Article published In: Pragmatics and Society
Vol. 14:1 (2023) ► pp.170–184
Forum
On the nature of pragmatic constituents
Considerations on the semantics/pragmatics debate
Published online: 14 March 2023
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.21001.gra
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.21001.gra
Abstract
The present article focuses on certain points in the semantics/pragmatics debate. Among these, one of the most
interesting is the possibility of reconciling, independent of the context, certain aspects of meaning which have always been the
subject of discussion in formal semantics, with the view that meaning is socially and situationally conditioned. Recent new
insights concerning the importance of pragmatics for enriching the propositional content of the utterance should not lead to a
radical contextualism that denies the assignment of any role at all to semantics. Instead, it is possible to argue that both
dimensions, semantics and pragmatics, along with their constituent parts, offer fundamental contributions to the transmission and
understanding of the overall meaning of a (spoken or written) text.
Article outline
- Introduction
- Structure of Capone’s book
- Discussion
- Acknowledgements
References
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