Topic 1 (session A) - Levels of language: Linguistic levels, style & meaning > Levels of language > The meaning level again: Pragmatics

'Levels' of Language

The Meaning Level Again: Pragmatics

In addition to word meaning (lexis) and sentence meaning (semantics) there is another important aspect of meaning, which is usually called pragmatics. Pragmatics is the study of meaning in context. We can use the same sentence in different contexts to have very different pragmatic significances.

[Assume that the context is an article about the similarities and differences between boys and girls.]

The favourite animal for boys is the dog. Girls like cats.

Here the meaning of the second sentence is the same as in (1), but additionally it also has to be interpreted as an example of a difference between boys and girls.

Now, imagine a conversation between two teenage boys:

A. Cats are stupid. What use is a cat?
B. Girls like cats.

Here the additional meaning for the second sentence will probably be something like 'you could increase your chances of getting a girl to like you by saying that you like cats'.

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