• Pragmatic language refers to the social skills we apply to language use in our interactions 

• Pragmatics is the study of “invisible” meaning, or how we recognize what is
  meant even when it is not actually said or written.

• To happen, speakers (or writers) must be able to depend on a lot of shared assumptions and expectations when they try to communicate.

• The environment in which the communication/utterance takes place 

• The situation of the communication/utterance takes place 

• The surrounding language used in the communication/utterance that helped to determine its interpretation

• The physical context: the situation, time, or place in which words are used.

E.g. the word Key on a wall of a building is understood as a financial institution.

• The linguistic context (co-text): the set of other words used in the same phrase/sen.

E.g. get to the bank to withdraw some cash; steep or overgrown bank

• Tense can be use as Deictic terms to point to past time, present time, and future time.

• Ex: I moved to Canada for 2 years ( past tense pointing to past time)  

•  Ex:  I am a student ( present tense pointing to present time) 

• Ex: I will go to the party this weekend. (  future tense pointing to future ) 

• There are common words that can’t be interpreted if we don’t know the context.

These are words such as here and there, this or that, now or then, yesterday, today or tomorrow, as well as pronouns such as you, me, she, him, it, and them.

E.g. You’ll have to bring it back tomorrow because she isn’t here today?

• Deictic (/daɪktɪk/) expressions such as tomorrow and here which means “pointing” via language.

-be used to express emotions: I can’t eat that “not close”

-Indicate movement: Go to bed and Come to bed.

-can even be entertaining: Free Beer Tomorrow (to get you to return to the bar) –> you are just one day too early for the free drink.

-> Difficult ( or impossible ) to arrive at the interpretation of deictic words 

Reference: an act by which a speaker/ writer uses language to enable a listener/ reader to identify someone/something. 

• TYPES OF REFERENCE

• 1. Exophoric reference: occurs when a word/ phrase refers to something outside the discourse

• Ex: They're my parents  ( they: refers to a person outside the discourse)

• 2. Anaphoric reference:  occurs when a word/ phrase refers to something mentioned earlier in the discourse. ( referring backward )

• Ex: Sofia is a beautiful girl. She is also smart and kind. 

• 3. Cataphoric reference:  occurs when a word/ phrase refers to something mentioned later in the discourse.  ( referring forward ) 

• Ex:  He is a good teacher. Brent is also handsome. 

• Additional information used by a listener/reader to create a connection between what is said/written and what must be meant 

• The key process involved in using nouns associated with things to refer to people and using names of people to refer to things

• Inference: Additional information used by the listener to create a connection between what is said and what must be meant (Yule, 2010) 

• Ex:  A:  Can I take a look at your Chomsky? 

       B: Sure, it's on the table over there. 

In this example, the listener B infers that the speaker A is taking for a book written by Chomsky. A uses a proper name to refer to a thing B does not rely on the literal meaning of the utterance, but on his background knowledge to interpret the utterance. 

• Ex: I love to listen to Mozart 

In this ex, the listener will infer that the speaker means that he loves to listen to Mozart's music, not to Mozart himself .  ( Mozart is no longer alive)    

• The use  of anaphors (= words that refer to and replace other words used earlier in a text) 

• antecedent: the first mention of someone or something later referred to via anaphora (e.g: a boy, a puppy and a small)

• anaphora (“referring back”): The puppy, the boy, he, it and the bath are anaphoric expressions.

• cataphora: reversing the antecedent–anaphora relationship, often beginning with a pronoun and a descriptive noun phrase later

(the use of a word or phrase that refers to or stands for a later word or phrase)

“It suddenly appeared on the path a little ahead of me, staring in my direction and sniffing the air. An enormous grizzly bear was checking me out.”

• A speaker/ writer assumes is true or known by a listener/ reader can be
  described as a presupposition.

• Hey, what are you looking for?  –> presupposition that you are finding something.

• This room is very cold, I can freeze now. –> presuppositions involved: you want your friend to change the temperature.

• A test for presuppositions involves comparing a sentence with its
  negative version and identifying which presuppositions remain true in both. This is called “constancy under negation.”

• My T-Shirt is old 

• the negative My  T-Shirt is not old 

• –> an underlying presupposition (I have a T-shirt) that remains true. 

Speakers have other ways of indicating how their utterances are to be interpreted.

–> short forms such as you know, well, I mean, I don’t know

–> optional and loosely attached to the utterance.

Speakers can use:

• you know: to indicate that knowledge is being treated as shared

• I mean: to self-correct or to mark an attempt to clarify something.

–Face: is the emotional and social sense of self that everyone has and expects everyone else to recognize.

–Politeness can be defined as showing awareness and consideration of another person’s face.

-A face-threatening act: say something that represents a threat to another person’s self-image

–A face-saving act: say something that lessens the possible threat to another’s face

Negative and Positive Face

–Negative face is the need to be independent and free from imposition.

–Positive face is the need to be connected, to belong, to be a member of the group.

To describe an action that involves language such as “requesting,” “commanding,” “questioning” or “informing.”

E.g: I’ll be there at six –> seem to be performing the speech act of “promising.”

• When an interrogative structure such as Did you … ?, Is she … ? or Can you … ? is used with the function of a question, it is described as a direct speech act. 

• Compare that utterance with Can you pass the salt?. In this second example, we are not really asking a question about someone’s ability. We are using an interrogative structure to make a request. This is an example of an indirect speech act 

1. Deictic Expressions:

• (a) We went there last summer:

  • Person deixis: "we" refers to the speaker and their companions.

  • Place deixis: "there" refers to a location mentioned in a previous context.

  • Time deixis: "last summer" refers to a specific time in the past.

• (b) I'm busy now so you can't stay here. Come back later:

  • Person deixis: "I" and "you" refer to the speaker and the addressee, respectively.

  • Place deixis: "here" refers to the location where the speaker and addressee are currently situated.

  • Time deixis: "now" and "later" refer to specific points in time.

2. The pragmatic difference between "here and now" and "there and then" lies in their grounding in the immediate context. "Here and now" refers to the speaker's current situation, while "there and then" refers to a different location or time, often requiring the listener to infer the specific context. 

3. (a) TEACHER: You can borrow my Shakespeare:

• Inference: The teacher is offering to lend the student their copy of Shakespeare.

(b) WAITER: The ham sandwich left without paying:

• Inference: The waiter is informing someone that a customer who ordered a ham sandwich left the establishment without paying their bill.

(c) NURSE: The hernia in room 5 wants to talk to the doctor:

• Inference: The nurse is informing the doctor that a patient in room 5 with a hernia condition wishes to speak with them.

(d) DENTIST: My eleven-thirty canceled so I had an early lunch:

• Inference: The dentist is informing someone that their appointment scheduled for 11:30 AM was canceled, allowing them to eat lunch earlier than planned.

4. In the sentence "Dr. Foster gave Andy some medicine after he told her about his headaches and she advised him to take the pills three times a day until the pain went away," the anaphoric expressions are:  

• "he": Refers to Andy

• "her": Refers to Dr. Foster

• "him": Refers to Andy

• "the pills": Refers to the medicine prescribed by Dr. Foster

5. The technical term for the phrase "an old car" in its relationship to "it" in the utterance "I have an old car, but it runs great" is coreference. This means that the pronoun "it" refers back to the noun phrase "an old car". 

6. (a) Your clock isn't working: the listener owns a clock.

(b) Where did he find the money?  the person mentioned found the money.

(c) We regret buying that car: they and someone else bought a car.

(d) The king of France is bald:  there is a king of France.

7. "I mean" in MANA's statement is used to indicate that they are about to offer an explanation or clarification.

"you know" in MAKA's response is used to signal that they believe the listener is already familiar with the information they are about to provide.

8. (a) If you're free, there's going to be a party at Yuri's place on Saturday: The speaker is appealing to the listener's positive face, by offering them an invitation and suggesting that they might enjoy attending.

(b) Let's go to the party at Yuri's place on Saturday. Everyone's invited: The speaker is also appealing to the listener's positive face, by suggesting a fun activity and emphasizing that everyone is welcome.

9.(a) Move! is a direct speech act, as it is a straightforward request for the person to move.

(b) You're in the way. is also a direct speech act, but it is more indirect than (a) as it states the problem without explicitly requesting a solution.

(c) Could you please sit down? is an indirect speech act, as it is a polite request for the person to sit down, without directly telling them to do so.

(d) Please get out of the way. is a direct speech act, but it is slightly more indirect than (a) as it uses the word "please" to soften the request.

10.  Visitor's Speech Act: The visitor performs a request speech act, asking for directions to the Ambassador Hotel. This is a common and expected interaction in such a situation.

Resident's Speech Act: The resident's response is a statement of knowledge, indicating that they are aware of the hotel's location. However, they do not follow up with the expected action, which would be to provide the visitor with the necessary directions. This unexpected behavior makes the interaction unusual.