PRAGMATICS See also

1
PRAGMATICSSee also African American
EnglishEthnicity Indian- American
HumorJewish Humorand Spanish-American
Contrasts

• by Don L. F. Nilsen
• and Alleen Pace Nilsen

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3

• It was on this date that Donatis comet was
  visible over large parts of Southern England.
• The comet is barely visible in the picture.
• The people in the picture are not looking at the
  comet. They are gathering shells, talking to each
  other, or doing other unrelated things.
• Mey says that the comet is like pragmatics,
  which happens mostly beneath peoples levels of
  awareness.
• (Mey 329-330)

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• Pragmatics is the study of language in its social
  context. It assumes that words have different
  meanings in different contexts.
• For example, what is the meaning of club,
  spade, diamond, and heart?
• Or what is the meaning of King, Queen,
  Jack, Ace, or ten?

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• You might say that all of these words have
  different meanings in the social context of
  playing cards, but thats not the whole story.
• In Pinochle there are expressions like 100
  Aces, 80 Kings, 60 Queens, 40 Jacks, and
  Jack of Diamonds and Queen of Spades that have
  special significance.
• And in Pinochle there is no two, three,
  four, five, six, seven, eight, or
  nine.

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• Consider also the word bridge. If youre
  playing cards, this word has a different meaning
  than if youre a dentist or a road builder. In
  cards, the bridge is the partner of the person
  who wins the bid. The bid winner plays both his
  hand and the hand of the bridge.
• And in Bridge, there are special meanings of
  to bid, to trump, to pass, and to
  finesse.
• And seven means seven and there is no
  eleven, but in Dice, seven and eleven are
  craps, which means you win on the first throw
  but lose on all subsequent throws with these
  numbers.

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• And in Poker, things get really wild. The
  Joker is always wild but One-Eyed Jacks might
  be wild or not.
• And there is a raw deal, and a big deal, and
  the New Deal, in politics.
• And there are straights, flushes, and full
  houses and there is Stud Poker, Draw Poker,
  Texas Hold Em, and Strip Poker. And a
  person can ante up, into the kitty, be in
  or out, and can hold, fold or raise.

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• And in 21 Poker, an Ace can count as either
  one or eleven, and all face cards count as
  ten.
• And in Hearts, the hearts count one point, and
  the Queen of Spades counts 27 points. And you
  want to get as few points as possible. Unless
  you think you can get all of the points.
• Only for Alice in Wonderland could it be more
  complicated.

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DIALECTS OF FORMALITY

• Frozen Prissy Text Book
• Formal Most Text Books
• Consultative Conversations among Strangers or
  Large Groups
• Casual Conversations among Close Friends
• Intimate Conversations among Family Members or
  Lovers
• Martin Joos The Five Clocks

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DISAMBIGUATION

• Explain how context could help to disambiguate
  the following
• He waited by the bank.
• Is he really that kind?
• The proprietor of the fish store was the sole
  owner.
• The long drill was boring.
• When he got the clear title to the land, it was a
  good deed.

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• It takes a good ruler to make a straight line.
• He saw that gasoline can explode.
• You should see her shop.
• Every man loves a woman.
• Bill wants to marry a Norwegian woman.

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OBSCENITIES

• Obscenities are based on taboos, and taboos are
  culturally determined and change through time.
• The religious right is offended by words relating
  to certain body parts and functions, or other
  vulgarities, obscenities, profanities, swearing,
  etc.
• The liberal left is offended by words degrading
  to particular genders, ethnicities, disabilities,
  etc.

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• Something obscene in one culture is not obscene
  in a different culture. Consider the following
• derriere
• fag or faggot
• Grand Tetons Mountain Range
• solicitor
• to knock someone up
• NOTE Refined foreign students discussing
  American slang often dont realize the power of
  American obscenities

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• The name Voldemort is taboo and is not to be
  uttered by anyone at Hogwarts Academy.
• The words corset, shirt, leg, and woman used to
  be taboo words in English.
• In Shaws Pygmalion, Professor Higgins asked,
  Are you walking across the Park, Miss
  Doolittle? and Eliza Doolittle responded, Walk!
  Not bloody likely. I am going in a taxi.
• This use of bloody startled London when the play
  was first produced in 1910.
• (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 2007 443)

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FOUR-LETTER WORDS

• English has many Anglo-Saxon or four letter
  words however for each of these it is possible
  to find a Latinate paraphrase that is more
  polite. Think without speaking of the
  four-letter words associated with each of the
  following

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• Defecate
• Eliminate
• Expectorate
• Feces
• Fornicate
• Intercourse
• Mammary gland
• Penis
• Vagina
• (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 2007 244)

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ORIENTATION

• Charles Fillmore says that a three-dimensional
  box has six sides.
• But if you put it on the floor, it has four sides
  and a top and a bottom.
• And if you place it against a wall, it has two
  sides a top a bottom and a front and a back.
• And if you put drawers in it, it has a right
  side, a left side, a top, a bottom, a front and a
  back.
• And right and left are your right and left as
  you face it, not the dressers right and left
  which is facing you.

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PIDGINS AND CREOLES

• Pidgins and creoles tend to be quite metaphorical
  and poetic. Here are some examples
• Fella belong Mrs. Queen Prince Philip, Husband
  of Queen Elizabeth II
• muckamuck to eat, drink, or pucker the mouth
• him brother belong me friend
• lamp belong Jesus sun
• gubmint catchum-fella policeman
• grass belong face whiskers
• him belly allatime burn thirsty man
• him cow pig have kittens Has the Masters sow
  given birth to a litter yet?
• (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 2007 434-436)

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• Haitian Creole is a creole based on French.
• Jamaican Creole is a creole based on English.
• Gullah is an English-based creole spoken by
  descendants of African slaves off the coasts of
  Georgia and South Carolina.
• Louisiana Creole is spoken in Louisiana.
• Tok Pisin as a Melanesian Pidgin English spoken
  in Papua, New Guinea.
• (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 2007 437)

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PRECONDITIONS FOR SPEECH ACTS

• Explain how linguistic and social context help in
  understanding the following sentences
• You make a better door than a window.
• Its getting late.
• The restaurants are open until midnight.
• If youd diet, this wouldnt hurt so badly.
• I thought I saw a fan in the closet.

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• Mr. Smith dresses neatly, is well-groomed, and is
  always on time to class.
• Most of the food is gone.
• John or Mary made a mistake.
• Did you make a doctors appointment?
• Do you have the play tickets?
• Does your grandmother have a live-in boyfriend?
• How did you like the string quartet?
• What are Bostons chances of winning the World
  Series?

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• Do you own a cat?
• LAURA Did you mow the grass and wash the car
  like I told you to? JACK I mowed the grass.
• LAURA Do you want dessert? JACK Is the Pope
  Catholic?
• When did you stop paying alimony to your ex-wife?
• (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 2007 219)

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SLANG, JARGON AND ARGOT

• Slang, Jargon and Argot are all gate-keeping
  languages used as much to identify members of a
  particular group as to communicate.
• Slang is age relatedmainly high school and
  college students.
• Jargon is profession relatedevery profession has
  its own jargon.
• Argot is underworld relatedits designed to
  communicate to the group and not to the
  authorities.
• (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 2007 439-442)

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• Carl Sandburg said, Slang is language which
  takes off its coat, spits on its handsand goes
  to work.
• SLANG EXAMPLES spaced out, right on, to barf, to
  dis someone, rave (wild party), ecstasy (drug),
  crib (home), posse (friends)
• JARGON EXAMPLES phoneme, morpheme, case,
  lexicojn, phrase structure rule
• ARGOT EXAMPLES He was hoopty around dimday when
  some mud duck with a tray-eight tried to take him
  out of the box. TRANSLATION He was in his
  car about dusk when a woman armed with a .38
  caliber gun tried to kill him.
• (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 2007 439-441)

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THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING

• Penelope Eckert said, the use of variation does
  not simply reflect, but constructs, social
  categories and social meaning.
• (Eckert 4)

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SOCIAL-VARIABILITYIN LINGUISTIC RULES

• Minimal Pairs
• Word Lists
• Reading Style
• Careful Speech
• Casual Speech
• (William Labovs Categories)

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WEBSTERS THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY

• This dictionary, published in 1961, was the first
  major dictionary that obliterated the older
  distinction between standard, substandard,
  colloquial, vulgar, and slang.
• (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 2007 418)
• Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Explain.

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NORTHERN, MIDLAND SOUTHERN EXPANSION WESTWARD
(Shuy 294)
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PHONOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES

• greasy grizi
• with wIð
• spoon (noon) spjun
• creek krIk
• roof rUf
• However, wash with an intrusive r is not so
  much regional as rural.

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PHONOLOGICAL DISTINCTIONS THAT ARE BECOMING LOST

• cot-caught
• witch-which
• mourning morning
• However, pin-pen is remaining stable.

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BRITISH-AMERICAN PRONUNCIATION DIFFERENCES

• calf, bath, pass, aunt
• learn, fork, core, brother
• carry, very
• either, neither, potato, tomato
• clerk, schedule
• captain, bottle (glottals in Cockney)
• (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 2007 454)

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BRITISH-AMERICANSTRESS DIFFERENCES

• aluminum applicable
• cigarette dictionary
• formidable kilometer
• laboratory necessary
• missionary secretary
• stationery territory
• (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 2007 413)

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CALIFORNIA VALLEY-GIRLAND SURFER-DUDE SPEECH

• Rising Inflections (like Australian English)
• Animated Body Language (like sticking a finger
  down the throat)
• Specialized Vocabulary (like dude, esp.
  relating to shopping malls, the beach, and
  personality types)

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CANADIAN PHONOLOGY

• out and about the house
• schedule
• Canadian -eh

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NEW ENGLAND PHONOLOGY

• lot (New England)
• park the car Cuba-r-is
• merry marry Mary
• calf (pass, path, dance)
• Brooklyn dis, dat, dese, dose, dem

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SOUTHERN PHONOLOGY

• Mrs. mIz
• hog (frog, dog, Deputy Dog)
• south gt souf
• during gt doin, and going gt gon,
• help gt hep
• test gt tes
• ring gt rang,
• boy gt boah,
• car gt cah
• POlice
• nasal twang (Texas and Oklahoma)
• southern drawl
• (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 2007 423)

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GRAMMAR DIFFERENCES

• Double Modals might could
• Negative Modals hadnt ought
• Strange Past Participles larnt
• Strange Possessive Pronouns yourn, hisn, hern,
  ourn, theirn
• Strange Prepositions a quarter before eight
• Strange Conjunctions unless gt without, lessen,
  thouten
• Strange Adverbs anywheres, nowheres
• (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 416-417)

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VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES

• What do you fry your eggs in?
• creeper, fryer, frying pan, fry pan, skillet, or
  spider
• What do you call a soft drink?
• pop, soda, soda pop, or tonic?
• What do you call a long sandwich containing
  salami etc.?
• hero, submarine, hoagy, grinder or poorboy

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• What do you drink water out of?
• drinking fountain, cooler, bubbler or geyser
• How do you get something from one place to
  another?
• take, carry, or tote
• What do you carry things in?
• a bag, a sack, or a poke
• How do you speculate?
• reckon, guess, figgure, figger, suspect, imagine
• (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 2007 414)

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BRITISH-AMERICAN VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES

• bird, bobby, bonnet, boot, braces, clothes peg,
  first floor, flat, lift, lorry, nickers, peruque,
  petrol, pram, pub, public school, queue, spanner,
  tele, torch, trousers, tube, westcoat
• girl, cop, hood (of a car), trunk (of a car),
  suspenders, clothes pin, second floor, apartment,
  elevator, truck, underwear, wig, gasoline, baby
  buggy, bar, private school, line, monkey wrench,
  television, flashlight, pants, subway, vest
• (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 2007 414, 456)

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SOUTHERN VOCABULARY

• chitlins and grits
• to buy a pig in a poke
• Carry me Back to Old Virginie

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BRITISH-AMERICANSPELLING DIFFERENCES

• Cheque
• centre, theatre
• colour, honour
• defence, offence
• labelled, travelled
• Pyjamas
• tyre

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BRITISH EXPRESSIONS TO WATCH OUT FOR

• fag or faggot (wood for the fireplace, or
  cigarette)
• soliciter (lawyer)
• to knock someone up (wake them up in the morning)

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COCKNEY RHYMING SLANG

• apples and pears (stairs)
• Aristotle (bottle)
• pigs ear (beer)
• Mother Hubbard (cupboard)
• plates and dishes (Mrs.)

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ETHNIC HUMORTO INVESTIGATE STEREOTYPES
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HEAVEN AND HELL

• In Heaven, all the cooks are French all the
  mechanics are German all the musicians are
  Italian.
• In Hell, all the cooks are English all the
  mechanics are French all the soldiers are
  Italian.

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BRITISH DIALECT ETHNICITY

• A guy wakes up, finds himself in a British
  hospital, and says, Did I come here to die?
• The Cokney nurse responds, No, I think it was
  yesterdie.

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BRONX DIALECT ETHNICITY

• In a New York City Park one guy turns to another
  guy and says, Look at de boids.
• The other guy says, Those arent boids.
  Theyre birds.
• The first guy says, Cheez, dats funny, dey
  choip like boids.

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LIGHTBULB JOKESTO INVESTIGATE STEREOTYPES

• How many New Yorkers?
• Three One to do it and two to criticize.
• How many grad students?
• Three Two, plus a professor to take the credit
• How many Jewish mothers?
• None Ill just sit in the dark.
• (Nilsen Nilsen 176)

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!SOUTHERN ETHNICITY

• A radio comedian once remarked that the
  Mason-Dixon line is the dividing line between
  you-all and youse-guys.
• (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 2007 412)

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!!COMEDY TEAMS ARE ETHNICALLY OR GENDER DETERMINED

• 43 out of the 500 entries in Ronald L. Smiths
  Whos Who in Comedy are about comedy teams.
  There are many reasons for this high number
• Teams are often more recognized and more
  memorable than are the individuals who make up
  the teams.

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• !!!Good chemistry enhances creativity and
  enjoyment.
• Through interacting with each other, team members
  can revitalize old gags.
• Differing appearances, personalities and voices
  provide for contrast and for the efficient
  creation of stock characters.
• With teams, audiences can enjoy both surprise and
  anticipation because while teams do new material
  they usually have a style that carries over from
  one performance to another.
• (Nilsen Nilsen 82)

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PRAGMATICS WEB SITE

• BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PRAGMATICS (JOHN BENJAMINS)
• http//www.benjamins.com/online/bop/topbar.html

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• References
• Alvarez, Lizette Alvarez. Its the Talk of Nueva
  York The Hybrid called Spanglish (Clark,
  483-488).
• Apte, Mahadev L. Humor and Laughter An
  Anthropological Approach. Ithaca, NY Cornell
  University Press, 1985.
• Boskin, Joseph. Rebellious Laughter Peoples
  Humor in American Culture. Syracuse, NY Syracuse
  University Press,1997.
• Brown, Penelope, and Stephen C. Levinson.
  Politeness Some Universals in Language Usage.
  Cambridge, England Cambridge University Press,
  1987.
• Clark, Virginia, Paul Eschholz, and Alfred Rosa.
  Language Readings in Language and Culture, 6th
  Edition. New York, NY St. Martins Press, 1998.
• Davies, Christie. Jokes and Their Relation to
  Society. New York, NY Mouton, 1998.

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• Dolitsky, Marlene. Humor and the Unsaid.
  Journal of Pragmatics 7 (1983) 39-48.
• Dundes, Alan. Cracking Jokes Studies of Sick
  Humor Cycles and Stereotypes. Berkeley, CA Ten
  Speed Press, 1987.
• Dundes, Alan, and Carl R. Pagter. Never Try to
  Teach a Pig to Sing Still More Urban Folklore
  from the Paperwork Empire. Detroit, MI Wayne
  State Univ Press, 1996.
• Dundes, Alan, and Carl R. Pagter. Sometimes the
  Dragon Wins Yet More Urban Folklore from the
  Paperwork Empire. Syracuse, NY Syracuse Univ
  Press, 1996.
• Dundes, Alan, and Carl R. Pagter. When Youre Up
  to Your Ass in Alligators More Urban Folklore
  from the Paperwork Empire. Detroit, MI Wayne
  State Univ Press, 1987.
• Dundes, Alan, and Carl R. Pagter. Work Hard and
  You Shall be Rewarded Urban Folklore from the
  Paperwork Empire. Bloomington, IN Indiana Univ
  Press, 1975.

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• Eckert, Penelope. Constructing Meaning in
  Sociolinguistic Variation. Paper presented at the
  Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological
  Associatin in New Orleans, 2002.
• Eschholz, Paul, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark.
  Language Awareness Readings for College Writers.
  New York, NY Bedford/St. Martins, 2009
• Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, and Nina Hyams.
  Language and Society. An Introduction to
  Language, 8th Edition. Boston, MA Thomson
  Wadsworth, 2007 9th Edition, 2011, 430-487.
• Goffman, Erving. Interaction Ritual Essays on
  Face-to-Face Bahavior. Garolen City, NY
  Anchor/Doubleday, 1967.
• Kotthoff, Helga. Pragmatics of Performance and
  the Analysis of Conversational Humor. HUMOR 19.3
  (2006) 271-304.

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• Labov, William. Social Stratification of English
  in New York City. Washington, DC Center for
  Applied Linguistics, 1966.
• Mey, Jacob. Pragmatics An Introduction, 2nd
  Edition. Malden, MA Blackwell, 2001.
• Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Nilsen.
  Encyclopedia of 20th Century American Humor.
  Westport, CT Greenwood, 2000.
• Nilsen, Don L. F. Humor in Irish Literature.
  Westport, CT Greenwood, 1996.

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• Raskin, Victor Introduction The Pragmatics of
  Humor. Journal of Pragmatics 35 (2003)
  1287-1294.
• Raskin, Victor. The Primer of Humor Research. New
  York, NY Mouton de Gruyter, 2008
• Shuy, Roger. Dialects How They Differ (Clark,
  292-312).
• Yamaguchi, Haruhiko. How to Pull Strings with
  Words Deceptive Violations in the Garden-Path
  Joke. Journal of Pragmatics 12 (1988) 323-337.
• Yus, Francisco. Humor and the Search for
  Relevance. Journal of Pragmatics 35 (2003)
  1295-1331.