Introduction to Linguistics 6 Spoken Language

1. Introduction to Linguistics 6Spoken Language Prof. Jo Lewkowicz

2. The spoken language • Read through this short dialogue and decide where it is taking place. 1 A: Morning B: Morning 2 A: Nice day, again. B: Yep. Gonna be another good one. 3 A: What can I get you? B: Coffee, thanks? 4 A: Regular or decaf? B: Regular. 5 A: Cream and sugar? B: Just a little cream. 6 A: Here you go. B: Cheers • How do the first 2 exchanges differ from the remaining part of the dialogue? • Identify all the ellipses in this dialogue.

3. Adjacency pairs • What would you expect to be the response to the following utterances: • Hi Jo, how are you? • Would you like some tea? • I’m so sorry • I loved the film we saw last night. • Thanks for a great evening!

4. Insertion sequences • What lines of this dialogue extract make up the adjacency pair? • J: It’s a worry , isn’t it? • B: What? • J: Your money (yes) organizing your money affairs. • B: ‘tis ... a big worry. • What else is happening in this extract?

5. Complex insertion sequence A: Peach Bellini, please. B: Are you twenty-one? A: Why do you want to know? B: We don’t sell alcohol to anyone under twenty-one. A: Do I look as though I’m under twenty-one? B: That’s beside the point. Can I see your ID, please. A: Here. B: Great. Thanks. One Bellini coming up. A: Thanks.

6. Negotiation of meaning • In real conversation we frequently resort to: • Clarification requests: Do you mean ...? • Example A: I don’t feel too hot today. B: Sorry, what do you mean by that, exactly? • Confirmation requests: Did you say ....? • Example A: I saw Philip a couple of weeks ago. B: Philip, really? • Comprehension checks: Do you follow? • Example A: You need to fold the masking take along the edge of the cardboard. Know what I mean? B: I think so.

7. Conversational analysis • Analyse the following conversation extract in terms of adjacency pairs, insertion sequence and negotiation of meaning: • S: Could you pick up some little fish? • J: Er ... What sort of little fish? • S: You know, if you’re going to be in Bayswater... • J: You mean the little fish biscuits? • S: Yea ... for Tim • J: Sure, if they have some.

8. Transactional interaction Operator: Cabcharge –account name? Customer: Macquarie University. Operator: Passenger’s name? Customer: Nunan. Operator: Pick-up address? Customer: 13, Firth Avenue, East Ryde. Operator: Is that a private house or a flat? Customer: Yes. Operator: Going to? Customer: The airport? Operator: How many passengers? Customer: One

9. Understanding context • How can you interpret the exchange below? A: So. if we go to the party how are we going to get there? B: Well, one of us could drive. C: OK, but who? B: Susie's on antibiotics.

10. Summary • Spoken language can be broken down into 2 basic functions: transactional /interpersonal • Ellipses is a feature of spoken language • Much of interpersonal conversation relies on background knowledge and prior information about the participants of the interaction and requires top-down processing (schema theory) • Conversations can be broken down into a series of 2-utterance pairing called adjacency pairs • Adjacency pairs are frequently interrupted by an insertion sequence • Negotiation of meaning is part and parcel of real spoken interaction • Negotiation of meaning involves requests for clarification, confirmation checks as well as comprehension checks. • Transactional interaction relies less heavily on negotiation of meaning than interpersonal conversation

11. Textbook dialogue:What features of real interaction are present / absent in this dialogue? SA: Can I help you? SA: Erm, no, sorry we haven’t got any at the moment. SA: Ah. sorry, no. SA: Sorry we don’t sell crisps. SA: Yes, they’re over there next to the cans of Coke. SA: Is that everything? SA: OK. That’s $2.50 please. C: Yes, please. Have you got any cartons of milk? C: Oh, have you got any cans of Sprite? C: OK. I’d like 4 packets of crisps. C: Well, do you have any bottles of water? C: Great. I’d like 2 bottles of water, please. C: Yes, thanks. C: OK ... Oh no! I haven’t got any money!

12. Co-construction of meaning • Often interlocutors help each other as a dialogue progresses as in the following instance: A: How do I get to Kensington Road? B: Well, you go down Fullarton Road ... A: ... what down Old Belair and around ...? B: Yeah, and then you go straight ... A: ... past the hospital? B: Yeah, keep going straight, past the racecourse to the roundabout. You know the big roundabout? A: Yeah. B: And Kensington Road’s off to the right. A: What, off the roundabout? B: Yeah. A: Right.

13. Grice’s cooperative maxims • When interacting people cooperate with each other and in so doing help discourse to proceed • The cooperative principle formulated by Grice in 1975 accounts for how people interpret discourse • The 4 maxims of the cooperative principle are: • Be brief • Be true • Be relevant • Be clear • If the speaker breaks any one of these maxims, then misunderstanding is likely to occur.

14. Indirectness in conversation • We do not always say exactly what we mean when we speak – we may express our intention indirectly Compare: Please pass me the salt & I like my chips with lots of salt • Degree / strength of indirectness may vary, we may hedge what we say to varying degrees: Could you give me a little wine please? Would you mind passing me the wine bottle? That’s an interesting looking bottle. Hmm, my glass appears to be empty again. This cheese would go with a little of that wine. Is that the delicious Chilean Cabernet you were talking about?

15. Degrees of indirectness • Degree of indirectness will be governed by: • Relative power of the speaker over the hearer • Social distance between the speaker and hearer • Degree to which X is rated an imposition in culture Y • Relative rights and obligations between speaker and hearer

16. Risk of indirectness • Indirectness may be costly in that an indirect utterance takes longer to say and longer to process. Compare: Pass me that hammer. I wonder whether you would mind passing me that hammer • Indirectness may be risky as it may be intentionally or unintentionally misunderstood. • Directness may be face threatening and indirectness face saving

17. Speech acts • Speech acts are a description of utterances in terms of what they are doing functionally. • There are 3 dimensions to a speech act: • Its locutionary aspect: the propositional meaning of an utterance • Its illocutionary force: the function the speaker intends to perform making the utterance • Its perlocutionary effect: the effect that an utterance has on a listener, or the interpretation that the listener places on the utterance

18. Dimensions of speech acts illustrated • What is thelocutionary aspect, the illocutionary force and the perlocutionary effect of A’s utterance in each of the examples below? • Example 1 A: It’s 1:20! B: I know, I’m sorry the traffic was awful. • Example 2 A: It’s 1:20! B: Is it really? • Example 3 A: This cheese would go well with a little of that wine. B: Here you are. Shall I pour some for you? • Example 4 A: This cheese would go well with a little of that wine. B: I agree, French reds tend to complement French cheese better than any other wines.

19. Types of speech acts • Certain utterances are performative – they are not meant to convey information, but to perform an act Example: I now pronounce you man and wife There is no truth value in the above utterance. • John Searle, building on John Austin’s original work on speech acts, identified 5 basic speech act types: • Directives • Commissives • Representatives • Declaratives (Performatives) • Expressives

20. Taxonomy of speech acts • Directives: • speaker wants hearer to do something • speaker may ask, challenge, command, insist, request as in the following examples: • Tidy your room! • Gran is coming this evening so it would be nice if you could show her your room. • directives may be more or less direct / indirect • Commissives: • speaker is committed to varying degrees to some action or refusing to act • commissives include guarantees, pledges, promises, vows as in the following examples: • Don’t worry! I’ll be there on time • I swear I didn’t do that. • vary in directness and strength • Representatives: • speaker is committed to a varying degree to the truth of a proposition • representatives may affirm, conclude, deny, report, express a belief as in the following examples: • I finished my homework before switching on the television • I think that man is right. • representative can be evaluated for their truth value • representatives may vary in terms of how hedged they are

21. Taxonomy of speech acts (cont.) • Declaratives: • speaker alters the external status or condition of an object or situation solely by making the utterance • Examples include: • I resign • I baptize you • You’re fired • Class dismissed • Speaker must be empowered to make the declaration. • Expressives: • speaker expresses an attitude about a state of affairs, • include likes and dislikes, statements of joy and disappointment, compliments as in the following examples: • Thanks for a wonderful meal! • I don’t really like fish. • Congratulations on your success!

22. Match the speech act type with the utterance • Speech act types: directive, commissive, representative, performative, expressive: • What a terrific party! • I want to apologise for my behaviour last night. • The coffee pot is empty. • Don’t worry, I’ll be there by ten. • I went to the movies on Saturday. • Pass me the matches. • I’m really proud of your success! • War is hereby declared. • Darwin’s theory is at least partially correct. • I’ll pay you back tomorrow.