Chapter 10: Pragmatics

What is pragmatics?

• The study of structure and grammar

• The study of what speakers mean or “speaker meaning”

• The study of the meaning of words, phrases and sentences

What is pragmatics primarily concerned with?

• The historical development of languages.

• The sound systems of language.

• The study of meaning in context, focusing on what speakers mean.

• The grammatical structures of sentences.

Which of the following is the best definition of deixis?

• The process of forming new words.

• Words or phrases that cannot be understood without additional contextual information about the speaker, time, or place.

• The study of language changes over time.

• The relationship between words and the real-world objects they represent.

According to the text, what is the "act of reference"?

• The act of looking up words in a dictionary.

• The ability of words to inherently identify unique entities.

• The process of referring to something indirectly.

• An act by which a speaker uses language to enable a listener to identify something.

  
  

In the utterance "Picasso is in the museum," what inference is typically made by the listener?

• Picasso himself is physically present in the museum.

• The museum is named after Picasso.

• The speaker is discussing the life of Picasso.

• A work of art by Picasso is in the museum.

How does cataphora differ from anaphora?

• Cataphora refers forward to an entity, while anaphora refers backward.

• Cataphora is used only in spoken language, anaphora in written language.

• Cataphora is grammatically incorrect, anaphora is correct.

• Cataphora uses proper nouns, anaphora uses pronouns.

What are "speech acts"?

•  The study of formal debates.

• The physical sounds produced when speaking.

• Actions performed via utterances.

• The rules of grammar in spoken language.

Which of the following is an example of an indirect speech act, as discussed in the text?

• "Is she wearing a wig?"

• "Can you pass the salt?"

• "The sky is blue."

• "Get out!"

Which best describes "negative face"?

•  The need to be independent and free from imposition.

• The desire to be liked and approved of.

• The expression of anger or frustration.

• The expression of anger or frustration.

What is a function of "pragmatic markers"?

• To mark the end of a sentence.

• To replace conjunctions in a sentence.

• To signal the speaker's attitude or to organize discourse.

• To indicate the grammatical tense of a verb.