1. Pragmatics

2. Pragmatics is the study of the aspects of meaning and language use that are dependent on the speaker, the addressee and other features of the context of utterance
What is the difference between semantics and pragmatics?
Semantics and Pragmatics are branches of Linguistics. Semantics deals with the study of meaning of word without the context.
On the other hand, Pragmatics understands the language meaning but keeping the context in mind

3. Pronouns and Deictic Words
Deictic words are the ones that receive part of their meaning via context and the orientation of the speaker.
Such words are called deictic and include pronouns (she, it, I), demonstratives (this, that), adverbs (here, there, now, today), prepositions (behind, before) and complex expressions involving such words (those towers over there).

4. I wanted him to come here now
(deictic) (deictic) (deictic) (deictic)
Barack Obama wanted Joe Biden to come to his office at 2.00pm on 26th June 2015.

5. I want him to come here now
I, him, here, now have context-dependent meanings; their reference is determined in part by the context in which they’re uttered.
However, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Obama’s office, have context-independent meanings, which means that they’ll always pick out the same referents regardless of the context

6. If the referent of a pronoun is lexically restricted, we need to look to the context in which the pronoun is uttered to determine the referent.
This process is called reference resolution. There are two types of context relevant for the resolution of a pronoun: linguistic and situational. Linguistic context is anything that has been uttered in the discourse prior to or along with the pronoun. Situational context is anything non-linguistic.

7. Pronouns and Linguistic Context
There are two different ways in which the reference of a pronoun can be resolved by the linguistic context. The first is sentence-internal; the second is sentence- external.
A reflexive pronoun is a sort of pronoun that needs to receive its reference via linguistic context, and more specifically by sentence-internal linguistic context. In other words, it requires that the sentence contain another NP—an antecedent—that it can co-refer with. In English, reflexive pronouns end with -self or -selves, like himself or themselves

8. John wrote himself a letter
(antencedent and the reflexive pronoun are available)
*John wrote herself a letter
(no match between the genders)
* Herself left
(no antecedent)

9. Implicature
The aspect of meaning that a speaker conveys, implies, or suggests without directly expressing.
Although the utterance "Can you pass the salt?" is literally a request for information about one's ability to pass salt, the understood implicature is a request for salt.

10. Implicature John: Do you know how to change a tire?
Jane: I know how to call a tow truck.
Jane asserts that she knows how to call a tow truck. But she implicates that she doesn’t know how to change a tire.

11. Implicature Sue: Does Mary have a boyfriend?
Bill: She’s been driving to Santa Barbara every weekend
Bill asserts that Mary has been driving to Santa Barbara every weekend. But he implicates that Mary has a boyfriend (and that the boyfriend lives in Santa Barbara)

12. Maxims of Conversation

13. Maxims of Conversation
Paul Grice attempted to formalize what we know when we know how to perceive implicature in a conversation.
He concluded that language users can calculate implicatures because they are all following some implicit principles (and each language user can therefore assume that others are following those principles).
Grice called these principles “maxims” of discourse, and used them to serve as the foundation of pragmatics.

14. Maxim of Quality: Truth
• Do not say what you believe to be false. • Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence

15. Maxim of Quantity: Information
Make your contribution as informative as is required for the current purposes of the exchange.
Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.

16. Maxim of Relation: Relevance
Be relevant.

17. Maxim of Manner: Clarity
Avoid obscurity of expression.
Avoid ambiguity.
Avoid unnecessary wordiness.
Be orderly.

18. !!!!!!!!!!!! These are not prescriptive rules but rather part of a strategy used by the community of language users to enable the use of conversational implicature. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

19. example
If John stops Mary on the street and asks her for directions to the library, and she responds “Walk up three streets and take a left,” it’s a successful discourse only because Mary is being cooperative (and John assumes Mary is being cooperative). In particular, John assumes that Mary is following the Maxim of Quality.

20. However, polonius: What do you read, my lord?
hamlet: Words, words, words.
polonius: What is the matter, my lord?
hamlet: Between who?
polonius: I mean, the matter that you read, my lord.
hamlet: Slanders, sir: for the satirical rogue says here that old men
have gray beards, that their faces are wrinkled, their eyes
purging thick amber and plum-tree gum, and that they have
a plentiful lack of wit, together with most weak hams: all
which, sir, though I most powerfully and potently believe, yet
I hold it not honesty to have it thus set down; for yourself, sir,
should grow old as I am, if like a crab you could go backward

21. Hamlet, refuses to answer Polonius’s questions
Hamlet, refuses to answer Polonius’s questions.He has violated the Maxim of Quantity, which states that a speaker’scontribution to the discourse should be as informative as is required—neither more nor less.
Hamlet has violated this maxim in both directions. In answering “Words, words, words” to the question of what he is reading, he is providing too little information. His final remark goes to the other extreme in providing too much information (this could also be seen as a violation of the Maxim of Manner). Hamlet also violates the maxim of relevance when he “misinterprets” the question about the reading matter as a matter between two individuals.

22. Dad: Very nice girl. What do you think, Hon?
Mom: The turkey sure was moist.
Because Mom knows that the quality of the turkey isn’t relevant to being a “very nice girl”—and because Dad is assuming that Mom knows it, too—Dad can pick up on the fact that Mom is implicating that she doesn’t like the girl. This is an example of the Maxim of Relevance being violated.

23. Polonius: What do you read, my lord?
Hamlet: Words, words, words.
In this context, Hamlet is still not obeying the Maxim of Quantity—he’s not saying enough to really answer Polonius’ question—but he is instead violating the maxim to implicate that he doesn’t want Polonius to know what he’s reading.

24. Presupposition
Situations that must exist for utterances to be appropriate are called presuppositions.
Have you stopped smoking?
(you were smoking)
Do not take some more cake
(you ate the cake)

25. Speech Acts
You can use language to make promises, lay bets, issue warnings, christen boats, place names in nomination, offer congratulations, or swear testimony. The theory of speech acts describes how this is done.
Searle ‘s Speech Acts

26. Searle's Classification of Speech Acts
Assertives :
They commit the speaker to something being the case. The different kinds are: suggesting, putting forward, swearing, boasting, concluding. Example: ``No one makes a better cake than me''.
Directives :
They try to make the addressee perform an action. The different kinds are: asking, ordering, requesting, inviting, advising, begging. Example: ``Could you close the window?''.
Commisives :
They commit the speaker to doing something in the future. The different kinds are: promising, planning, vowing, betting, opposing. Example: ``I'm going to Paris tomorrow''.

27. Searle's Classification of Speech Acts
Expressives :
They express how the speaker feels about the situation. The different kinds are: thanking, apologising, welcoming, deploring. Example: ``I am sorry that I lied to you''.
Declarations :
They change the state of the world in an immediate way. Examples: ``You are fired, I swear, I beg you''.