Pragmatic Meaning Research Articles

4th Year EFL Iraqi Leaners' Pragmatic Failure in Polysemy

This paper is an endeavor to identify the failure of EFL Iraqi learners when they are asked to realize the meaning of polysemous words in their context. The model of analysis is Thomas's (1983) "pragmatic failure"(PF). Polysemous words have different meanings. There are two kinds of polysemy: semantic and pragmatic polysemy. The important part of the study at hand is pragmatic polysemy, which is the pragmatic meaning that results from polysemous words through the intentionality of the speakers, as these words leave a free space for their speakers to pick the meaning they want to communicate. Besides, these meanings may mingle on the part of the listeners in native language speakers and listeners, so polysemous words would, of course, constitute a problem for the learners of English. Again, it is believed that the lack of both linguistic and pragmatic competence is the result of this pragmatic failure.

Pragmatic Meaning of Cigarette-Related Hoax on Social Media: Cyber-Pragmatic Study

The relationship between hoaxes and the internet is really intricate and impactful. There are varieties of hoaxes spread in the internet. With their accelerated spread, ease of creation, virality, anonymity and pseudomity, hoaxes have easily provoked the public. As we know, hoaxes are described in such detail even the intrinsic function of language is not properly used. The language which is supposed to deliver ideas and communicate has been used improperly by irresponsible people who are tyring to deceive or cause concern and fear. Hence, this research aims at increasing the awarness of hoaxes on social media especially the hoax of cigarette related news by understanding the pragmatic meaning of cigarette hoaxes spread in internet. By implementing the cyber-pragmatics perspective, the writer tried to describe the virtual external context in order to find the meaning of the hoax utterances. Cyberpragmatics is an analysis of Internet-mediated communication from the perspective of cognitive pragmatics (Yus, 2011). The data were taken from social media, such as facebook, twitter, instagram, tiktok and online news by implementing the note taking technique. All data which have been gathered were then analyzed by distribution analysis method with forward expansion technique (Rahardi, 2020). From the analysis of the data, there are 8 meaning of cigarette –related hoaxes found as follow; 1. influencing ; 2. defaming; 3. satirizing; 4. propagandizing; 5. questioning; 6. spreading commotion; 7. validating and 8. harrassing. By this research, public is expected to increase the critical awareness toward hoaxes spread in the internet so that they just don’t accept all the information without any consideration.

Importance of Investigating Linguacultural Variability in Learning Foreign Languages

The aim of the article is to investigate and prove the importance of linguocultural variability in the study of foreign languages. Results. In general, the question “Does language determine culture or culture determins language?” is still definitive as a fundamental question of new studies and investigations. Results show that these and other similar questions, as well as forms of interaction of language and culture, have recently become serious in a wider context, and have been a subject of discussion. As we know, language and culture both give distribution to the process of communication, and this interconnection helps foreign language learners to declare pragmatic, semantic and syntactic meanings in order to cooperate. Scientific novelty. This article is the author’s contribution to the study of the interaction of language and culture as two interrelated social phenomena that develop under conditions of mutual influence. Conclusions. Anyone who prefers to intercommunicate with success through language and culture must be aware of the differences between various cultures. In this example, anyone who evolves such communication should consider sociolinguistic, discourse, grammatical and strategic skills. As a rule, certain concepts may be specific to one culture, and might not be found in other cultures. This case can be considered as one of the crucial reasons of investigating cultural variability of certain language, and this is primary to success in learning foreign languages. While borderlines between languages are very clearly observed and followed, cultural boundaries only originate as a consequence of speakers’ cultural “collision”. Observations give us a chance to make a conclusion that in most countries, multiculturalism exists as a form of equal coexistence of different cultures within the same country. As far as people are related to various cultures, their cultural values are quite different. One can consider that numbers of values exist simply because they “disagree” from each other.

Nonreligion jako kategoria relacjonalna

The article analyses the terms “nonreligion” and “religion-related field” — its aim being to better translate their pragmatic meanings into Polish. Moreover, the author argues that the term “religion-related field”, understood as a general category for the entire area of nonreligion studies, entails the adoption of unnecessary presuppositions. Postulating such a field should always be grounded on empirical material. In order to formulate a general description of the perspective developed in nonreligions studies, the author proposes that Loïc J. D. Wacquant’s interpretation of Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology be adopted. Within this framework, the category of nonreligion can be understood as a set of practices delineated by researchers based on familial resemblance within the social space being examined.

RHETORICAL CODES OF PERIPHRASIS IN THE POETRY OF JOSEPH BRODSKY

The paper examines which rhetorical codes are implemented by periphrases in the poetry of Joseph Brodsky. The understanding of the rhetorical code is connected with the symbolic perception of artistic images created in a poetic text. The study of the rhetorical code involves the analysis of the influencing potential of stylistic means, taking into account the genre features of the text material. The expressive and pictorial possibilities that rhetorical techniques possess are also due to a thematic factor, a communicative situation – a political event, a love twist, a historical action. The interpretation of the code contributes to the establishment of communicative relations between the addressee and the addressee, the author and the reader, thereby comprehending the pragmatic meaning of the work of speech. In the lyrics of Joseph Brodsky, saturated with allusions and reminiscences, the periphrasis becomes a semantic, transmission and transformative buffer that expands the cultural space of the work. The rhetorical codes of reinforcement, substitution and isolation help to understand the emotional state of the lyrical hero, the decryption of these codes explains the causes of frustration, loss and feelings of orphanhood. The article emphasises that the basis of the rhetorical code is the national mentality and linguistic personality of the author of the work; therefore, when interpreting the code, the context of history was taken into account when the poems were created. The rhetorical code is part of the cultural code. Free periphrases, which are often used in the poems of Joseph Brodsky, allow the reader to see a unique, special picture of the poet’s world.

The Pragmatics and Translation of the Discourse Marker basīṭa in Jordanian Spoken Arabic

Objectives: This research investigates the pragmatic functions and translations of the discourse marker basīṭa (lit. simple/easy) in Jordanian Spoken Arabic (henceforth JSA). It attempts to answer two questions: (1) What are the pragmatic functions of the discourse marker basīṭa in JSA; and (2) What are the different translations of the discourse marker basīṭa in JSA? Methods: A total of 70 naturally occurring conversations between 162 individuals who have close relationships with the researchers were collected using the observation method. Searle’s (1976) Speech Act Theory and Nida and Taber's (1982) approach to translation were employed as theoretical frameworks. Results: This study reveals that basīṭa serves 11 different functions, namely making a threat, providing reassurance, expressing irony, providing consolation, showing courtesy, signaling insufficiency, expressing mitigation, indicating simplicity, showing disappointment, offering assistance, and serving as a filler marker. The study also shows that using dynamic equivalence is the most appropriate method of translating the pragmatic meanings of basīṭa from JSA into English. Conclusions: The study concluds that basīṭa is multi-functional based on the context in which it is used. Furthermore, it shows that dynamic equivalence is the most suitable method used to convey the pragmatic meanings of basīṭa from JSA into English.

L2 Pragmatic Development in Constructing and Negotiating Contextual Meanings

Abstract The way in which L2 learners construct pragmatic and social meanings, including stances and identities, is emerging as an important research concern. In this study, we explore how L2 learners develop the ability to construct and negotiate pragmatic and social meanings, with a focus on meanings manifested in specific contexts, namely, contextual meanings. Specifically, we trace the development made by a group of 30 L2 Korean learners in their understanding of the contextual meanings of Korean first-person pronouns over the provision of L1- and L2-generated input and an awareness raising activity. Our findings reveal that provision of input of the underlying stereotypical meanings facilitated learners’ (re-)construction and negotiation of contextual meanings. The learners developed from oversimplistic form-meaning connections to more context-based and internally logical interpretations of contextual meanings, constructed new contextual meanings from the input, and agentively negotiated between the input and their existing indexical systems. The findings raise important pedagogical implications, including reconsideration of the assessment of pragmatic and sociolinguistic competence.

Virtual English as a Lingua Franca: Investigating the Discourse of Digital Exchanges and Understanding Technology-Enhanced Learning

The edited volume Virtual English as a Lingua Franca: Investigating the Discourse of Digital Exchanges and Understanding Technology-Enhanced Learning edited by Pineda and Bosso (2023) is the first book ever to be published with a focus on the study of virtual English as a lingua franca. This collection of empirical studies seeks to present a comprehensive account of the development of intercultural communication strategies through virtual English as a lingua franca, reflecting on the ways in which we make pragmatic meaning in today’s technology-informed, globalized world. This work emphasizes analyzing transmodal, trans-semiotic, and transcultural discourse practices in online spaces, providing a counterpoint to existing English as a lingua franca (ELF) research which has leaned towards unpacking formal features of ELF communication in face-to-face interactions.

THE PROBLEM OF THE EFFECTUATION OF AN EMPATHOGENIC COMMUNICATIVE SITUATION ON THE ILLOCUTIONARY FUNCTIONING OF EMPATHIC SPEECH ACTS

This article is an extension of the author’s study concerned with the verbal sphere of empathy in a func-tional-pragmatic focus. The purpose of the work is to demonstrate the conditionality of the illocutionary functio-ning of empathic speech manifestations according to the empathogenic communicative situation in the pragmatic structure of verbal empathy. The analysis was based on material borrowed from Russian and French communica-tion platforms with the common themes “He/she abandoned me” and “The birth of a child”. The author’s interpre-tation of the “empathogenic” situation was proposed as a result of the joint verbal behavior of the addressee and the addressee, whose illocutionary intention is to initiate and maintain dialogical statements with empathic potential. Two poles of an empathogenic situation are identifi ed based on the qualitative indicator of the valence of a posi-tive/negative sign characterizing the eventful nature of the situation, as well as the manifestation of positively or negatively charged emotions of communicants. The urgency is determined by the functional description of the pragmatic meanings of empathic utterances involving the previously unconsidered positive emotional range of in-teraction between communicants, an attempt to establish the substructural interaction of empathic functions and subfunctions in the illocutionarily organized spheres of empathy and co-rejoycing as well. As the issue, the obvious importance of the eff ectuation of an empathogenic speech situation on the verbalization of empathic illocution was established. The general illocutionary functions of “consolation” of the empathic sphere of empathy and “prolonga-tion of joyful feelings” of the empathic sphere of co-rejoycing are described. Subordinated empathic subfunctions with speech-acting manifestations in empathic messages are presented. Invariant subfunctions of empathic orien-tation, namely cognitive-evaluative, encouraging, and participative in situations of positive and negative emotional background, are determined. The illocutionary types of (sympathetic) understanding and argumentation of “this is life” are demonstrated as speech mechanisms of consolation in an empathogenic situation of a negative emotional range. A positively oriented communication situation is verbalized by a speech act of co-rejoycing, (good)wishes, praises, or a speech strategy to promote “I’m ready to help”.

Women in the Mix: A Critical-Pragmatic Study of the Gender Representation in Nigerian Hip-hop Music

Hip-hop music has become a popular trend in Nigeria, as it enjoys a high level of acceptance among the Nigerian youths. Thus, this study examines the representation of female gender in hip-hop music and the messages the music conveyed about female gender; it also unravels the hidden pragmatic meanings behind the content of the music. Nine (9) data from the lyrics of selected hip-hop music were randomly selected and analysed using Mey's (2001) pragmatic act theory. This paper adopted a qualitative approach which is due to the nature of the data that was analysed and the approach that was used in analysing it. Findings revealed a dominant portrayal of slangy expressions suggesting sexual overtones, female as mere edibles, women as sexual stimulants, seductive dance steps, and indecent dressing in the lyrical contents sampled. The paper also revealed that the implicit practs of exposing, seducing, luring and proposing were used in the data to show the role females play as characters in hip-hop music videos. The paper concludes that the use of vulgar expressions in the description of these female characters portrayed them mainly as sex commodities and sex workers, this questions the dignity of the African woman and the virtues she is expected to project to her fellow female folk, home and abroad.

Pragmalinguistic Aspect of the Concepts “oath”, “swear”, “promise” in the Kazakh Folk Tales

The concepts such as “to be a man of one's word”, “to keep one's word”, “fulfill one's promise” are prevalent in Kazakh folk tales in the mentality of the Kazakh people are widely used in Kazakh folk tales, and they appear as an important language unit used in the regulation of human relations in the Kazakh society. Because the spiritual concepts “oath”, “swear” and “promise”, considered as “a universal event” are concepts used by societies to create feelings of trust and persuasion among individuals. The paper deals with the spiritual concepts of “oath”, “swear” and “promise” in tales from the view of a pragmatic perspective. The authors also describe the traditions and ceremonies related to “oath” in nomadic Turkish culture and analyze spiritual concepts of “oath”, and “swear”, “promise”, which have a sacred value for Turkish society. As a result of the study, the findings regarding the concepts of “oath”, “swear” and “promise” in Kazakh folk tales, which play an important role in transferring the traditions and customs and cultural heritage of our people from generation to generation, as well as the legal, magical, religious, "pure" ethical rituals used commonly in the nomadic lifestyle were presented. In the paper it is stated that the speech acts in the analysed tales have a special place in terms of pragmatic meaning and it is revealed that the role of the concepts of “oath”, “swear” and “promise” in regulating the relationships between people and society has changed over time, their the sсope of use and stylistic color have changed, and they have acquired different semantic dimensions. Furthermore, it is concluded that the semantic development of the word can reflect the development of human cognition.

Discourse on the Extended Meaning of Shahada: A Cognitive-Pragmatic Approach

The existence of God is an extraordinary occurrence that presents a challenge for the limited human intellect to comprehend. Hence, arriving at that conviction necessitates unwavering trust and belief. In Islam, the affirmation of this conviction must be expressed in two lines known as the shahada. In addition to this paranormal event, the language structure pertaining to the two words found in the shahada includes the term أشهد (ashhadu), which translates as ‘I testify’. This statement assumes that the person testifying had prior knowledge of God’s existence, despite the fact that it is supernatural and challenging to ascertain. Why is the word أشهد (ashhadu) included in both sentences of the shahada? This essay seeks to examine the semantic significance of the linguistic expression realised in the proclamation of the two sentences of the shahada, specifically focusing on the word أشهد (ashhadu). This analysis will be conducted within a cognitive-pragmatic or sociocognitive framework. Typically, the cognitive pragmatics method considers not just the semantic meaning of a statement but also the pragmatic meaning of an utterance. During a speech or communication event, both of these meanings are consistently present as an individual intellectually constructs a representation of the context and scenario. The context encompasses not just tangible objects but also intangible aspects, for instance psychological and cognitive factors, including beliefs and knowledge. The findings obtained by this study indicate that the sentence أشهد (ashhadu), in addition to its semantic meaning of ‘I testify’, also possesses a pragmatic-psychological significance in the form of a linguistic texture (zauqullughoh) that may be experienced by the speaker. This may possibly offer psychological encouragement to individuals when they begin to self-explore or engage with their originator.

Прагматический потенциал прозвищ в произведениях Юй Хуа

This article is aimed at identifying a complex of pragmatic, emotional and value meanings of nicknames that allow the writer to influence the reader. The study is based on three novels by Yu Hua – Brothers, To Live, and Chronicle of a Blood Merchant – and their Russian translations. Twenty-five fragments were analysed; the specificity of the main characters’ nicknames was identified in terms of the pragmatic function they perform. It is shown that the process of integration ↔ separation and extraction ↔ filling (the rules of language unit use are being constantly updated and changed) of unique linguistic phenomena – nicknames – is inherently pragmatic. The article presents the author’s concept of nicknames, demonstrates the difference between nicknames and common names (social, family-related) and emphasizes the practical importance of nicknames (distribution, communication, symbolic figure, cultural characteristics) in prose. The novelty of the study lies in describing the pragmatic functionality of nicknames in different contextual environments, which reveals the degree of productivity and creative potential of nicknames, highlights the close relationship of nicknames with the characteristics of the time period and heritage of traditional culture, as well as points out the role of nicknames (as cultural symbols) in achieving balance in group communication. As a result, the author identified the specificity of the origin of nicknames and the potential variability of their evaluation, which causes differences in the understanding of their true meaning. Therefore, studying the intrinsic functionality of nicknames as a vastly preferable and popular form of naming in literary works, public life and other spheres of society is essential.

A Socio-Pragmatic Study of Multifunctional Discourse Marker i:h in Algerian Spoken Arabic

The present study aims at investigating and describing the pragmatic functions of the discourse marker i:h in the Algerian Spoken Arabic, specifically in the eastern south, in the city of Ouargla. This piece of work is unique of its type in the Algerian context because it is the first to be conducted from a pragmatic perspective. Twelve different situations were included in the questionnaire which consists of one hundred items to collect data. The study adapted the pragmatic approach by Fraser (1990), which accounts upon a differentiation between content and pragmatic meaning. The findings revealed that, based on context, the discourse marker i:h is multifunctional in Algerian Spoken Arabic, and it conveys at least 12 meanings. Other functions were suggested by the participants. The distinction between the two groups at the level of both variables age and gender was not significantly marked.

Deep learning adversarial attacks and defenses on license plate recognition system

The breakthroughs in Machine learning and deep neural networks have revolutionized the handling of critical practical challenges, achieving state-of-the-art performance in various computer vision tasks. Notably, the application of deep neural networks in optical character recognition (OCR) has significantly enhanced the performance of OCR systems, making them a pivotal preprocessing component in text analysis pipelines for crucial applications such as license plate recognition (LPR) systems, where the efficiency of OCR is paramount. However, despite the advancements, the integration of deep neural networks in OCR introduces inherent security vulnerabilities, particularly susceptibility to adversarial examples. Adversarial examples in LPR systems are crafted by introducing perturbations to original license plate images, which can effectively compromise the integrity of the license plate recognition process, leading to erroneous license plate number identification. Given that the primary goal of OCR in this context is to accurately recognize license plate numbers, even a single misinterpreted character can significantly impact the overall performance of the LPR system. The vulnerability of LPR systems to adversarial attacks underscores the urgent need to address the security weaknesses inherited from deep neural networks. In response to these challenges, the exploration of alternative defense mechanisms, such as image denoising and in-painting, presents a compelling approach to bolstering the resilience of LPR systems against adversarial attacks. By prioritizing practical implementation and integration of image denoising and inpainting techniques align with the operational requirements of real-world LPR systems. These methods can be seamlessly integrated into existing pipelines, offering pragmatic and accessible means of enhancing security without imposing significant computational overhead. By embracing a multi-faceted approach that combines the strengths of traditional image processing techniques, the research endeavors to develop comprehensive and versatile defense strategies tailored to the specific vulnerabilities and requirements of LPR systems. This holistic approach aims to fortify LPR systems against adversarial threats, thereby fostering increased trust and reliability in the deployment of OCR and LPR technologies across various domains and applications.

THE ROLE OF PRAGMATIC FACTORS IN THE SOCIALIZATION OF SPEECH

In the article, thoughts about the role of pragmatic factors and forms of manifestation in the social character of speech are expressed through examples. Pragmatic factors in the social character of speech are first of all manifested in intercultural communication.In the multifaceted process of intercultural communication, linguistic and cultural levels of mutual understanding between representatives of different language communities are distinguished, in other words, linguistic and extralinguistic. intercultural communication is a two-way process of foreign language and foreign cultural understanding, and in this regard, the act of speech implies interlinguistic and intercultural translation, the adequacy of which is at the level of pragmatic meaning of language units. It should be noted that sThe object of study of both sociolinguistics and pragmalinguistics is speech phenomena, which cannot be separated from each other in the analysis of speech processes. Both of these areas of linguistics have their own place in the social character of speech. That is why it is impossible to sharply separate them from each other.

Could breathing frequency become a pragmatic means to monitor exercise intensity in atrial fibrillation and coronary heart disease?

Could breathing frequency become a pragmatic means to monitor exercise intensity in atrial fibrillation and coronary heart disease?

Steps to accelerate net zero delivery

Worley and Princeton University’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment are working together to shift the net zero narrative from what is needed, to how to meet this immense infrastructure delivery challenge. Together, we assert that this challenge cannot be met through a traditional project delivery approach. We have developed a new delivery paradigm, which identifies five key shifts in infrastructure delivery practices to build the durable, responsible, and pragmatic means of achieving the required scale and speed of mid-century net zero. We believe that the new delivery paradigm needs to be in place by 2030, and an annual survey conducted by Princeton University is tracking the uptake by industry. The third instalment in our thought leadership series ‘From Ambition to Reality (FATR): Steps to accelerate net zero delivery’, explores the scale of the EU’s 2030 Hydrogen ambition and how the five key shifts could accelerate the delivery of 10 million tonnes per annum of renewable hydrogen in the next 6 years. This has led to our proposed EU Renewable H2 Plan, which has been further globalised to our 2024 FATR Plan for application to any low carbon sector or supply chain. In this paper, we examine the initiatives set out in the 2024 FATR Plan in the context of the Australian oil and gas industry. We outline the steps that can be taken right now to support the decarbonisation of the Australian oil and gas industry alongside the development of a new hydrogen industry.

Green in their own way: Pragmatic and progressive means for cities to overcome institutional barriers to sustainability

To realise their potential to lead in sustainability development, cities require both symbolic resources such as social capital and legitimacy and material resources such as financial and technical support. Recent research in urban studies has shown that cities overcome institutional barriers to urban sustainability by drawing on support from their wider environment. However, we argue that resource needs vary depending on whether cities spotlight or sideline sustainability. Drawing on in-depth interviews with sustainability managers in cities with variable seriousness about sustainability, and representatives of city networks and support organisations, we show that cities express different symbolic and material resource needs as well as means to acquire them. When cities express pragmatic needs, they seek to demonstrate political feasibility and look to peer cities for legitimation; when cities express progressive needs, they aim to push the boundaries of technical possibility and broadcast their achievements to the world. Since cities require dissimilar external support, skewed attention towards ‘leading’ cities in extant research limits our understanding of how cities can overcome institutional barriers to climate action, especially when these barriers are high. Our findings offer contributions to the literature on city strategies for climate change on the institutional drivers of urban sustainability.

Visual channel facilitates the comprehension of the intonation of Brazilian Portuguese wh-questions and wh-exclamations: evidence from congruent and incongruent stimuli

Abstract This paper presents an audiovisual perceptual analysis of the wh-question and wh-exclamation intonation in Brazilian Portuguese using auditory–visual congruent and incongruent stimuli, to investigate the relative importance of each modality in signaling pragmatic meanings. Ten Brazilian Portuguese speakers (five female) were filmed while producing both speech acts 10 times. Next, artificial stimuli were created: audio and visual cues were either matched (audio and video from the same speech act) or mismatched (audio and video from the different speech acts), resulting in 10 congruent and 10 incongruent stimuli of the wh-questions and the wh-exclamations. The perceptual experiment was taken by 36 Brazilians who identified the stimulus as a question or an exclamation. Results from the logistic regression showed that the factor ‘congruence’ was significant and had a significant interaction with ‘speakers’, which means that the congruent stimuli increased the comprehension of the Brazilian Portuguese wh-questions and wh-exclamations. In contrast, the incongruent stimuli tended to lower listeners’ identification, but to a degree depending on individual speakers’ strategies. Although variation in the accuracy of expressing both speech acts was also found across speakers, this study corroborates that the visual channel impacts the perceptual identification of the pragmatic intonation function of distinguishing sentence mode.