ABSTRACT
Charles Morris formulated the founding definition of pragmatics: the study of the relationship between signs and interpreters (→INTERPRETATION, SIGN). An interpreter is a user of the language who, in a particular context, determines the link between a linguistic sign and an object (→CONTEXT AND SITUATION). Morris’s definition situates pragmatics relative to syntax (the study of how the signs are related to each other) and semantics (the study of how the signs are related to the objects) (→SEMANTICS, SYNTAX). This view was directly inspired by Charles Peirce’s theory of signs (semiotics), in particular the tripartite subdivision of signs into symbols, icons, and indices (→SEMIOTICS, SYMBOL).
