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Psycholinguis,cs Nov 29 & Dec 4, 2017

Pragma&cs & Nonliteral Language

Pragma,cs - Language Use ✦ Focus on language as it is used, rather than language structure in a vacuum.

✦ Mul,ple Perspec,ves on Language Use: Encoding- Decoding, Inten,onalist, Perspec,ve-Taking, Dialogic.

✦ Social Context and Addressee Influences: Actual or an,cipated presence of a target audience maQers.

✦ Dialect Varia,on: Pronuncia,on, lexical, and syntac,c varia,on as an obstacle to communica,on from a purely linguis,c standpoint, but possibly used to communicate other messages on same channel.

How come we don’t all sound the same?

TONGUE POSITION JA W H EI G H T

“It follows that con&nual linguis&c change is needed in order to communicate in&macy. No ma>er how informal a term may be, its repeated use in a ritual situa&on is bound to result in its recogni&on as a formal term, and new linguis&c forms will be needed to replace it…. A new form can be used to signal a stronger meaning than the older form; to display the speaker’s membership in a local group; and to demonstrate greater in&macy than an older form.” 


(Labov, 1974, p. 253)

Labov word IPA

front

high /i/ bit /I/

mid /e/ bet /ɛ/

low /æ/ bat /æ/

back

high /u/ put /ʊ/

mid /ʌ/ but /ʌ/

low /o/ pot /ɑ/

Labov word IPA

front & upgliding

high /iy/ beat /i/

mid /ey/ bait /ɛi/

low /ay/ bite /ɑi/

back

high /uw/ boot /u/

mid /oy/
/ow/ boy
 boat

/oi/
 /ʌu/

low /aw/ bout /ɑu/

back & ingliding

mid /oh/ bought /ɔ/

Short Vowels

Long Vowels

Social Context of Language ✦ Speech Acts: Related to the purpose of making an uQerance, regardless of its literal interpreta,on. 
 Speech acts can be direct or indirect. 
 “Pass the salt.” 
 “Would you pass the salt?” 
 “I can’t reach the salt.” ✦ Locu2onary Act: A speech act in the linguis,c sense - the act of saying something.

✦ Illocu2onary Act/Force: Speaker’s purpose in making a speech act - the act performed by saying something.

✦ Perlocu2onary Act/Force: Effect of the speech act on another person - the addressee’s subsequent ac,on.

Categories of (Illocu&onary) Speech Acts

✦ Expressive: Expression of a psychological state. “I like big buQs and I cannot lie.”

✦ Representa2ve: Expression of a belief that something is true. “You don’t know you’re beau,ful.”

✦ Commissive: Commitment to perform an act in the future. “I will be here next week.”

✦ Direc2ve: AQempt to get someone to do something. “If you liked it then you should’ve put a ring on it.”

✦ Declara2on/Performa2ve: Expression that brings about a new state by its uQerance.

“I now pronounce you...”

Conversa&onal Postulates: Grice’s Maxims

✦ Coopera2ve Principle: Communicate in ways that make it easy for the listener to understand.
 Follow conversa,onal maxims/postulates that listener assumes a talker understands.

✦ Quality: Truth - be truthful. ✦ Quan2ty: Informa,on - no more or less informa,ve than required.

✦ Rela2on: Relevance - be relevant. ✦ Manner: Clarity - avoid obscurity and ambiguity.

Nonliteral Language ✦ Literal vs. Figura&ve Language: Composi,onal/Proposi,onal vs. Holis,c/ Nonproposi,onal.

✦ Metaphor, Simile, and Formulaic Language: Many uQerances have stylized formulas and/or are completely frozen.

✦ Where in the Brain? Evidence for dis,nct neurological func,oning.

“Kick the bucket”

Idioma,c phrases are rela,vely frozen, but are subject to some decomposi,on, modifica,on, or extrapola,on.

www.idiomsite.com A piece of cake.
 Break a leg. Cross your fingers. Dead ringer. Excuse my French. Flip the bird. Go for broke. High five. In like Flynn. Jerk someone around. Knock on wood. Long in the tooth. Make no bones about it. No room to swing a cat.

On the same page. Pig in a poke. (unexamined deal) Queer the pitch. (ruin a plan) Run out of steam. Spi\ng image. Tie the knot. Under the weather. Variety is the spice of life. When pigs fly. X marks the spot. You are what you eat. Zero tolerance.

Metaphors ≠ Similes Similes are comparisons using like or as, and can be understood as literally true or false: “My lawyer is like a shark” 
 Metaphors directly compare typically unrelated subjects (without using like or as): “My lawyer is a shark”

Metaphorical statements compare a topic and a vehicle. 
 Topic = lawyer Vehicle = shark

In contrast to similes, metaphors are not literally true, and the vehicle is polysemous - refers to both the token shark for similes and the special category of predatory animals that is denoted as shark for metaphors.

Metaphors are NOT understood as comparisons/similes first and then reinterpreted (i.e., “Career of metaphor” hypothesis incorrect).

TA: My lawyer is (like*) a well-paid shark. 
 VA: My lawyer is (like) a razor- toothed shark. 
 TVA: My lawyer is (like) an old shark.

Where in the Brain?

Automa,c speech preserved in LH-damaged Aphasics: swear words, interjec,ons, gree,ngs, numbers, sentence stems, idioms, proverbs, and proper nouns.

RH-damaged pa,ents: deficits involving social context, emo,onal meanings, musical connota,ons, and other pragma,cs.