Pragmatics

Question 1

How did pragmatics come into being

Answer 1

During the 20th century, the analytical philosophy of language had two camps

Ideal language philosophy
Ordinary language philosophy

Ordinary lan philosophy thought ideal lan philosophy hides important characteristics of natural language and suggested a descriptive approach emphasizing
Pragmatics
⬆️ this gave rise to contemporary pragmatics

Question 2

Definitions of pragmatics

What does pragmatics study

Answer 2

Crystal.1987
Studies the factors that govern the choice of words in social interaction and the effect of the choice on others.

Leech 1983
Studies how utterances have meaning in actual situations

Yule 1996
How more gets communicated than said

Pragmatics study
•meaning is interactional contexts
•speakers meaning including their intended meanings, assumptions, speaking goals and context meaning and how context contribute to create meaning
• practical application of sounds, words, and sentences in actual situations
• implied meaning.
•gives different interpretations.

Question 3

Similarities and differences in semantics and pragmatics

Answer 3

Similarities
Both are branches in linguistics
Both study meaning and how it gets connected to real world.

Differences
1) word/sentences meaning vs meaning in context

semantics study meaning of words and sentences
Pragmatics study meaning in context

Semantic info is encoded in to words and sentences
Pragmatic information is generated by speaker utterances in a specific context or what the speaker intends to say or not say.

2) context independent context dependent
3) focuses on literal meaning vs implied meaning
4) theory of meaning vs practical application of meaning