Pragmatic is a branch of linguistics that studies how language is used in the context of communication. It is sometimes confused with other areas of linguistics, such as semantics (the study of rules that determine literal linguistic meaning), syntax (the study of word order), and semiotics (the study of symbols), but they are not the same thing. Pragmatics deals with the use of language in a social context, and it examines how physical or social factors can affect a speaker’s choice of expressions or their meanings.
A central concept of pragmatics is that there are many different ways to interpret a given utterance. The ambiguities and implicatures of an utterance are determined by the situation in which it is spoken, and the speaker’s intention. These intentions are called communicative and are a key part of what pragmatics is about.
The question “How are you?” is a typical example of a communication that is both ambiguous and implicative. The response to this question could involve a discussion of every medical and personal detail about the speaker’s health, which is not necessary to understand the intent of the original utterance. A better response, therefore, would be to say something like “I’m fine.” This is an example of a pragmatic response.
Different pragmatic theories are based on different notions of what is communicated in an utterance, as well as how these utterances can be interpreted by the listener. Some pragmatic theorists, known as pragmatic literalists, do not accept any implication in an utterance beyond what is triggered by grammar, while others, such as minimalists or hidden indexical theorists, allow for a certain degree of contextually sensitive information to be embedded in an utterance.
A related concept is relevance, which relates to how an utterance can be relevant to the listener’s current circumstances. This is also a major concern of pragmatics, and it has led to the development of a number of concepts in the field, including a theory of conversational implicature that examines the way that an utterance can be used to generate implied information.
Another important aspect of pragmatics is speech act theory, which focuses on the way that a speaker uses a particular expression in a specific context. For example, the Dyirbal language of Australia contains a set of avoidance words that are used to express certain kinds of social taboos. The speaker may not want to discuss these with the audience, but they must still communicate their intent by using a different lexicon that expresses these taboos.
In addition to these conceptual approaches, there is computational pragmatics, which focuses on how computers can be programmed to process human language and information in the same way that humans do. This includes such activities as reference resolution, which involves determining whether two objects are the same or different. This is an essential aspect of a computer’s ability to function, and it forms the basis for much of modern artificial intelligence. It is an area that is undergoing considerable development, and it is expected that future computers will be able to mimic the way that humans understand each other.