ABSTRACT
Compared with the branches of linguistics dealt with in earlier chapters, pragmatics has only recently come on to the linguistic map. Some may doubt, in fact, whether it has become a respectable branch of linguistics, or even if there is any legitimate field of study called ‘pragmatics’. It nevertheless became a significant factor in linguistic thinking in the 1970s, and since then has developed as an important field of research. In this chapter, we trace the main trends in the modern development of pragmatics, from its beginning as a ‘fringe subject’ on the borders of philosophy and linguistics, to its present broad concern with linguistic communication in its social and cultural context. In the English-speaking world, pragmatics is more narrowly defined in its concerns than in continental Europe. We begin with the ‘Anglo-American’ tradition of pragmatics, and later make reference to a somewhat broader and distinct European tradition.
