A cognitive-pragmatic approach to situation-bound utterances

Abstract

This study focuses on a particular type of formulaic expressions called situation-bound utterances (SBUs). Since the meaning of these pragmatic units is shaped by the interplay of linguistic and extralinguistic factors, they can be best accounted for in a theoretical framework which represents a knowledge-for-use conception. A cognitive-pragmatic approach to SBUs reveals that in many cases cognitive mechanisms such as metaphor and conventional knowledge are responsible for the unique situational meaning of SBUs. In this respect, SBUs are similar to other formulaic expressions such as idioms and conventional implicatures whose meaning structure can also be better accounted for if the underlying cognitive mechanisms are examined. It will be claimed that the relationship of SBUs to socio-cultural concepts resembles that of words and concepts as described in Cruse (1992). SBUs will be classified according to their formula-specific pragmatic properties which are either encoded in the expression or charged by the situation. The investigation of the characteristic features of SBUs and the development of their situational meaning necessitates the review of two important theoretical issues: the creative aspect of language use and the role of formulaic expressions in the development of syntax. It will be argued that the formulaic-creative dichotomy makes sense only at sentence level, whereas it loses its significance at discourse level. Not all types of formulaic expressions contribute to syntactic development in an L2, because some of them (including SBUs) are almost never split into constituents by L2 learners. Errors in the use of SBUs can mainly be due to the lack of native-like conceptual fluency and metaphorical competence of adult L2 learners, who rely on their L1 conceptual system when producing and comprehending SBUs in the target language.