Pragmatic is a field of linguistics that studies the way we use language in specific contexts. It also looks at things like implied meaning and speech acts. Pragmatics is often contrasted with other areas of linguistic study, including semantics, syntax and semiotics. These other fields of linguistics focus on the rules that determine the literal linguistic meaning of words and sentences, while pragmatics considers how those words and phrases are used in different social contexts.
There is no one-size-fits-all definition of pragmatics, though a number of important concepts are commonly associated with the field. These include conversational implicature, the idea that some meaning is conveyed through a speaker’s nonverbal gestures and body language in addition to their spoken words; managing the flow of reference, which involves how listeners track syntactic clues to understand what a speaker means when they refer to someone or something; and speech act theory, which focuses on the ways in which speakers make specific utterances perform certain functions in a particular context.
A common misunderstanding is that the term “pragmatics” is synonymous with “contextualist.” While context theory is an important aspect of pragmatics, it only considers how hearers interpret the meaning of an utterance in a given situation. It does not attempt to explain how the utterance came to be said in that context or why it is meaningful there. This distinction is important because it separates the study of pragmatics from the study of the logical or literal meaning of words and sentences.
Several fields of study have contributed to the development of pragmatics, including sociology and anthropology. The sociologist and philosopher George Herbert Mead, for example, wrote about how people communicate with each other through a variety of social signals. Morris’ work on pragmatics was heavily influenced by Mead, as noted in this article at Pragmatism Cybrary. Other scholarly fields that have had a major impact on the field of pragmatics are pragmatism and sociocultural theory.
The concept of pragmatics is central to many of the theories and methods that are used in natural language processing, a subfield of artificial intelligence. This is because natural language processing attempts to model human abilities in order to develop computer systems that can process incoming information as well as humans do.
Pragmatics is also important in understanding autism spectrum disorder. Educators, speech pathologists and other autism interventionists frequently work with children to teach them how to express themselves in various contexts, which is known as social pragmatics. These skills, which are also referred to as conversational pragmatics, can have a dramatic effect on the lives of autistic kids, improving their communication and social interaction skills. These skills can help them get jobs, find a life partner and make friends. They can also reduce behavioral problems and improve overall quality of life. A good resource for teaching these skills to children is the Autism Speaks guide to communication. This guide includes tips and strategies for parents, teachers and other professionals to use when working with autistic children.