Semantics is the study of the “toolkit” for meaning:
knowledge encoded in the vocabulary of the language and in its patterns for
building more elaborate meanings, up to the level of sentence meanings.
Pragmatics is concerned with the use of these tools in
meaningful communication. Pragmatics is about the interaction of semantic
knowledge with our knowledge of the world, taking into account contexts of use.
Example: Hold out your arm. That’s it. (11) is going to be used in an initial
illustration of the difference between semantics and pragmatics, and to
introduce some more terms needed for describing and discussing meanings.
1.1 Pragmatics distinguished from semantics
1.1.1 Utterances and sentences
In our immediate experience as language users,
the things that have meaning are utterances, and (1.2) presents three examples.
(1.2) a.
“Not so loud.” (Something I said to a student who was speaking rather loudly,
in Room 420, in the afternoon on 6 May 2005.)
b.
“In H101.” (I recall hearing a student say this, about seven years ago.)
c.
“People who buy these tickets often don’t have loads of money.” (According to a
BBC website report,2 the policy manager of the Rail Passengers Council said
this towards the end of 2004.)
Utterances are the raw data of linguistics. Each utterance
is unique, having been produced by a particular sender in a specific situation.
The abstract linguistic object on which an
utterance is based is a sentence. My recollection is that the utterance
“In H101” mentioned in (1.2b) was based on the sentence The class will be in
Room H101, because it was said in response to me asking “Where’s the class
going to be?” We talk of repetition when two or more utterances are based on
the same sentence.