Text for pragmatic analysis. (This man lost his traveller’s checks yesterday

(This man lost his traveller’s checks yesterday. Now he’s just come back from his traveller’s check office)

Joyce: Did you get your checks replaced?

Paul: Yes, but it was complicated. I went to the office downtown and they told me I

had to call New York before they could do anything, so they let me use Their

phone – it was a toll-free number. The woman asked me how much I’d lost,

and what the check numbers were. Thank God I had them written down.

Joyce: Well, that doesn’t sound so bad.

Paul: But it’s not the whole story. She wanted to know where I bought the checks

and if I had any ID. I gave her my passport number. Then she gave me a file

number and told me where the nearest refund office was. I told her I was al

ready there. Then she wanted to talk to an agent. After they hung up, I had to

fill out a form with all the same information on it. Then finally the agent

okayed the thing. After her supervisor had initiated it I got my checks.

Joyce: Well, at least it didn’t cost you anything.

Paul: You’re right. And if I hadn’t had the numbers, it could’ve been a lot more

complicated.

Implied' information

When the speaker is referring to common ground or to the part of the message that the listener knows already, he makes use of a ‘rising’ tone or a ‘falling-rising’ tone. Both are ‘referring’ tones, opposed to ‘proclaiming’ ‘falling’ tones. Utterances pronounced with proclaiming tone contain messages not yet shared with the listener.

A ’fall-rise’ tone might be pronounced in different ways, cf.

(a) g u y (one syllable is involved)

(b) d o i n g (two syllables are involved)

(c) h e n e v e r t e l l s y o u m u c h

(a stressed syllable and following unstressed syllables are involved)

There may be a step up to the starting point before actually pronouncing a ‘fall-rise’; nevertheless, structural diversity doesn’t change the pragmatic-semantic meaning a ‘fall-rise’ has.

From the point of view of pragmatics, referring to some old information the speaker wants to make a hint on something that is related with his present act of speaking and with the message he is imparting to. Thus, a ‘fall-rise’ has an implicative (hidden or implied) meaning which is brought out to the listener. Cf.:

(a) ... but you know ARthur

(b)… he never TELLS you much

Pronouncing (a) the speaker is quite aware that the listener knows Arthur. What he wants to say is that Arthur has a peculiar trait of character; he actually implies that trait. And in (b) he gives it a verbal realisation.

(c) … he (Ted) is not very HAPpy about it, though.

Using a ‘fall-rise’ in (c) the speaker assumes that all other people in Ted’s position might be very happy, but knowing Ted’s character (the listener is quite sure to know him) one wouldn’t say he is.

(d)… but I don’t recall a MAry.

The speaker here implies that he remembers many other persons from the office very well, but not a girl by the name 'Mary'.

Other pragmatic functions , those of correction or contradiction of the assumptions already made by the listener, can be revealed by the speaker’s usage of a’ fall-rise’ tone in preparing ‘softening’ phrases like ‘I’m sorry’, ‘Well, actually’, etc., as well as in direct message bearing utterances. Cf.:

(f) He wasn’t the interVIEWER.

(g) I don’t remember I brought it BACK to you.

(h) Well, actually, it’s like THIS.

Contradictions sound less aggressive if you avoid using the downward tone.

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