Diapositiva 1

1
Pragmatics - George Yule - Chapter 1
3) In your opinion, why does the author use
the metaphor of the wastebasket in the
title of the third paragraph?
2
Metaphor when you use two nouns and compare or
contrast them to one another. Unlike simile, you
don't use "like" or "as" in the comparison.
ExamplesI am a rainbow "All the world's a
stage" (Shakespeare) People invent metaphors to
describe things and concepts in very vivid ways.

3
A metaphor consists of two main parts the tenor
and the vehicle. The tenor is the subject to
which the metaphor is applied. The vehicle is
the metaphorical term through which the tenor is
applied. These two parts come together to reach
a point of similarity known as a ground.
4
For Example Life is a yo-yo. (It's a series of
ups and downs). Here, life is the tenor and
yo-yo is the vehicle. The fact that both life
and a yo-yo have ups and downs is the ground.
5
In our case pragmatics is the tenor and
wastebasket is the vehicle. The fact that both
the wastebasket and pragmatics contain ordinary
language in use is the ground. .
6
What is the meaning of this metaphor? Ordinary
language in use is not the focus of linguists and
philosophers of language, mainly interested in
the abstract, potentially universal features of
language. Ordinary language in use is so
marginal in their studies that is pushed to the
edges of their work tables and ends up in the
wastebasket. Ordinary language in use is the
focus of Pragmatics. Conclusion Pragmatics is
interested in the contents of that wastebasket.
7
Example from the chapter The duck ran up to Mary
and licked her. Syntactic analysis interested in
structure correctness, not in the meaning? The
table ran up to Mary might be considered correct
as well Semantic analysis interested in the
meaning (The table ran up to Mary is not correct
because the table is inanimate and cant run, The
duck ran up to Mary is Ok because the duck is
animate and can run)
8
Semantic analysis Interested in the
truth-conditions
The duck ran up to Mary p


The duck licked Mary
q
p q If p is true and q is
true, then p q is true, and vice versa. If p
q is true, then q p is true ? The duck licked
Mary The duck ran up to Mary But this is a
sequence, the symbol here stands for and then
not for and.
9
We know that the order of mention is a reflection
of the order of occurrence. This is not a rule,
its a pragmatic principle that makes sense of
what we hear or read. Another pragmatic
principle The more two speakers have in
common, the less language theyll need to use to
identify familiar things