Syllabus
Introduction – defining pragmatics; the distinction between semantics and pragmatics; components of meaning according to Thomas (1995).
Context and Meaning – types of context; the role of context in utterance interpretation/production.
Deixis – types of deixis and their role in communication.
Speech Act Theory – Austin (locution, illocution, perlocution); Searle (classification of speech acts); evaluating speech act success.
Conventional Implicit Meaning – presupposition, logical entailment, conventional implicature; key properties and diagnostic tests.
Non-conventional Implicit Meaning I – Grice’s Cooperative Principle; types of conversational maxims; differences between conventional and conversational implicature.
Non-conventional Implicit Meaning II – conversational maxims and the emergence of implicature; hedging.
Non-conventional Implicit Meaning III – non-observance of maxims; criticism of Grice’s approach.
Later Approaches to Implicature – Horn (Q- and R-principles); Levinson (Q-, I-, M-principles); introduction to Relevance Theory (Sperber & Wilson).
Introduction to Politeness Theories – Brown & Levinson (1987); Leech (1983, 2014); key concepts and factors influencing strategy selection.
Positive Politeness Strategies – types and concrete linguistic realizations.
Negative Politeness Strategies – types and concrete linguistic realizations.
Annotation
This introductory course in linguistic pragmatics explores the central topics and theories that underlie the study of how language functions in context. Students will gain an understanding of key concepts such as deixis, speech acts, presupposition, the Cooperative Principle, maxims of conversation, implicatures, and politeness.
The course will also acquaint students with contemporary studies exploring topics within pragmatics.
