Pragmatics and Society - Volume 16, Issue 3, 2025

Abstract

The present comparative study investigates the use of multi-word expressions known as ‘routine formulas’ in the humorous monologues of four comedians from four different late-night TV shows in Spain and the United States. The study is framed in the General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH) and linguistic phraseology. The study of routine formulas is intriguing due to their overlooked status in discussions, despite their simple semantics. Yet, they play various pragmatic roles, particularly in humor creation and comprehension, which is the primary focus here. The study aims to achieve two objectives: first, to identify the routine formulas present in both Spanish and English and assess their frequency in monologue delivery, and second, to examine how these formulas contribute to humor within the monologues.

Abstract

This study conducts a pragmatic analysis of 192 apologies that were made by retailers in response to customer complaints posted on a leading Chinese online shopping website. Each collected apology is coded for the components of the apology and the strategies used to build rapport. The choice of the apology components and the exhibited rapport-building strategies are interpreted in the light of wider work in the field of politeness in Chinese. Results of this study extend the pragmatic analyses of public apologies by identifying the distinctive features of apologies occurring on Chinese online shopping websites, i.e., relatively infrequent use of the statement of responsibility and the greater use of offers of repair. Although the language on Chinese online shopping websites is often considered informal, the study found that a number of linguistic components are used by the online sellers as forms of politeness to repair the relationship with the complainers.

Abstract

Drawing on Hansen and Terkourafi’s (2023) model of Hearer’s meaning, the paper discusses cognitive mechanisms through which hearers interpret political language gaffes (e.g. former U.S. President Trump’s “Despite the constant negative press covfefe”). The paper approaches political language gaffes as dependent on a high degree of blending between textual-and-discursive frames and social-world frames. The dataset analysis demonstrates how a Hearer’s difficulty in interpreting a gaffe-y utterance can shift Hearer’s focus (a) from one frame element (e.g. speaker, hearer, effect of utterance on hearer) to another, and (b) from a discursive frame to a social-world frame. The paper demonstrates how, while looking to pinpoint the contextual relevance of an utterance, a Hearer can simultaneously shift focus and vary the scope of cognitive structures from which Hearer can derive meaning. The paper also suggests how analyses of political language gaffes can contribute to research on sociopragmatic topics such as Speaker’s accountability, pragmatic competence, pragmatic failure, non-propositional effects, etc.

Abstract

The ability to be empathic with the emotionally-charged personal accounts of patients in a medical consultation is an essential attribute of a qualified doctor. However, there is a lack of empirical research on how empathy is interactionally achieved by Chinese doctors in text-based online medical consultations (OMC). Based on 600 records of text-type online consultations retrieved from https://www.120ask.com, this paper aims to explore how empathy is pragmatically constructed for doctor-patient rapport management in online medical consultations. The findings of this analysis reveal that the types of empathy are in the form of cognitive empathy, affective empathy, sharing empathy, and nurturing empathy. By showing how doctors discursively used these four types of empathic strategies, the study contributes to the limited but growing body of research on Chinese doctors’ empathic strategies in online medical consultations.

Abstract

This study examines face attributes in political interviews involving interviewers working for western broadcasting companies and Iranian politicians. The data consists of 10 hours of talk. The topic raised in the interviews is concerned with Iran’s human rights which have aroused concern and been the focus of international attention. Iranian politicians interviewed on global media are often questioned about Iran’s non-conformity with Human Rights Council. The study revealed that the interviewers ascribed the Iranian politicians with the negative attributes of lack of universalism, non-benevolence, lack of power, non-conformity, and lack of self-direction and the interviewees claimed the positive attributes of security, conformity, benevolence, universalism, self-direction, achievement and tradition to save or enhance their face.

Also, the findings demonstrated that Iranian politicians tended to be more concerned with their collective face.

Abstract

The present study examines a variety of “identity work” that interveners perform discursively in the context of Chinese bystander intervention, a communicative strategy underexplored in related literature. Analyzing data from 3 Chinese social observation TV shows, it showcases the varied categories of identity work performed and the discursive practices employed by the interveners. It demonstrates that identity work is a common device used by Chinese intervener to serve the purpose of intervention and that it is driven by their needs to seek interactional power, pursue social alignment and justify accusation. Hopefully, the present study could lend further support to the current conceptualization of identity as communicators’ resource to satisfy their communicative needs in Chinese social interaction.

This article reviews Risk Discourse and Responsibility978 90 272 1389 1