Scribd
Upload
746 views7 pages

Pragmatics: Is The Branch of Linguistics That Studies Those Which Cannot Be Captured by

Pragmatics is the study of meaning that goes beyond semantics to consider how language is used in context. It examines how listeners understand intended meaning from speakers. Paul Grice proposed that communication is cooperative, following maxims of quantity, quality, relevance, and manner. The cooperative principle suggests speakers provide the right amount of truthful, relevant information in a clear, orderly way.

Uploaded by

Salam Neamah Hakeem
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
746 views7 pages

Pragmatics: Is The Branch of Linguistics That Studies Those Which Cannot Be Captured by

Pragmatics is the study of meaning that goes beyond semantics to consider how language is used in context. It examines how listeners understand intended meaning from speakers. Paul Grice proposed that communication is cooperative, following maxims of quantity, quality, relevance, and manner. The cooperative principle suggests speakers provide the right amount of truthful, relevant information in a clear, orderly way.

Uploaded by

Salam Neamah Hakeem
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • Pragmatics
  • Cooperative Principle

Pragmatics

Pragmatics is the branch of linguistics that studies those


aspects of meaning which cannot be captured by
semantic theory.

In brief, it deals with how speakers use language in ways


which cannot be predicted from linguistic knowledge alone.

In a narrow sense, it deals with how listeners arrive at the intended


meaning of speakers.
In its broadest sense, it deals with the general principles followed by
human beings when they communicate with one another.
Cooperative Principle

An American philosopher, Paul Grice, is sometimes


regarded as the ‘father of pragmatics’. Grice emphasized
that human beings communicate efficiently because they
are by nature helpful to one another. He attempted to
specify the principles which underlie this cooperative
behaviour, and proposed four ‘maxims’ or rules of
conversation:
1. Maxim of quantity
2. Maxim of quality
3. Maxim of relevance
4. Maxim of manner
Cooperative Principle

1 Maxim of quantity: Give the right amount of


information when you talk.

If someone at a party asked ‘Who’s that person with Bob?’,


a cooperative reply would be ‘That’s his new girlfriend,
Alison.’
An uncooperative reply would be an over-brief one,
such as ‘A girl’,
An over-long one, such as ‘That’s Alison Margaret Jones,
born 20 years ago in Kingston, Surrey, daughter of Peter
and Mary Jones … etc.’
Cooperative Principle

2 Maxim of quality: Be truthful.

For example, if someone asked you the name of an

unfamiliar animal, such as a hippopotamus, reply

truthfully.

Don’t say ‘It’s a horse,’ or ‘It’s a cow,’ if you

know it’s a hippopotamus.


Cooperative Principle

3. Maxim of relevance: Be relevant.

If someone says, ‘What’s for supper?’, give a reply which

fits the question, such as ‘Fish and chips’,

and not ‘Tables and chairs’

or ‘Buttercups are yellow.’


Cooperative Principle

4. Maxim of manner: Be clear and orderly.

For example, describe things in the order in which they

occurred: ‘The plane taxied down the runway, and took

off to the west’

Not ‘The plane took off to the west and taxied

down the runway,’

which might confuse people as to what actually happened.


Cooperative Principle

The cooperative principle seems like common sense.


People sometimes apparently break it, for example:
In answer to the question: ‘What’s for supper?’ one is
likely to receive a reply such as, ‘Billy fell downstairs,’
which doesn’t answer the query.

People are so convinced that the other person in a


conversation is being cooperative, so they would assume
that the hearer probably means: ‘Since Billy was supposed
to cook the supper, and he’s fallen downstairs, I assume that
there isn’t any supper ready.’

You might also like