Defining pragmatics

by Ariel, Mira

Type Book

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Title Statements

Full title :Defining pragmatics / Mira Ariel.

Summary

Although there is no shortage of definitions for pragmatics the received wisdom is that 'pragmatics' simply cannot be coherently defined. In this groundbreaking book Mira Ariel challenges the prominent definitions of pragmatics, as well as the widely-held assumption that specific topics - implicatures, deixis, speech acts, politeness - naturally and uniformly belong on the pragmatics turf. She reconstitutes the field, defining grammar as a set of conventional codes, and pragmatics as a set of inferences, rationally derived. The book applies this division of labor between codes and inferences to many classical pragmatic phenomena, and even to phenomena considered 'beyond pragmatics'. Surprisingly, although some of these turn out pragmatic, others actually turn out grammatical. Additional intriguing questions addressed in the book include : why is it sometimes difficult to distinguish grammar from pragmatics? Why is there no grand design behind grammar nor behind pragmatics? Are all extragrammatical phenomena pragmatic?--Résumé de l'éditeur.

Edition Statements

Publication Date:2010.

Publication Statements

Publisher(s):Cambridge University Press
Place of Publication:Cambridge
Language:eng
Publication Date:2010.

The Physical Object

Description:xviii, 330 pages

Edition Identifiers

ISBN:9780521517836, 0521517834, 9780521732031, 0521732034
oclc:ocn693823895
LC Classification:P99.4.P72
Dewey Decimal:306.44

1. What's under the big-tent pragmatics?; Part I. Deconstructing Pragmatics : 2. Surveying multiple-criterion definitions for pragmatics; 3. Problematizing the criteria; Part II. Reconstituting Pragmatics : 4. Grammar as code, pragmatics as inference; 5. Inferential pragmatic theories; Part III. Mapping the Big Tent : 6. The canon; 7. Functional syntax; 8. Beyond pragmatics; 9. Many questions, some resolutions.