Semantics and pragmatics
2008 (English)In: Linguistics Applied, ISSN 1689-7765, Vol. 1, no 1, p. 29-36Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Christina Alm-Arvius
English Department,
Stockholm University
SE106 91 Stockholm
Sweden
Christina.Alm-Arvius@English.su.se
http://www.english.su.se/
Semantics and Pragmatics
Abstract:
Meanings in natural language use can be either systematic or incidental, but all the same it does not appear possible to identify a set of consistent and non-contradictory criteria for distinguishing two general contrasting meaning categories termed semantics and pragmatics respectively. Instead the most valid theoretical description seems to be to include any possible meanings of a language, or its use, in the qualitative notion of semantics, and, in addition, recognise the occurrence of incidental pragmatic meaning variations and additions. In other words, semantics is the wider or superordinate category, encompassing all and any language meanings, while pragmatics is a smaller, subordinate category, including only situationally induced or personally variable meaning aspects.
Key words: deixis, implicatures, pragmatics, presuppositions, reference, semantics, semantics of understanding, speech acts, truth-conditional semantics
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Bydgoszcz, Poland: University of Kazimierz Wielki Press , 2008. Vol. 1, no 1, p. 29-36
Keywords [en]
deixis, implicatures, pragmatics, presuppositions, reference, semantics, semantics of understanding, speech acts, truth-conditional semantics
National Category
General Language Studies and Linguistics Specific Languages
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-36983OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-36983DiVA, id: diva2:291552
2010-02-022010-02-022022-02-24Bibliographically approved