Definition · Plain-language
Pragmatics
Pragmatics is the branch of linguistics that studies how context — social, situational and shared knowledge — shapes what language means in use.
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Semantics versus pragmatics
Semantics studies the literal, context-independent meaning of words and sentences — what they mean by virtue of their linguistic content alone. Pragmatics studies what speakers mean in context, which is often very different. "Can you pass the salt?" is semantically a question about physical ability; pragmatically it is a polite request, and responding "yes" without passing the salt would be bizarre. "It's cold in here" said by a guest can pragmatically mean "please close the window." The difference between what a sentence means and what a speaker means by uttering it is the central object of pragmatic study. Context includes the identity and relationship of the speakers, their shared knowledge, the physical setting and the conversational history.
Grice's Cooperative Principle and implicature
The philosopher H.P. Grice argued in his 1975 paper "Logic and Conversation" that speakers follow a Cooperative Principle — they make their contributions as informative, truthful, relevant and clear as the exchange requires. He codified this in four maxims: Quantity (be as informative as needed, no more), Quality (be truthful), Relation (be relevant) and Manner (be clear and orderly). When a speaker appears to violate a maxim, listeners infer they are doing so for a reason — generating a conversational implicature. If asked "Did you enjoy the dinner party?" and you say "The food was nicely presented", you implicate that you did not enjoy it by being less informative than the maxim of Quantity would require. Implicature is the mechanism by which speakers convey far more than the words alone contain.
Speech acts, deixis and politeness
Speech act theory, developed by J.L. Austin (How to Do Things with Words, 1962) and refined by John Searle, analyses utterances as actions rather than mere statements of fact. Assertives state things (claims, descriptions), directives request action (commands, questions), commissives commit the speaker (promises, offers), expressives convey attitudes (thanks, apologies) and declarations change reality by being uttered (pronouncing a couple married). Deixis is the use of context-dependent expressions — "I", "here", "now", "this" — whose reference shifts with the speaker and setting. Brown and Levinson's politeness theory (1987) analyses how speakers manage face — the public self-image both parties maintain — using positive politeness (expressing solidarity) and negative politeness (respecting autonomy).
Key facts
At a glance
- Definition: the study of how context determines meaning in language
- Contrast: semantics = what words mean; pragmatics = what speakers mean by using them
- Cooperative Principle: H.P. Grice (1975) — maxims of Quantity, Quality, Relation and Manner
- Implicature: what is implied but not said, generated when a maxim appears violated
- Speech acts: J.L. Austin (1962) and John Searle — utterances as actions
- Deixis: context-dependent reference — I, here, now, this, that
- Politeness theory: Brown & Levinson (1987) — face-management via positive and negative politeness
Common misconceptions
What people often get wrong
Often heard: Pragmatics and semantics study the same thing.
Actually: Semantics studies the literal, context-independent meaning of linguistic expressions. Pragmatics studies how context shapes what speakers mean when they use those expressions. The gap between the two is where implied meaning, irony, politeness and indirect speech live.
Often heard: Grice's maxims describe how people always talk.
Actually: Grice's maxims describe what cooperative conversations ideally look like. Speakers often appear to violate them — and those apparent violations are precisely what generate implicature, irony and indirect meaning. The maxims are norms against which deviation is measured, not universal descriptions of actual speech.
Often heard: What a sentence means is the same as what a speaker means by saying it.
Actually: These routinely come apart. "Can you pass the salt?" means (semantically) a question about ability but means (pragmatically) a request for the salt. Irony, sarcasm, politeness and indirect speech are all cases where speaker meaning departs from sentence meaning.
Common questions
FAQ
What is the difference between semantics and pragmatics?+
Semantics studies what words and sentences mean by virtue of their linguistic content — the literal, context-free meaning recorded in dictionaries. Pragmatics studies what speakers mean in context, which can differ radically from the literal meaning. "It's warm in here" can pragmatically mean "please open a window" though semantically it is only an observation about temperature.
What are Grice's maxims of conversation?+
H.P. Grice proposed in 1975 that cooperative speakers follow four maxims: Quantity (say as much as needed, no more), Quality (be truthful), Relation (be relevant) and Manner (be clear and orderly). When speakers appear to violate a maxim, listeners infer they have a reason — generating a conversational implicature. If someone responds to a request for a recommendation by saying only "the food is edible", the damning implicature comes from under-informing.
What is a speech act?+
A speech act is an utterance considered as an action. J.L. Austin distinguished the locutionary act (what is said), the illocutionary act (what is done by saying it — asserting, promising, commanding) and the perlocutionary act (the effect on the listener). Saying "I promise to pay you back" is not merely describing a promise — the utterance performs the promise. Declarations like "I now pronounce you married" change reality simply by being said in the right context.
Going deeper
