As a field of language study, pragmatics is fairly new. It seeks to explain aspects of meaning which cannot be found in the plain sense of words or structures, as explained by semantics. Pragmatics is a systematic way of explaining language use in context. So, humans strive to find linguistic means to make a text, perhaps, shorter, more interesting, more relevant, more purposeful or more personal. A simplified way of thinking about pragmatics is to recognise, for example, that language needs to be kept interesting - a speaker or writer does not want to bore a listener or reader, for example, by being over-long or tedious. Pragmatics is an important area of study for your course. The extra meaning is there, not because of the semantic aspects of the words themselves, but because we share certain contextual knowledge with the writer or speaker of the text. Pragmatics allows us to investigate how this meaning beyond the words can be understood without ambiguity. We know without asking that there are no babies are for sale - that what is for sale are items used for babies. Consider a sign seen in a children's wear shop window: ∻aby Sale - lots of bargains. Pragmatics is a way of investigating how sense can be made of certain texts even when, from a semantic viewpoint, the text seems to be either incomplete or to have a different meaning to what is really intended.
Pragmatics is all about the meanings between the lexis and the grammar and the phonology.Meanings are implied and the rules being followed are unspoken, unwritten ones. Pragmatics studies the factors that govern our choice of language in social interaction and the effects of our choice on others. They are like spiders who exploit their webs, but themselves get caught in the sticky strands. But blindly, they sometimes fall into its traps. Humans use the multiple options of language often without thinking. All normal humans can produce and understand any number of new words and sentences. Unlike them, we can say what we want, when we want. We human beings are odd compared with our nearest animal relatives.
Headings have their own hierarchical logic, too: Main section headings look like this Sub-section headings look like this Minor headings within sub-sections look like this Brown type is used where italics would appear in print (in this screen font, italic looks like this, and is unkind on most readers). On this page I use red type for emphasis. If you are unsure whether to spend time finding out about this subject, you might like to jump straight to the brief section on pragmatics for exam students. This resource may also be of general interest to language students on university degree courses, trainee teachers and anyone with a general interest in language science. This guide is written for students who are following GCE Advanced level (AS and A2) syllabuses in English Language. Navigation Home page Contents Forum Maximize Search Comment Mail me Author
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