PRAGMATICS

• Study of intended speaker meaning.

•Study on what the speaker or writer
intends to convey.
 Invisible Meaning
• How we recognize what is meant even when it
isn’t actually said.
• E.g. driving into a car park, you notice a sign
saying, “ Heated Attendant Parking”
• “ Sale- Baby & Toddler ”
• “Grand Sale – Ladies”
 Context
• Linguistic context (co-text) – e.g. bank
(homonym) is only known from the sentence on
which bank is intended.
• Physical context – when we see the word
“BANK” spelt out on a building.
 •Deixis - ‘pointing’ via language.
– speaker’s intended meaning.

• Person deixis – (me, you, him, them)

• Place deixis – (here, there, yonder)
• Time deixis – (now, then, tonight, last
week)
 Reference & Inference
• Reference – an act where a speaker uses
language to enable a listen to identify something.
(writer and reader as well)
• Inference – any additional information used by
the listener to connect what is said to what must
be meant.
 Anaphora & Antecedent
• Can I use your book?
• Sure. It’s on that table.

• I hailed the taxi after waiting for 1 hour, but he

just drove by.

• What’s your name?

• It’s Amanda.
 Presupposition
• Assumption of what speaker speaks is true.
• E.g. Your sister is waiting right outside this
room.
• Your car is in a wreck! Do something about it.
 Speech Acts

SENTENCE FORMS FUNCTIONS

Did you eat the food? Interrogative Question
Did you shut the
door?
Eat the food (please) Imperative Command
Shut the door (please) (request)
You ate the food. Declarative Statement
You shut the door.
 Direct Speech Act
• Asking a person directly a question.
E.g.
• Can you get me a glass of water?
• What is your name?

Indirect Speech Act

• Asking a person indirectly a question.
E.g.
• I need a glass of water to drink.
• I did not get your name.
 Politeness
• Face is your public self-image.
• Showing awareness of another person’s face.

Face Threatening Act

• Using direct speech acts to order someone to do
something.
• E.g. Shut the door !
 Face Saving Act
• Reduces the assumption of social power.
• Saying something that lessens the possibility of
threat.
• E.g. Could you shut the door?