English Linguistics (pragmatics)

Pragmatics

Pragmatics studies the use of language. It analyses the:

Situational context

Situation which develops in the text, what is around you when you produce a text. The physical space.

Background knowledge

What the interlocutor knows. We take it for granted.

Interpersonal knowledge

Is related to the participant that anybody else has. The others may be excluded. Is specific. Could be acquired with interaction to share something.

Co-text

It is the linguistics. It is the text that surrounds the text we are analysing.

• Preceding and following text that surrounds the text
• Set of references

Linguistics element gives

Coherence: it is a deeper level. It is the logical structure of the text.

Cohesion: it is superficial. It refers to grammatics.

The context is important when there are:

• Good references. That makes the text coherent and with cohesion.
• Good use of adverbs and adjectives. That gives a good context.

Types of references

• Exophoric references: it takes you outside the text.
• Exophora: mention of an object with previous mention.
• Deixis: referring expression which refers to particular elements in the text. There are 4 types of deixis: