Laura Marina Manunza

Mat. N. 32/19/66128
Lingue e Culture per la Mediazione Linguistica.
Lingua Inglese 3

Harry: Good morning. Thank you for calling the Hilton, Harry
speaking, how may I help you?

Client: Hi, before I book may I ask you whether you have any
suites with a jacuzzi?

Harry: Sir, this is an exclusive luxury hotel. We have many

rooms and suites for all needs.

Client: Ok, then me and my wife would like to book it just for
tonight, please.

Harry: Er…I’m sorry, it is not possible. We are fully booked.

Harry: Good morning. Thank you for calling the Marriott, Harry speaking, may I help you?
REFERENCE PRESUPPOSITION POLITENESS/ADJACENCY PAIRS

Client: Hi, before I book may I ask you whether you have any suites with a jacuzzi?

NEG. POL. ATTRIBUTIVE USE

Harry: Of course sir, this is an exclusive luxury hotel. We have many rooms and suites for all needs.

PARTICUL. CONV. IMPL SCALAR IMPLICATURE

Client: Me and my wife would like to book it just for tonight, please.

ANAPHORIC REF. POSITIVE POLTIENESS STRATEGY.

Harry: Uhm…I’m sorry, it’s not possible. We are fully booked for tonight.

DISPREFERRED ANSWER. EXCLUSIVE WE

1) Good morning. Thank you for calling Marriott, Harry speaking.

-GS: uttering a declarative sentence > locutionary force

-CF: statement.

-Direct speech act: - illocutionary force = making a statement

- Perlocutionary force= trying to make the interlocutor communicate.

Existential presupposition: both the hotel and the speaker exist. (Furthermore the interlocutor could
presuppose that he is a member of the staff).

- Self-introduction> Harry presupposes that the listener doesn’t know him ( it’s a phone call
conversation, they cannot see eachother)
- Marriott > referent. People can infer that it’s a hotel thanks to the given co-text (=linguistic
environment that limits the possibilities of interpretation).

We are talking about a procedural rule valid in this cases in which who speaks first in a telephone
conversation can choose their form of address and also the other’s form of address. Harry’s utterance is what
the staff members use as opening line > greeting + self-introduction

How may I help you?

GS: interrogative
CF: request, not just a question because the listener is supposed to tell the reason why he is calling: it
doesn’t require a yes/no answer, it’s purpose is to obtain something.

-Indirect speech act: illocutionary force: directive

Perlocutionary force: obtain an answer in order to continue the conversation in a proper way.

- Negative politeness strategy -> face saving act performed via a question containing a modal verb.
On record form. FORMAL POLITENESS because ‘may’ is a mitigating device.
- Adjacency pair: first sequence of two utterances by different speakers in conversation > in this case
we have an insertion sequence = Q1-Q2- A2-A1.

2) Hi, before I book may I ask you whether you have any suites with a jacuzzi?
GS: interrogative sentence

CF: question/asking without an obligation

Direct speech act: illocutionary > directive

Perlocutionary: the speaker need more information

-Insertion question (Q2) > conversation strategy when we need further information

-Neg politeness > face saving act. MAY mitigating device, softens the demand

-Pre-request > the speaker is checking if it is possible to make a request and at the same time the
interlocutor can understand its intention, which is to book a specific type of room. It’s an indirect way to
ask for a room > he is testing because he doesn’t want to receive a NO > face saving act.

 A way of actually expressing the receiver’s orientation towards the caller’s needs
ATTRIBUTIVE USE > “any” entity that is assumed to exist, but is unknown to the speaker. “any suites with
a Jacuzzi” > expression that designates an entity that is known to the speaker only in terms of its descriptive
properties. “whatever fits the description”. INDEFINITE NOUN PHRASE.

3) Of course sir, this is an exclusive luxury hotel

GS: declarative

CF: statement

Direct speech act: illocutionary > representative

 second part of adjacency pair (A2)

 Seems not fully adhering to the cooperative principle> Flouting the quantity maxim. Because he
could infer from the interlocutor of the previous question that he had the intention to book a room by
asking if they had any.
 It has the function of GO AHED in the conversation
 Particularized conversational implicature: the speaker appears not to adhere to the maxim of manner.
In the local context of these speakers, a luxury hotel is known to have that particular type of room
which the interlocutor is asking for. An additional conveyed meaning is that, because the answer was
so obvious, the question did not need to be asked.
SIR > person deixis; expression that indicates higher status and distance. Honorific.

- Existential presupposition > the hotel exists.

We have many rooms and suites for all needs.
GS: declarative

CF: statement of facts

Direct speech act: illocutionary > representative.

many/all > scalar implicatures indicating quantity.

4) Ok… then me and my wife would like to book it just for tonight, please.
Grammar Structure: declarative

Communicative Function: request

Indirect speech act > Illocut. Force > directive, it expresses what the speaker wants.

Perlocutionary > obtain what the speaker asked for.

On record statement > the speaker directly addresses the other as means of expressing his needs.
Mitigating devices > PLEASE and WE WOULD LIKE TO: to soften the demand. Negative politeness strategy.
There’s a face threatening act because the speaker is “forcing” the interlocutor to provide a service.

5) Er…I’m sorry, it is not possible. We are fully booked.

-Er… > dispreferred second part, expressed through hesitation and a delay in getting started. The actual
statement which indicates a disagreement is preceded by an apology (I’m sorry). The effect is that the
speaker is presenting himself as having difficulty and is unwilling to have to say what is being stated.

GS: declarative

CF: explicit apologise

Direct speech act: illocutionary > expressive, psychological state is expressed through the apology.

Perlocutionary ??

-It is not possibile > GS: negative declarative

CF: statement

Direct speech act: illoc > representative

Dispreferred response, it is a refusal.

-We are fully booked: GS: declarative

CF: statement

Direct speech act: illocutionary > representative, it explains the reason of the abovementioned Dispreferred
response.

Exclusive we > the speaker doesn’t include its interlocutor; he uses “we” to refer to the hotel rooms.
Fully > scalar implicature expressing quantity, highest level on the scale value. All the rooms with those
specific characteristics are already booked.

Conversational style: Turns are respected, there are no overlaps or long pauses