Understanding Utterances: An Introduction to Pragmatics (Blackwell Textbooks in Linguistics) - Hardcover

Diane Blakemore

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0631190023 ISBN 13: 9780631190028

Publisher: WileyBlackwell, 1992

Synopsis

This textbook provides an introduction to pragmatics from the point of view of Sparber and Wilson's Relevance Theory. The first part lays down the foundation of a relevance theoretic approach to utterance understanding, which is then applied to the analysis of a range of phenomena which are central to pragmatics - such as implicature, speech acts, the coherence of discourse; to the analysis of phenomena which have raised problems for the relationship between semantics and pragmatics - such as reference, presupposition, non-truth-conditional meaning; and to the analysis of phenomena traditionally discussed in literary theory, including metaphor, irony and other stylistic effects. While her aim is not to present an overview of current pragmatic theories, Diane Blakemore indicates where and how Relevance Theory diverges from other approaches both in its general approach to communication and on specific issues. Her book includes numerous exercises and discussion topics.

About this title

From the Back Cover

This textbook provides an introduction to pragmatics from the point of view of Sperber and Wilson's Relevance Theory. The first part lays down the foundations of a relevance theoretic approach to utterance understanding, which is then applied to the analysis of a range of phenomena which are central to pragmatics.

About the Author

Diane Blakemore is Lecturer in Linguistics at Southampton University. Her book on Semantic Constraints on Relevance was published by Blackwell in 1987.

Edition details

• Publisher: WileyBlackwell
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0631190023
• ISBN 13: 9780631190028
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 208