UNIT 10: Pragmatics.

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PRAGMATICS
! Pragmatics is the study of invisible meaning (how we recognize what is meant even when it isnt
actually said or written).
There are lots of illustrations of this pragmatic principle. Driving by a parking garage you may see a
large sign. You read the sign, knowing what each of the words means and what the sign as a whole means.
We must use the meanings of the words, the context in which they occur and some pre-existing knowledge
of what would be a likely message. Our interpretation of the meaning of the sign is not based solely on the
words, but on what we think the writer intended to communicate.
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CONTEXT
! There are different kinds of context. There is obviously the physical context, where we encounter
words and phrases. There is also a linguistic context, also known as co-text. The co-text of a word is the set
of other words used in the same phrase or sentence. If the word bank is used with other words like steep or
overgrown, we have no problem deciding which type of bank is meant.
! DEIXIS: there are some very common words in our language that cant be interpreted at all if we
dont know the context. Some sentences of English are virtually impossible to understand if we dont
know who is speaking, about whom, where and when. For example: Youll have to bring it back
tomorrow because she isnt here today. Out of context, this sentence is really vague. Expressions
such as tomorrow or here are known as deictic expressions (deixis). We use deixis to point to
people, places and times.
! Person deixis: me, you, him, her, us, the, that man, those idiots
! Spatial deixis: here, there, beside you, near that, above your head
! Temporal deixis: now, then, last week, tomorrow, later
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REFERENCE
! We have to define reference as an act by which a speaker uses language to enable a listener to
identify something.
! INFERENCE: an inference is additional information used by the listener to create a connection
! between what is said and what it must be meant. For example: Jennifer is wearing a Calvin Klein.

ANAPHORA: we usually make a distinction between how we introduce new referents (a puppy)
and how we refer back to them (it, the puppy). The second referring expression is an example of
anaphora. The first mention is called the antecedent.
! PRESUPPOSITION: when we use a referring expression like this or she, we usually assume that
our listeners can recognize which referent is intended. What a speaker assumes is true or known by a
listener can be described as presupposition.
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SPEECH ACTS
! We use the term speech act to describe actions such as requesting or commanding. We can
define a speech act as the action performed by a speaker with an utterance. If you say: Ill be there at six, you
are not just speaking, you seem to be performing the speech act of promising.
 When an interrogative structure such as: Did you?, Are they? is used with the function of a
question, it is described as a direct speech act. But if we say: Can you pass the salt? we are not really asking
a question about someones ability. We normally use this second example to make a request. This is an
example of an indirect speech act.
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POLITENESS
! Politeness can be defined as showing awareness and consideration of another persons face. If you
say something that represents a threat to another persons self-image, that is called a face-threatening act.
Whenever you say something that lessens the possible threat to anothers face, it can be described as a face-
saving act.
! NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE FACE: negative face is the need to be independent and free.
Positive face is the need to be accepted by a group.