PRAGMATICS QUESTION

1. Give the definition of deixis. Identify types of deixis and give examples for
illustration.
1.1. The definition of deixis
- Deixis is a technical term (from Greek) which means “pointing” via language.
- Deixis usually requires a speaker and a hearer sharing the same context and it is
an application of a general pragmatic principle which says that the more 2
speakers have in common, the less language they will need to identify familiar
things.
- Types of deixis:
˖ Personal deixis (deixis of person): Personal deixis refers to the way language
points to the participants in a conversation. It involves the use of words and
expressions that refer to the speaker (first person), the listener (second person),
and others (third person).
 First person: I, we, me, myself, mine, us, ourself, our, ours.
 Second person: you, yourself, your, yours, yourselves
 Third person: he, she, it, they, him, himself, her, herself
˖ Spatial deixis (deixis of place): Spatial deixis describes the way language refers
to spatial locations, such as those related to the speaker and the listener. It
involves the use of spatial markers and indicators, such as adverbs, pronouns,
and prepositions, to indicate the location of objects or events in space.
 Proximal deixis: this, here, these
 Distal deixis: that, there, those
 Prepositional phrases: opposite, on the left, near,…
˖ Temporal deixis (deixis of time): refers to the use of language to refer to the
time in which an event takes place. It involves the use of temporal expressions
such as "now", "then", "yesterday", "tomorrow", "last week", "next month", and
so on. It allows the listener or reader to determine when the event being referred
to occurred or will occur.
˖ Discoursal deixis (deixis of discourse) is self-explicit in that it is used primarily
in a discourse unit and for discoursal purpose. It is used for textual coherence or
as a procedural indicators.
 “initial usages, but, next, in the next chapter, therefore, in conclusion, actually,
all in all, this, that, here, etc”.
 Imagine you have just finished reading a great story. You might show it to your
friend and say: ‘This is a great story.’ – this refers to the story which you are
going to tell your friend about.
 Somebody mentions a film they saw earlier. You have also seen it, and you say
‘That was a brilliant film.’ Because the film has already been mentioned in the
same conversation, you can use ‘that’ to refer back to it.
˖ Social deixis (deixis for social purposes) Social deixis is when we use a term of
address to indicate social or professional status. In many languages there is a
distinct change of form for second-person pronouns, to indicate familiarity or
politeness.
 Relational social deixis (pronouns, kinship terms, personal names or nicknames,
and occupational address terms show intimacy, friendship and closeness.)
For example: my wife, mom, dad, brother, teacher,… pronouns (you, her).
 Absolute social deixis ( name of the job, title address, social status... which
show the higher and lower social status between a speaker and an addressee. )
For example: your highness, your majesty, Mr President, Sir , your slaves.
2. What are reference and inference? Indicate types of reference and give
example
- Reference is an act in which a speaker, or writer, uses linguistic forms to enable
a listener, or reader to identify something.
- Referring expressions can be: Proper nouns (Hanoi, Ngo Bao Chau); Definite
noun phrases (The city, the professor); indefinite noun phrases( a place, a man);
Pronouns (it, he, him)
- Types of reference:
˖ Endophora: textual. is a reference in a text to something else inside the text.
 Anaphora (anaphoric reference): It is the use of a word or a group of words
which refer back to another part of the text.Eg: The students were excited about
their first encounter with a class. They had prepared carefully.
Note: Anaphoric reference can be intrasentential (within a sentence) or
intersentential (across sentences).
Types of anaphoric reference:
 Anaphoric Comparatives: “such” refers back to the nominal group qualifier of
mildly but persistently depressive temperament. Eg: John was a man of
depressive temperament. Such men are not at their best at lunch.
 Anaphoric Demonstratives: “this”, ‘that” refer annaphorically to sth that has
been said before. Eg; there seems to be a great deal of sheer carelessness. This
is what I can’t understand.
 Anaphoric Ellipsis: Eg: He said that he was not sincere, but I don’t think so.
 Anaphoric Lexical cohesion; Eg: there is a boy climbing that tree. The boy is
going to fail if he doesn’t take care.
  Anaphoric Substition:“here, or “that” can be substituted for a preceding
occurrence. Eg: do you remember that earthquake we had the last time we were
here? That was a terrifying one!
 Zero anaphora: when the interpretation requires us to identify an entity, and no
linguistic expression is present, it is called zero anaphora, or ellipsis. Eg: peel
an onion and slice it. Drop the slices into hot oil. Cook for three minutes.
 Cataphora (cataphoric reference): to following text. It is the use of a word or a
phrase which refers forward to another word or phrase which will be used later
in a text or conversation.
Eg: Here is the news. The ….
Types of cataphoric reference:
 Cataphoric demonstratives. Eg; this is what makes me happy: I can read more.
 Cataphoric personal reference. Eg; He who hesitates is lost.
 Cataphoric substitution: He picked out the loveliest ones of all the roses in the
garden and gave them to me.
 Cataphoric temporal conjunction; first, at first, first of all, to begin with or then,
next, second, finally. Eg; first, he pondered over it. Then, he found the solution.
 Cataphric “the”: E.g. "Last year we went to Devon for a holiday. The holiday
we had there was the best we've ever had". ("The" is both cataphoric, pointing
forward to "we had there", and also anaphoric, referring to the second
occurrence of "holiday" in the preceding sentence.)
˖ Exophora (exophoric reference): situation. is a reference within a text to
something outside of the text. Typically, an exophoric reference will rely
heavily on the context to be understood.
Eg: It is very nice. (It= the room)
They are very active. (They=the children)
As readers outside this environment, we are unfamiliar with who the ‘it’ or
‘they’ is that is being referred to, but most likely, the people involved are
aware of the ‘it’ and ‘they’, and therefore can find texture in the sentences.
- Inference: is any additional information used by the listener to connect what is
said to what must be meant.
Eg: Have you seen my Yule? => Yeah, it is on the desk.
Where is the fresh salad sitting? => he’s sitting by the door.
Can I look at your Shakespeare? => sure, it’s on the shelf over there
Picasso is on the wall
- Inferring is connecting prior knowledge to next based infor to create meaning
beyond what is directly stated.
- The role of inference in communication: allow listener to identify correctly
which particular entity the speaker is referring to.
3. Distinguish “ co-text” and “context”, give examples
Context (bối cảnh) Co-text (ngữ cảnh)
The physical environment in Just a linguistic part of the
which a word is used, has a environment in which a referring
powerful impact on how referring expression is used
expressions are interpreted.
Refer to the social setting in refers to the language immediately
which language occurs. surrounding the item in question which
For example, the language item: tells us its meaning.
It's cold in the bedroom For example, the word bark is a noun
means different things in these in “ The tree has silver bark”
two contexts: and a verb in “ I wish that dog
Context 1: a guest standing at a wouldn't bark so much”
hotel reception desk talking to the
manager
Context 2: someone suggesting a
good place to store apples  Only the co-text allows us to
 Many other language items understand which meaning of the word
can only be understood if the is the correct one to assume.
context is made clear.
ensure that messages are provide a deeper understanding of the
interpreted correctly and that meaning and usage of words in
misunderstandings are avoided. different contexts.
- Physical context: We can think of this in terms of where the conversation is
taking place, what objects are present, what actions are occurring, and so forth.
- Epistemic context: refers to what speakers know about the world. For example,
what background knowledge is shared by the speakers is crucially part of your
epistemic knowledge when you have a conversation with someone else.
- Linguistic context: refers to what has been said already in the utterance. For
example, if I begin a discussion by referring to Jane Smith and in the next
sentence refer to "her" as being a top-notch athlete, the linguistic context lets
me know that the antecedent of "her" (the person "her" refers to) is Jane Smith.
- Social context refers to the social relationship among speakers and hearers.
E.g. Imagine you are in the library. Two people come into a library and they are
talking really loud. They sit at your table and continue their babbling.
So, you look up at them and say: "Excuse me, could you please speak up a bit
more? I missed what you said."

- Physical context: the conversation occurs in a library.

 - Epistemic context: libraries are quiet places.
- Linguistic context: sarcastic tone of voice (intonation cues are linguistic).
- Social context: you have the right to ask someone to be quiet in a place where
people are supposed to be quiet, especially if their rule-breaking is injurious to
the
needs of others, which overrides the social norm of not giving orders to total
strangers.
4. Define the following terms briefly: the Cooperative Principle and
Conversational Implicature. What are four maxims of the Cooperative
Principle
“Implicature” accounts for what a speaker can imply, suggest, or mean, as
distinct from what the speaker literally says. Implicature is one of the ways in
which one proposition can be conveyed by (a speaker uttering) another (under
appropriate circumstances).
E.g. Some of the students are intelligent.
+> Not all the students are intelligent.
What would you like for your birthday?
Well, my camera is not working.
+> I would like a camera
- According to Paul Grice, the Cooperative Principle was termed that all
speakers, regardless of their cultural background, adhere to a basic principle
governing conversation. That is, we assume that in a conversation the
participants will cooperate with each other when making their contributions.
- Four maxims:
˖ The maxim of Quantity (informativeness):
Make your contribution as informative as required for current purposes of the
exchange.
 Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.
E.g. A: How did Harry fare in court today?
B: Oh, he got a fine.
+> He got no more than a fine.
˖ The maxim of quality (truthfulness): Try to make your contribution one that is
true, specifically:
a. Do not say what you believe to be false.
b. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.

A: Do you know that Mr. John teaches both Economics and Laws?
B: He has two PhD’s.
 +> I believe John has two PhD’s, and have adequate

˖ The maxim of Relation (relevance): make your contribution relevant.

E.g. A: Can you tell me the time?
B: Well, the milkman has come.
+> B’s utterance may implicate that B does not know the exact time of the
present moment, but B can provide some information from which A may be
able to deduce the approximate time, namely the milkman has come.
˖ The maxim of manner (perspicuity) – truyen tai: be perspicuous, and
specificially: avoid obscurity of expression, ambiguity, and be brief and orderly.
E.g. A: How do I get into your apartment?
B: Walk up to the front door, turn the door handle clockwise as far as it will go,
and then pull gently towards you.
+> Pay particular attention and care to each step of the instructions I’ve given
you.
- Conversational implicature is a non-conventional implicature based on an
addressee’s assumption that the speaker is following the conversational maxims
or at least the cooperative principles. It promises to bridge “ the gap between
what is literally said and what is conveyed” (Levinson)
- Eg: A: ‘Coffee?’
B: ‘It would keep me awake all night.’
+> B would rather not drink coffee.
A: ‘Have you finished the student’s evaluation form and reading list?’
B: ‘I’ve done the reading list.’
+> B has not done the evaluation form, since what is not mentioned has not been
done yet
5. What is presupposition? Identify types of presuppositions and give
examples
- Presupposition is the assumption the speaker makes about what the hearer is
likely to accept without challenge. Presupposition is “ what a speaker or writer
assumes that receiver of the message already knows” (Richards, 1987:228)
Eg: When did you start English?
Presuppose: You started English.
- Presupposition is the inference about what is assumed to be true in the
utterance rather than directly asserted to be true.
- Presupposition can be used to communicate infor indirectly. Eg: If someone
says My brother is rich, we assume that the person has a brother, even though
that fact is not explicitly stated.
- Characteristics
˖ The presupposition of an utterance remains the same under its negation
Eg: - John stopped smoking/John didn’t stop smoking => presuppose that John
once smoked cigarettes.
˖ The presupposition of an utterance remains the same under its interrogation
Eg: John stopped smoking/Why did John stop smoking? => presuppose that
John once smoked cigarettes.
˖ The presupposition of an utterance may be cancelled under its extension
Eg: (5)a. She didn’t feel regret at the over-cooked meat.
(5)b. She didn’t feel regret at the over-cooked meat because it was in fact well-
done.
=> (5)a presupposes that the meat was overcooked while (5)b presupposes that
the meat was well-done.
- Type of presupposition:
˖ Existential presupposition is assumed to be present in possessive
constructions, definite noun phrases
Eg: Tony’s car is new/ The Cold War has ended.
A definite noun phrase => a complete statement: There
is/are/was/were/exist/exists/existed + an indefinite NP
A definite NP => an indefinite NP
A possessive NP => A complete sentence: X + has/have/had + an indefinite NP
˖ Factive presupposition is identified by the presence of some verb such as:
know, odd, realise, regret, be glad, be sorry, etc. The presupposed information
following these verbs can be treated as a fact, and is described as a factive
presupposition.
Eg; She didn’t know that he died => he died
I regret doing that => I did that
˖ Lexical presupposition is associated with the use of certain words and phrases.
In using one word/phrase such as: stop, again, still in this type of
presupposition, the speaker can act as if another meaning will be understood.
These words are also taken to presuppose another unstated concept.
Eg: Mary stopped smoking => She used to smoke/ onced smoked.
You are late again => you were late before
Are you still such a bad driver? => You were a bad driver.
˖ Structural presuppositions is the assumption associated with the use of certain
structures (wh-question constructions). In this case, certain sentence structures
have been analyzed as conventionally and regularly presupposing that part of
the structure is already assumed to be true.

Eg: Where did they go for holiday => they went for holiday
- A wh-question => A complete statement.
- A wh-embedded clause => A complete statement.
˖ Non- factive presupposition is an assumption referred to sth that is not true.
Verbs like “ dream”, “ image”, “pretend” are presented in this type and used
with the presupposition that what follows is not true.
Eg; I dreamed that I was rich => I was not rich
I imaged that I had more dayoffs => I hadn’t many dayoffs.
˖ Counter-factual presupposition is the assumption that what is presupposed is
not only untrue, but is the opposite of what is true, or contrary to facts. A
conditional structure of this type presupposes that the infor in the if-clause is
not true at the time of utterance.
E.g. + If you were my daughter, I would not allow you to do this.
=> You are not my daughter.
+ If I were rich, I would buy a Ferrari. => I’m not rich.
- An If clause => A complete statement
- An embedded clause after “wish” => A complete statement
- A clause with a modal perfect verb form => A complete statement

6. Distinguish and give examples: locutionary act, illocutionary act (force),

perlocutionary act
Locutionary Illocutionary Perlocutionar
act act y act
is the saying of is any speech act is roughly the is the act of
something which that amounts to speaker ’ s causing a certain
is meaningful and stating, questioning, intention effect on the hearer
can be commanding, behind the and others. In other
understood. promising and so on, production of an words, a
performed in saying illocutionary act, perlocutionary act is
sth including its the results or effects
communicative that are produced by
point, attitudes means of saying
involved, and something.
 presuppositions
produce an using a sentence
utterance with a to perform a
particular function.
form and a more
or less
determinate
meaning
according
to the rules of a
given language
Your hands Do you think Would you mind
are dirty. you carry this closing the
bag for me? window?

7.Give the definition of speech acts? Classify speech acts according to

Searle
- Speech act is an act that a speaker performs when making an utterance. It is
best described as “ in saying sth, we do sth”
Eg: When a minister say, “I now pronounce you husband and wife”
- Types of speech acts according to Searle
1. Commissives: are those kinds of speech acts that speakers use to commit
themselves to doing something in the future. They are promises, or threats,
refusals, pledges, etc.
Eg: I’ll take you to the movies tomorrow.
We’re going to get it right next time.
2. Directives: are those kinds of speech acts that speakers use to get someone else
to do something or change their action. They express what the speaker wants.
They are suggestions, requests, orders or commands.
Eg: Please, sit down.
Why don’t you close the window?
3. Declarations: are those kinds of speech acts that change the state of affairs in
the world.
Eg: I now pronounce you man and wife. (Priest)
You’re out. (Referee)
4. Expressives: are those kinds of speech acts that state what the speaker feels.
They are apologies, complaints, a thank-you, congratulations. They also
express psychological states and can be statements of pleasure, pain, likes,
dislikes, joy or sorrow.
Eg: The meal was delicious!
I’m really sorry!
Congratulations!
5. Representatives: are those kinds of speech acts that state what the speaker
believes to be the case or not. In other words, they describe states or events in
the world. Statements of fact, assertions, conclusions, descriptions, claims or
reports are examples of the speaker representing the world as he or she believes
it is.
Eg: This is a German car. The earth is flat

Entailment is a relationship that applies between two sentences/ propositions,

where the truth of one implies the truth of the other because of the meanings of
the words involved. (Goddard, 1998: 17)
- In other words, a sentence expressing proposition X entails a sentence
expressing proposition Y if the truth of Y follows necessarily from the truth of
X.
E.g. Mr. Smith has married Mary. =>Mary is now a married woman
Characteristics
- Entailment is concerned with the meaning of the sentence itself (not utterance
meaning). It does not depend on the context in which the sentence is
used.
- Entailment applies cumulatively. Thus if X entails Y, and Y entails Z, then X
entails Z. (Hurford and Heasley, 1984: 108).
Eg: X. Some boys ran down the street entails Y. Some kids ran down the street.
Y. Some kids ran down the street entails Z. Some kids went down the street.
=> X. Some boys ran down the street entails Z. Some kids went down the street.
- In other words, entailment happens when one set of objects is included in
another.
E.g. John caught a trout. ENTAILS John caught a fish.
- Entailment can also involves the use of determiners. This is simply the relation
of inclusion.
E.g. Not all students are odd.
ENTAILS Some students are odd.