Abstract Adopting the bounds of Sperber and Wilson’s relevance-theoretic framework, this paper examines the emergence of humor in puns and the way puns are used in phatic communication. It argues that there is a so far unrecognized factor, which underlies their perceived humorousness, and which allows them to function as rapport builders. This factor, dubbed interpretative non-prototypicality, directly follows from the relevance-theoretic stand on utterance comprehension, and refers to the way the interpretation process plays out in puns, yielding utterances that go against what we have come to expect based on the default interpretative mode observed in the meaning derivation of non-punning utterances. The objective of the article is to argue, based on examples from English and Chinese, that it is the departure from the interpretative benchmark that can translate into the perceived humorousness of puns, whether linked to incongruity, the element of surprise or the manipulation of strategies used to inferentially work out utterance meanings. This departure, manifested in the low informative content characterizing puns used in such social practices as ping-pong punning, can also make them ideally suited for phatic communication.
{"title":"The interpretative non-prototypicality of puns as a factor in the emergence of humor and in phatic communication","authors":"A. Solska","doi":"10.1515/ip-2023-2002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2023-2002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Adopting the bounds of Sperber and Wilson’s relevance-theoretic framework, this paper examines the emergence of humor in puns and the way puns are used in phatic communication. It argues that there is a so far unrecognized factor, which underlies their perceived humorousness, and which allows them to function as rapport builders. This factor, dubbed interpretative non-prototypicality, directly follows from the relevance-theoretic stand on utterance comprehension, and refers to the way the interpretation process plays out in puns, yielding utterances that go against what we have come to expect based on the default interpretative mode observed in the meaning derivation of non-punning utterances. The objective of the article is to argue, based on examples from English and Chinese, that it is the departure from the interpretative benchmark that can translate into the perceived humorousness of puns, whether linked to incongruity, the element of surprise or the manipulation of strategies used to inferentially work out utterance meanings. This departure, manifested in the low informative content characterizing puns used in such social practices as ping-pong punning, can also make them ideally suited for phatic communication.","PeriodicalId":13669,"journal":{"name":"Intercultural Pragmatics","volume":"20 1","pages":"133 - 159"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42007258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The relation between language, culture and cognition has attracted the attention of many scholars from various fields of study. Cultural Linguistics, as a multidisciplinary area of research that investigates the interrelationship between language and cultural conceptualizations, has managed to attract researchers from around the world. Drawing on different methodological approaches, researchers have employed its analytical and theoretical framework in a wide range of languages to look into the relationship between cultural cognition and language. In this article, after a brief introduction of Cultural Linguistics and its theoretical and analytical framework, some thoughts about several current issues in Cultural Linguistics are shared, including the lack of clarity of some terms, the relation between values and cultural conceptualizations, the interconnected nature of theoretical and analytical tools, the universality and variation of conceptualizations, some methodological issues in research, and globalization, politics and reconceptualization. This article hopes to encourage constructive discussions on these issues in Cultural Linguistics.
{"title":"Some reflections on Sharifian’s approach to cultural linguistics","authors":"Mohammad Shahi","doi":"10.1515/ip-2023-2004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2023-2004","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The relation between language, culture and cognition has attracted the attention of many scholars from various fields of study. Cultural Linguistics, as a multidisciplinary area of research that investigates the interrelationship between language and cultural conceptualizations, has managed to attract researchers from around the world. Drawing on different methodological approaches, researchers have employed its analytical and theoretical framework in a wide range of languages to look into the relationship between cultural cognition and language. In this article, after a brief introduction of Cultural Linguistics and its theoretical and analytical framework, some thoughts about several current issues in Cultural Linguistics are shared, including the lack of clarity of some terms, the relation between values and cultural conceptualizations, the interconnected nature of theoretical and analytical tools, the universality and variation of conceptualizations, some methodological issues in research, and globalization, politics and reconceptualization. This article hopes to encourage constructive discussions on these issues in Cultural Linguistics.","PeriodicalId":13669,"journal":{"name":"Intercultural Pragmatics","volume":"20 1","pages":"199 - 207"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47138255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sigrid Norris: Multimodal theory and methodology: For the analysis of (inter)action and identity","authors":"Yongli Qin, Ping Wang","doi":"10.1515/ip-2023-2005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2023-2005","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13669,"journal":{"name":"Intercultural Pragmatics","volume":"20 1","pages":"209 - 212"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45586680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Edda Weigand and Istvan Kecskés: From Pragmatics to Dialogue","authors":"Zhongqing He","doi":"10.1515/ip-2023-2006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2023-2006","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13669,"journal":{"name":"Intercultural Pragmatics","volume":"20 1","pages":"213 - 216"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49208781","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Verbal irony characteristically involves the expression of a derogatory, dissociative attitude. The ironical speaker is not only stating a blatant falsehood or irrelevant proposition; she is also communicating her stance towards its epistemic status. The centrality of attitude recognition in irony understanding opens up the question of which cognitive abilities make it possible. Drawing on Wilson (2009), we provide a full-fledged account of the role of epistemic vigilance in irony understanding and suggest that it relies on the exercise of first- and second-order vigilance towards the content, the ironic speaker as well as the source of the irony.
{"title":"Ironic speakers, vigilant hearers","authors":"D. Mazzarella, N. Pouscoulous","doi":"10.1515/ip-2023-2001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2023-2001","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Verbal irony characteristically involves the expression of a derogatory, dissociative attitude. The ironical speaker is not only stating a blatant falsehood or irrelevant proposition; she is also communicating her stance towards its epistemic status. The centrality of attitude recognition in irony understanding opens up the question of which cognitive abilities make it possible. Drawing on Wilson (2009), we provide a full-fledged account of the role of epistemic vigilance in irony understanding and suggest that it relies on the exercise of first- and second-order vigilance towards the content, the ironic speaker as well as the source of the irony.","PeriodicalId":13669,"journal":{"name":"Intercultural Pragmatics","volume":"20 1","pages":"111 - 132"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46268869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The Wellington Language in the Workplace Project (LWP) team has devoted considerable attention over the last few decades to researching workplace communication. We have focused especially on the insights that discourse analysis can provide regarding similarities and differences between the two major ethnic groups in New Zealand in “ways of doing things at work”. In this paper, we draw on both quantitative and qualitative analyses of interaction in Māori and Pākehā workplaces to demonstrate how these complementary approaches contribute to understanding different styles of leadership. Using Holmes’ concept of the culture order and Connell’s concept of the gender order, we analyze the distribution and use of two specific pragmatic markers, eh and you know. Eh is a distinctively New Zealand pragmatic marker while you know has been well-researched in English-speaking communities, providing rich contextual information on its functions. We examine the frequency of occurrence of each marker in both large formal meetings and smaller one-to-one interactions. We then analyze in more detail how these pragmatic markers contribute to one Māori male leader’s effective construction of a progressive, hybridized leadership identity, whilst also demonstrating the familiar double bind facing successful women leaders.
{"title":"Doing leadership in style: Pragmatic markers in New Zealand workplace interaction","authors":"Bernadette Vine, J. Holmes","doi":"10.1515/ip-2023-0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2023-0001","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Wellington Language in the Workplace Project (LWP) team has devoted considerable attention over the last few decades to researching workplace communication. We have focused especially on the insights that discourse analysis can provide regarding similarities and differences between the two major ethnic groups in New Zealand in “ways of doing things at work”. In this paper, we draw on both quantitative and qualitative analyses of interaction in Māori and Pākehā workplaces to demonstrate how these complementary approaches contribute to understanding different styles of leadership. Using Holmes’ concept of the culture order and Connell’s concept of the gender order, we analyze the distribution and use of two specific pragmatic markers, eh and you know. Eh is a distinctively New Zealand pragmatic marker while you know has been well-researched in English-speaking communities, providing rich contextual information on its functions. We examine the frequency of occurrence of each marker in both large formal meetings and smaller one-to-one interactions. We then analyze in more detail how these pragmatic markers contribute to one Māori male leader’s effective construction of a progressive, hybridized leadership identity, whilst also demonstrating the familiar double bind facing successful women leaders.","PeriodicalId":13669,"journal":{"name":"Intercultural Pragmatics","volume":"20 1","pages":"1 - 27"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46965416","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Víctor Fernández-Mallat, Linxi Zhang, M. Dearstyne
Abstract The study of service encounters in bilingual communities offers opportunities to gain insight into the factors that influence language choice and accommodation in these interactions and the ways that language may be used to build community. Previous work on bilingual service encounters has found that age, gender, speech turn, and customer ethnicity may all contribute to service providers’ choice of one language over another. This study reexamines language choice and accommodation in Spanish-English service encounters by observing the language use of 96 service providers in 35 Latino-owned restaurants of the Washington metropolitan area. Using data from service encounters between bilingual service providers and Latino and white customers, we explore the extent to which the factors identified in previous studies are relevant in this region. Additionally, we explore whether the increasingly polarized political climate in the United States has impacted language use. We argue that while customer ethnicity is the main deciding factor to start an interaction, service providers always accommodate to customer language subsequently. This demonstrates the importance of both language as a community builder – even in the face of social pressures that sanction the use of Spanish in public spaces – and the power differential that exists between workers and customers in determining language use.
{"title":"A new look at language choice and accommodation in U.S. Spanish-English bilingual service encounters","authors":"Víctor Fernández-Mallat, Linxi Zhang, M. Dearstyne","doi":"10.1515/ip-2023-0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2023-0003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The study of service encounters in bilingual communities offers opportunities to gain insight into the factors that influence language choice and accommodation in these interactions and the ways that language may be used to build community. Previous work on bilingual service encounters has found that age, gender, speech turn, and customer ethnicity may all contribute to service providers’ choice of one language over another. This study reexamines language choice and accommodation in Spanish-English service encounters by observing the language use of 96 service providers in 35 Latino-owned restaurants of the Washington metropolitan area. Using data from service encounters between bilingual service providers and Latino and white customers, we explore the extent to which the factors identified in previous studies are relevant in this region. Additionally, we explore whether the increasingly polarized political climate in the United States has impacted language use. We argue that while customer ethnicity is the main deciding factor to start an interaction, service providers always accommodate to customer language subsequently. This demonstrates the importance of both language as a community builder – even in the face of social pressures that sanction the use of Spanish in public spaces – and the power differential that exists between workers and customers in determining language use.","PeriodicalId":13669,"journal":{"name":"Intercultural Pragmatics","volume":"20 1","pages":"51 - 73"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44301901","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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