LINGUA INGLESE 2 LLEM

MODULO 2 2008-9
MEANING AND DISCOURSE IN ENGLISH
Prof. Hugo Bowles

Lessons117

SUMMARIES

LESSON 1
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW OF MEANING AND DISCOURSE
SUMMARY
Thescopeofsemanticsthemeaningofmeaning
Discourseanalysisisconcernedwithmeaninginuse,inotherwordsbythemeaningwhichis
producedbyspeakers/writersandunderstoodbylisteners/readersineverydaylife.Theexchange
betweenDarcyandLizzieinthePrideandPrejudicefilmisanexampleofhowthereisoftenabig
differencebetweenwhatpeoplesayandwhatpeoplemean.Wewillbelookingatthiskindofdiscourse
meaningfromlecture6onwards.
Semanticsontheotherhandisconcernedwiththeconventionalmeaningofwordsandsentences.The
wordmeanisusedinEnglishtoconveyintention(Ididntmeantohurtyou),toindicateasign(those
blackcloudsmeanrain)andtothesenseofwordsandsentences(dogmeanscane).Semanticsis
concernedwiththelastofthesethreeandlexicalsemanticsisconcernedwiththemeaningofwords.
Howeverwordandsentencemeaningisnottheonlykindofmeaningwithwhichweareconcernedin
thismodule.
Lexicalsemanticsthemeaningofwords
Wordsandmeanings
Wordsarenotjustthenamesofobjectsofourexperience.Youcannotjustexplainmeaningswithother
words.Thisiscircular.Thatiswhyyoucannotlearnalanguagebylookinginadictionaryandthatis
whydictionariesareallorganiseddifferently.
Itisdifficulttoclaimthatthewordisthebasicunitofsemanticsbecauseitisdifficulttoestablishwhat
countsasawordandalsobecausethereisnoonetoonerelationshipbetweenwordsandmeanings:
sometimeswordsarenotsingleunitsofmeaning;wecanhavemanywordstogetherstanding
forasingleconcept(e.g.idiomsliketobecaughtredhanded)andasinglewordstandingfora
numberofconcepts(e.g.bank)
sometimesitisverydifficulttoseparateunitsofmeaning;forexampletheexpressionheavy
smokerisnotjustacombinationofthewordheavyandthewordsmoker.Inthiscontextthe
meaningofoneword(heavy)isdependentonthemeaningoftheother(smoker)andthe
meaningofthenounphraseneedstobeinterpretedtogether(seelecture5Collocation).
Transparentandopaque
Somewordsaretransparentbecausethemeaningofthewholeisclearfromthesumoftheparts
(morphemes)oftheword(e.g.blackberry).Otherwordsareopaquebecausethemeaningofthewhole
isnotclearfromthesumoftheparts(e.g.strawberry).
Lexemes
Insemanticsitismorecorrecttorefertolexemesthantowords.Lexemesaredifferentformsofthe
sameword(e.g.loveandlovedarelexemes).Alexemeisaunitoflexicalmeaningwhichexists
regardlessofanyinflectionalendingsitmayhaveorthenumberofwordsitmaycontain.Thuslove,
caughtredhandedandcomeinarealllexemes.Thelexemeisabettercandidatethanthewordasthe
basicunitofsemantics.

Reading material
Palmer,pp.1743

LESSON 2
Lexical relations
SUMMARY
Focus
Howwordmeaningsarerelatedtoeachother
Horizontalrelationshipsaresyntagmaticandverticalrelationshipsareparadigmatic(Sausurre)
Semanticrelationshipsareparadigmatic(vertical)
HyponymydescribesarelationshipwhenwecansayXisakindofY.Inthismodelonelexeme
(gorgonzola)cansubstituteanother(mozzarella):
SUPERORDINATETERM

cheese

gorgonzola

stilton

cheddar

mozzarella

HYPONYMS

Hyponymyisparticularlyimportanttolinguistsbecauseitisthecoreelementinproducingdictionary
definitions.Thenestwaytodefinealexeme(e.g.gorgonzola)istoprovideasuperordinateterm
(cheese)andsomedistinguishingfeatures.
Itisusuallypossibletotraceapaththroughadictionaryfollowingthesuperordinatetermsasthey
becomeincreasinglyabstract.
Synonymsarelexemeswhichhavethesamemeaning.Englishhasaparticularlylargenumberof
synonymsforhistoricalreasons,becauseitsvocabularyhascomefromdifferentsources(Germanic,
Latin,Greek,Frenchinfluences)
Aresynonymspossible?Itisalmostalwayspossibletodistinguishmeaningsbetweensimilarwords:
somewordsonlyoccurinparticularcontexts(e.g.dialectwords,English/Americanwordslike
autumn/fall)
somewordsonlyoccurincertainstyles,e.g.salt(standardusage)andsodiumchloride
(scientific)
somewordsonlyoccurincertaincollocations,e.g.profoundsympathybutnotprofoundwater.
somewordsareemotionallystronger,e.g.freedomnotliberty
somewordsoverlapinmeaningbutarenotidentical(e.g.governanddirect)
Forthesereasonssomelinguistsarguethattruesynonyms(wordswithexactlythesamemeaning)are
notpossiblebecauseyoucanalwaysdistinguishbetweenthem
Antonymsarelexemeswhichareoppositeinmeaning.Anantonymistheanswertoaquestionwhat
istheoppositeofthewordx?.Unlikesynonyms(rememberthereissomedoubtaboutwhethertrue
synonymsreallyexist)antonymydefinitelyexistsinseveralforms:
gradableantonymslikehappy/sad,large/small,wet/dry;thesearecapableofcomparison(e.g.youcan
saywetter/dryer,larger/smaller;thereisascalewithwetatoneendanddryattheother

complementaryantonymssuchassingle/marriedoralive/dead;thereisnoscaleofalivenessor
firstness;ifoneapplies,theotherdoesnottobedeadisnottobealive
converseantonymslikeover/under,buy/sell,over/under;thesearemutuallydependent(youcannot
haveahusbandwithoutawife)
Oppositesdonothavetobeantonyms.Forexamplewehaveawkwardandclumsyononehandbut
skilfulanddexterousontheother.Theyareoppositesbutnotantonyms.
Weknowantonymsintuitively.Theantonymoflittleisbigandtheantonymoflargeissmall.Largeis
nottheantonymoflittleeventhoughtheyareconceptuallyopposed.
Polysemyreferstothedifferentmeaningsofasingleword.Homonymyreferstodifferentwordswith
thesameform.Thewordbankcanbefoundwithanumberofdifferentmeanings,e.g.riverbankand
Lloydsbank.Isbankpolysemous(i.e.bankisonewordwithtwomeanings)orisbankahomonym,
(i.e.bankinriverbankisaseparatewordwithaseparatemeaningfrombankinLloydsbank?
Wherethedifferenceinmeaningispredictableorregular(e.g.theeyeofatornado),wehave
polysemy;metaphorsforexampleareoftenpolysemous.Wherethereisacoremeaning(e.g.inthe
differentmeaningsofcharge),wealsotendtohavepolysemy.
Wherethedifferenceinmeaningisnotpredictable(e.g.riverbankandLloydsbank),wehave
homonymy.

Reading material
Yule,pp.104108;Palmer,pp.83108

LESSON 3
Collocation
SUMMARY
Collocationreferstotherelationshipbetweenwordsthatfrequentlyoccurtogether,likeweaponsof
massdestruction.Wordsoftenacquiretheirmeaningsasaconsequenceoftheircollocations.For
exampleprettycollocateswithgirl,woman,flower,gardenetc.whereashandsomecollocateswithboy,
man,caretc..Asaresultthewordprettyhasacquiredafemininequalityandthewordhandsomea
masculineone.
Awordmayalsoacquiredifferentcollocationalmeaningdependingonthewordwhichaccompaniesit.
Forexamplethewordwhitehasadifferentmeaninginthenounphraseswhitewine,whitenoise,white
man,whitecoffee(seealsopolysemyinlecture3).
Somecriteria
Noncompositionality:collocationalphrasesmeanmorethanthesumoftheirparts,e.g.hot
doghasauniquemeaningwhichisnothot+dog.Idiomssuchastowearyourheartonyour
sleeveareexamplesofnoncompositionalcollocations.
Nonsubstitutability:collocationstendtobefixedandyoucannotmodifyorsubstitutepartof
acollocationwithanothernoun/adjective,e.g.youcannotsayyellowwineorwhiterwine.
Strong,mediumandweakcollocations:auniquecollocationisanexpressionliketofootthe
bill,inwhichtheonlynounwhichcancooccurwiththeverbtofootisthebill.Thereisnothing
elsewhichyoucanfootinEnglish.Strongcollocationsarerarecooccurrences.Forexample
theadjectivetrenchantisusuallyfollowedbythewordcriticismandrarelybyotherwords.
Therearealsomediumcollocationssuchastorecoverfromanoperation.Inthiscasethereare
severalthingsthatyoucanrecoverfrombutnotagreatmany.Weakcollocationsarefrequent
cooccurrences.Theexpressionwhitewineisaweakcollocationbecausewhitecancooccur
withalmostanynoun.
Learningcollocations
Thereisnoreasonwhyparticularwordstendtogotogether.Forexample,thereisnoreasonwhydeep
collocateswithwater(wesaydeepwater)butprofounddoesnot(wecannotsayprofoundwater).
Thereisnoreasonwhywesaybroaddaylightbutnotbrightdaylight.Therearenorulesor
explanationsforthis.Youjusthavetolearnthecombinations.
Collocationisextremelyimportantfordevelopingyourwritingskills.Atypicalcollocationmistakeis
towrite/sayhighhouseratherthantallhousesoitisimportanttonotedownthiskindofmistakeandto
learnthecorrectcollocationsthatyouneed.
Whenyoureadatextyoushouldnoticethecollocationsandyoushouldhaveacollocationnotebookin
whichyounotedownanumberofcollocationsforaparticularword(seeslide25).Theseneedtobe
revisedandpractisedregularly.
Usefuldictionariesofcollocationsandidioms
Collocationsarecollectedbyscanningtextswithcomputersoftwarewhichanalysesfrequences
(Wordsmith,Tapor)andcompilesconcordances(seetheconcordanceofstapleinthehandout)
OxfordCollocationsDictionaryforStudentsofEnglish
CambridgeInternationalDictionaryofIdioms
CollinsCOBUILDDictionaryofIdioms

OxfordDictionaryofEnglishIdioms

Reading material
Yule,pp.108109;Palmer,pp.7582

LESSON 4
What is discourse analysis?
SUMMARY
Discoursecanbedefinedintwoways:
1.
Astructuraldefinitionofdiscoursedefinesitasaunitoflanguageabovethelevelofthe
sentence.Thisapproachlooksforconstituentswhichhaveparticularrelationshipswitheachotherand
thatcanoccurinarestrictednumberofarrangements.Theproblemwiththisapproachisthattheunits
inwhichpeoplespeakdonotlooklikesentencesandareoftennotgrammaticallycorrect.
2.
Afunctionalapproachtodiscourseclaimsthatlanguagehasmultiplefunctions.Thetaskof
discourseanalysisusingthisapproachistoanalysethefunctionsoflanguage,thewaythatlanguage
isused(meaningasuse),whatwedowithlanguagewhenweuseit.Inotherwordsdiscourseanalysis
viewsdiscourseasasocialphenomenonratherthanapurelylinguisticone.
Discourseanalysisinfluencesandisinfluencedbyanumberofotherdisciplines(slide11).Itis
highlypracticalandisusedinallareasofcommunication(especiallyinstitutionalareassuchas
medicine,lawandeducation)andwithallformsoftalkspeechandwrittentexts,everydaylanguage,
specialisedlanguage,formalandinformallanguage.Discourseanalysisalsoexamineshowlanguageis
usedtosustainsocialinstitutionsandmanipulateopinion;howitisusedintheexpressionofideology
andtheexerciseofpower.Discourseanalysiscanalsobeusedtodevelopawarenessoflinguistic
featuresintheinterpretationofliterarytexts.
Discoursereferstobothwrittentextsandoraltexts.Itisimportanttoidentifywhetheratext
iswrittenororal.Therearealsosometextswhichhavebothwrittenandoralcharacteristicsatthesame
time.Internetchatforexampleisessentiallyawrittenformofspeech.Ontheotherhandauniversity
lecturemaybeaspokenformofwriting.Soitisimportanttoanalysethespokenandwritten
characteristicsofdiscourse(wewilldothisinlaterlessons).
Thereareanumberofapproachestodiscourseanalysis,someofwhichwewillbelookingat
thissemester:speechacttheory,interactionalsociolinguistics,ethnography,pragmaticsand
conversationanalysisarethemostimportantones.
Tosumup,examinesspokencommunication(talk/speech/spokentexts/spokenmessages)between
speaker(s)andlistener(s)andwrittencommunication(texts/messages)betweenreader(s)andwriter(s).
Itstressestheneedtoseelanguageasadynamic,socialinteractivephenomenon.Meaningisconveyed
notbysinglesentencesbutbymorecomplexexchanges,inwhichtheparticipantsbeliefsand
expectations,theknowledgetheyshareabouteachotherandabouttheworld,andthesituationin
whichtheyinteract,playacrucialpart.
Reading material
Brown&Yule,626

LESSONS 5+6
Context + Inference
SUMMARY
Context
1.
Theimportantaspectsofcontextare
identityofthespeaker/writer
identityofthehearer/reader
timeoftheutterance
placeofutterance
genre(thetypeofdiscoursemonologue,narrativeetc.)
channel(spokenorwritten)
code(standardordialect)
previousdiscourse(whathasbeensaidorwrittenpreviously)
backgroundknowledge(ourknowledgeoftheworld)
Whenyouareanalyingthecontextofatextorutteranceyouneedtotakeeachofthesefactorsinto
accountonebyone.
2.
Whydoweneedcontexttointerpretatext?
Contextisimportantinthefollowingareas:
theassignmentofreference(I,this,thewoman,hereetc.)
theassignmentofwordmeaningincasesofhomonymy(match,banketc.)andpolysemy(hot,
basinetc.)
theassignmentofintention(e.g.whetherIllseeyouat3isapromiseorathreat)
theassignmentoftruth(e.g.toconfirmwhetherItssnowingistrueornot)
theassignmentofappropriacy(e.g.todeterminethelevelofpolitenessofaphrase)
Inference
Aninferenceisadditionalinformationusedbythelistenertocreateaconnectionbetweenwhatissaid
andwhatmustbemeant.Weinferthatthemessageofthefreebeertomorrowsignisnottrue
becauseoftheextrainformationwehaveaboutitweseethesigneverydayinafixedposition.

LESSON 7
Deixis
Deixis
Deicticformsenablethespeaker/writertoANCHORanutteranceinTIMEandSPACEsothatitis
possibletointerpretit.Deicticformsincludethosewhichrelatetothefollowing:
thespeaker/writere.g.I,me,mine,myself,we,oursetc.
thelistener/readere.g.you,your,yourself
previouslymentionedindividualse.g.he,her,it,themetc.
thespeakersphysicalorientatione.g.here,behindme,tomyleftetc.
thetimeofspeakinge.g.now,aminuteago,lastyearetc.
proximitytothespeaker/charactere.g.this/that,here/thereetc.
movementtowardsorawayfromthespeakere.g.come,go,fetch,take,bring

LESSON 8
Presupposition + given/new information
Presupposition
Speakersdesigntheirmessagesonthebasisofassumptionsofwhatlistenersknow.Whataspeaker
assumesistrueorknownbythelistenercanbedescribedasapresupposition.Presuppositionisoften
signalledbythemarkersofgiven/newinformation.Theideaofgiven/newinformationisclosely
connectedtodefiniteandindefiniteexpressions.Indefiniteexpressionsgenerallymarknewinfo.
A.
Indefinite/definiteexpressions
Indefiniteexpressionsmarkthefirstmentionofareferent,i.e.theintroductionofnewreferentswhich
arenotknowntothelistener/reader.Definiteexpressionsenableindividualstobeidentifiedbylisteners
B.
Definite/indefiniteexpressionsinspeech
Speakerstendtousedefiniteexpressionswhentheybelieveinformationismutuallyshared
Speakerstendtouseindefiniteexpressionswhentheybelieveinformationisnotmutuallyshared.
C.
Waysofintroducingindividuals(places,objects,people)intodiscourse(NEWINFORMATION)
Usinganindefiniteexpression
Howknowntoreader
1.
a,an+(adj.)+noun,e.g.adog
notknown
Usingadefiniteexpression
1.
the+(adj.)+noun
e.g.thePope
theheadmaster
2.

ProperName
e.g.Calcutta,Hercules

worldknowledge
inference(theschool)
worldknowledge

D.
Waysofreintroducingindividuals(GIVENINFORMATION)
Usingadefinitedescription
1.
apronoun
individualiscurrentfocusofattention
e.g.whilehewassayingprayers
2.
afulllexicaldescription
referringtopreviousevent
e.g.thesuicidenote
3.
adiminishedlexicaldescription
e.g.theAmericanleaderthePresident
worldknowledge
Paris..thecity.theFrenchcapital
worldknowledge
E.
Strategiesforusinganaphora
Johnlaydown,heclosedhiseyesand
JohnmetBill.John
JohnmetBill.He(Bill)

JohnmetBill.He(John)

pronominalisationonsecondmention
relexicalisationwhenambiguityispossible
leastdistance;weassumethatherefersto
Billbecauseitistheclosestnountothe
pronoun.
preservetopic;weassumehereferstoJohn

becauseJohnisthetopicoftheprevious
sentence
WhenJohncouldntmanagetomeetBill
weuseasemanticstrategytointerpretheas
hesenthimaletter
referringtoJohnandhimtoBill
LESSONS 9 + 10
Cohesion and coherence
SUMMARY
PARTA
Cohesionandcoherence
Asequenceofsentencesisatextwhenthereissomekindofdependencebetweenthesentences.The
taskoftextualanalysisistoidentifytheelementsthatcausethisdependence.Theseelementsare
elementsofcohesion(cohesiveelements)andelementsofcoherence.
Cohesion
Thereareanumberofcategoriesofcohesiveelements:
Conjunctiverelations
Whatisabouttobesaidisexplicitlyrelatedtowhathasbeensaidbefore,throughsuchnotionsas
contrast(but,however,nonetheless),result(so,therefore,neverthelessetc.)andtime(whenafter,
beforeetc.).
Coreference
Thesearefeatureswhichcannotbesemanticallyinterpretedexceptbyreferencetosomeotherfeature
inthetext.Theycanbeoftwotypesanaphoricrelations,whichlookbackwardsfortheir
interpretation,andcataphoricrelations,whichlookforwards.
Substitution
Substitutioniswhenacohesiveelementreplacesapreviouswordorexpression.Pronouns(I,meetc.)
andwordsofpersonalreference(myself,yourselfetc.)areexamplesofcohesionbysubstitution.
Ellipsis
Ellipsisoccurswhenastructureisomittedandcanonlyberecoveredfrompreviousdiscourse.
Repetition
Repetitioniswhenanexpression,orpartofanexpressionisrepeated.Thisisverycommoninspeech
(seelessononcharacteristicsofspeech).Therepetitionoftenseandothersyntacticpatternsisvery
importantforcohesion.
Lexicalrelationships
Thereisalexicalrelationshipwhenonelexicalitemhasastructuralrelationshipwithanother,for
examplesynonymy,hyponymy,antonymy.Register(vocabularyrelatedtoaparticulardiscipline)isalso
veryimportantforlexicalcohesion.
Comparison
Incomparativecohesionsomethingisalwayscomparedwithsomethingelseinthediscourse.Wordsof
identity(e.g.sameas),similarity(e.g.verylike),difference(e.g.unlike);distinctness(e.g.totally

different)areimportantforcomparativecohesion.Somethingisalwayscomparedwithsomethingelse
inthediscourse
Coherence
Thetextualworld(whatthetextisabout)ismadeupofconceptsandrelations.Coherenceconcernsthe
wayinwhichconceptsandrelationsaremutuallyaccessibleandrelevant.Inotherwords,acoherent
textisonewhichiseasyforustounderstandbecauseitiseasyforustomakeamentalrepresentation
ofit.Rememberthatitispossibleforatexttobecohesivebutnotcoherent.TheFaulknertextisfull
ofcohesiveelementsbutitisnoteasytounderstand.

MODULO2

REVISIONCHECKLISTLessons110

Bibliography
AllthenecessaryreadingmaterialcanbefoundintheModulo2Readingmaterialfile.Thematerial
forlessons18istakenfromthefollowingbooks:
Yule,G.Thestudyoflanguage.CambridgeUniversityPress
Brown,G.andYule,G.DiscourseAnalysis.CambridgeUniversityPress
Palmer,F.Semantics.CambridgeUniversityPress
Lesson
1.

Subject
The meaning of

2.

meaning
Lexical relations

Whatyouneedtoknow
Discoursevsemantics

Readingmaterial
Palmer,pp.1743

Problemsofwordmeaning
Typesoflexicalrelation

Yule,pp.104108

hyponymy,synonymy,

Palmer,pp.83108

antonymy,polysemy,
3.

Collocation

homonymy
definitionofcollocation
and

Yule,pp.108109
Palmer,pp.7582

itscriteria,idioms,
4.

What is
discourse?

concordance
understandingthemain

Brown&Yule,626

definitionsofdiscourseand
approachestodiscourse

5+6.

Context
+

7.

inference
Deixis

analysis
howtoidentifyandexplain
featuresofcontextin

Yule,pp.112118

spoken/writtentexts
howtoidentifyandexplain
featuresofdeixisin

Brown&Yule,pp.2758

8.

Presupposition
+

9+10

given + new
Cohesion +
coherence /

spoken/writtentexts
howtoidentifyandexplain

pp.169189(given/new;
definiteindefinite)

theuseofdefiniteand
indefiniteexpressions
howtoidentifyandexplain

Yulep.124.127

markersofcohesionintext

Brown&Yule,p.191199

andconceptofcoherence;

(cohesionandcoherence)

LESSON 11
The characteristics of speech and writing
KEY CONCEPTS
Whenwereadandwrite,thequestionoftimeisnotimportant.Sometimeswecanchoosetoreadand
writequicklybut,generally,readingandwritingaremodesofcommunicationinwhichwecantakeas
muchtimeaswelike.Thismeansthatwetendtoprefercorrectlyformedsentences.
Whenwespeak,however,wedonotuselong,elaboratewellconstructedsentences.Thisisbecausewe
haveagreatdealofinformationtocommunicateinashorttime.Weareinterestedincommunicating
ourmessageinaneconomicalwayandthisprincipleofeconomydictatesthekindoflanguagethatwe
use.Inordertostudyspeech,itisthereforeimportanttounderstandwhatkindoflanguagewetendto
usewhenwetalkandhowitisused.Sowhatarethecharacteristicsofspeechwhichmakeitso
differentfromwriting?
Thecharacteristicsofspeech
Spokenlanguage,asopposedtowrittenlanguage,hasmoreofthefollowingelements:
markersofinteraction(Ithink,youknow,perhaps,ofcourse,isntit?)
fillers(indictingthatthespeakerwishestocontinue(er,erm,well,ah)
repetitionsofawordorphrase
reduplications(i.e.consecutiverepetitionofthesameworde.g.yesyes)
expressionsofattitudeandopinion(good,wonderfuletc.)
hesitations,falsestartsandreformulation
incompletesentences
simplesyntax(lesssubordination,fewerpassives,fewerheavynounphrases)
fewerlogicalconnectors
monosyllabicconnectors(and,but,if)
simple,lessspecificvocabulary(thing,do,got,go)
weakverbswhichstrengthenanoun(haveachat)
prepositionalexpressions(feeldown,ontheup)
phraseology(outofthequestion,notatall)
Youneedtobeabletoidentifythesecharacteristicsinaconversation
Youcanseesomeofthesecharacteristicsinoperationintheconversationsonthehandoutand
intheconversationsinLessons1117
Writingisgenerallyconsideredtobemoreformalthanspeechbutthisisnotnecessarilyso.Itis
bettertoconsiderspeechandwritingintermsofdifferentparameters(transient/permanent;
formal/informal;interactive/noninteractive;contextdependent/notcontextdependent).
Individualdiscourse(speechorwriting)willexhibitmoreorlessofthesefeatures.
Youshouldrememberthatsomeofthesefeaturesmayberemovedinsubtitlesoffilms;e.g.
theyhavebeenremovedinthePrideandPrejudicescript.Filmscriptsarenotalwaystypicalof
naturaltalk.
Asliteraturestudents,youshouldnotethatsomemoderndramatistssuchasBeckett,Pinterand
Mametareparticularlyinterestedinspeechasalinguisticphenomenonandtendtoinclude
moreofthedetailsofspeech(e.g.fillersandpauses)thanotherdramatists.

Reading material
Cameron,WorkingwithSpokenDiscourse,pp.718
BrownandYule,DiscourseAnalysis,pp.419

LESSON 12
Transaction and interaction

Thefunctionsoflanguage
Therearetwocommunicativefunctionsofdiscoursetransactionalandinteractionallanguage:

Transactionallanguageisassumedbyphilosophers,linguistsandpsychologiststobebasic
language,inwhichtheaimofcommunicationisthatthemessagebecorrectlyunderstood.Typical
contextsfortransactionallanguageare:doctorpatient(howtotakethemedicine),customerbankclerk
(howtoopenanewbankaccount),friendfriend(detailsofarecipe).
Interactionallanguagehastheaimofestablishingand/ormaintenanceofsocialrelationships.Itoften
involvesasearchforagreement.Thehearershouldfeelthatthespeakerisfriendly.Thiskindof
conversationdoesnotusuallyhaveanyeffectontheworld.Typicalcontextsforinteractionallanguage
arephoningmum,vistingafriendinhospital,achatatabusstop,Internetchat,talkingtopeopleata
noisyparty.Typicalcontentofinteractionallanguagemightbethecoldnessoftheweather,thelateness
ofthebus,theprettinessofthebaby,therudenessoftheyoungetc.
Mosttextscontainacombinationofbothtransactionalandinteractionallanguage.Itisimportanttobe
abletoidentifywheretheseoccurinspeech.
Ifyouwanttounderstandthisdistinctionyoujustneedtorememberthegoldfishvideo
Goodmorning=interaction(mostoftheconversation)
Fredsbeingeaten=transaction(asmallbutimportantpartoftheconversation
Mostconversationisamixoftransactionandinteractionanditisoftendifficult(andunnecessary)to
separatethetwo

KEY WORDS
discourse
text

talk

speech

Reading material
BrownandYule,DiscourseAnalysis,pp.14

transactional

interactional

LESSON 13
The machinery of speech
ConversationAnalysis
Conversationproceedsonthebasisofoneturnafteranother.Turnbelongstoasinglespeaker.Buthowdowe
knowwhenitisourturntotalk.Turnsarenegotiatedandrenegotiatedbyparticipantsduringconmversation.
Continualnegotiationisageneralfeatureofconversationalorganization.Buthowdoweachievethisorganization?
Turntakingandturnconstructionalunits(TCUs)
TCUsareunitsofspeech.Theboundariesoftheseunitsarecalledturntransitionrelevancepoints(TTRPS).
Thesearepointsatwhichinterventionfromanotherspeakerissyntacticallyorsemanticallypossible.AtaTTRP:
1.
Thecurrentspeakerselectsthenextspeaker,or(ifthisdoesnotoperate)
2.
Thenextspeakerselfselects
3.
Thecurrentspeakermaycontinue
Repair(simultaneousspeechandsilence)
Participantswillnotusuallytalkatthesametime.Simultaneousspeechandsilenceareproblemswhichneedto
berepaired.Insimultaneousspeech,onepersonusuallywinstherighttospeakandbeattendedtobytheother
participants.Whentheturntakingrules(above)failtooperate,thereissilence.Silenceisaproblemwhichneeds
toberepaired.WhoisthepersonwhorepairsthesilencesintheconversationbetweenMissAandMrB?
Adjacencypairs
Spokeninteractionisoftenstructuredaroundpairsofadjacentutterances(utteranceswhichoccuroneafterthe
other)inwhichthesecondutteranceisfuinctionallydependentonthefirst.
Questionanswer:
howareyou?fine
Greetings:
goodmorninggoodmorning
Inthesesequencesweexpectthefirstparttobefollowedbythesecondpart.Ifitisnotthere,weinterpretitas
rude,unfriendlyorsociallyinept.Differenttypesofquestionsproducedifferenttypesofresponse.Forexample,
atagquestionorganizesaresponsebetterthananopenquestion.
Insertionsequences
Thesesequencescanbeinsertedbetweenadjacencypairs.Thetopicoftheinsertionsequenceisrelatedtothatof
themainsequenceinwhichitoccursandthemainsequencecontinuesaftertheinsertion.
Preferredanddispreferredresponses
Thepreferredresponsetoaproposalisacceptance,whichcanbeperformedwithouthesitationorelaboration.
Agreementisapreferredresponse.
Thedispreferredresponseisrefusal.Ittendstobehesitantandelaborate(weoftengivereasonsforarefusal).
Disagreementisalsoandexampleofadispreferredresponse.
Discoursemarkers(markersofinteraction)
Thesehavethegeneralfunctionofmovingtheconversationonbuttheymayhavespecificfunctions,depending
ontheconversation:
tosignaltothelistenerthatthespeakerwishestocontinuespeaking(afiller)
tosignalwheretheconversationisgoing
Forexample,wellmaybeusedtoindicatea)theopeningofaconversation,b)thatthespeakerisabouttosay
somethingwhichisinconflictwithwhathasbeensaidearlier.

Reading material
Cameron,WorkingwithSpokenDiscourse,pp.8798
Pridham,TheLanguageofConversation,pp.2332

LESSON 14
Cooperation, politeness and face
Cooperationandspeakersupport
Grice(1975)proposedthatwhenpeopleinteractwitheachotheracooperativeprincipleisinforce.
Therearefourmaximsinthisprinciple:
1.
Quantitymakeyourcontributionasinformativeasrequired
2.
Qualitybetrue;donotsaywhatyoubelievetobefalse
3.
Relationberelevant
4.
Manneravoidobscurityofexpression,ambiguity.Bebrief,orderly.
ThisisaquestionofLOGIC.Iftwoutterancesfollowoneanotherweassumetheyhavesome
relevancetoeachother.Conversationscanproceedbecausespeakersandlistenerscooperateintheir
assumptionthattheconversationwillfollowthefourmaxims.
Inacooperativeconversationthespeakersworktogethertohelpandreassureeachother.Thisiscalled
speakersupport.Therearemanytechniquesusedtoshowagreementwithaspeakerandtoencourage
furtherspeaking.Speakerscanalsocheckthattheyhavebeenunderstoodproperlyandcanmodify
whattheyhavesaidsothatitcanbeunderstoodbetter.
Politeness
Sometimesaspeakersrolegivesthemtheauthoritytochallengeothers(e.g.inateacherpupil
relationship).Presentingachallengetosomeone(e.g.refusingtodosomethingorcriticisingsomeone)
isdifficultbuttherearewaystopresentachallengewhicharemoreorlessacceptabletotheperson
beingchallenged.
Somepolitenesstechniques(fromPridham,p.54)

Directmessage
threatensface

Indirectmessage
nothreattoface

Whatwassaid

Howpoliteisit?

Shut the door

Messageclearchallengeto
negativefacecouldcauseoffence

Please shut the door

Pleaseindicatesawarenessof
politenessbutstillcouldcausea
reactionasitisquitecrude

Could you shut the

window please?

Commandhiddenasquestion
implieslistenerhassomechoice!
Thissavesface.

Shall we shut the

the window please?

Useofpersonalpronounwe
impliesweareinthesamein
group,havethesamevaluesand
aredoingthetasktogether.This
protectspositiveface.

Its cold here

Nochallengehere!Youcan
alwaysdenywantinganyoneto
doanything.Messageunclear.
Responsemighteasilybeisit?
orwhydontyoushutthe

windowthen?

Positiveandnegativeface

BrownandLevinsoninstudiesofpolitenessindifferentculturessuggestthatinordertoenterintosocial
relationshipswemustacknowledgethefaceofotherpeople.Talkmaybeafacethreateningact(FTA)which
maydamagenegativeface(wantingtobefreefromimposition)andpositiveface(wantingtobeliked)
Ifyouarecriticisingsomeoneyouareexpressingdisapproval,whichthreatenstheirpositiveface(theirdesireto
belikedordesireforapproval).Ifyoutellsomeonewhattodoitmightthreatentheirnegativeface(theirdesire
tobefree).Inallkindsoftalkwehavetodecidebetweengettingamessageacrossdirectly,whichmight
challengesomeone,andspeakingindirectly,whichismorepolitebutriskslosingthemessage.
Inourlanguageweuseanumberofexpressionswhichshowvaryingdegreesofpolitenessandfacesaving.
Positivepolitenesswilluselanguagetosignallikingandapproval.Negativepolitenesswilluselanguageto
minimiseimposition.
Positivepoliteness
Showinterestinhearer
Claimcommongroundwithhearer
Seekagreement
Givesympathy

Negativepoliteness
Beconventionallyindirect
Minimiseimpositiononhearer
Askforforgiveness
Givedeference

Aspeakercanalsoimplyrespectforthehearersvaluesystemandmembershipofthesamegroup
Lakoffsmaximsofpoliteness(1973)
Dontimpose
Giveoptions
Makethehearerfeelgood
Analysingcooperation
Whenevaluatingcooperationitisnecessarytoconsidertheroleandstatusofthespeakers,e.g.ateachermay
leadstudentsbuthe/sheisnotnecessarilycooperative.Youneedtoanalysethese:
a.
Featuresofinteraction
openquestions closedquestions
tagquestions questionswithbuiltinoptions
commands
interruptions
overlaps
pauses
topicmanagement
Gricesmaxims discoursemarkers(seecharacteristicsofspeechlesson)
markersofpolitenessandrespect(seebelow)
b.
Markersofpoliteness
Specificwordse.g.please,thanks
Hedgese.g.ifitisnttoomuchtrouble
Hiddencommandse.g.couldyoupassthesaltplease
Provisionallanguagetoimplynegotiationispossible,e.g.if,would,can
Qualifiers,modifiers,e.g.quite,abit
c.
Markersofrespect/appreciationofhearersgroupmembership
Inclusivepronounslikewe,us
Similarvocabulary/dialect/colloquiallanguage
Pseudoagreement,whichavoidssayingnoordisagreeingwithaspeaker,e.g.wouldyouliketocometomy
house?,wellIdlovetoanothertime
d.

Vaguelanguagee.g.kindof,sortof,thing

Reading material
Cameron,WorkingwithSpokenDiscourse,pp.6886

LESSON 15
Special conversations
Conversationanalysisdoesnotonlyinvolveanalysisofordinaryconversation,likeforexamplegeneral
chat,butspecialtypesofconversation.
Theseconversationsarehighlystructured.Theyfollowatypicalformatandinvolvetalkingroutines
withwhichwearealreadyfamiliar.Wearefamiliarwiththeseroutinesbecauseweuseourpast
experienceofsimilarconversationstointerpretthem.Wepickupcueswhichenableustorecognisethe
specialsituationquicklyandtheseframeworkshelpustointerprettheconversationandanticipate
whatisgoingtohappennext.
Atypicalexampleofspecialconversationisaserviceencounter(seeconversationinthecafin
lecture10)suchasbuyingsomethinginashoporgettingmoneyfromabankaccount,whoseprincipal
purposeistransactional.Theprincipalelementsofaserviceencountermightbe:
anofferofservice/help
arequestforservice/help
atransaction
asalutation
Obviouslynotalltheseelementsarepresentineveryserviceencounterandadditionallinguistic
elements,suchaspolitenessmarkers,ellipsisanddeicticmarkersarealsolikelytooccur.
Thereareothertypesofinstitutionaltalkwhicharecharacterisedbyspecialpurposesorgoal
orientationswhichtendtoconstraintheconversationtoparticulartopicsandspecialmodesofspeech.
Otherexamplesarebusinessmeetings,doctorpatientconsultations,classroomtalk,legalcourtrooms.
Inclassroomtalktheteachertendstotakemostturns,teachersturnsarelongerthanstudents.The
structureofclassroomtalkisadjacencytripletsinitiation,responseandfeedbackanddiscourse
markersareusedbytheteachertodirecttheconversation.Theteacheroftenreformulates,summarises
andevaluateswhatthestudentssay.Studentsanswerstendtobeshortandelliptical.Theteacheruses
knownanswerordisplayquestions.Thesearequestionstowhichteachersalreadyknowthe
answer.
Aparticularimportantaspectofinstitutionaltalkispowerrelationsbetweenspeakers,particularlythe
righttoaskquestions(seeCameronpp.101103foranexample).
Telephonetalk
Telephoneconversationsaredifferentfromfacetofaceconversationsandhavedifferent
conversationalrules,particularlyintheopeningandclosureoftheconversation.
Openingsordinarytelephoneconversationoftenopenswithasummonsanswersequencefollowedby
anidentification/recognitionsequence,agreetingsequenceandahowareyou?sequence.
Forreasonsofeconomyservicecallstendtocompressthissequenceandtoeliminatethehowareyou
sequence.Thissequenceisreplacedbyaprerequest(e.g.Idliketoknowwhether).Callcentersand
multinationalcompanieslikeMcDonaldsevenadopttheirownformatswhichrequirereceiversand
receptioniststorespondinparticularways.
Whenyouareanalysingspecialconversationsitisimportanttoidentifywhatthestandardroutinesof
theconversationare,whetherthesestandardpatternsofdiscoursearebeingfollowedornotbeing
followedandhowthisisexpressedinthelanguagethatisbeingused.

Reading material
Cameron,WorkingwithSpokenDiscourse,pp.100103

Pridham,TheLanguageofConversation,pp.6375

LESSON 16
Discourse topic and organisation
DISCOURSETOPIC
Itisdifficulttodefineadiscoursetopic,i.e.whatdiscourseisabout,,becauseitisdifficulttodefine
whatonestretchofdiscourse(inspeechorwriting)isaboutsomethingandthenextstretchisabout
somethingelse.Whatcriteriacanweuseofrdefiningthemasseparatetopics?.
Structural/formalcriteria
Itispossibletodefineatopicintermsofthestructureofthediscourse.Forexample,thetopiccouldbe
regardedasthesubjectofasentence.InthesentenceMarysawJohn,thesubjectisMaryandthe
discourseisaboutmary.However,itisdifficulttoapplythistolong,complexsentencesandto
connecteddiscourse,particularlyinspeechastherearetwomanycandidatesforthetopic(seeexample
3).
ContentbasedcriteriaSummativetopicandtopicframeworks
Anotherpossibilityistodefinetopicasapropositionwhichsummarisesdiscourse(summativetopic)
inthesamewayasaheadlinesummarisesanewspaperarticle.However,inthiscasetooaproposition
canbeacomplexoneanditcanevenbeincomplete.
Athirdpossibilityistoidentifyatopicframeworkwhichincludesallthefeaturesofcontextwhichare
activatedinaparticularpieceofdiscourse(time,place,factsaboutspeakerandhearer)andthe
discourseitself(people,places,entities,facts):Thisframeworkwouldincludeeventswhichare
presupposedbythetext.
Topicdevelopmentinspeech
Whenconsideringtopicdevelopmentinspeechweneedtolookatthewayinwhichspeakersmake
theircontributionrelevantintermsoftheframeworkcreatedbythepreviousspeaker.Sotheanalyst
shouldlookforthewayinwhichaspeakerpicksupthephrasesfrompreviousspeakersthrough
repetitionoranaphoricreference.Thisverysimilartothephenomenonofcohesioninwrittentexts
(seelecture8).
Wealsoneedtolookattheexpressionspeakersusetomovefromonetopictothenext(topicshift),
e.g.usingexpressionssuchastherewas.
Tellability
Wealsoneedtoconsiderthesuitabilityofatopic.Sometopicsaretellableandothersarent.This
dependsontherelationshipbetweenspeakers,thecontextandthewillingnessandabilityofspeakersto
participate.Weneedtolookatwhatspeakersdowhentheydonotwanttoparticipate(deviations).
Questionsofgender
Menandwomentendtopreferdifferenttopicsofconversation.Womenalsoconstructtopics
differently;womenaremoreinteractive,topicsareprogressivelybuilt,moreeffortatmaintaining
solidarity,fewerthreatstoface.

DISCOURSESTRUCTURE
Thererareanumberoftermsforthewayinwhichdiscourseisorganisedstaging/thematisation/
topicalisation(Iwillusethewordstaging).Thesetermsrefertothewaythespeaker/writercontrols
perspective(pointofview/empathy)onwhatissaid.Stagingcanoccuratthelevelofsentenceorthe
levelofdiscourse(seebelow).
Everyclause,sentence,paragraph,discourseisorganisedaroundanelementthatistakenasitspoint
ofdeparture(Grimes)
Thispointofdeparturecanberegardedasasenseoffocuswhichspeakers/writersand
listeners/readerspossess.Thediscourseanalystneedstobeabletoidentifywhatthispointofdeparture
isandhowitismanagedbyspeakers/writers
Stagingofsentences
Previoustextcaneffectourinterpretationofasentenceseenos.6and7forthewayinwhichour
interpretationofshestallandthinandwalkslikeacraneisinfluencedbywhetherweuseIdolike
SallyBinnsorIdodislikeSallyBinns.
Weneedtodecidewhatthesentenceisaboutandhowithasbeenmarked(n.5,n.8areunmarked;nos.
6,7,9,10aremarked)
Howismarkingachieved?Inn.3Maryandenteredareused,inn.4acustomerandcameintoare
used.Thischangestheperspective.
Cleftsentencesareusedforstaging:identifying(n.11),summary(n.12)andcontrast(n.13)types.
Sequencing
Whatkindoforderingprincipledoesatexthave.Istheretemporalordering(ischronologicalorder
used?)?Genresorparticulartexttypes(obituaries,brochures,childrensstoriesetc.)areoften
organisedaroundaparticularthematicstructure(time,placeetc.)
Lexicalselection
Speakersandwriterschoosetheirwordscarefullyinordertocreateaparticulareffect.Youneedto
considerwhyparticularwordsareusedratherthanothers.
Discourseorganisationwhattolookfor
Thefollowingaspectsofdiscoursestagingneedtobeconsideredwhenanalysingatext:
1.
Titlesthesepreparereaderexpectations
2.
Firstutterance/leftmostwordpeoplepayattentiontothis
3.
Thetheme
4.
Thefirstparagraphisveryimportant
5.
Sequencing(howthetopicispresentedanddeveloped)
6.
Lexicalselection
7.
Syntacticselection

Reading material
BrownandYule,pp.125152

LESSON 17
Gender and discourse
Genderreferstoasocialcategorybasedonsexandincludesthebehaviourandroleswhicharenot
biologicallydetermined.Discoursestudiesofgenderexaminewhatisconsideredbysocietytobethe
appropriatelinguisticbehaviourformenandwomen.
Somequestions
Whatarethesocialinfluencesonlanguagedevelopment?Doparentsspeakdifferentlytoboysthan
theydotogirls?Doteachersspeakdifferentlytoboysandgirls?Aremenandwomenbroughtupto
speakdifferently?
Domenandwomenproducedifferentlinguisticformsandfunctions?Dotheyhaveadifferentwayof
interactingwhentheytalk?Dotheyhaveadifferentwayoflistening/interrupting/turntakingetc.?
Dowomenspeakdifferentlywhenmenarearound?Domenspeakdifferentlywhenwomenarearound?
Aremenandwomencreatingdifferentworldswhentheytalk?
Evidenceofdifferences
Genderdifferenceencodedinthelanguage
traditionaltermsofaddressMr,Mrs,Missnotermformaritalstatusofmen
pronounheisusedtoidentifywhensexisunknown
womencanlosetheirsurnamewhengettingmarried
termsthatrefertobothsexesaremaculineactor,authorcanbeappliedtowomenbut
actress/authoresscannotbeappliedtoaman
Linguisticdifferences
Pronunciation:
therearedifferencesbetweenmenandwomenintheiruseofdialect,useof
prestigeforms,vocabularychoiceandrange,pronunciationtypes,variationofpitch,swearing,e.g
womenusemoreprestigeformsthanmen(e.g.receivedpronunciation);
Vocabulary:
Comparedtomen,womenusemoreprecisecolorterms,moreaffective
adjectives,moremarkersofpoliteness(andeuphemisms),morehedges(well,kindof),moretag
questions(isntit,dontyou)
Interactionaldifferencesstoryconstruction
Men:
tellfewerstories(11storiesperhour);talkissetintheoutsideworld,intherecentpast;
topicsaresport,cars,technology,eating/drinking,travel,sex;noselfdisclosure;mentalkabouttheir
achievementsoraboutothermen;womenportrayedinsexualterms;menusemoretechnicallanguage,
moreswearingandmoretaboolanguage;morecomicalincidents;menpaymoreattentiontodetails
allowingthemtoavoidmorepersonaltalk;storytellingiscompetitive;onethirdofmalenarrativeis
partofasequence(quitecollaborative)
Women:
sitcloser,maintaineyecontact(physicallymoreinvolved);tellmorestories(17per
hour);storiessetathome,intherecentpast;topicisoftenfamily;storiesofteninvolveselfdisclosure,
personalinformation,emotionalissues(fear,embarrassment),moresocialchat/gossip;womentalk
aboutwomenandmen;talkisnoncompetitive;
Mixedtalk
Menproducedifferentnarratives(longerturns,moreexpressive,differenttopics,lesstaboolanguage).
Womenproducemoretaboolanguage.

Reading material
TheLinguisticsEncyclopedia,p.302306

MODULO2

REVISIONCHECKLISTLessons1117

Bibliography
AllthenecessaryreadingmaterialcanbefoundintheModulo2Readingmaterialfile.Thematerial
istakenfromthefollowingbooks:
Yule,G.Thestudyoflanguage.CambridgeUniversityPress
Brown,G.andYule,G.DiscourseAnalysis.CambridgeUniversityPress
Cameron,D.WorkingwithSpokenDiscourse.Sage
Pridham,F.Thelanguageofconversation.Routledge
TheLinguisticsEncyclopedia.Routledge
Lesson
Subject
11
The
characteristics of
speech and
writing
12.
Transactional and
interactional
language
13.

The machinery of
speech

14.

Cooperation,
politeness and
face

15.

Special
conversations

16.

Discourse topic
and organisation

17.

Gender and

Whatyouneedtoknow

howtoidentifyand
explainthecharacteristics
ofspeechinatext

Readingmaterial
Cameron.pp.718
Brown&Yule,pp.419

howtoidentifyand
explaintheuseof
transactionaland
interactionalspeechin
spokenEnglish

howtoidentifyand
explainallaspectsofthe
machineryofspeechin
spokentexts

Gricesmaxims;

positiveandnegative
face;

howtoidentifyand
commentonaspectsof
cooperationand
politenessinspeech

howtoidentifyand
commentonspecialtypes
ofspeechandtheir
formats;telephone
openings;

Understandstructural
andcontentbased
approachestotopic;
identifytopicandtopic
developmentspeech

howtoidentifyand
explainhowtextand
discourseisorganised;
theconceptofstaging

howtoidentifyand

Brown&Yule,pp.14

Cameron,pp.8798
Pridham,pp.2332

Cameron,pp.6886

Cameron,pp.100103
Pridham,pp.6375

BrownandYule,pp.125
152

TheLinguistics

discourse

understandthelinguistic
andinteractional
differencesbetweenmale
andfemaletalk

Encyclopedia,p.302306