Key Terms in Pragmatics

Description

Pragmatics is a core discipline within linguistics, but is without an introduction organised by key terms - until now. Key Terms In Pragmatics succeeds in tackling this problem by giving students clear, explanatory definitions of over 300 key terms in the field. There are short intellectual biographies of key thinkers, and a list of key works for further reading. This book is essential reading for students on introductory and intermediate courses on linguistics and language and communication, especially those studying pragmatics and logic and meaning. It is also useful to more advanced students of pragmatics who are looking for clear definitions and for guidance on topics outside of their specialist area.

Nicholas Allott is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Mind in Nature, University of Oslo, Norway.

Key Terms in Pragmatics provides a brilliant, sophisticated and highly readable overview of the current state of the art in pragmatics. Highlights include a wide-ranging, accurate and fair-minded introduction to the main current approaches to pragmatics, illuminating (and entertaining) intellectual biographies of key thinkers in the field, and concise characterisations and illustrations of every term in pragmatics that you might ever have wondered about. Essential reading for students and researchers in pragmatics, linguistics, philosophy of language and psychology of communication. -- Professor Deirdre Wilson, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences University College London, UK One good feature of this book is the cross-references, which create connections between the current term and other related or contrasting terms. This feature will help beginners to understand the relationships among concepts and terms in pragmatics. Allott also presents clear and helpful explanations of important or complex terms such asmetaphor, context, conventional implicature, conversational maxims, and deixis...This text provides more than explanations and definitions of key terms. It also aims at a truthful representation of the controversies in the field of pragmatics and a clear trace of the historical development of this discipline. Overall, this useful resource book serves as a complementary toolkit for undergraduate students studying pragmatics. -- Jun Zhao, Marshall University * The Modern Language Journal *