learnaboutthelanguage-themepresentation2010-09(1)

Learn about the Language,LI Xiuli,A phenomenon in language use: Metaphor or Non-literal meaning,1. Edward is simply a lion. (metaphor)Literal: a large carnivorous cat. Non-literal/implied : courageous and ferocious,2. The waves swallowed up the ship.(The ship sank.),3. Knavery and flattery are blood relations. (Knavery and flattery resemble each other in some aspects),4.( Lines from poetry) O, gentle sleep, natures soft nurse, How have I frightened thee.,Listening comprehension from TOFEL,W: Were you in the army during the Korean War? M: I hope youre joking. Im not that old. Q: What does the man mean? A) Korea was too great distance away. B) He didnt know how to get to Korea. C) At that time he was not in Korea. D) He wasnt old enough for the Army,Im not that old!,Comprehension Leads to Acquisition,We must firstly understand what does the speaker mean when he/she says something under a specific context (input). Then we try to set up a language system by which we express ourselves properly (our ideas, mood/feeling, opinions) by speaking and writing (output).,Text: passage of any length which form a united whole. Its the actual use of language.,-theme (whats the main idea ) -point of view -plot (the main conflict, the main characters) -style (humorous/serious, formal/colloquial),Language is very colorful in actual use. People use different modes of expression to express their views about the world. Only in young childrens speech, we seldom encounter non-literal meaning of words. So the phenomenon that words can be used non-literally has caused the attention by many scholars.,Grice, H.P.: General Cooperative Principle,“Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.” Maxim of Quality: do not say what you believe to be false Maxim of Quantity: make your contribution as informative as is required for current purposes of exchange. Maxim of Relevance: make your contribution relevant Maxim of Manner: be perspicuous（意思明白，表达清楚）-avoid obscurity, ambiguity; be brief, be orderly,Grices example,A professor is writing a testimonial about a pupil who is candidate for a philosophy job, and his letter reads as follows: “Dear sir, Mr. Xs command of English is excellent, and his attendance at tutorials has been regular.Your etc.,Context: When/where/who, to whom,Context: X has betrayed A,A: “X is a fine friend”Irony,XXX is a fine friend !,(of a man who is drunk and known to have broken up all the furniture),He was a little intoxicated.” (Euphemism),Conclusion,Non-literal meaning/Implicature relies heavily on context Rhetorical Devices/Mode of Expression different choice of word how the words are selected how the meaning is expressed,Another example,(at a genteel tea party) A: “Mrs X is an old bag.” (A moment of appalled silence) B: “The weather has been quite delightful this summer, hasnt it?”,Topic-change: A has committed a social gaffe.,(Miss X sang “Home Sweet Home”),A: “Miss X produced a series of sounds that corresponded closely with the score Home, Sweet Home”. (Miss Xs performance suffered from some hideous defect.),Culture difference,English teacher: Oh, what beautiful handwriting! (praise) Chinese student: No, not at all. You are joking. (modest)A confusing dialogue in the shopping mall (see Unit 8, 工程硕士英语听说，audio 3：15ish),Another failure in communication,Air hostess: “Youre too old to move to the back, you should sit here”.(You are in advance here. You may remain here),Language Sense: Mode of expression-wording,Metaphor: a word is used for something resembling A flood of protests poured in following the announcement. (A large quantitycame ) He oozes geniality. (displays all over).,Metonymy（转喻）: Related,Keep your eye on the ball (gaze) Hes always chasing skirts. (girls) It wont happen while I still breathe. (live),Synecdoche（提喻）: a word is used for some larger whole,They all live under one roof. (in one house) 17. Lets go and have a bite. (have a meal),How the word is selected? How the meaning is realized? Metaphorical/transferred-Congruent/literal,Ideational Function Interpersonal Function Textual Function,Ideational function,a. They arrived at the summit on the fifth day.b. The fifth day saw them at the summit.Different styles,Spoken & written:,Consider the following sentence, from a book on railways written for children: a. (written version) In bridging the river valleys, the early engineers built many notable masonry viaducts for numerous arches.,b. (spoken version) In the early days when engineers had to make a bridge across a valley and the valley had a river flowing through it, they often built viaducts, which were constructed of masonry and had numerous arches in them; and many of these viaducts became notable.,Idioms: special cases of non- literal meaning,1. “I hope I shall kick the bucket before Im as old as Grandfather,” he thought. 2. “If you are late again, youll get the hook.,