Key Concepts in Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis

Pragmatics

Pragmatics is the study of "invisible" meaning, or how we recognize what is meant even when it isn't explicitly stated.

Deixis

A deictic expression (or deixis) is a word or phrase (such as this, that, these, those, now, then) that points to the time, place, or situation in which a speaker is speaking.

Reference

Reference is an act by which a speaker uses language to enable a listener to identify something.

Inference

Inference is a process where additional information is needed to connect what is said to what is meant.

Anaphora

In English grammar, anaphora is the use of a pronoun or other linguistic unit to refer back to another word or phrase. Some linguists use anaphora as a generic term for both forward and backward reference.

Presupposition

Presupposition is what a speaker assumes is true or known by a listener.

Speech Acts

We use speech acts to describe actions such as requesting, commanding, questioning, or informing.

Direct and Indirect Speech Acts

Direct speech acts use the typical syntactic form for an intention. For example, using "Did you...?", "Are they...?", or "Can we...?" with the function of a question.

Politeness

Politeness can be defined as showing awareness and consideration of another person's face. For example, "Could you pass me that paper?"

Negative and Positive Face

• Negative face is the need to be independent and free from imposition.
• Positive face is the need to be connected, to belong, to be a member of the group.

Discourse Analysis

Discourse

Discourse is usually defined as "language beyond the sentence," and so the analysis of discourse is typically concerned with the study of language in texts and conversation.

Cohesion

Cohesion refers to the ties and connections that exist within texts. For example, texts must have a certain structure that depends on factors quite different from those required in the structure of a single sentence.

Coherence

Coherence: It is people who make sense of what they read and hear; they try to arrive at an interpretation that is in line with their experience of the way the world is.

Hedges

Hedges are certain types of expressions used to indicate uncertainty or that a statement may not be entirely accurate.

Implicatures

Implicatures are what we analyze when we try to understand how hedges work, indicating an implied meaning beyond the literal sense.

Schemas

A schema is a general term for a conventional knowledge structure that exists in memory.

Aphasia

Aphasia is an impairment of language, affecting the production or comprehension of speech and the ability to read or write. Aphasia is always due to injury to the brain—most commonly from a stroke, particularly in older individuals. But brain injuries resulting in aphasia may also arise from head trauma, brain tumors, or infections.