do you drink water out of?
drinking fountain, cooler, bubbler or geyser
How do you get something from one place to
another?
take, carry, or tote
What do you carry things in?
a bag, a sack, or a poke
How do you speculate?
reckon, guess, figgure, figger, suspect, imagine
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BRITISH-AMERICAN
VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES
bird, bobby, bonnet, boot, braces, clothes peg, first
floor, flat, lift, lorry, nickers, peruque, petrol, pram,
pub, public school, queue, spanner, tele, torch,
trousers, tube, westcoat
girl, cop, hood (of a car), trunk (of a car), suspenders,
clothes pin, second floor, apartment, elevator, truck,
underwear, wig, gasoline, baby buggy, bar, private
school, line, monkey wrench, television, flashlight,
pants, subway, vest
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SOUTHERN VOCABULARY
chitlins and grits
to buy a pig in a poke
“Carry me Back to Old Virginie”
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BRITISH-AMERICAN
SPELLING DIFFERENCES
Cheque
centre, theatre
colour, honour
defence, offence
labelled, travelled
Pyjamas
Tyre
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BRITISH EXPRESSIONS
TO WATCH OUT FOR
fag or faggot (wood for the fireplace, or
cigarette)
soliciter (lawyer)
to knock someone up (wake them up in
the morning)
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COCKNEY RHYMING SLANG
apples and pears (stairs)
Aristotle (bottle)
pig’s ear (beer)
Mother Hubbard (cupboard)
plates and dishes (Mrs.)
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ETHNIC HUMOR
TO INVESTIGATE
STEREOTYPES
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HEAVEN AND HELL
In Heaven, all the cooks are French; all
the mechanics are German; all the
musicians are Italian.
In Hell, all the cooks are English; all the
mechanics are French; all the soldiers
are Italian.
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BRITISH DIALECT ETHNICITY
A guy wakes up, finds himself in a British
hospital, and says, “Did I come here to
die?”
The Cokney nurse responds, “No, I think
it was yesterdie.”
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BRONX DIALECT ETHNICITY
In a New York City Park one guy turns to
another guy and says, “Look at de boids.”
The other guy says, “Those aren’t ‘boids.’
They’re ‘birds.’”
The first guy says, “Cheez, dat’s funny, dey
choip like boids.”
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LIGHTBULB JOKES
TO INVESTIGATE STEREOTYPES
How many New Yorkers?
Three: One to do it and two to criticize.
How many grad students?
Three: Two, plus a professor to take the credit
How many Jewish mothers?
None: I’ll just sit in the dark.
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SOUTHERN ETHNICITY
A radio comedian once remarked that the
Mason-Dixon line is the dividing line
between you-all and youse-guys.
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COMEDY TEAMS ARE ETHNICALLY OR
GENDER DETERMINED
• 43 out of the 500 entries in Ronald L.
Smith’s Who’s Who in Comedy are
about comedy teams. There are many
reasons for this high number:
• Teams are often more recognized and
more memorable than are the
individuals who make up the teams.
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Good “chemistry” enhances creativity and
enjoyment.
Through interacting with each other, team
members can revitalize old gags.
Differing appearances, personalities and voices
provide for contrast and for the efficient
creation of stock characters.
With teams, audiences can enjoy both surprise
and anticipation because while teams do new
material they usually have a style that carries
over from one performance to another.
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PRAGMATICS WEB SITE
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PRAGMATICS (JOHN BENJAMINS):
http://www.benjamins.com/online/bop/topbar.html
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