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Chapter 10. Thematic silence as a speech act

  • Dennis Kurzon
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Implicitness
This chapter is in the book Implicitness

Abstract

This chapter will discuss the speech act status of thematic silence, one of the four types of silence presented in Kurzon (2007). This type of silence is not strictly silence in the sense that someone is not talking where talk is expected. It refers to the non-mention of a topic by the speaker (“s/he is silent about” in contrast to “s/he is silent”). Despite its non-mention, the topic is often implicit and identifiable, since it is salient in one way or another. For example, in a speech or in a press interview, a politician does not mention, or refuses to refer to, a topic which may embarrass him/her, and this topic has recently been in the news. Assuming that intentional silence is as communicative as the linguistic ways of conveying implicit meaning, and has therefore some illocutionary force, the question asked is what kind of speech act the omitted discourse (utterance / sentence) may be. It will be argued that in discourses such as speeches, interviews, or narratives in general, the silence usually replaces an assertive speech act, though there may be instances in which the omitted speech act may be a directive or commissive, etc. speech act.

Abstract

This chapter will discuss the speech act status of thematic silence, one of the four types of silence presented in Kurzon (2007). This type of silence is not strictly silence in the sense that someone is not talking where talk is expected. It refers to the non-mention of a topic by the speaker (“s/he is silent about” in contrast to “s/he is silent”). Despite its non-mention, the topic is often implicit and identifiable, since it is salient in one way or another. For example, in a speech or in a press interview, a politician does not mention, or refuses to refer to, a topic which may embarrass him/her, and this topic has recently been in the news. Assuming that intentional silence is as communicative as the linguistic ways of conveying implicit meaning, and has therefore some illocutionary force, the question asked is what kind of speech act the omitted discourse (utterance / sentence) may be. It will be argued that in discourses such as speeches, interviews, or narratives in general, the silence usually replaces an assertive speech act, though there may be instances in which the omitted speech act may be a directive or commissive, etc. speech act.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. Implicitness 1
  4. Part I. Word and phrase
  5. Chapter 2. What’s a reading? 15
  6. Chapter 3. Pronouns and implicature 37
  7. Chapter 4. Implicitness in the lexis 67
  8. Chapter 5. Zero subject anaphors and extralinguistically motivated subject pro -drop in Hungarian language use 95
  9. Part II. Sentence and utterance
  10. Chapter 6. Implicitness via overt untruthfulness 121
  11. Chapter 7. Lexical pragmatics and implicit communication 147
  12. Chapter 8. Indirect ritual offence 177
  13. Chapter 9. Implicitness in the use of situation-bound utterances 201
  14. Chapter 10. Thematic silence as a speech act 217
  15. Part III. Text and discourse
  16. Chapter 11. The dynamics of discourse 235
  17. Chapter 12. Why don’t you tell it explicitly? 259
  18. Chapter 13. Implicature and the inferential substrate 281
  19. Index 305
  20. Index 305
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.276.10kur

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. Implicitness 1
  4. Part I. Word and phrase
  5. Chapter 2. What’s a reading? 15
  6. Chapter 3. Pronouns and implicature 37
  7. Chapter 4. Implicitness in the lexis 67
  8. Chapter 5. Zero subject anaphors and extralinguistically motivated subject pro -drop in Hungarian language use 95
  9. Part II. Sentence and utterance
  10. Chapter 6. Implicitness via overt untruthfulness 121
  11. Chapter 7. Lexical pragmatics and implicit communication 147
  12. Chapter 8. Indirect ritual offence 177
  13. Chapter 9. Implicitness in the use of situation-bound utterances 201
  14. Chapter 10. Thematic silence as a speech act 217
  15. Part III. Text and discourse
  16. Chapter 11. The dynamics of discourse 235
  17. Chapter 12. Why don’t you tell it explicitly? 259
  18. Chapter 13. Implicature and the inferential substrate 281
  19. Index 305
  20. Index 305
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