Blog 6- Pragmatics

As we covered in class, pragmatics is the study of how context and situation affect meaning. This is something that called my attention because it affects everyone. Anyone who uses language well, understands how this works even if they have never heard of the word pragmatics. This is also true regardless of if they have ever thought about the idea or not. That is what was intriguing to me.

I am amazed at how linguists try to break down and explain aspects of language that seem so inherent to our being. It is amazing how they can go backward after they have already learned something without trying to and then give it an explanation. For example, pragmatics usually comes natural to us, yet we still are learning about it years after we have subconciously mastered it. Similar to idioms, I feel that in certain cicumstances, it may be difficult for second language learners (to some extent) to get good at understanding how pragmatics works in the new language.

Pragmatics, I feel are easier to understand if you are submerged in the situation, as opposed to trying to envision it from written words. Our interpretation of the same situation may differ if we try to envision because we may be missing important information. On the other hand, when we are living or seeing the circumstances in front of us, it may be easier to undertand the aspects of the conversation. I also find it interesting how this aspect of language can relate to areas outside of language such as phsychology.