C2 · 50 words
Pragmatics in Spanish
Speech acts, implicature, politeness and context — what a sentence does rather than what it means.
El rodeo cortés is the polite long way round, and el rodeo is a word English owns without knowing it owns. English borrowed it for one thing only: the arena where cattle are ridden. In Spanish that is the last of its senses. First it is the detour — dar un rodeo, to go the long way. Then it is the round-up itself, cattle driven in a circle. And then it is this, the thing pragmatics is about: andarse con rodeos, to beat about the bush. Where English needs a detour, a round-up, a rodeo and a bush to beat about, Spanish has one noun and one picture behind all four — going round instead of straight at it.
The words
View
Phrase (45)
la pragmática lingüísticathe study of language in use rather than language as a systemPhraseC2
La pragmática lingüística estudia el uso, no el sistema.Linguistic pragmatics studies use, not the system.
el acto de habla directivothe speech act that tries to get the hearer to do somethingPhraseC2
El acto de habla directivo busca que el otro haga algo.A directive speech act aims to make the other person act.
el acto de habla comisivothe speech act that binds the speaker to do somethingPhraseC2
El acto de habla comisivo compromete al que habla.A commissive speech act commits the one who speaks.
el acto de habla expresivothe speech act that puts a state of mind into wordsPhraseC2
El acto de habla expresivo transmite un estado de ánimo.An expressive speech act conveys a state of mind.
el efecto perlocutivothe effect a speech act has on the hearer, which the speaker cannot commandPhraseC2
El efecto perlocutivo depende del oyente.The perlocutionary effect depends on the hearer.
el acto de habla indirectothe speech act whose form and purpose do not matchPhraseC2
El acto de habla indirecto pregunta y en realidad pide.An indirect speech act asks and in truth requests.
la condición de felicidadthe condition a speech act must satisfy to come off at allPhraseC2
La condición de felicidad exige la autoridad adecuada.A felicity condition demands the right authority.
la máxima conversacionalthe conversational maxim, one of the unwritten rules of talkPhraseC2
La máxima conversacional se puede violar a propósito.A conversational maxim can be broken on purpose.
la violación abierta de una máximathe open breaking of a maxim, done so that the hearer noticesPhraseC2
La violación abierta de una máxima produce ironía.Flouting a maxim openly produces irony.
la implicatura cancelablethe implicature that can be taken back without contradictionPhraseC2
La implicatura cancelable se retira sin contradicción.A cancellable implicature is withdrawn without contradiction.
la implicatura escalarthe implicature that turns a weaker word into a denial of the stronger onePhraseC2
La implicatura escalar convierte «algunos» en «no todos».A scalar implicature turns « some » into « not all ».
la proyección de la presuposiciónthe survival of a presupposition through negation and questionsPhraseC2
La proyección de la presuposición sobrevive a la negación.Presupposition projection survives negation.
el desencadenante de presuposiciónthe word that triggers a presupposition without stating itPhraseC2
El desencadenante de presuposición suele ser un verbo factivo.A presupposition trigger is usually a factive verb.
la inferencia pragmáticathe step the hearer takes beyond what the words carryPhraseC2
La inferencia pragmática la hace el oyente, no el texto.A pragmatic inference is drawn by the hearer, not the text.
el anclaje deícticothe tying of a word to who is speaking, and when, and wherePhraseC2
El anclaje deíctico exige saber quién habla y dónde.Deictic anchoring requires knowing who speaks and where.
el deíctico personalthe deictic word whose referent changes with the speakerPhraseC2
El deíctico personal cambia de referente al cambiar de hablante.A personal deictic changes referent when the speaker changes.
la deixis espacialthe deixis of place, near, middle and farPhraseC2
La deixis espacial del español distingue tres distancias.Spatial deixis in Spanish distinguishes three distances.
la deixis socialthe deixis of standing, choosing the form of addressPhraseC2
La deixis social elige entre tú y usted.Social deixis chooses between the familiar and the polite you.
el marco de referencia compartidothe frame of reference both sides already sharePhraseC2
El marco de referencia compartido ahorra medio mensaje.A shared frame of reference saves half the message.
el conocimiento compartidothe knowledge both sides take as given, which halves the messagePhraseC2
El conocimiento compartido permite hablar por alusiones.Shared knowledge allows people to speak in allusions.
la imagen socialthe social face, the self one asks others to acceptPhraseC2
La imagen social se protege en cada intercambio.Social face is protected in every exchange.
la amenaza a la imagenthe threat to that face, which every request carriesPhraseC2
La amenaza a la imagen se atenúa con rodeos.A threat to face is softened by going the long way round.
la cortesía positivathe politeness that draws closer, showing the other belongsPhraseC2
La cortesía positiva acerca al otro.Positive politeness brings the other person closer.
la cortesía negativathe politeness that keeps distance, leaving the other roomPhraseC2
La cortesía negativa deja espacio al otro.Negative politeness leaves the other person room.
el rodeo cortésthe polite way round, longer to say and softer to hearPhraseC2
El rodeo cortés alarga la frase y ablanda el golpe.The polite way round lengthens the sentence and softens the blow.
la petición encubiertathe request dressed up as an observationPhraseC2
La petición encubierta se formula como observación.A covert request is worded as an observation.
el rechazo indirectothe refusal that never says no in so many wordsPhraseC2
El rechazo indirecto empieza casi siempre con un elogio.An indirect refusal nearly always begins with praise.
la ironía verbalthe verbal irony that says the opposite and is understood anywayPhraseC2
La ironía verbal dice lo contrario y se entiende igual.Verbal irony says the opposite and is understood all the same.
el humor conversacionalthe humour of the conversation itself, which marks who belongsPhraseC2
El humor conversacional marca pertenencia al grupo.Conversational humour marks belonging to the group.
la toma de turnothe taking of a turn, negotiated without a word about itPhraseC2
La toma de turno se negocia sin decirlo.Turn-taking is negotiated without being spoken about.
el solapamiento de turnosthe overlap of two turns, which is not always an interruptionPhraseC2
El solapamiento de turnos no siempre es interrupción.Overlapping turns are not always an interruption.
el par adyacentethe adjacency pair, a first part that calls for its secondPhraseC2
El par adyacente empareja pregunta y respuesta.An adjacency pair couples question and answer.
la respuesta preferidathe preferred response, the one that comes fast and unexplainedPhraseC2
La respuesta preferida sale rápida y sin explicación.The preferred response comes fast and without explanation.
la reparación conversacionalthe repair of what went wrong, made without stopping the talkPhraseC2
La reparación conversacional corrige sin detener el flujo.Conversational repair corrects without stopping the flow.
el marcador del discursothe discourse marker that warns of a change of directionPhraseC2
El marcador del discurso avisa de un cambio de rumbo.A discourse marker announces a change of course.
la señal de continuidadthe backchannel signal that says the listening goes onPhraseC2
La señal de continuidad indica que se sigue escuchando.A continuer signals that the listening goes on.
la modalidad epistémicathe epistemic modality, the grading of how sure the speaker isPhraseC2
La modalidad epistémica gradúa lo seguro que se está.Epistemic modality grades how certain one is.
la distancia enunciativathe distance a speaker puts between themselves and the claimPhraseC2
La distancia enunciativa se marca con el condicional.Speaker distance is marked with the conditional.
la polifonía enunciativathe several voices audible inside one utterancePhraseC2
La polifonía enunciativa mete otra voz dentro de la propia.Polyphony puts another voice inside one's own.
el discurso referidothe reporting of what somebody else said, never neutrallyPhraseC2
El discurso referido nunca es neutral.Reported speech is never neutral.
la fuerza argumentativathe direction an argument is pushed in by a small wordPhraseC2
La fuerza argumentativa de «solo» y «hasta» va en sentidos contrarios.The argumentative force of « only » and « even » runs in opposite directions.
el sobreentendido culturalthe cultural assumption both sides make without noticingPhraseC2
El sobreentendido cultural es lo primero que falla al traducir.A cultural assumption is the first thing to fail in translation.
el malentendido pragmáticothe misunderstanding that is not a mistake in grammarPhraseC2
El malentendido pragmático no es un error de gramática.A pragmatic misunderstanding is not an error of grammar.
la competencia pragmáticathe pragmatic competence, the last thing a learner acquiresPhraseC2
La competencia pragmática se adquiere la última.Pragmatic competence is acquired last.
la transferencia pragmáticathe carrying over of one language's habits into anotherPhraseC2
La transferencia pragmática lleva las costumbres de una lengua a otra.Pragmatic transfer carries the habits of one language into another.
Noun (m) (3)
el sobrentendidothe thing understood without being said, which can later be deniedNoun (m)C2
El sobrentendido permite negar lo que se quiso decir.What is left understood allows the meaning to be denied later.
el atenuantethe softener that turns an order into a suggestionNoun (m)C2
El atenuante convierte una orden en una sugerencia.A softener turns an order into a suggestion.
el intensificadorthe strengthener that shows how far the speaker will goNoun (m)C2
El intensificador subraya el compromiso del hablante.An intensifier underlines the speaker's commitment.
Noun (f) (2)
la reformulaciónthe rewording that mends what did not come acrossNoun (f)C2
La reformulación repara lo que no quedó claro.Rewording mends what did not come across.
la evidencialidadthe marking of where a claim came fromNoun (f)C2
La evidencialidad señala de dónde viene lo que se afirma.Evidentiality marks where the claim comes from.
This list belongs to Language and expression — 22 lists and 1102 words that can also be practised as a whole.
Practise this list
From these 50 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.