Relevance-Theory报告.ppt

1、Relevance and Understanding,D.Wilson 凌辰 1512,A Summary of Relevance and Understanding,Introduction Understanding Overt Communication The Nature and Role of Context Relevance Theory The Criterion of Consistency with the Principle of Relevance Some Consequences of Relevance Theory,Introduction,Intenti

2、onal comunication ( involves a degree of manipulation or concealment) Overt communication 明示交际 (there are no hidden intentions in it ) Communication (overt,intentional) Understanding (recovering the overtly intended interpretation) Understanding the utterance:relevance and understanding are two side

3、s of a single coin.,2. Understanding Overt Communication,Code Model语码模式 （all theories of communication were based on a single model.According to the code model, communication is achieved by encoding （编码）and decoding（解码） messages.) 语码模式(解码过程): 认为交际是对信息的解码和编码的过程。 Communication and understanding involv

4、e more than mere linguistic encoding and decoding.,Three main questions that the hearer of an utterance has to answer (the gap between sentence meaning and utterance interpretation): What did the speaker intend to say? What did the speaker intend to imply? What was the speakers intended attitude to

5、imply?,What did the speaker intend to say? (1) If you are looking for a good job,were offering a thousand a week. garden pathutterance: an utterance on which hearers quite systematically get the wrong interpretations first,and have to correct it. Grace: Saying is generally contrasted with implying,o

6、r implicating.Every utterance is seen as communicating a variety of propositions（判断）,some explicitly（直接地）,others implicitly（含蓄地）.,b) What did the speaker intend to imply? Sometimes ,it is quite clear what the speaker intended to say,but less clear what he/she intended to imply. (2) I always treat ot

7、her peoples money as if it were my own. implicature:the intended implications of an utterance.(some utterances have a few strong ,highly salient implicatures;others have a broader,less determinate range),(3) a. Peter:Does Viv play cricket well? b. Mary:He plays for the West Indies. (4) a. Peter:What

8、 will you do today? b. Mary:I dont feel too well. In either case,whether the implicatures are strong or weak,they cannot be discovered by linguistic decoding alone.,c) What was the speakers intended attitude to imply? Sometimes ,it is clear what the speaker intended to say or imply,but less clear wh

9、at his/her attitudeis to what he/she has said or implied. (5) I think it was when I first set eyes on his magnificent estate at Pemberley. (6) a. Peter:Is John a good cook? b. Mary:Hes English. What is communicated generally goes well beyond what is linguistically encoded.,3.The Nature and Role of C

10、ontext,It is obvious that context or background assumptions play a crucial role in answering these three main questions. 关联论中的语境是一种心理建构体（psychological construct），是构成听话人认知语境的一系列假设。它不仅包括交际时话语的上下文，即时的物质环境等具体的语境因素，也包括一个人的知识因素，如已知的全部事实，假设，信念以及一个人的认知能力。交际者通过经验或思维已经把有关的具体语境内在化，认知化了。 关联论中的语境是“动态的概念”（a fluid

11、 notion），它在交际的过程中得到不断的补充和扩大，但语境的选择，调整与证实始终受关联原则的支配。,Selection of an appropriate set of contextual assumptions is crucial to the understanding of (1)-(6) above. 语境的选择 选择处理话语最佳语境的过程就是寻求话语最佳关联的过程。 话语理解中的语境不仅包括上文所表达和隐含的信息，还包括即时的情景因素，以及与该旧信息和新信息有关的所有百科知识，这就要求听话人根据即时情景对话语语境进行选择。,Add a further question to

12、our list of questions that the hearer has to answer: d) What was the intended set of contextual assumptions? The problem of context selection is a genuine and serious one. (7)He has much in common with John McEnroe. We choose the minimal set of implications that would make the utterance worth listen

13、ing to,and stop there.,The hearers task is to choose ,from among this vast array of possible interpretations,the actual,intended one. The intended interpretations is not decoded but inferred,by a non-demonstrative inference process.to obey. In our book,a theory of overt communication and understandi

14、ng based on this fundamental idea of Grices.,Grice合作原则 (co-operative principle),Maxim of Relation Relevance Be relevant. Maxim of Manner Be Clear Avoid obscurity of expression. Avoid ambiguity. Be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity). Be orderly.,Maxim of Quality Be Truthful a) Do not say what you be

15、lieve to be false. b) Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence. Maxim of Quantity a) Make your contribution as informative as is required (for the current purposes of the exchange). b) Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.,Grice语用学说与关联理论的差异,第一, Grice 过于强调要遵守合作原

16、则诸准则； 第二, Grice 又过于强调违反准则的作用； 第三, Grice 只讲交际话语中的“ 暗含”(what was implicated ),不讲交际话语中的“明说” (what was said ),但Sperber 和Wilson 却对“明说”给予同样的注意。,4.Relevance Theory,Relevance theory is based on a few very simple assumptions: (a) every utterance has a variety of possible interpretations. (b) not all these in

17、terpretations occur to the hearer simultaneously. (c) hearers are equipped with a single. (d) human cognition is relevance-oriented.,关联理论,关联理论试图找出以下问题的答案： 1.为什么交际双方各自的说话意图会被对方 识别？ 2.为什么交际双方配合得如此自然，既能产 生话语又能识别对方的话语？ 关联理论没有规则，也没有准则需要遵守，它的 形成基于几个十分简单的看法:(a)(b)(c)(d). 关联理论指出，理解话语的标准是人类认知假设， 而人类认知假设认为：人类

18、认知事物时总遵循着一条 Sperber和Wilson称之为关联的原则，即根据与之关联的信息来认知事物。,Relevance is defined in terms of contextual effect 语境效果 and processing effort 推理努力. 语境效果就是话语所提供的信息和语境之间的一种关系，它对描述关联是至关重要的。话语是否具有语境效果是关联的必要充分条件。 We claim that.the greater the contextual effects,the greater the relevance. （8）It will rain in Paris tom

19、orrow. The greater the processing effort needed to obtain these effects,the lower the relevance. （9）a. Its raining in Paris. b. Its raining in Paris and fish swim in the sea.,a和b在没有必要提及鱼在海里游泳的语境假设中,具有相同的语境效果；但是b比a多一条信息，这条额外的信息需要付出额外的处理话语的努力，所以a比b的关联性强。 (10) a. I have no brothers and sisters b. I hav

20、e no siblings. Relevance and understanding are two sides of a single coin.,Conditions for Relevance Sperber和Wilson把关联定义为“假设P同一系列语境假设之间的关系”。这也就是说，假设在特定语境中具有关联性，必须与这个语境有某种关联。 他们认为，当且仅当一个假设在一定的语境中具有某一语境效果时，这个假设在这个语境中才具有关联性。 Relevance: An assumption is relevant in a context if and only if it has some co

21、ntextual effect in that context.,Sperber和Wilson又在“内容条件”（content condition）上对关联性作了如下的定义： 内容条件一：如果一个命题在一个语境假设中的语境效果大，那么这个命题在这个语境中就具有关联性。 内容条件二：如果一个命题在一个语境假设中所需的处理努力小，那么这个命题在这个语境中就具有关联性。 Extend condition 1: an assumption is relevant in a context to the extent that its contextual effect in this context

22、are large. Extend condition 2: an assumption is relevant in a context to the extent that the effort required to process it in this context is small.,因此，话语所具有的语境效果和处理话语时所作的努力是确定关联性的两个因素。 (1) 语境效果与话语的关联性成正比关系: 在其他条件相同的情况下，语境效果越大，关联性越强； (2) 处理话语所付出的努力是负面的因素，与关联性成反比关系:在其他条件相同的情况下，处理话语的努力越小，关联性就越强。,关联性Re

23、levance,语境效果 Contextual Effect,推理努力 Processing Effort,5.The Criterion of Consistency with the Principle of Relevance,An utterance,on a given interpretation,is optimally relevant(最佳关联） if and only if: (a) it achieves enough contextual effects to be worth the hearers attention; (b) it puts the hearer

24、to no gratuitous processing effort in achieving those effects. (11) Ladies and gentlemen,I have to tell you that the buildings on fire.,关联的原则 Principle of Relevance Sperber和Wilson提出了最佳关联设想和关联原则。 最佳关联设想： （1）发话者意欲向听话人显映的假设集I，具有足够的关联，使听话人值得努力去处理该明示的刺激信号。 （2）这一明示刺激信号，是发话者传递假设集I时所能运用的最大关联的信号。 关联原则： 任何明示性

25、的交际行为都意味着本交际行为所传递的假设，具有最佳关联性。,Presumption of Optimal Relevance： The set of assumptions I which the communicator intends to make manifest to the addressee is relevant enough to make it worth the addressees while to process the ostensive stimulus. (b) The ostensive stimulus is the most relevant one th

26、e communicator could have used to communicate I. Principle of Relevance: Every act of ostensive（明晰的）communication communicates a presumption（推测） of its own optimal relevance.,关联的第一原则（认知原则）：人类认知倾向于最大关联相吻合。 关联的第二原则（交际原则）：每一个明示的交际行为都应设想为它本身具有最佳关联。 最大关联(maximal relevance)是话语理解时付出尽可能小的努力而获得的最大语境效果。 最佳关联(

27、optimal relevance)是话语理解时付出有效的努力之后所获得的足够的语境效果。,Revised Principle of Relevance,An utterance does not actually have to be optimally relevant. An utterance,on a given interpretation,is consistent with the principle of relevance if and only if the speaker might rationally have expected it to be optimally

28、 relevant to the hearer on that interpretation.,6.Some Consequences of Relevance Theory,(a) The first acceptable interpretation is the only acceptable interpretation. (12) George Bush is a crook. (13) In scene 10,when the police come in,the criminal makes a bolt for the door. (14)a: When the police come in,the criminal runs for the door. b: When the police come in,the criminal gets out his toolkit and constructs a door-bolt.,(15) a.Peter: Would you like