1. SEMANTICS AND PRAGMATICS
Making a Real Connection
Ethan Graves Blue 3
Spring 2012

2. DEFINITIONS
• Semantics – The linguistic study into the meaning of
words.
• Pragmatics – The linguistic study into the context of
language.
• Linguistic modes- Tools linguists use to study language.

3. SEMANTICS
• Gives the meaning of the words
• Looks at the root meaning
• Goes beyond the dictionary definition.
• Lexicons are used

4. SEMANTICS
• What is a lexicon?
• A lexicon is the most basic form of a word from
which all the other versions come.
• Examples
• Ring
• Other forms
• Rang, Rung, Ringing

5. SEMANTICS
• Hadley’s shoe example:
• Hadley’s shoe is blue and orange.

6. PRAGMATICS
• Provides context to conversation
• Helps people read in between the lines
• Uses direct and indirect speech acts
• Takes social and cultural values/understood meanings
into account.

7. PRAGMATICS
• Direct Speech Acts
• Definition- A direct statement without hidden
meaning.
• Types
• Declarative
• Interrogative
• Imperative

8. PRAGMATICS
• Book Example
• “Pick up the books.”

9. PRAGMATICS
• Indirect Speech Acts
• Definition- Direct statement which can have a hidden
meaning.

10. PRAGMATICS
• Kevin’s Job Example
• “Sam, have you finished the payroll yet?”

11. PRAGMATICS IN SOCIETY
• Sandwich Example
• “Woman, go make me a sandwich!”

12. SYNTHESIS
• Most of the time both linguistic modes are necessary to
fully understand conversation.
• They work hand in hand.

13. SYNTHESIS
• Jamie Example
• “Jamie I have told you ten thousand times to pick up
your room. Do not make me tell you again!” “Yes
sir, I am coming to clean right now.”

14. CONCLUSION
• Semantics and Pragmatics are great linguistic modes.
• Without them people could not properly understand conversation.
• To quote Mrs. Harris, “Its not what one says, its how one says it.”

15. GOVERNING BODIES TO CONSULT
• Modern Language Association
• National Science Foundation
• Purdue Writing Lab
• University of Pennsylvania Department of Linguistics