The article we read for Thursday was really interesting to me because it is something that I have experienced first-hand. While studying abroad in Japan the use of the subtle grunt, "nn", to signify one's agreement or attention during a conversation was one the first things that I noticed while there. It is not altogether different from the use of "uh-huh" in American English but it something that strikes one as odd when it is first encountered. It took me a second to comprehend if they were actually interested in the conversation we were having at the time or if they were trying to show that did not care at all what I had to say. Also, the smiling and head-nodding that the article discusses is really true. They do a lot of it.
In the article that we read for Tuesday the author briefly mentioned the Native American custom of using pauses between turns of taking the floor. These pauses, which I would think would be quite discomforting to most Americans, are something that I have read about before in other literature. I think this is a wonderful way to carry out a conversation and wish it was utilized more within the general population. The reason for these pauses is one of respect which allows the speaker and hearer the time to form a well thought out utterance and to fully digest what has been said before taking one's turn. It just seems to me that this is a completely rational way of carrying on a conversation and one that would seem more civilized. Just my opinion though.
The 2nd part of the principle of relevance says, as Dr. Meyers put on the board, "Every communicative act carries with it the utterer's belief in its optimal relevance." What about when someone is trying to be as ambigous and obscure as possible. I don't have a good example, but sometimes people try to be just as confusing as possible and bring in statements and ideas out of left field. Does that constitute optimal relevance, even by the speaker's beliefs? Or is it relevant because they are trying to be confusing? Thoughts?
Yesterday we talked a little about performative verbs again. One example we saw was "regret" and "I regretfully decline..." I think many times when we use this phrase regret is not necessarily a performative verb. For a performative verb to actually be that we have to mean it right. Often when we say/write "I regretfully decline..." we don't actually feel regret; it's just a polite way to excuse ourselves from doing something, which we may be thrilled not to have to do. Also, in this example "regret" is used as an adverb. Can an adverb be said to be a performative verb? Is there such a category of performative adverb?
So thinking about the many different ways implicatures are used brought to mind somewhat of a correlation between them and politeness. More specifically how people tend to use the most ambiguous implied meaning when they have to tell someone something that is definitely going to hurt their feelings. So I am not going to try to give a really specific example, but I believe everyone knows what I am talking about. There comes those times when we try to soften the blow by letting someone know something through implied meaning rather than saying exactly what it is that is going to be hurtful. By doing this I guess we are also trying to lessen the blow for the speaker. I am not sure if this makes sense but if it understood I would like to hear your comments.
So I am wondering if anyone else has the problems with implied meaning, via texting, that I have encountered. I have a particular friend who does everything in her power not to have a normal phone conversation and insists on texting only. To say the least this is somewhat aggravating at times. Anyway, even though we know each other quite well (personalities, humor, etc.) we have problems figuring out sometimes what is being implied in our messages. This is because so many implicatures must be accompanied by tone of voice, body language, intonation, etc. so that they will be understood. So what do you all think?
I find the agreement maxim interesting. This maxim is (at times) is basically just a lie. The agreement maxim says we should minimize disagreement and maximize agreement with the hearer. So let's pretend someone gives me an idea. I reply with "I think that's a good idea, but what do you think of this..." Basically what we often mean with a response like this is "I think your idea sucks and mine is better." I wonder how many friends we would keep if we just stopped following the politeness principle all together.
So I've decided that flouting maxims is much more interesting than following them. I'm glad people flout them. If no one flouted these maxims we would have some very boring conversations. Simple sarcasm, irony, and joking often is the result of these maxims being flouted.
I like how the maxim of manner is violated (there is definitely ambiguity w/ the use of "paper" here- toilet paper vs. writing paper) in the below example found at: http://hkjtefl.tesolteachers.org/2005-Nunn-Humor.html.
- Mrs. Richards: Hallo! (Polly emerges) Girl. There’s no paper in my room. Why don’t you check these things? That’s what you’re being paid for, isn’t it?
- Polly: Well, we don’t put it in the room.
- Mrs. Richards: What?
- Polly: We keep it in the lounge.
- Mrs. Richards: In the lounge?!!
- Polly: (really trying to help) I’ll get you some. Do you want plain or ones with our address on it?
- Mrs. Richards: Address on it?!!
- Polly: How many sheets? (Mrs. Richards looks appalled) How many are you going to use?
- Mrs. Richards: (hitting the bell) Manager!!
- Polly: Well, we don’t put it in the room.
So I am curious to know what you all think about where this saying (how are you today?) would fit within the Politeness Principle. The reason I ask is that this is something that everyone says sometime to someone during their daily activities. But on many occasions this is used as a greeting and the speaker is not really asking a literal question. Does this violate any kind of maxim in your opinion?
Reading about this maxim made me think of a funny experience I had when studying abroad in Japan. In Japanese society it is somewhat mandated, through social constructs, that modesty reign supreme when one receives any type of compliment. If someone told you that you cooked a wonderful meal or created a beautiful painting, etc. then the typical Japanese response would be to deflect any praise and say no no, it's really nothing or something to that effect. Of course I did this on most occasions since it is culturally unacceptable to do otherwise. But, one of my friends, who was Japanese told me something that I could say when a native Japanese speaker complimented me on my use of Japanese. I must also say that she had a great sense of humor which is something that I found intriguing because hers was one that was comparable to the western culture more than that of Japanese. Anyway, she told me to say "I like to think so" when someone gave me this compliment because it will somewhat stump them because they'll never expect it and she was right. I would get the strangest glares when I would say this and the person paying the compliment would not know what to say after hearing such a statement. It was quite funny.
