Pragmatics is the study of language use in context. It focuses on the context-dependence of various aspects of linguistic interpretation and includes a number of theoretical approaches, including speech act theory, the theory of conversational implicature and pragmatics as applied to texts. It is important to distinguish pragmatics from semantics, as the latter involves the study of words and their meanings in isolation, while the former involves the study of language in interaction with its interlocutors and their environment.
The term “pragmatic” is most often used to describe something that is practical or logical, such as a decision made from a practical point of view or an action taken in response to pragmatic considerations. It is also sometimes used to refer to a person or idea that is practical and reasonable, as in the example of a politician with a pragmatic political philosophy or a furniture shopper who is pragmatic about the quality of the chairs they are buying.
One of the most interesting and challenging areas of pragmatics is that of communicative intentions and the ways in which these are conveyed by means of linguistic behaviour. This is because the understanding of utterances is usually influenced by the speaker’s intention and the communicative acts involved in their construction (for example, the fact that they may wish to avoid offending someone or that they may be interested in being seen as cooperative).
Another pragmatic consideration is the degree to which a particular utterance expresses a specific proposition. This is an area of controversy, largely because there are many studies that report conflicting results. This is because it is not easy to determine which features of the context are relevant in order to match up sentences with propositions, as semantics aims to do.
Pragmatic considerations are also important in the way people learn and acquire social norms. For example, children are generally taught social norms such as respecting personal space and speaking at a reasonable volume by their parents. Children who are good at following these pragmatic norms generally show a high level of social competence.
The study of pragmatics is a rich and fascinating field of research that brings together elements of anthropology, sociology and philosophy as well as the more technical fields of linguistics and psychology. There are many different theories of pragmatics, some based on philosophical ideas about human communication and others based on empirical evidence from natural language data.
The most well-known theory of pragmatics is that of John Searle. His model of natural pragmatics consists of four broad strands, namely: lexical pragmatics, communicative actions and their consequences, pragmatic attribution and intentional ambiguity. This model is a useful framework for understanding the dynamic nature of real-world language use. It provides a solid foundation for explaining why and how things happen in the way that they do, and it is a very useful tool when trying to predict what might happen in future interactions. It is therefore essential reading for anyone who is interested in the workings of natural language and its use in the real world.