Introduction to Pragmatics

1. Pragmatics
ENG 122 (Introduction to
Pragmatics)

2. Definitions
 Pragmatics is the study of the relationships
between linguistic forms and the users of those
forms.
 Allows humans into the analysis of linguistics
forms compared with syntax and semantics.
 Syntax - relationships between linguistic forms,
how they are arranged in sequence, and which
sequences are well-formed.
 Semantics - relationships between linguistic
forms and entities in the world; that is, how
words literally connect to things.

3. Advantage of studying language
via pragmatics
 One can talk about people’s:
 intended meanings
 assumptions
 purposes or goals
 kinds of actions (for example, requests) that they are
performing when they speak
Example:
A: I am so tired.
B: But it was worth the lie you told him, hmmm…

4. The disadvantage…
 All these very human concepts are extremely
difficult to analyze in a consistent and
objective way.
 Imply for some
 Infer to others
 Without providing any clear linguistic evidence
as the explicit source of ‘the meaning’ of
what was communicated

5. What is being communicated?
 Her: So− did you?
 Him: Hey− who wouldn’t?
I heard the speakers, I knew what they said, but I
had no idea what is communicated!
 female and male are talking
 structure: questions
 meaning, not explicit and can be interpreted
in many ways

6. Pragmatics …
 is appealing because
 it’s about how people make sense of each
other linguistically
 is frustrating because
 it requires us to make sense of people and
what they have in mind

7. Two meanings
 Intrinsic to a linguistic expression
containing it, and it cannot be separated
from that expression. (semantics)
 Not intrinsic to a linguistic expression, but
results from its interaction with the context
in which it is used.
 The second meaning is the concern of
pragmatics

8. Illustration
 Susie is a heavy smoker.
 Semantically, it means
 Susie smokes a large quantity of tobacco
every day.
 What happens when the sentence is
uttered as a response to three different
utterances produced by Jessica in three
different contexts?

9. More on pragmatics!
 J: Can you ask Susie to sign this petition?
Context: J is trying to have smoking banned in
offices.
 J: Would Susie like to go out with Dave?
Context: J is trying to arrange a blind date for
Dave, a non-smoker who hates cigarette smoke.
 J: Do you know of anybody I could ask?
Context: J, a medical researcher, is looking for
smokers to take part in some medical tests.

10. Something different is being
communicated
 Susie is unlikely to sign the petition, so
there's no point of asking her.
 Susie and David won't get on, so there's
no point in fixing them up.
 Susie will be a suitable person for J's
study.
These meanings have been communicated as a
consequence of the interaction between what
was said and the context in which it was said.

11. Context-bound relationship
 What is said and What is communicated
 Pragmatics is the study of speaker
meaning.
 Pragmatics is the study of contextual
meaning.
 Pragmatics is the study of how more gets
communicated than is said.
 Pragmatics is the study of the expression
of relative distance.

12. In face-to-face interaction
 Pragmatics is not as clear and explained in
spontaneous interaction. Even if Susie, for
instance, feels offended with context 2 (blind
date), if J is asking her, theoretically, she would
still cooperate in the conversation.
 Cooperative principle is the fundamental
principle governing conversational exchanges
 When spoken interaction is transcribed in written
form, analysts can study more closely the
utterances and apply a pragmatic analysis on
the transcript.