Pragmatics

This is a beautifully clear and wide-ranging introduction to pragmatics, dealing even-handedly with a good variety of theories and situating the discipline in its historical and intellectual context' - Professor Noel Burton-Roberts, Newcastle University

This student-friendly introduction to linguistic pragmatics explains all the major developments in core theoretical pragmatics and engages with the most recent debates in the field. Includes sections demonstrating how pragmatics can be applied to the study of literature, language acquisition and clinical linguistics.This core textbook provides an engaging and accessible introduction to the field of pragmatics: the study of the relationship between linguistic meaning and context. Assuming no prior knowledge, Siobhan Chapman surveys the development of pragmatics from the very beginning to the present day and engages with recent debates on topics such as experimental pragmatics and (im)politeness theory. Readers will develop their knowledge of how pragmatics interacts with other areas of language, such as semantics, and of how it has been applied to the study of various aspects of language in use, including literature, language acquisition and clinical linguistics. Comprehensive and highly readable, this is an essential text for undergraduates or postgraduates enrolled on specialist modules in pragmatics or on more general linguistics courses. It is also an ideal resource for researchers in linguistics or related disciplines who are interested in how the field is developing. Accompanying online resources for this title can be found at bloomsburyonlineresources.com/modern-linguistics-series. These resources are designed to support teaching and learning when using this textbook and are available at no extra cost.