Pragmatics - Volume 15, Issue 2-3, 2005

The linguistic phenomenon of recurrence is identified in two aspects; either as a repetition of an action or a restoration to a former state. This paper examines two lexical items, an auxiliary verb san and an adverb (e)bio, which encode this phenomenon in Akan. The recurrence marker san is claimed to be the output of a grammaticalization process which has as its historical input a phonologically identical lexical verb with a restorative meaning. Even though the recurrence marker san is diachronically associated with restoration, its use gives rise to either a restorative or a repetitive assumption, in the form of an implicated premise. This assumption forms part of the context within which the utterance containing san is interpreted. Thus its function coincides with that of (e)bio, except for one particular use of the latter, associated with its occurrence at utterance-initial position. The almost identical functions of these two markers reveal the close conceptual relationship between recurrence of the repetitive and of the restorative type.

This paper will account for the interaction between syntax and semantics/pragmatics in the speech styles of Balinese. The analysis makes use of an explicit representation that accounts for the co-occurrence restrictions on linguistic expressions which are imposed by social information associated with the speech- level system. It is proposed that social information be treated in terms of social predicates and modelled using LFG-style parallel structures. The social predicates are contained in what is called pragmatic-structure (prag-str). It is demonstrated that this approach can account for the plain as well as the (dis)honouring use of linguistic forms in Balinese.

Recent approaches to genre as discourse practice have examined how genres as “orienting frameworks” allow speakers to creatively adapt conventional forms to specific situational contexts. This article analyzes congratulatory speeches at Japanese wedding receptions to show how the interaction of conventionalization and creative contextualization varies across both different parts of the wedding speech and different categories of wedding speakers. The analysis demonstrates how the wedding speech genre provides speakers with a spectrum of performance possibilities which are systematically linked to different speaking roles and social identities.

This paper explores the argumentative work undertaken in talk and text about conspiracy theory (CT), relating this to recent scholarly debate regarding the significance of critical inquiry in the context of developments in poststructuralist and postmodern social theory. We examine discussion of CT as a site where the transformation between deconstructive, depth analytic critique and its opposite, realist claims takes place. Meta-theoretical formulations attempting to accommodate both such argumentative gestures in a coherent program for the pursuit of dialogue are shown to be inconsistent with the nature of argumentation as an undertaking to resolve ambiguity in accounts. The sharing of concerns on which agreement is to be founded are the outcome, rather than the basis, of dialogue, even if such an encounter is pursued on the grounds of shared presupposition distinct from the shared concerns which emerge from dialogue. Discussion concerning CT is a site where the formulation of motivation is made to bear on the question of an argument’s validity in virtue of either depth analytic or realist assumptions.

In this study, I set out to investigate the motivations and reasons which induce Muslims to invoke the recitation of Qur’anic verses in their ordinary discourse. Based on the analysis of the data complied, Muslims seem inclined to recite Qur’anic verses for a host of pragmatic functions. These pragmatic functions range from mitigating one’s commitment for carrying out a future action or failing to honor one’s commitment, to avoiding the effects and adverse consequences of one’s actions on others. In addition, the recitation appears to function as a confirmation of the participants’ religious, cultural, and linguistic identities. Furthermore, the findings of this study underlie the multifaceted functions that Muslims attach to and associate with use of Qur’anic verses. Muslims can exonerate themselves from the responsibilities of rejecting directives or turning down offers or avoiding staking the self-image of their recipient particularly when their actions are face-threatening or have undesirable consequences on their recipients. Moreover, the findings of this study reveal that Muslims are inclined to use Qur’anic verses as a rhetorical strategy of indirect persuasion to lend credibility to the claims they wish their prospective audiences to act upon them.

Two types of laughter of Bill Clinton and his interviewers – as an overlay of words spoken laughingly and laughter of the ha-ha sort - were investigated. The corpus consisted of 13 media interviews, all of which took place after the publication of his book My life (2004). Bill Clinton’s laughter was found to be dominantly an overlay of words spoken laughingly, whereas his interviewers’ laughter was dominantly of the ha-ha sort. In general, ha-ha laughter occurred as interruption or back channeling 30 % of the time and hence did not necessarily punctuate speech during pauses at the end of phrases and sentences as claimed by Provine (1993). Analyses of the topics laughed about indicated that Bill Clinton laughed mainly about his personal problems and his personal life, whereas his interviewers laughed mainly about politics and Clinton’s book. Accordingly, Bill Clinton’s laughter in these interviews was peculiarly monological and self-absorbed: It was generally not shared with the interviewers, either simultaneously or successively, in a genuinely contagious and dialogical fashion. Laughter did not follow upon “banal comments,” as Provine (2004: 215) has claimed, nor reflect either the “nonseriousness” claimed by Chafe (2003a, b) or the uncensored spontaneity noted by Provine (2004: 216). Instead, laughter reflected in every instance the personal perspectives of both Bill Clinton and his interviewers and was used, especially by Clinton, as a deliberate, sophisticated, and rhetorical device.