Due Wednesday, March 12.
An assertion is an offer of a proposition for inclusion into the common ground of the discourse. Asking a question raises an issue, a template for a proposition and proposes that true instances of the template be added to the common ground.
Commands, in a very friendly sense, are invitations to action by the addressee. It puts forward a proposition (which is presumed not to be true) and invites the addressee to act in a way that makes it true.
We can distinguish three major types of grammatical forms of sentences:
á Declarative sentences have tensed verbs and have Subject Ð Predicate word order.
á Interrogative sentences come in two subtypes:
á Polar interrogatives have the subject and verb inverted and are generally uttered with rising intonation.
á Constituent interrogatives have a question word (who, what, why, how, where, etc) at the beginning and subject/verb inverted order when the question word doesnÕt represent the subject.
á Imperative sentences looked like a predicate-only sentence, with no visible subject. Their main verb in its base (infinitive) form.
There is a natural alignment of the main types of discourse functions to the main types of grammatical forms: Declaratives are used to make assertions; interrogatives are used to ask questions; Imperatives are used to issue invitations to actions.
When grammatical form and discourse function are aligned in this way, we call the discourse move a ÒdirectÓ action. But there are also ÒindirectÓ actions: where a sentence of one form is used to accomplish a different function.
One type of example is the use of a declarative sentence with a rising intonation on it to ask a (polar) question.
Another example is issuing a command/invitation with a n interrogative:
A: Would you like a cup of coffee?
B: Yes, please.
One indication that B has taken AÕs utterance as an indirect invitation is the use of please. The conventional meaning of please makes it an indication of politeness in making a request or accepting an offer. It cannot be used to sincerely respond to a question, as the bizarreness of the following discourse shows:
A: Is it raining yet?
B: Yes, please.
Make up (or record from real life) dialogues which illustrate Òindirect actionsÓ, where the discourse function is different from that expected from the form. Provide examples of at least three types (e.g. Interrogative/Assertion, Imperative/question, Declarative/command). In each case speculate on how an interpreter might come to recognize the speakerÕs communicative intention.
[For those looking for a challenge, try coming up with examples of all 6 possible mixed types.]
In this question we revisit a question from the midterm to remind you of how to diagnose the difference between presumed and at issue entailments.
Show that (1) entails both (2) and (3). Say whether those entailments are presumed or at issue.
1. It was Mary that ate the cookie.
2. The cookie was eaten.
3. Mary at the cookie.
Remember, you should write out, in gorey detail, the explanation of the basis for your conclusions. This is a request to revisit the contradiction and constancy diagnostics in preparation for the final exam.