Lecture 1 Fundamentals of grammar

implication.
In mathematical logic, implication is a logical operation joining two
propositions into one by means of the logical connector “if… then”: “if A, then B”
where A is the antecedent and B is the consequent. In linguistics, implication is not an operation of inference, but the result of the operation.
Another type of indirect meaning is inference. Inference is an indirect
proposition independent of negation that can possibly be inferred from the original
utterance, but not necessarily so.
e.g. She did her best to pass the exam.
Lecture 16
Speech Acts Theory
1. Speech acts theory. Classification of speech acts.
2. Pragmatic transposition of sentences.
1. Speech acts theory. Classification of speech acts
For much of the history of linguistics and the philosophy of language,
language was viewed primarily as a way of making factual assertions, and the
other uses of language tended to be ignored. However, the acclaimed work of the
philosopher J. L. Austin (1911-1960) led philosophers to pay more attention to the
way in which language is used in everyday activities. J.L. Austin claims that many
utterances (things people say) are equivalent to actions. When someone says: “I
name this ship” or “I now pronounce you man and wife”, the utterance creates a
new social or psychological reality. Speech acts theory broadly explains these
utterances as having three parts or aspects: locutionary, illocutionary and
perlocutionary acts.
Locutionary acts are simply the speech acts that have taken place.
Illocutionary acts are the real actions which are performed by the utterance,
where saying equals doing, as in betting, plighting one’s troth, welcoming and
warning.
Perlocutionary acts are the effects of the utterance on the listener, who
accepts the bet or pledge of marriage, is welcomed or warned.
Some linguists have attempted to classify illocutionary acts into a number of
categories or types. David Crystal, quoting J.R. Searle, gives five such categories:
representatives, directives, commissives, expressives and declarations.