ABSTRACT
Looking at how pragmatics has been studied is a challenging endeavour. Even though the span of its existence is relatively short, it has diversified considerably in its application. The differing and varied development of pragmatics as an area of research is bound up with its link to meaning in context. Let us revisit the definition of pragmatics, which we addressed in Chapter 1, so as to get a view on how this diversity has come about. Crystal provides us with a broad definition:
Pragmatics is the study of language from the point of view of users, especially of the choices they make, the constraints they encounter in using language in social interaction and the effects their use of language has on other participants in the act of communication.
