Linguists have figured out under what conditions tautology helps us understand what the interlocutor means - even if we are not sure about the subject of the conversation. When the interlocutor says phrases such as "Petya", this allows him to indicate the constant characteristics of the person in question (for example, "smart" or "forgetful"). However, if the speaker uses tautologies to describe temporary states (for example, "tired" or "hungry"), most likely we will not understand the meaning of speech repetition. The study was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (RNF) and published in the journal Journal of Pragmatics.
Quite often, in everyday speech, we, without noticing it, use repetitions and at the same time we know that we will be understood. When someone performs a characteristic act for him, for example, comes late, people are not surprised and say a phrase familiar to us, like "Vasya." It is interesting that even if outsiders witness the delay and hear this proposal, they will understand it correctly and conclude that Vasya is often late. But in fact, everything is not as simple as it seems at first glance, since tautology has its own characteristics.
Linguists from St. Petersburg State University (St. Petersburg), Complutense University of Madrid (Spain) and the Higher School of Economics (Moscow) Elena Vilinbakhova, Victoria Eskandel-Vidal and Natalia Zevakhina conducted an experiment based on examples with fictional characters: “Petya - this is Petya", "Masha" and others. The participants of the experiment were offered possible interpretations of tautologies that they could give in different situations, for example, "Peter always works hard" or "Masha is in a good mood today." Based on which options the respondents chose, scientists formulated two principles for understanding tautology.
On the one hand, the speaker may use tautologies even when the listener knows nothing about the objects being discussed. Thanks to the universal human ability to reason, the interlocutor will be able to deduce the necessary information. This also emphasizes the fact that tautology can be an independent element of speech that does not require proof.
“In our study, we found that people offer their own interpretation of the tautology, even if the character being described is fictional and completely unfamiliar to them. Based on the general course of the conversation, the listeners are ready to draw their own conclusions about what the speaker wants to say,” said Elena Vilinbakhova, head of the RSF project, Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor of St. Petersburg State University.
On the other hand, the general knowledge of the interlocutors may not be enough for a correct understanding of tautologies. Constraints apply to random facts or temporary states, such as mood or well-being. The speaker, choosing tautologies, can only point to stable characteristics of the object.
“Participants in the experiment, when perceiving tautologies like “Petya,” systematically rejected the interpretations “Petya is busy now” or “Petya is sick,” preferring others: “Petya is constantly playing sports” or “Petya is smart.” Thus, we have shown that tautologies can only refer to permanent, and not to temporary properties, ”shared Elena Vilinbakhova.
The experiment was conducted with native English speakers, but the authors believe that the conclusions can be applied to the material of other languages, and plan further research.
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