Pragmatics and Society - Volume 14, Issue 3, 2023

Abstract

This study takes as its analytic topic the identification of different sequentially organized phenomena endemic to initiation of reason-for-the call action in Farsi mobile calls. Using Conversation Analysis, through fine-grained analysis of participants’ observable orientation to the formulation of the reason for the call, it documents the trajectory of talk and the sequential phenomena associated with the statement of the reason for Farsi mobile phone calls. The findings suggest callers routinely perform the task of warranting their calls either by overtly announcing the reason, using the discourse marker of ‘migam’ (I meant to say) and its permutations or non-overtly, by positioning the reason for initiating the contact in anchor position, enabling their co-participants to pinpoint the warrant prompting the call out of various things said by callers and to relevantly respond to it. In addition, location enquiries figure in the reason-for-the-call, if seeking geographic information has localization purposes.

Abstract

This study explores the business ritual practice of apology in corporate crisis management. By comparing the frequencies and analysing apology strategies from fifty local and nonlocal Chinese companies’ public letters of apology, we extend the politeness study of public apology to a broader hierarchy of a ritual frame and discuss the related formulaic patterns and strategies of apology. The results show that both groups share a high proportion of taking responsibility and explaining but differ significantly in their use of such strategies. We find that the business ritual practice of apology varies in accordance with the cultural identity of the corporation. Local Chinese companies tend to greatly rely on a ritual frame of involvement, whereas nonlocal companies take an interest in constructing a ritual frame of defence. The paper provides implications for the scholars of cross-cultural pragmatics and for business practitioners and future research directions for a ritual perspective when revisiting the practice of apology.

Abstract

Henri Meschonnic famously gives specific usage to a repertoire of terms such as subjectivity, continuous, rhythm, historicity, recitative and enunciation. Behind them, there is a project to overcome what he calls the “chain of dualisms” (1988), or the tendency toward dichotomy in theoretical thinking, represented in the language fields by the separations between signifier and signified, oral and written, form and content, and others. Following Philip Wilson’s (2012) initiative of applying Ludwig Wittgenstein’s concepts of language games and forms of life to translation studies, we seek to draw an analogy between the Wittgensteinian leap from analytics to pragmatics and the Meschonnician leap from sign to discourse, with the aim of investigating the viability of a synthesis of the two authors’ ideas as a theoretical and methodological proposition for Translation Studies. Meschonnic proposes that the sign (enunciate) be overcome in favor of discourse (enunciation), which he views as a relationship between language and body. We argue that the linguistic experience, in that light, is akin to a performance and that Wittgenstein, by focusing on the use of language, also favors this idea, which may be a possible key for a theoretical practice of translation.

Abstract

This paper details the use of parentheses as pragmatic strategies in Chinese network socialization. The data were collected from Weibo, Wechat, QQ and other online social platforms, and analyzed from the perspective of Cyberpragmatics. We consider the pragmatic features and functions of parentheses as an indivisible part of the whole unit in relation to emojis or graphicons. As pragmatic strategies, parentheses aid speakers in indirectly performing various pragmatic intentions, like adding supplementary information to the interaction, isolating different topics, and contrasting content between the text outside and within parentheses. Further pragmatic functions realized by parentheses include indirectly conveying intention, relieving communicative awkwardness and adjusting interlocutors expectations. We conclude that using parentheses as pragmatic strategies in network socialization is the result of the evolution of the Internet language, and varies from the use of other emojis, which directly convey intentions and meaning.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore humor as a means for deconstructing identities in humorous narratives written by adult L2 learners. Norton Pierce’s (1995) notions of investment in L2 learning, imagined identities, and imagined communities as well as the concepts of script opposition and target employed for the sociopragmatic analysis of humor (Attardo 2001) are exploited for demonstrating how humor constitutes a means for deconstructing L2 learners’ imaginary projections and investments in L2. The analysis reveals that L2 learners use humor in their narratives to account for their failure to fulfill their imagined identities as competent speakers and legitimate members of the host community, or for the flouting of their expectations concerning the behavior of the members of the imagined host community. Moreover, humor emerges as a strategy allowing learners to attenuate potential threats against their own positive face or that of host community members (Brown and Levinson 1987).

Abstract

Evidentiality is a linguistic category that comprises forms and meanings related to the source of information in utterances, the use of which may impact judgments about the degree of certainty expressed by a speaker. The main dichotomy is first-hand (direct) vs. second-hand (indirect) evidence. This distinction is grammaticalised in Japanese only, though certain related meanings can be expressed in English lexically or constructionally. The relevant forms in both languages also function as indirectness-for-politeness markers. We used a judgments elicitation task and found that statements with Japanese evidentials (both first- and second-hand) and with English markers of uncertainty lead to judgments of lower certainty than the statements without the evidential forms and meanings for the majority, but not for all speakers. In addition, monolingual and bilingual usage in both languages has parallels such that these two typologically distinct languages appear closer and certainty judgments by their speakers similar.

This article reviews Pragmatics Online978-1-003-25420-1

This article reviews How Emotions Are Made in Talk978-90-272-6006-2