Lesson 1. What is Pragmatics?

Objectives
After this lesson, students will be able to: 
1. recall some concepts in language and linguistics;
2. define 'pragmatics' 
3. describe the purpose of language; 
4. share examples of pragmatics and explain their purpose in language
5. establish the difference among the three fields of linguistics: syntax, semantics
and pragmatics.

Before we proceed to the definition of pragmatics, let us first recall some concepts about
language and Linguistics.

What is language? What are its properties?

The physical aspects of human teeth, larynx and so on are not shared by other creatures
and may explain
why only the human creature has the capacity for speech. However, we did not suggest
that the human
was the only creature, which was capable of communicating. All creatures are capable of
communicating
with other members of their species; nevertheless, there are some properties of language
that are only
present in humans.
The physical aspects of human teeth, larynx and so on are not shared by other creatures
and may explain
why only the human creature has the capacity for speech. However, we did not suggest
that the human
was the only creature, which was capable of communicating. All creatures are capable of
communicating
with other members of their species; nevertheless, there are some properties of language
that are only
present in humans.

Language is a particular kind of system for encoding and decoding information. It

is used to communicate or spreading information. In order to understand a certain
language better, we need to identify the properties and the characteristics of language.
There are several properties of language that have identified, that is divided into six sub-
categories, which is displacement, arbitrariness, productivity, cultural transmission,
discreteness and duality.
Arbitrariness

Arbitrariness means there is no natural connection between a linguistic form and

its meaning. There is no natural relation between the word and what the word
designates. However, in animal’s communication, there is a connection between the
message and the signal used to convey the message. Their communication consists of a
set of fixed and limited sets of vocals and gastrula forms.

Discreteness
Discreteness means sounds are meaningfully distinct. For example, the
pronunciation of pack and back leads to distinction of meaning and that is only due to
the difference between p and b sounds in English. In speech production that is the
spoken language, two distinct levels are recognized which is a level of distinct sounds
and a level of distinct meaning.

Productivity

It is an aspect of a language which is linked to the fact that the potential number
of utterances in any human language is infinite. This means that the potential unique
sentences/word combinations/sounds is infinite. With productivity, the system can
create new expressions and the potential number of expressions is infinite.

Displacement

Displacement allows language users to refer to past and future time and to other
locations which allows us to talk about things and events not present in the immediate
environment such as to talk about things and places whose existence we cannot be sure
of.
This property allows language users to communicate about events or things that
are absent from the current environment (what you did last week, your friend who is not
with you, what you will do on vacation, etc.). This allows humans to make up stories and
to think about the future. Animal communication is almost exclusively designed for this
moment, here and now. Yet, human language allows the users of a language to talk
about the past, present and future, things that do not exist in real life.

Duality
At one level of language there are discrete sounds, and at another, there are
discrete meanings. You can combine the letters g, o and d in two different ways: god and
dog, and those two words mean different things/sound differently even though they are
comprised of the same three sounds.

Cultural Transmission

Language is acquired through culture. Language is passed on from one

generation to the next, acquiring the language from other speakers and not from
parental genes. One example of the cultural transmission of language is a child with
physical features inherited from its natural parents (e.g. Korean) who, if adopted at
birth by English speakers, will grow up speaking English (and not Korean).

What Is Linguistics?
Linguistics is the study of language. Knowledge of linguistics, however, is
different from knowledge of a language. A linguist can know and understand the
internal structure of a language without actually speaking it. 
A linguist is not someone who speaks many languages, rather linguists study
grammar, the social and psychological aspects of language use, and the relationships
among languages, both historical and present-day." (CAL (1), 2006) 

Branches of Linguistics
 Phonetics – study of the physical properties of speech production and perception
 Phonology – description of the systems and patterns of speech sounds in a
language; deals with the abstract representation of sounds.
 Morphology – study of the internal structures of words and how they can be
modified.
 Syntax – study of how words combine to form grammatical sentences

Other Subfields:
 Semantics - study of the meaning of words (lexical semantics) and fixed word
combinations (phraseology) and how these combine to form the meanings of
sentences.
 Pragmatics – study of how utterances are used in communicative acts – and
the role played by context and non-linguistics knowledge in the transmission
of meaning; study of speaker-intended meanings.
 Discourse Analysis – analysis of language use in texts (spoken written, or
signed)

So, what is Pragmatics?

Pragmatics studies how language is used by real people in real contexts, in spoken

discourse and written contexts, and is highly influenced by cultural and social contexts.

Pragmatics outlines the study of meaning in the interactional context.

It looks beyond the literal meaning of an utterance and considers how meaning is
constructed as well as focusing on implied meanings. It considers language as an
instrument of interaction, what people mean when they use language and how we
communicate and understand each other.

Yule (1996) adds that pragmatics is concerned with four main areas:
 Pragmatics is the study of speaker meaning (it gives more importance
to what people actually mean by the words they speak, than to the words
themselves)
 Pragmatics is the study of contextual meaning (it’s not simply what
people mean, but rather what people mean in particular contexts and how
that influences what is said – It considers how speakers organize what they
want to say according to who they say it to, where, when, and under what
circumstances they say it)
 Pragmatics is the study of how more gets communicated than
what is said / the investigation of invisible meaning) (how listeners
make sense of what was said -- and left unsaid-- and interpret the intended
meanings)
 Pragmatics is the study of the expression of relative
distance (speakers determine how much needs to be said based on the
relationship -- closer or more distant -- they have with the listener)

So, pragmatics is the ability to interpret people's intended meanings, their

assumptions, their purposes or goals, and the kinds of actions (e.g., making a request,
apologizing) that they are performing when they speak or write (Yule, 1996, pp. 3-4).

What would happen to language if Pragmatics did not exist?

Pragmatics acts as the basis for all language interactions and contact. It is a key
feature to the understanding of language and the responses that follow this. Therefore,
without the function of Pragmatics, there would be very little understanding of intention
and meaning.

We would like to demonstrate this by showing you how life would be WITHOUT
Pragmatics:
‘Can you pass the salt?’
Literal Meaning: Are you physically able to do this task?
Literal Response: ‘Yes’

(Pragmatic Meaning: Will you pass me the salt?

Pragmatic Response: pass the salt to the speaker.)

‘What time do you call this?’

Literal Meaning: What time is it?
Literal Response: A time (e.g. ‘twenty to one.’)
 (Pragmatic Meaning: a different question entirely, e.g. Why are you so
late?
Pragmatic Response: Explain the reason for being so late.)

Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics

Syntax is the study of the relationships between linguistic forms, how they are
arranged in sequence, and which sequences are well-formed. This type of study
generally takes place without considering any world of reference or any user of the
forms.

Syntax is the study of sentence structure and the rules of grammar. While people
can do what they want with language (and many often do), syntax helps common users
of a language understand how to organize words so that they make the most sense. 

Let's start with this sentence:

"The through pasture the chased a dog rabbit."

Using normal rules of syntax, our first example sentence means nothing. But
rearrange those exact words in a new order and they make perfect syntactical sense:
"The dog chased a rabbit through the pasture."

Semantics is the study of the relationships between linguistic forms and entities in
the world; that is, how words literally connect to things. Semantic analysis also attempts
to establish the relationships between verbal descriptions and states of affairs in the
world as accurate (true) or not, regardless of who produces that description.

For instance, there's a world of difference in these two sentences: "I robbed a
bank;" and, "A bank robbed me." In the former, I took money from a bank against their
will. In the latter, they took money from me.

Also, if we rearrange our first example to read, "A rabbit chased the dog through
the pasture," it might make sense as far as syntax but seem a little odd when considering
semantics. That's because rabbits don't usually chase dogs.

Another example: "The squirrel sang bumper cars."  On a pure syntax level, this
sentence "makes sense" with a noun-verb-noun structure, right? It's only when you
bring in semantics that you think, how the heck does a squirrel sing bumper cars?

Pragmatics is the study of the relationships between linguistic forms and the users
of those forms. In this three-part distinction, only pragmatics allows humans into-the
analysis. The advantage of studying language via pragmatics is that one can talk about
people’s intended meanings, their assumptions, their purposes or goals, and the kinds of
actions that they are performing when they speak.
 Pragmatics takes semantics one step further, because it's the study of the
meaning of sentences within a certain context. 

Consider the declarative sentence, "Break it down."

The meaning of this sentence changes dramatically with context. If you're
at the end of a large gathering and someone tells you to "break it down,"
they may mean for you to help put away folding chairs and folding tables.
On a dance floor, a person would logically hear "break it down" as a call to
show off some super sweet dance moves. In a business presentation,
"break it down" may be a call for you to share your great business-related
concept.

Final Word on Meaning

Syntax is what we use to do our best to communicate on the most basic level. Semantics
helps us determine if there's any meaning to be found. Pragmatics enables us to apply
the correct meaning to the correct situation.

REFERENCES:

Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. Oxford: OUP

Mey, J. L. (2001). Pragmatics – An Introduction. USA: Blackwell.