CMN 10Y Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Implicature, Pragmatics, Hyperbole
Document Summary
A system of symbols that people use to transfer meaning among themselves. Strings of symbols or words allow for more complex meaning to be transferred. Language is a collection of symbols, usually words, that have meaning. Combinations of symbols have greater levels of meaning. Semantics: study of words and their meaning. Language is purely the collection of symbols and their meanings. It only exists on the context of people using symbols to transfer meaning. When you use language, you are intending to share some meaning with at least one other person. Utterances that have a performative function in conversation. If one or more requirements are not met, the speech act is not truly performed. Pragmatics: the study of how the context or social setting plays a role in the use and interpre- tation of language. You had to be there to get the joke . As circumstances change, the exact same utterance will have assorted meanings.