Language Function FullColour
Language
Function
Andy, M.App.Ling.
Language Function
* Transactional
To convey factual information
* Interactional
Language function that
involves social relationship
and personal attitude
At the bus stop, two newly
met passengers say to
each other
A: It’s freezing
B: It’s freezing
It’s unlikely that speaker A says
that only to convey information
Instead
Speaker A wants to show
willingness to welcome
the other and have a talk
A.UTTERANCE
B.SPEAKER’S
DISCOURSE
C.TEXT
D.DISCOURSE
ANALYSIS
• The field that deals with the
organisation of texts, ways in which
parts of texts are connected and
the devices used for achieving
textual structure.
• Any bit of talk produced by a
speaker.
• The written (or transcribed) version
of any utterance/body of discourse.
• The set of utterances produced by
a speaker
Interpretation of
pronominals: he and the
a.The judge denied the
prisoner’s request because
he was cautious.
b.The judge denied the
prisoner’s request because
he was dangerous.
Most people believe that a judge
is more likely to be cautious and
a prisoner more likely to be
dangerous.
A plausible reason for a judge’s denying
a prisoner’s request is more likely to be
caution (on the judge’s part) or danger to
the public (on the prisoner’s part)
so
He refers to the judge in the first
sentence but the prisoner in the
second
Presuppositon:
The assumption or belief implied by the
use of a particular word or structure.
a. D’Arcy McGee was
assassinated
in 1868.
b. D’Arcy McGee was murdered
in 1868.
In A involves the assumption that
D’Arcy McGee was a prominent
political figure.
BUT
No
such
presupposition
is
associated with the verb murder.
I do think Adam’s quick
Under two different
context, the utterance can
mean differently.
(I)
A young mother and her mother-inlaw were watching her two years old
son chasing ducks. The mother-in-law
said that her son (the boy’s father)
was backward at that age. So the
utterance means that Adam is quick
in developing (compared to his
father).
(II)
One of the students has just told
a joke, everyone except Adam
laughed. After a while Adam
then laughed. So, this utterance
means that Adam is quick to
understand/ react the joke.
Saying the reversed
from the truth implied
the reversed to from
what that has been said.
The baby cried
The mommy picked it up
A: I am out of petrol
B: There is a garage round
the
corner
Local interpretation can build context
boundary, therefore the mother is not
picking up a chair while doing the
cleaning. It refers to the baby mentioned
earlier
Being irrelevant breaks one of Grice’s maxims:
be relevant. But, by responding that ‘there is
a garage round the corner’ means that cooperative principle is being exercised: the
maxim of quality (tell the truth)
In saying so, A did not want to
only describe but also ask for a
help (to know the gas station)
Thank You
For The Attention
Function
Andy, M.App.Ling.
Language Function
* Transactional
To convey factual information
* Interactional
Language function that
involves social relationship
and personal attitude
At the bus stop, two newly
met passengers say to
each other
A: It’s freezing
B: It’s freezing
It’s unlikely that speaker A says
that only to convey information
Instead
Speaker A wants to show
willingness to welcome
the other and have a talk
A.UTTERANCE
B.SPEAKER’S
DISCOURSE
C.TEXT
D.DISCOURSE
ANALYSIS
• The field that deals with the
organisation of texts, ways in which
parts of texts are connected and
the devices used for achieving
textual structure.
• Any bit of talk produced by a
speaker.
• The written (or transcribed) version
of any utterance/body of discourse.
• The set of utterances produced by
a speaker
Interpretation of
pronominals: he and the
a.The judge denied the
prisoner’s request because
he was cautious.
b.The judge denied the
prisoner’s request because
he was dangerous.
Most people believe that a judge
is more likely to be cautious and
a prisoner more likely to be
dangerous.
A plausible reason for a judge’s denying
a prisoner’s request is more likely to be
caution (on the judge’s part) or danger to
the public (on the prisoner’s part)
so
He refers to the judge in the first
sentence but the prisoner in the
second
Presuppositon:
The assumption or belief implied by the
use of a particular word or structure.
a. D’Arcy McGee was
assassinated
in 1868.
b. D’Arcy McGee was murdered
in 1868.
In A involves the assumption that
D’Arcy McGee was a prominent
political figure.
BUT
No
such
presupposition
is
associated with the verb murder.
I do think Adam’s quick
Under two different
context, the utterance can
mean differently.
(I)
A young mother and her mother-inlaw were watching her two years old
son chasing ducks. The mother-in-law
said that her son (the boy’s father)
was backward at that age. So the
utterance means that Adam is quick
in developing (compared to his
father).
(II)
One of the students has just told
a joke, everyone except Adam
laughed. After a while Adam
then laughed. So, this utterance
means that Adam is quick to
understand/ react the joke.
Saying the reversed
from the truth implied
the reversed to from
what that has been said.
The baby cried
The mommy picked it up
A: I am out of petrol
B: There is a garage round
the
corner
Local interpretation can build context
boundary, therefore the mother is not
picking up a chair while doing the
cleaning. It refers to the baby mentioned
earlier
Being irrelevant breaks one of Grice’s maxims:
be relevant. But, by responding that ‘there is
a garage round the corner’ means that cooperative principle is being exercised: the
maxim of quality (tell the truth)
In saying so, A did not want to
only describe but also ask for a
help (to know the gas station)
Thank You
For The Attention