- "In linguistics and related fields, pragmatics is the study of how context contributes to meaning."
The study of how context affects the interpretation of language.
Speech acts: This is the study of the intentions behind the words that people use. It involves understanding how language can be used to perform various actions, such as making a request, giving an order or making a promise.
Implicature: This is the study of what people mean when they say something without explicitly stating it. It involves understanding the speaker's intended meaning, even if it is not explicitly stated.
Reference: This is the study of how words and phrases refer to objects and concepts in the real world. It involves understanding how language can be used to identify, describe and refer to various things.
Presupposition: This is the study of the information that is assumed to be true when a speaker makes a statement. It involves understanding how language can be used to assume certain things about the world without actually saying them.
Politeness: This is the study of how language can be used to show respect and consideration for others. It involves understanding how politeness is expressed in different cultures and situations.
Context: This is the study of how language is affected by the surrounding environment. It involves understanding how context can influence the meaning of words and how speakers use context to communicate effectively.
Conversational analysis: This is the study of how conversations are structured and how speakers interact with each other. It involves understanding the rules and conventions that govern conversation and how speakers use these to achieve their goals.
Pragmatic competence: This is the ability to use language in a socially appropriate and effective way. It involves understanding how to adapt language to different contexts and how to use language to achieve specific goals.
Speech act theory: This is the study of how language can be used to perform actions. It involves understanding how speakers use language to make requests, give orders, make promises, etc.
Grice's maxims: These are the principles that govern how people use language to communicate. They include principles such as relevance, clarity, and brevity.
Intertextuality: This is the study of how texts are connected to each other. It involves understanding how the meaning of a text can be influenced by other texts that have been read or written.
Discourse analysis: This is the study of how language is used in larger units of communication, such as conversations, texts, or speeches. It involves understanding how speakers use language to convey meaning and how meaning is constructed through discourse.
Deixis: Refers to the situation where the meaning of a word changes based on the context in which it is used. The meaning of words such as "here," "there," "this," and "that" depend on the context in which they are used.
Implicature: Refers to the meaning that is conveyed indirectly by a speaker. For example, if someone says "I ate a sandwich," it is usually understood that they ate only one sandwich unless they say otherwise.
Presupposition: Refers to the meaning that is taken for granted by the speaker and the listener. For example, if a speaker says "I am going to take a shower," the presupposition is that they are dirty and need to clean themselves.
Speech Acts: Refers to the actions performed through language, such as asking a question, making a request, or giving a command.
Politeness: Refers to the use of language to show respect and courtesy to others. It includes using honorifics, addressing someone appropriately, and avoiding offensive language.
Relevance Theory: Refers to the idea that people communicate to achieve a mutual understanding based on relevance between the speaker's utterance and the listener's interpretation.
Contextual meaning: Refers to the meaning that is created by the context in which a word or phrase is used.
Scalar implicature: Refers to the meaning that is inferred when comparing two items on a scale. For example, if someone says "I like dogs," it is usually inferred that they prefer dogs over other animals.
Post-Gricean Pragmatics: An extension of Grice's theory of implicature that incorporates more complex linguistic phenomena such as metaphor and irony.
Reflexivity: Refers to the ability of language to refer back to itself or to its own use. For example, the statement "This sentence is false" is reflexive.
- "The field of study evaluates how human language is utilized in social interactions, as well as the relationship between the interpreter and the interpreted."
- "Linguists who specialize in pragmatics are called pragmaticians."
- "The field has been represented since 1986 by the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA)."
- "Pragmatics encompasses phenomena including implicature, speech acts, relevance and conversation, as well as nonverbal communication."
- "Theories of pragmatics go hand-in-hand with theories of semantics, which studies aspects of meaning, and syntax which examines sentence structures, principles, and relationships."
- "The ability to understand another speaker's intended meaning is called pragmatic competence."
- "Pragmatics emerged as its own subfield in the 1950s after the pioneering work of J.L. Austin and Paul Grice."
- "Pragmatics is the study of how context contributes to meaning."
- "The field has been represented since 1986 by the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA)."
- "Pragmatics encompasses phenomena including implicature, speech acts, relevance and conversation, as well as nonverbal communication."
- "Theories of pragmatics go hand-in-hand with theories of semantics, which studies aspects of meaning."
- "Linguists who specialize in pragmatics are called pragmaticians."
- "The ability to understand another speaker's intended meaning is called pragmatic competence."
- "Pragmatics emerged as its own subfield in the 1950s after the pioneering work of J.L. Austin and Paul Grice."
- "The field of study evaluates how human language is utilized in social interactions."
- "The field has been represented since 1986 by the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA)."
- "The field of study evaluates [...] as well as the relationship between the interpreter and the interpreted."
- "Pragmatics encompasses phenomena including implicature, speech acts, relevance and conversation, as well as nonverbal communication."
- "Syntax examines sentence structures, principles, and relationships."