Sentence, Utterance, Propositions,
Sentence Meaning, Statement Meaning and Utterance Meaning
An utterance
is the use of a sequence of sentence, or a single word or phrase (Hurtford
2007: 16) and “is created by speaking or writing a piece of langauge” (Saeed,
2003: 12-13). Apparently, there is a
contrast in view between Hurtford and Saeed as to whether or not a written
piece of language is considered to be utterance, as Hurtford said, “[..] a book
such this contains no utterances (since books don’t talk) […].” (2007: 17).
Utterances can either be grammatical or ungrammatical and
loud or quiet.
“A sentence
is a string of words put together by the grammatical rules of a language”
(Hurford 1007: 17). Because a sentence
is neither a physical event nor a physical object, it is an abstract element and can only be
conceived abstractly. Speakers make real
sentences by uttering them and sentences reach hearers when they filter out
certain kinds of information such as the difference in pitch levels; some
accent differences; and some phonetic details, from utterances.
A proposition or “the basic element of sentence meaning” (Saeed 2003: 14) is produced by filtering out certain types of grammatical information in a sentence. “A proposition is that part of the meaning of the utterance of a declarative sentence […] which describes persons or things […] and the situation or action they are involved in” (Hurford 2007: 20). Speakers and hearers think or believe a proposition as either true or false, however only “true proposition corresponds to facts” (Hurford 2007: 21) and thus can be known. A sentence may or may not have a truth-value (an indicator that something is true or false). For example, the sentences John loves Mary and Mary is loved by John yield statements with the same truth value. But, the sentences John loves Mary and Mary loves John are may have opposite truth values because the actions in which John and Mary are involved may not be reciprocal.
The semantic properties a sentence possesses merely by virtue
of being a well-formed sentence is called sentence
meaning. Aspects of sentence meaning which cannot
be used to make a sentence a true statement are: (a) the interrogative meaning
of a question; (b) the imperative
meaning of a command; (c) words like yet, still, already; (d) expressive meaning, such as bloody, which procedes an adjective; and
(e) features of register such as formal/colloquial distinction, e.g. an idiom used by women to powder one’s nose meaning to
use the toilet.
A declarative sentence or a statement has a truth-value, so
its truthfulness can be challenged.
Cruse said that statement meaning
refers to the combination of assertion and what is asserted in the literal,
contextualized use of a declarative sentence (2003: 21), while an utterance meaning refers to the
totality of what the speaker intends to convey by making an utterance (2003:
22). A statement meaning may not
adequately represent the speaker’s intention by making a statement or a reply
that is beyond expectation or non-standard, but utterance meaning does. Generally ,when expressions are used
literally, utterance meaning subsumes statement meaning.
Proposition: A hostess
offers a drink to a guest.
Sentence 1: Would
you like a coke? (sentence meaning)
Utterance 1: “Would
you like a coke?”
Utterance
2: “Coke, mate?” (said
by a young man with Sydney accent)
Sentence 2: Can
I get you something?
Utterance 3: “Can I get you something?“ (said by a stage
actor with British RP accent)
Utterance 4: “Can
I get you something?“ (said by a middle-aged lady with Boston accent)
Utterance 5: “Can I get you something?“ (said by a old man with Cockney accent)
Sentence 3: I
have tea, coffee and ginger ale.
Utterance 6: “I
have tea, coffee and ginger ale.”
ð
Utterance meaning. The hearer is expected to infer the extra
aspects of meaning on the basis of relationship between the speaker and the
hearer and of contextual information, for
example when the hostess is saying this to her guest as she has the fridge door
open in front of her.
Utterance 7: “I
have tea, coffee and ginger ale – what would you like?”
ð
An utterance as “a sequence of sentence”
(Hurford 2007: 16)
