This document provides background information on pragmatics and definitions of the term. It discusses how pragmatics is the study of contextual meaning, speaker meaning, and how more is communicated than what is said. Some examples are given of how meaning can depend on context, such as differing interpretations of "yes", "no", and "perhaps" depending on whether the speaker is a diplomat or lady. It also notes that contextual meaning is not fully determined by the words used due to a gap between word meaning and intended thought.

1. By: John War
Ronald Villareal

2. Background of “Pragmatics”
 CharlesMorris (1903 – 1979)
 Was concerned with the study of the science of signs,
which he called semiotic;
 Distinguished 3 branches of semiotics: syntactics (or
syntax), which studies the formal relation among
different signs; semantics, the study of the relation
between the signs and the objects they denote; and
pragmatics, the study of the relation of signs to their
interpreters, i.e. people.

3. Pragmatics
The word pragmatics derives from
the Greek word „pragma‟, which
means 'matter', 'thing', but also
'action' (cf. Linke, Nussbaumer &
Portmann (1996)).

4. Definitions
1: “Pragmatics is the study of speaker meaning.”
2: “ Pragmatics is the study of contextual meaning”
3:“ Pragmatics is the study of how more gets
communicated than is said”
4:“ Pragmatics is the study of the expression of
relative distance.” ( Yule:2008).

5. Pragmatics
1. When a diplomat says yes, he means „perhaps‟;
2. When he says perhaps, he means „no‟;
3. When he says no, he is not a diplomat.
4. When a lady says no, she means „perhaps‟;
5. When she says perhaps, she means „yes‟;
6. When she says yes, she is not a lady.

6. Assigning Sense in Context
Sometimes the process of identifying pragmatic meaning
involves interpreting ambiguous and vague linguistic
expressions in order to assign them sense in context.
These observations show that contextual meaning is not
fully determined by the words that are used: there is a gap
between the meaning of the words use dy the speaker
and the thought that the speaker intends to express by
using those words on a particular occasion.