, Summary
Lesson 1
The prescriptive approach: The view of grammar as being a set of rules for the proper use of a
language. Some examples are: 1. You must not split an infinitive 2. You must not end a sentence with
a preposition.
The descriptive approach: Seeing a grammatical description as a useful guide. Describing regular
structures of a language as it was used, not according to a view as how it should be. Some examples
of a descriptive approach are 1. Structural analysis 2. Constituent analysis
Surface structure: The sentences you read and hear at first, literally the surface of the sentence.
Deep structure: The underlying message. An abstract level of structural organization.
Sentences that could have multiple deep structures are an example of structural ambiguity, meaning
an sentences has multiple interpretations possible.
Behind every sentence there is also an invisible meaning. These are set on shared assumptions and
expectations from other people.
This sign has one surface structure but two deep
structures, making the sign ambiguous. Because of the
invisible meaning behind it, all people know what the
message is.
Lesson 2
Pragmatics: The study of speaker meaning and how more is communicated than is said. We use
expectations and previous experiences to make sense of what we hear and read. In short: The study
of invisible meaning
Speech acts: A sentence or utterance (as a whole) performs a function (e.g. a question, an order, a
request, a promise, etc.) The action performed by a speaker with an utterance. We use the term to
describe an action that involves language, such as an request or command. In order to understand
how utterance can be used to perform actions that are both direct and indirect, we need to visualize
a relationship between the structure of an utterance and the normal function of that utterance.
Structure and function can be different if you have more background information, this is called an
indirect speech act. For the function you need to ask yourself ‘what does the speaker want’. If you
ask someone if they can ride a bike, you are most likely direct, while if you ask someone to pass the
salt you are actually making a request, thus being indirect.
This can also be called the voice (direct/indirect)
3
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