PRAGMATICS

See also “African American English”

“Ethnicity”
“Indian- American Humor”
“Jewish Humor”
and “Spanish-American Contrasts”

by Don L. F. Nilsen
and Alleen Pace Nilsen
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51 2
It was on this date that Donati’s 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 people’s
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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51 5
You might say that all of these words have different
meanings in the social context of “playing cards,”
but that’s 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 you’re playing
cards, this word has a different meaning than if
you’re 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 don’t 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 Shaw’s 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 [2011] 442)

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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 [2011] 472)

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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
dresser’s 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 Master’s sow given birth to a litter yet?
(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 454-460)

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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 [2011] 454-460)

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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.

It’s getting late.

The restaurants are open until midnight.

If you’d diet, this wouldn’t hurt so badly.

I thought I saw a fan in the closet.

(Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams [2011] 215-216)

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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 doctor’s appointment?

Do you have the play tickets?

Does your grandmother have a live-in boyfriend?

How did you like the string quartet?

What are Boston’s chances of winning the World Series?

(Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams [2011] 215-216)

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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 [2011] 215-216)

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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 related—mainly high school and college students.

Jargon is profession related—every profession has its own

jargon.

Argot is underworld related—it’s designed to communicate to the

group and not to the authorities.
(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 49, 470-471, 481-484)

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Carl Sandburg said, “Slang is language which takes off
its coat, spits on its hands—and 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 [2011] 49, 470-471, 481-484)

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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-VARIABILITY
IN LINGUISTIC RULES
Minimal Pairs

Word Lists

Reading Style

Careful Speech

Casual Speech
(William Labov’s Categories)

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 WEBSTER’S 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 [2011] 8, 440, 548)

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.
(Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams [2011] 434-435)

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 PHONOLOGICAL DISTINCTIONS
THAT ARE BECOMING LOST
cot-caught

witch-which

mourning – morning

However, pin-pen is remaining stable.

(Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams [2011] 434-435)

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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 [2011] 434-435)

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 BRITISH-AMERICAN
STRESS DIFFERENCES
aluminum applicable

cigarette dictionary

formidable kilometer

laboratory necessary

missionary secretary

stationery territory
(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 434-435 )

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 CALIFORNIA VALLEY-GIRL
AND 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 => souf
during => doin’, and going => gon,
help => hep
test => tes
ring => rang,
boy => boah,
car => cah
POlice
nasal twang (Texas and Oklahoma)
southern drawl
(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 489-490)

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 GRAMMAR DIFFERENCES
Double Modals: might could

Negative Modals: hadn’t ought

Strange Past Participles: larnt

Strange Possessive Pronouns: yourn, hisn, hern, ourn, theirn

Strange Prepositions: a quarter before eight

Strange Conjunctions: unless => without, lessen, thouten

Strange Adverbs: anywheres, nowheres

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 489-490)

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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
(Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams [2011] 435)

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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 [2011] 435)

51 40
 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 [2011] 482)

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 SOUTHERN VOCABULARY
chitlins and grits

to buy a pig in a poke

“Carry me Back to Old Virginie”

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 489-490)

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 BRITISH-AMERICAN
SPELLING DIFFERENCES
Cheque

centre, theatre

colour, honour

defence, offence

labelled, travelled

Pyjamas

Tyre
(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 434-435)

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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)
(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 434-435)

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 COCKNEY RHYMING SLANG
apples and pears (stairs)

Aristotle (bottle)

pig’s ear (beer)

Mother Hubbard (cupboard)

plates and dishes (Mrs.)

(Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams [2011] 483-484)

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ETHNIC HUMOR
TO INVESTIGATE
STEREOTYPES

51 46
 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.

51 47
 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.”

51 48
 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 aren’t ‘boids.’

They’re ‘birds.’”

The first guy says, “Cheez, dat’s funny, dey

choip like boids.”

51 49
 LIGHTBULB JOKES
TO 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: I’ll just sit in the dark.
(Nilsen & Nilsen 176)

51 50
 !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 [2011] 489-490)

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!!COMEDY TEAMS ARE ETHNICALLY OR
GENDER DETERMINED
• 43 out of the 500 entries in Ronald L.
Smith’s Who’s 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

51 54
References:

Alvarez, Lizette Alvarez. “It’s the Talk of Nueva York: The Hybrid
called Spanglish” (Clark, 483-488).

Apte, Mahadev L. Humor and Laughter: An Anthropological

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Boskin, Joseph. Rebellious Laughter: People’s 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. Martin’s Press, 1998.

Davies, Christie. Jokes and Their Relation to Society. New York, NY:
Mouton, 1998.
51 55
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.

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More Urban Folklore from the Paperwork Empire. Detroit, MI: Wayne
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Dundes, Alan, and Carl R. Pagter. When You’re Up to Your Ass in

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51 56
Eckert, Penelope. Constructing Meaning in Sociolinguistic
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51 57
Labov, William. Social Stratification of English
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Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1996.
51 58
Raskin, Victor: “Introduction: The Pragmatics of
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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.”
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