Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Speech acts (Linguistics) Semantics. Sociolinguistics'

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 1991.
Title from title screen (viewed 23 April 2008). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Dept. of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts. Degree awarded 1991; thesis submitted 1990. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.

The aim of the logic for pragmatics considered in this work is to provide a logical framework that formalises reasoning about the pragmatic forces with which a sentence may be uttered. The concept of pragmatic or illocutionary force comes from speech act theory and plays a crucial role also in certain branches of artificial intelligence, in particular in the development of communication protocols for software agents. Instead of considering the full-blown theory of speech acts, we focus on speech acts that either have the pragmatic force of an assertion or the pragmatic force of an obligation, and on how these speech acts may be related to each other. In particular, we are interested in a principle proposed by Bellin and Dalla Pozza that allows one to promote acts of obligations through causal chains of acts of assertions. The main achievement of this thesis is a sound and complete categorical semantics for a logic for pragmatics incorporating the aforementioned principle. One of the benefits of the proposed semantics is that it allows one to deal with conditional obligations as well, thus extending the framework in a very interesting way. Although the logical framework considered in this work incorporates only two types of speech acts, we hope to be able to show that we have a well-behaved core fragment that can serve as a fruitful basis for further investigations.

Studies in African languages beyond the common core of linguistics are lacking. This motivates this dissertation which investigates the use of Kikoongo, a Bantu language, focusing on natural data produced by the Maniaanga of BesiNgombe region, Bas-Zaire, Zaire. The data are referred to as palavers. These consist of three complex speech events namely, wedding, bereavement and reconciliation viewed as instances of `conflict' management. Each of them is taken not only as a speech event but also as a highly structured sociocultural unit with linguistic implications.The study of palavering as a speech behavior aimed at resolving disputes (Frake 1979) contributes to Pragmatics as defined by Levinson (1983) and Leech (1983). This study provides a body of information that supports the new discipline as an adequate means for demonstrating that any language is an entity that is divisible into units of a higher order than sentences and/or utterances. The fundamental approach adopted to analyze this unit is that of ethnographyof `speaking' (Hymes 1972) and discourse or text analysis, especially, conversation analysis (CA). This approach is descriptively adequate for this study because palavering is basically an extended verbal exchange between two representatives (spokesmen) of two parties who may allow duetting (Falk 1979) and audience involvement or response elicitation whenever appropriate. Speaking publicly, the main participants generate most of the speech intended to achieve their goals as geared toward dispute resolution. The involved speakers operate systematically, following an elaborate code of conduct.This study demonstrates that the pragmatic competence required for palavering consists of paralinguistic and linguistic behaviors which make a palaver an essential institutionalized instrument of survival in Koongo society. In the end of such an event the speakers project a structurally and functionally coherent macro-unit. This appears through the use of metalinguistic terms that also demonstrate that their activity consists in an attempt to find a compromise according to established norms. The participants perform their speech acts within the confines of a mind-unifying event.
Department of English

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005.
Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 192 p.; also includes graphics Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-192). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

L'objectif de la thèse est de formuler une théorie psychologiquement plausible de la manière dont les locuteurs assignent des forces illocutoires aux énoncés.
Doctorat en Langues et lettres
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This is a comparative study of Korean students' request forms and aspects of their culture that has not been recognized in the field of speech. This offers an explanation for miscommunication between Korean speakers of English and native speakers of English. Lastly, this study provides empirical information about how Korean students use request forms and how Koreans' politeness strategies differ from Americans'.

En quoi peut consister l’énonciation dans le sens d’un énoncé ? Telle est l’interrogation à laquelle nous tentons de répondre dans cette thèse. Défendant une approche discursive du sens (Carel 2011, Ducrot 1984), nous nous fixons l’objectif de mettre en lumière une conception de l’énonciation dans cette perspective. Notre défi majeur est ainsi de démontrer, de manière concrète, une énonciation qui n’est pas conçue comme une sorte d’événement du monde relatif à la production d’un énoncé. Il s’agit en effet de cette conception de l’énonciation, d’ailleurs prise pour aller de soi, lorsque la plupart des auteurs (Kleiber 2008, Recanati 2008) interprètent un énoncé contenant une expression déictique tel que « Je suis Français » ou « Il fait chaud ici ». Défendant une approche référentielle du sens, ces auteurs sont amenés à repérer le référent correspondant à l’occurrence du mot « je » ou celle du mot « ici », avec la signification de l’un et l’autre mot prise respectivement comme « celui qui produit l’occurrence de je » et « le lieu où l’occurrence d’ici est produite ». Étant donné qu’un tel repérage du référent implique, de manière inévitable, de chercher dans la production de l’énoncé concerné, l’énonciation se présente ainsi comme extralinguistique et comme l’événement constitué par la production de l’énoncé. En nous appuyant, non sans une certaine liberté, sur les travaux respectifs de Benveniste (1966) et de Ducrot (1984), nous nous proposons de dresser le portrait d’une autre conception de l’énonciation qui relève plutôt du système linguistique lui-même, à la différence de celle dépendant ainsi de l’univers extralinguistique. À partir d’un fondement sémantique dégagé des travaux de ces deux auteurs, ainsi que des éléments que nous développons sur cette base, nous faisons des analyses portant essentiellement sur les marques de pronoms, afin d’illustrer la conception de l’énonciation que nous défendons. Qu’il s’agisse de l’analyse comparative entre « Je sais que p » « Tu sais que p » « Elle sait que p », ou celle entre « Je suis beau » « Tu es beau » « Il est beau », nos analyses impliquent donc certaines conséquences. D’une part, elles démontrent que les marques de pronoms peuvent comporter une valeur sémantique qui n’est pas relative à la référence ni à l’énonciation entendue comme un événement extralinguistique. D’autre part, elles permettent de voir que l’on peut rendre compte de ces éléments de sens non référentiels avec le cadre, inspiré de ces deux auteurs, que nous nous efforçons d’établir
How to understand “enunciation” in the meaning of an utterance? This is the question we are trying to answer in this thesis. Defending a discursive approach to meaning (Carel 2011, Ducrot 1984), we set ourselves the objective of bringing light to a conception of enunciation in this perspective. Our major challenge, as a result, is to demonstrate with tangible illustrations an enunciation that is not conceived as a kind of “world event” relating to the production of an utterance. As we know, it’s about this conception of enunciation, taken for granted, when most authors (Kleiber 2008, Recanati 2008) interpret an utterance containing a deictic expression such as "I am French" or "It's hot here". Mostly defenders of the referential approach to meaning, these authors pick up the referent corresponding to the occurrence of the word "I" and that of the word "here", with the meaning of these two words taken respectively as "the one that produces the occurrence of I" and "the place where the occurrence of here is produced". Given that such an identification of the referent involves, inevitably, a look at the production of the utterance concerned, the enunciation thus appears extralinguistic and as the event constituted by the production of the utterance. Based on Benveniste (1966) and Ducrot (1984) respectively, though not without certain inspiration of our own, we try to sketch the outline of another conception of enunciation, which is the one that comes rather from the linguistic system itself, unlike the one that is dependent on the extralinguistic context. In order to illustrate this conception of enunciation, we conduct analyses mostly on pronouns, and the semantic foundation is drawn from the works of these two authors, as well as from the elements that we develop on this basis. In fact, whether it’s the comparative analysis between "I know that p" "You know that p" "She knows that p" or the one between "I'm beautiful" "You're beautiful" "He's (It’s) beautiful", our descriptions do entail consequences. On the one hand, they show that pronouns can have a semantic value that is neither relative to the reference nor to the enunciation taken as an extralinguistic event. On the other hand, our analyses show that we can account for the non-referential elements of meaning with the frame, inspired by these two authors, that we strive to develop

The assumption underlying this study is that cultures differ in terms of politeness norms. Often people from different cultures approach one another in what they think is an appropriate manner and the outcome is miscommunication. This may be attributed to differing cultural norms and this study aims to examine what a sample of school learners perceive to be polite behaviour when making requests and their reasons for doing so. This study focuses on perceived politeness norms (Brown and Levinson 1978) in English across selected South African cultures. The individuals are seen as reflecting a cultural identity, using norms that they feel are appropriate in given situations. Previous researchers have endeavoured to show that politeness norms are universal, but it has emerged that this is not always the case. When people from differing language and cultural backgrounds come into contact they have to find a common ground for their interaction to be successful (Lustig and Koester 1999). Of particular interest is the way people request things, both the way they phrase their request and their reasons for phrasing it this way. In order to investigate this, twenty-nine same-sex pairs of Grade 10 learners were selected from three schools with different cultural backgrounds in Grahamstown. These learners were required to complete a Discourse Completion Test, which contained both Think-Aloud and Retrospection Procedures, while they were being audio-taped. This data was transcribed and analysed using a model that was developed and adapted to describe request strategies. This data is shown through the use of basic statistics, even though it is primarily qualitative. The data is given this qualitative dimension by looking at the factors that the co-conversants attend to. The recorded data shows that although second language speakers of English have a formula for requesting things, they are not always able to articulate why they use the request strategies they do. It appears that English first language speakers and speakers who have English as an additional language request things similarly, but the first language speakers have access to a greater variety of politeness strategies. They also attend to different contextual features. This shows that while the need to be polite seems to be universal, the expectations of the speakers will be different and while a first language speaker of English would not misinterpret the force of a given speech act, they may feel that the person who has English as an additional language is rude. Sensitivity is therefore called for in order to combat mutual negative stereotyping and misunderstandings.
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Cette recherche sur corpus a pour objet les emplois de quando (quandoque, quandoquidem, quandocumque) dans différents genres textuels du latin préclassique au latin postclassique. À partir du CD-ROM de la Bibliotheca Teubneriana Latina nous avons répertorié les occurrences de quando dans les Comédies de Plaute, les Discours de Cicéron, le De rerum natura de Lucrèce, l’Histoire romaine de Tite-Live et les Traités philosophiques de Sénèque. En principe, le terme en kw- peut servir d’adverbe interrogatif, indéfini ou relatif et de conjonction temporelle ou causale. Or la distinction de ces différents emplois ne peut se faire à l’aide de procédés classificatoires qui prendraient comme cadre d’analyse maximal la phrase en raison d’ambiguïtés sémantiques et d’interférences fonctionnelles entre types de subordonnées. Aussi optons-nous pour une approche macro-syntaxique tenant compte des relations dépassant le segment phrastique et alliant les points de vue morpho-syntaxique et sémantico-énonciatif. D’abord, l’étude de quando, terme polyvalent susceptible de fonctionner à plusieurs niveaux de la structure phrastique, nous amène à nous interroger sur les niveaux d’insertion et la fonction de quando dans la phrase. Ainsi, les interférences fonctionnelles entre relatif et conjonction temporelle mettent en évidence la perméabilité des frontières entre fonctions syntaxiques. Ensuite, l’ambiguïté sémantique invite à dépasser le strict cadre phrastique et à considérer les inférences contextuelles du terme étudié en vue de distinguer notamment la valeur temporelle de la valeur causale de quando. Enfin, l’outil grammatical ne peut être appréhendé sans considération de sa valeur illocutoire. Par la grande diversité d’actes réalisés, l’analyse des emplois interrogatifs peut révéler certaines caractéristiques liées à l’écriture générique. Dans une approche empruntée à la grammaire fonctionnelle sera étudiée enfin la portée du terme au niveau du discours. Une telle analyse s’avère nécessaire pour caractériser l’emploi causal, dans la mesure où ce dernier intervient au niveau interpersonnel et non référentiel, et joue, dans la terminologie de la grammaire fonctionnelle, le rôle de satellite disjoint. En ce sens, cette étude prouve l’utilité d’une approche éclectique dans l’analyse des emplois de quando : le recours à différentes approches linguistiques, selon les besoins de l’interprétation, met en évidence la complémentarité des points de vue morpho-syntaxique et sémantico-pragmatique dans une description empirique des faits de langue et de discours visant à définir, à partir de données textuelles apparemment disparates, les valeurs de base des différents emplois de quando. L’intérêt de l’étude réside ainsi dans la polyvalence du terme, permettant d’aborder un large éventail de problèmes linguistiques voire extralinguistiques liés à la structure phrastique, au texte et à la situation de discours
This corpus-based study analyses the use of quando (quandoque, quandoquidem, quandocumque) in different textual genres from Early to Postclassical Latin. From the Bibliotheca Teubneriana Latina CD-ROM (BTL-4) we have listed the instances of quando in Plaute’s Comedies, Cicero’s Discourses, Lucretius’ De rerum natura, Livy’s History of Rome and Seneca’s Moral Essays. Quando can be used as an interrogative, indefinite and relative adverb or as a temporal or causal conjunction. But the classification of these different uses is not possible without a macro-syntactic approach that combines morpho-syntactic, semantic and enunciative points of view. First, the study of this multifunctional term raises the question of its integration in the sentence structure. Thus the functional interference of its use as a relative adverb and as a temporal conjunction shows that the frontiers between syntactical functions are malleable. Furthermore, the semantic ambiguity invites us to extend the analyses to the contextual inferences to distinguish for instance its temporal and causal use. Moreover we cannot analyse the use of quando without considering its illocutionary force: for instance the questions introduced by quando perform a great variety of speech acts which reveal certain characteristics of the literary genre. Finally, the methods of Functional Grammar are necessary to study the level quando affects in the sentence structure, as the causal subordinate clause provides information on the interpersonal level and can be considered as a disjunct satellite. In the light of these considerations, it is evident that an eclectic approach is necessary to study the use of quando: only different linguistic approaches, combining the morpho-syntactic, semantic and enunciative point of view in an empirical description of its occurrences, can define the value of the different uses of quando. Thus the significance of this study resides in the multifunctionality of quando which allows us to consider a large variety of linguistic and extra-linguistic problems occurring not only at multiple levels of the sentence structure, but extended even to the larger context of the speech interaction and intimately linked to the authors writing techniques and the speakers discursive intentions

abstract: In the study of politeness in Spanish there are some speech acts that have received more attention, such as requests, apologies, invitations and negotiations. In the case of the of congratulation, there is only one published work by García about congratulation by Peruvian Spanish-speakers. This thesis is a first approximation to the study of realization of the speech act of congratulation in Colombian Spanish. The Brown and Levinson model is used for the study of preferences in the strategies of politeness, and the Scollon and Scollon model for the notion of deferential and solidarity politeness. The Blum Kulka et al. model is used for the classification of the categories of principal head acts and supportive moves in the speech acts of congratulation. The following results were found in answer to the basic hypothesis of the research: The Colombians in this sample have positive politeness when giving congratulations and manifest it with such solidarity strategies as pride and approval, expressions of gratitude and support, and they also give the congratulation in an explicit manner. To a lesser degree they request information and make direct criticism. The data analysis shows a 95% certainty in the differences found between men and women. Nevertheless, the differences between younger and older people or between young women and young men are not statistically significant and only show tendencies. In order to corroborate the finding of this research, it is necessary to have a larger sample in terms of the educational level of the participants. Also, the sample should be broader in terms of gender and age, so as to verify if the difference between younger and older people continues being a tendency or if there is a statistically significant difference. To generalize the term Colombian, other regions of the country should be included, especially the contrast between the Andean, Coastal, and Plains regions which are culturally different within the country.
Dissertation/Thesis
M.A. Spanish 2011

Studies across different languages over the past three decades have claimed that compliments are formulaic in nature, realized by only a few syntactic and semantic formulae. Much of the research employs elicitation or ethnographic field notes data, which biases the analysis to single utterance, explicit and formulaic compliments. However, my observations of Chinese compliments in naturally occurring conversation paint a different, much more sophisticated, picture. The current study investigates the realization of spontaneous Chinese complimenting behavior in the speech communities of Shanghai and other cities in China. Over 200 speakers from different walks of life were audio-recorded in a vast array of natural settings. Three hundred compliment-response sequences were selected for analysis. Adopting a combination of the pragmatic speech act analytic approach and the discursive pragmatic analytic approach, the current study examines the pragmatic-discursive structure of Chinese complimenting in conversation sequences over multiple turns involving two or more parties. Results of the study reveal that Chinese compliments and compliment responses are not isolated, single utterance acts, but rather multi-turn discursive events. Chinese compliments operate as pragmatic-discursive strategies working together over the discourse in a core and support relationship. Among the 3,835 compliment strategies identified, 525 are core strategies and 3,310 are support strategies. The core compliment strategy is normally the first general summative statement initiating a compliment topic. Seven major support compliment strategies—agreement, comment, example, repetition, intensification, quote, and comparison—fulfill three major pragmatic-discursive functions: to align with, to elaborate, or to emphasize the core or another support strategy. The seven major support compliment strategies are further realized by a wide variety of substrategies and linguistic forms with no formulaicity and predictability in lexical or syntactic distribution. The different pragmatic-discursive strategies interact such that the participants negotiate and “co-construct” the compliment event. The analysis indicates that context, both interaction-external and interaction-internal, is crucial in the construction and interpretation of a compliment action.

abstract: This study explores the topic of Discourse Markers from an Interdisciplinary perspective. Applying the frameworks of Speech Act Theory, Syntax, Conversation Analysis, and Discourse Analysis, to empirical data, it answers the following important questions. What specific types of Speech Actions are performed in everyday Utterances? What Syntactic Mood & Clause Type is used to perform the various Speech Actions? What Discourse Markers occur in the Left-Periphery of the Clause? What Meaning-Functions do Discourse Markers perform? What interactions do Discourse Markers have with the various types of Speech Actions and with the Clause Type with which they are expressed? The results of this study contributed valuable insights to each of the aforementioned fields individually, as well as to the study of human language in general. Among these contributions are the following: Searle’s Taxonomy of Speech Acts was refined by dividing Representatives into Informing and Opinionating and Directives were divided into Commanding and Inquiring. The frequencies of the various Speech Acts relative to each other was identified. Furthermore, 79 distinct and specific Speech Actions were identified. The Speech Act type as well as the Clause Types with which they are expressed were identified. Among the many insights with respect to the interactions between the Speech Action Types and the Clause types with which they are expressed were each of the major Clause Types perform many different Speech Actions that are in addition to those normally attributed to them. Many of the particular Speech Acts are performed via various of the different Clause Types. The Indicative Clause type has the ability to perform most, if not all of the Speech Actions performed by all of the other Clause types. The 200 most frequently-occurring Left-Periphery Elements were identified and observations regarding their Word Class and the Meaning-Functions they perform were identified. The Meaning-Functions of the 10 most frequently-occurring Discourse Markers were identified and defined. The interactions between these Discourse Markers and the Speech Actions to which they attach as well as the Clause Types with which they are expressed were identified, thus documenting empirically that Discourse Markers are intricately connected to the Clause.
Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Linguistics and Applied Linguistics 2020

In this thesis. I have moved away from the general question of 'How do women and men behave linguistically?, (Sing and Bergvall. 1996:19) and have turned to investigate in particular how the speech act of apologies contributes to the production of people as 'women and men' (Sing and Bergvall, 1996:19). In other words, the investigation focuses on the effect of politeness strategies on the construction of gender identities. Using poststrucluralist feminist theory as developed primarily by Weedon (1987), this thesis investigates the politeness strategies employed by some Zulu students at the University of Natal, Durban, in their English-medium interactions with African international students. The speech act of apologies is the area of language investigated, with data being collected primarily by means of role-plays and focus groups. The focus of the analysis is limited to the performance of apologies towards non-Zulus by 12 Zulu male and female students. To this end, the various strategies employed by the respondents were analysed according to the framework developed by Holmes (1989, 1995). In addition, information gathered in the focus groups revealed to what extent politeness strategies are still being transferred from Zulu to English. The strategies employed by these men and women are considered as revealing some of the ways by which politeness contributes to the construction of gender identities, in the University context. On the basis of this limited sample, it is argued that traditional Zulu male masculinity, while still dominant, is now being contested in the University context by some students favouring a less tradition-oriented identity. The strategies employed by the female respondents, on the other hand, suggest that Zulu women students may be beginning to reject traditional Zulu femininity in favour of more westernized identities.
Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

Thesis submitted in: Dec. 1998.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-[105]).
Abstract also in Chinese.
Chapter Chapter One: --- Introduction --- p.1
Chapter 1. --- Signifying: An African American Speech Act --- p.1
Chapter 2. --- Brief Background of Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson --- p.4
Chapter 3. --- Blues Craze --- p.5
Chapter Chapter Two: --- Blues Genre --- p.8
Chapter 1. --- Defining' the Blues --- p.8
Chapter 2. --- Interpretations of the Blues Genre --- p.12
Chapter 3. --- Three Downhome Blues Singer's Interpretations of the Blues --- p.15
Chapter 4. --- """You wanta signifyin' like" --- p.18
Chapter Chapter Three: --- Signifying and the Blues --- p.20
Chapter 1. --- Signifying --- p.21
Chapter 2. --- Implicature --- p.24
Chapter 3. --- Face Threatening Acts --- p.34
Chapter 4. --- Off Record FTAs --- p.35
Chapter 5. --- Off Record FTAs and Signifying --- p.36
Chapter 6. --- Off record FTA and Signifying in Blues --- p.39
Chapter 7. --- Signifying and Call-and-Response --- p.42
Chapter 8. --- Signifying and the Guitar --- p.47
Chapter 9. --- Signifying and T in Blues Recordings --- p.51
Chapter 10. --- Signifying and Spirituals --- p.54
Chapter Chapter Four: --- Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson --- p.60
Chapter 1. --- Robert Jonhson (1911-1938) --- p.60
Chapter 2. --- Blind Lemon Jefferson (1897-1929) --- p.81
Chapter Chapter Five: --- Conclusion --- p.98
Bibliography --- p.103

An immense degree of linguistic diversity exists in the work force where it is possible for speakers of twenty-three home languages to come into contact on the work floor. The language of management in industry is predominantly English; while supervisors are primarily English- or Afrikaans-speaking. Misinterpretation of speaker intent plays a significant role in communication breakdown that occurs when management or foremen/supervisors communicate directly with workers who do not understand the two erstwhile official languages sufficiently or not at all. Reagan ( 1 986) hypothesized that the greatest number of problems are caused by what might be termed mutual ignorance, rather than by language difficulties. The aim of the thesis was therefore to establish what constitutes the mutual ignorance that leads to misinterpretation of speaker intent. The Hymesian model, the ethnography of speaking, was used as a model for an analysis of sociolinguistic features in factories in the Pretoria-WitwatersrandVereeniging area. For data collection a process of triangulation was used and qualitative and quantitative methods used. The Free Attitude Interview technique was used for unstructured interviews. Other methods include observation, and elicitation procedures such as the Discourse Completion Test, which were used in structured interviews. Language preference, forms of address and politeness markers were examined. Findings revealed that the major differences were found to be in the area of non-verbal behaviour. Speakers of Afrikaans and English are, on the whole, unaware of politeness markers used by speakers of African languages. Afrikaans and English speakers are unaware of offensive non-verbal behaviour used by them. It is revealing that speakers of the official languages believe this to be the very area that makes communication possible, but it is the area in which they may cause offence. It was also found that speakers of African languages have adopted many of the features of the power dominant group at work. The findings of the research are important for the development of strategies for overcoming misinterpretation of speaker intent and negative stereotyping. This research was undertaken as part of the Human Sciences Research Council's programme entitled Language in the labour situation.
Linguistics and Modern Languages
D.Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)