Communicative strategies and tactics in modern english speech genres

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru//

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru//

Communicative strategies and tactics in modern english speech genres

Myhovych І.,

candidate of philological sciences

The humanities play a pioneering role in many respects, especially for the European Higher Education and Research Area which is under construction - and this role is to be strengthened in the future, as the humanities and cultural challenges are equally important to the integration of an expanded Europe. The present article has primarily humanitarian agenda since it is aimed to address topics which, we believe, help open up new areas to the humanities as a result of its complexity and culturally folkloristic agenda. We believe that the successful fulfillment of the project will allow young researchers in the area of communicative linguistics and culture studies to think outside the box and across traditional disciplinary borderlines and thus will provide the opportunity to develop new research lines in this field of scientific knowledge.

The topicality of the research is determined by the fact that in modern linguistics special consideration is given to the study of modes for reflection of personal speech (speaker's communicative space) connected to human emotions in a verbal / non-verbal way [1; 10; 18]. Thus, the choice of the topic is determined by the general direction of modern academic research in the area of language and culture studies investigating the nature of Universal language categories, such as speaker's communicative space, speech genre, folklore language. The object of analysis for these categories is, broadly speaking, human emotive formulaic discourse expressed in the process of communication by language units that convey emotive information. But in order to convey and adequately perceive this information in the process of communication interlocutors must follow certain communicative strategies and tactics, which will help overcome a number of problems traditionally connected with the process of expressing of cultural information. Among such strategies and tactics scholars frequently mention the use of ambiguity (as well as its avoidance), deictic expressions, word stress, juncture, particular syntactic constructions, etc. All these are highly emotive by nature. As a lot of European and American scientists [9; 13; 17] note - learning about the world is realized with the help of emotions. However, the absence of the general theory of emotions makes it difficult to investigate their verbalization. Particularly, the role of formulaic markers of emotive riddling discourse in the construction of speaker's communicative space demands deeper and more thorough research.

The investigation of emotive discourse is based on the notion of emotion verbalized in modern languages and cultures. The problem of emotions' investigation is one of the most difficult in modern science, and the research in this field is still not sophisticated enough. To create a firm theoretical ground for our research, we have decided to narrow the approach towards emotions to textual surface of language analysis (prefabricated or semi-fabricated strings of emotive riddling discourse, considered to be examples of English formulaic emotive discourse). These formulaic models are acquired and stored holistically, and they behave differently in language change situations. Therefore, the study of this aspect means the analysis of psychological and emotive structure of human cognition and the way it influences language. Consequently, the research project is intended to be carried out within modern scientific paradigm and underlines the necessity of investigation of language and human cognition interconnection unavoidably connected with the notion of language worldview, which greatly influences the perception and adequate cognition of emotive formulae.

The aim of the article is to investigate the notion of formulaic emotive discourse of English riddles as an example of an English speech genre, its communicative strategies and tactics. Based upon awareness of the constructedness of much human activity, and of the fluid, unstable, and fictive character of the notion of speaker's communicative space, formulaic emotive discourse of riddles, with its emphasis on praxis and transformation, helps define identity and culture of English-speaking communicants on the contemporary world stage. According to J. Anderson, the popularity of these contested terms in recent years “<...> reflects a major shift in many cultural fields from the what of culture to the how, from the accumulation of social, cultural, psychological, political, or linguistic data to a consideration of how this material is created, valorized, and changed, to how it lives and operates within the culture, by actions" [1, IX]. Thus, the paper also intends to discuss the issues raised by the definition of formulaic discourse of emotivity in relation to the notion of speaker's communicative space in current cultural studies.

Communication plays an important role in the life and activity of any language user. At the same time the subjectivity, complexity, and vagueness of this term often lead to a “naive” understanding of it. Thus, most of the definitions stress active nature of communication stating that it is the process of sending and receiving information. Mutual understanding established as the result of this process both determines and is determined by speaker's communicative space, by the way speaker generates and sends the messages, which are more or less emotively colored (since as Charles Bally ones noted “all our language is emotive by nature”).

What is important for our paper is generally accepted understanding of communication as a process which unfolds during dialogical speech production: one of the participants of this process uses certain means of communication to transmit his emotional state following a particular communicative goal [1; 10; 18]. As such in order to have a successful communicative act one must take into account both intentions of the sender and his communicative aim (which roughly corresponds to a well-known cooperative principle applied in Pragmatics). At the same time we can compare communicative process with the process of discourse production, basing on the idea that discourse is language in use relative to the social context of its production. Thus, speaking about the speech genre of riddling used in English-speaking emotive discourse we understand it as the way riddling patterns are used in the process of communication with the aim to enhance emotive aspect of speaker's communicative force.

Having outlined the communicative basis for our research, it was natural for us to turn our attention to the theory of speech genres, as this theory views speaking (communicative) activity of a person as a complex entity consisting of a number of speech genres, which have their own generative rules and norms of usage. Besides, modern theory of speech genres actively uses terminological apparatus of communicative science.

Following Mikhail Bakhtin, we have attempted to define a speech genre as a complex unity of language patterns (text and utterances) and speech acts united by common aims of their production. These are typical means of speech conduct connected with typical situations of their uttering in the mind of a language user and aimed at transmition of a typical content [10, 16]. Thus, we can say that a speech genre stands between a speech act and discourse: it consists of speech acts and constitutes discourse.

As for the speech genre of riddle it follows specific rules which both riddler and riddlee can expect. Riddles conform to a model of communication made up of a code and an encoded message that is first transmitted and then decoded; they employ quite ordinary language in conventional ways to satisfy the demands placed upon them as the art form [2, 250]. And as an art form, the riddle is subject to constraints that are semiotic (graphic, aural), aesthetic (artistic conventions that are also semiotic), and grammatical (linguistic restrictions) [4, 96]. Thus, the realization of a riddle requires a subjective, internal perception to be transformed into a code from which receivers (an audience) can derive a meaning during the process of communication. For the riddle to work it must encompass both innovation (creativity) and convention as they emerge in the act of communication. This task is accomplished by employing different communicative strategies and tactics to create striking images for the addressee.

The analysis of communicative strategies used in the performance of riddles allowed us to draw a parallel between the notions of ambiguity and wit. Let us analyze some examples of ambiguity as a communicative strategy in the speech genre of riddle in modern English language.

What turns but does not move? Milk [5].

What has a mouth but does not eat? River [ibid.].

What has an eye but cannot see? Needle [ibid.].

In each of these cases, the ambiguity is caused by the fact that two different lexical items have identical phonological form. Whereas the ambiguity of sentence 1 rests on the interpretation of a verb, that of sentence 2 is to be found in an ambiguous noun. The ambiguity therefore lies in the choice of semantic interpretation for the lexical item [3, 75]. In these cases, it is clear that the ambiguity involved is a result of homophony. That is, the pronunciation of various underlying concepts (i.e., words) is identical. In such cases the advantage of the riddler in posing riddles is that only he knows which semantic interpretation is involved in the riddle, and, indeed, he may demand, in some instances, any of the possible interpretations from the riddles as the correct answer.

Another examples of ambiguity are the following:

What bird is lowest in spirits ? Bluebird [16].

What weapon does an angry lover resemble? Crossbow [ibid.].

When is a black dog not a black dog? When it is a greyhound [ibid.].

When did Moses sleep five in a bed? When he slept with his forefathers [ibid.].

Thus, ambiguity can be of two types - linguistic ambiguity, i.e., ambiguity in the grammatical form of the riddle, and contextual ambiguity, i.e., ambiguity produced through a conscious manipulation of social decorum that results in disorientation or confusion of the riddlee. The connection of ambiguity with wit can be roughly explained within the riddler's attempts to outwit the riddlee by presenting ambiguities that the riddlee cannot resolve [20, 184]. The notion of “wit” can be equated with the riddlee's inability to resolve these ambiguities. Since language is, as we have seen, a communication system composed of three subsystems that are designed to actualize semantic information, it is inevitable that these subsystems will interact. That is, a given riddle may simultaneously employ ambiguity at more than one linguistic level.

As to word stress and juncture, they also play an important role in the creating riddles' ambiguity, and thus can be called communicative strategies of riddles' performance. Solving the riddles, which are based on these strategies, involves: 1) perceiving a lexical ambiguity; 2) recognizing the role of contrastive stress patterns; 3) determining which combination of lexical items and stress patterns serves as the answer to the riddle [15, 28]. For example:

When is it hard to get your watch out of your pocket? When it keeps sticking (keeps ticking) there [5].

What is the difference between a baby and a coat? One you wear, one you were [ibid.].

This makes an important point concerning the role of ambiguity, word stress and juncture in the riddle. That it is not the case that the ambiguity involved in a riddle is necessarily contained in the question. Rather, it is the case that the wit of the riddle depends on the resolution of an ambiguity somewhere in the riddle structure, which includes the answer as well as the question. We see, then, that to understand the wit involved in riddling, it is necessary to scrutinize the entire structure of the riddle act to determine at what point the element of wit (through ambiguity) is introduced. Thus, we see that what is traditionally regarded as wit in riddles can be partially related to the creation of ambiguity in the riddle form [12; 19]. In this part of our work we have explored how ambiguity can be produced by the manipulation of the phonology of English, at the morphological and syntactic levels.

There also exists a number of folk traditions that depends on the written word, for example epitaphs, autograph book rhymes, and graffiti. Although such forms may be transmitted orally, they frequently depend upon a type of visual stimulus or the recognition of a cognitive fit between language and a specific real-world context that goes beyond mere utterance [14, 125]. Many of the principles in this type of folk tradition are realized in riddles, and the specific strategies involve the exploitation of various formal aspects of the roman alphabet and the roman and Arabic numeral systems, such as the shapes of the constituent elements of the systems and the names of the elements. For example:

What do the letters x, p, d, n, and c spell? Expediency [16].

Spell enemy in three letters. NME [ibid.].

What occurs twice in a moment, once in a minute, but never in a thousand years? M [ibid.].

What part of London is in France? N [ibid.].

Riddles of this type clearly demonstrate that literacy, rather than leading to the atrophy of traditional forms, may provide the folk with additional devices for verbal play. In dealing with this type of riddles we have defined three types: 1) those that exploit the names of letters of the alphabet; 2) those that exploit the relationship between letters of the alphabet and the speech sounds they represent; 3) those that exploit the shapes of letters and numerals [6; 8; 11].

The existence of sight and spelling riddles should be of interest to the linguists for the following reason. For most of the history of the discipline, linguists have considered their domain to be verbal art, the oral forms of expression in society. Nevertheless, there is the relationship between literacy and traditional expression among the folk. The examination of sight and spelling riddles should serve to illustrate that what really exists is not two separate avenues of expression, the oral and the written, but a continuum (in the present instance, at least) between those forms that play with language strictly on the oral level and those that incorporate the knowledge of orthography acquired by literacy into the service of wit [7, 320].

Thus, riddles seek to create fictitious problems, competitive events that intensify social disparity. Riddling performances are competitive, rather than cooperative. Instead of working with the audience to restore proper (socially functional) perception of a situation, the riddler foists confusion on his audience by a variety of means. Despite the resolution of conflict with the supplying of the answer, riddles consciously seek to generate tension. In riddling performers are allowed, even required, to be rude [14, 127]. Moreover, outside this particular performance context their judgments would generally be labeled as being excessively capricious. In riddling the riddler only presents those questions for which he believes riddlees cannot provide answers. Finally, in riddling any textual or contextual clues that might be forthcoming in ordinary talk are submerged and obscured as far as is allowable within the prevailing performance tradition. In essence, riddling thrives on rending the social and communicative bonds between participants.

In terms of Saussurian linguistic tradition the signifier in the case of riddles is the question-answer unit that characterizes the riddle act. The signified of riddles is not readily defined since there are several signata. Indeed, in some cases this would seem to be true, especially for metaphorically-based riddles. For instance, in the riddle “What's that got its heart in its head? A peach”, one might assume a simple relationship parallel to that for metaphor obtains in the riddle structure. There are many instances, however, in which this cannot be true. For example, many riddles are not framed as questions. Such riddles certainly have the illocutionary force of questions, but the signifier is unrecognizable as such outside of a riddling context. Thus it is inappropriate to treat the poem as a signifier and the referent as a signified; the riddle must be treated as a unit to be intelligible.

This metalinguistic view of riddles accounts for the fact that all riddles are highly decontextualized [15, 30]. In order to talk about language, we must first suspend linguistic context, so that we do not confuse the language we are talking about with the language we are using to talk about it. Riddles depend upon such suspension of linguistic context. We might mention further that this same suspension of context acts in the social mode to allow reversal of normal power structures, so that in a riddling session it is the riddler who is in authority, whatever his status outside of a session is.

From the point of view of metaphor, uniqueness of interpretation is a well- known problem. The interpretation of a figure of speech is susceptible to the personal, emotional, and idiosyncratic nuances that result from individual differences in listeners. Since the individual histories of listeners or readers may vary, the particular knowledge that each person employs in interpreting a given image will vary in unpredictable ways. In this way “personal interpretation” is allowed for and literary debate engendered [11]. Examples of metaphorical riddles include:

It first walks on four legs, then on two, then on three legs. Man [16].

What tree grows without roots? Human being [ibid.].

The tree has only two leaves, what is it? A man and his ears [ibid.].

If to expand this last point, it can be mentioned that metaphor can be a base for genres like the riddle or proverb, though it is subject to personalization. In the case of riddles, there is much less appeal to the level of particular knowledge, since metaphorical riddles are framed in such a way as to induce the riddlee to draw on his generic knowledge to recognize the referent being described. Highly idiosyncratic riddles are generally unacceptable. The performance context of riddles dictates that the imagery of metaphorical riddles be accessible to anyone who enters the riddling session, and so naturally leads the participants to operate at a generic knowledge level.

In comprehending the speech genre of riddles in modern English language, therefore, we encounter a larger sphere of art. It seems clear that riddles, far from being an amusing bit of entertainment, are connected to language, culture, and art. We hope that the notions we have advanced will assist in the continued exploration of the means by which structure, sense and nonsense converge in the traditional riddle. Another perspective for further scientific investigation of the speech genre of riddle is the analysis of cross-cultural peculiarities of Germanic and Slavonic riddling patterns, as well as the analysis of metaphorical and metonymical sense-transference-patterns in the languages mentioned.

Literature

Anderson J. A. Communication theory : epistemological foundations / J. A. Anderson. - New York : Guilford Press, 1996. - 342 p.

Ben-Amos D. Solutions to riddles / D. Ben-Amos // The Journal of American Folklore. - 1976. - №. 89 (352). - P. 249-254.

Coffin T., Cohen H. Folklore and the working folk of america / T. Coffin, H. Cohen. - New York : Anchor Press, 1974. - 352 p.

Dienhart J. M. A linguistic look at riddles / J. M. Dienhart // Journal of pragmatics. - 1998. - № 31. - P. 95-125.

English Riddles : From Old English to Modern English [Electronic resource]. - Mode of access : www.world-english.org/riddles.html.

Green T. A., Pepicello W. J. The riddle process / T. A. Green, W. J. Pepicello // The journal of American Folklore. - 1984. - № 97 (384). - P. 189-203.

Harries L. Semantic fit in riddles / L. Harris // The journal of American folklore. - 1976. - № 89 (353). - P. 319-325.

Jones B., Hawes B. L. Step it down : games, plays, songs, and stories from the Afro-American heritage / B. Jones, B. L. Hawes. - New York : Harper and Row, 1972. - 153 p.

Kovecses Z. Metaphor and culture : universality and variation / Z. KovecseS. - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2005. - 314 p.

Littlejohn S. W. Theories of human communication / S. W. Littlejohn. - Belmont, CA : Wadsworth, 1992. - 425 p.

Maranda K., Maranda P. A Tree grows : transformations of a riddle metaphor / K. Maranda, P. Maranda // Structural Analysis of Oral Tradition. - Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971. - 263 p.

McDowell J. Children's riddling / J. McDowell. - Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 1979. - 215 p.

Myers D. G. Theories of emotion / D. G. Myers. - New York : Worth Publishers, 2004. - 500 p. speech communicative english riddle

Pepicello W. J., Green T. A. The Language of riddles : new percpectives / W. J. Pepicello, T. A. Green. - Ohio State University Press : Columbus, 1984. - 171 p.

Pepicello W. J. Pragmatics of humorous language / W. J. Pepicello // International Journal of Sociology of Language. - 1987. - № 65. - P. 27-35.

Riddles and Answers [Electronic resource]. - Mode of access : www.dan.hersam.com/ riddles.html.

Shakhovskij V. Types of Emotive Vocabulary / V. Shahovskiy // Questions of General Linguistics. - 1994. - № 1. - P. 20-25.

Stepykina T. V., Mygovych I. V. Theory of communication : interdisciplinary approach / T. V. Stepykina, I. V. Mygovych. - Luhansk : Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University Press, 2012. - 430 p.

Taylor A. English riddles from oral tradition / A. Taylor. - Los Angeles : University of California Press, 1951. - 374 p.

Weiner E. J., Palma P. J. Some pragmatic features of lexical ambiguity and simple riddles / E. J. Weiner, P. J. de Palma // Language & communication. - 1993. - № 13 (3). - P. 183-193.

Размещено на Allbest.ru