ABSTRACT
Lexical and syntactic choices made within the field of a given discourse are ultimately determined by pragmatic considerations to do with the purposes of utterances, real-world conditions, and so on. In order to perceive the full communicative thrust of an utterance, the author appreciates not only the pragmatic action, but also a semiotic dimension which regulates the interaction of the various discoursal elements as 'signs'. Languages differ in the way they perceive and partition reality. Cross-cultural communication through language takes place all the time and is generally successful. A semiotic approach to text, context and translation supports the 'common ground' view. Translating can now be envisaged as the process which transforms one semiotic entity into another, under certain equivalence conditions to do with semiotic codes, pragmatic action and general communicative requirements. Charles Peirce's approach advocates that we start with non-linguistic signs, and then identify the status of language in them.
