Overiview pragmatics
Pragmatics: (19/02) Is a subfield of linguistics and semiotics that studies the ways in
which context contributes to meaning. Pragmatics encompasses speech act theory, conversational
implicature, talk in interaction and other approaches to language behaviour in philosophy, sociology,
linguistics and anthropology. Pragmatics studies how the transmission of meaning depends not only on
structural and linguistic knowledge (e.g., grammar, lexicon, etc.) of the speaker and listener, but also on the
context of the utterance, any pre-existing knowledge about those involved, the inferred intent of the speaker,
and other factors. In this respect, pragmatics explains how language users are able to overcome apparent
ambiguity, since meaning relies on the manner, place, time, etc. of an utterance.
It looks beyond the literal meaning of an utterance and considers how meaning is constructed and it focuses
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.
Pragmatics acts as the basis for all language interactions and contact. It is a key feature to the understanding
of a language. Without the function of Pragmatics, there would be very little understanding of intention and
meaning without pragmatics “can you pass the salt?” > literal meaning: “are you physically able to do this
task?” literal response: “Yes” / with pragmatics “will you pass me the salt?” > pragmatical response: pass the
salt to the speaker.
• Context: A) do I make a great coffee? B) you make great coffee
A. Am I a good cook? B) you make great coffee two different context can give different nuances of
meaning
(between structure and use of a language)
Translation: etymology is significant that both the words “translation” and “traduzione” refer to an act of
environment; it comes from Latin “translatio” which is a noun of action coming from “to transfer” from a
position to another. Both expressions significantly make reference to an act of passage which is not always
easy and it requires a lot of different choices. It could be characterized as the process of transferring a written
text from a source language to a target language carried out by a translator in a sociocultural context (so it
takes account of the socio-cultural context). On the other hand, translation is also seen as the product of a
process which is supposed to function in the new environment, in the new cultural society or language. This
product cannot be 100% equivalent (ex. idiomatic expression: it’s raining cats and dogs). According to
Umberto Eco translation can be seen as a negotiation based on the moment in which the translation is carried
out, and the translator is supposed to make a variety of choices considering, for ex. that a text that was
written 60 years ago will have the fidelity of the target language at that time rather than a modern target
language.
Paul H. Grice, Conversational Implicature: (20/02)
Grice introduces the difference between natural and non-natural language. Natural meaning: “smoke means
fire” vs. Non-natural meaning: S mean Z by uttering U if and only if:
a. S intended U to cause some effect Z in recipient H
b. S intended a. to be achieved by H recognizing intention a.
A speaker means something for someone when:
a. The communicative act includes b. and c.
b. The speaker presents the utterance to the addressee intending that what is meant is part of the
communicative act
c. The addressee recognizes that what is meant is part of the communicative act.
Convention is necessary in order to communicate and it is given by: the fact that we regularly communicate,
that is partly arbitrary, that is common in a speech community and that it is used as a way to interact socially
with other people in order to solve communication problems.
In general, conversation are cooperative (people aimed to understand each other and to be understood) and,
generally there is a goal/purpose to the conversation: we don’t just say random things for no reason at all, but
we follow rational rules of conversation that Grice summarized into the Cooperative principle “make a
conversation contribution such at is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose of
direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged”.
