Pragmatics and syntax

Pragmatics and syntax

1. The syntax of the language provides alternate ways of saying the same thing. The choice often depends on contextual factors, especially the context of the immediate discourse. We organize our discourse in a particular way in order to create cohesive and coherent texts, for example, to emphasizeor deemphasize aspects of our discourse or to fit our contribution into an ongoing discourse.

   • Given and new information
     • Given information is already known to the participants, having been “given” in the preceding discourse, while new information is not known to the hearer, being introduced into the discourse for first time.
   • Topic and comment.
     • Is what an utterance is about, its starting point, its center of attention,or the perspective from which it is viewed. It is usually the subject of the sentence. The comment is what is said about the topic; it is usually the predicate of a sentence. The usual situation is for the topic to be given and the comment to be new information, as in 'They damaged my new couch.
   • Contrast
     • Information is in contrast if it is in opposition to another entity or is selected from a larger set of entities. Noun phrases in contrast may be linguistically marked by only and are typically expressed with stress.
   • Definite and indefinite.
     • Information is definite if the referent of the noun phrase is familiar to the hearer, while it is indefinite if the referent is novel, or unfamiliar to the hearer. Proper nouns, pronouns, and nouns preceded by the definite article or demonstratives are usually definite; the speaker assumes that the hearer will be able to identify the referent. Nouns preceded by the indefinite article or any are usually indefinite; the speaker assumes that the hearer cannot identify the referent.
   • Specific, nonspecific and generic
     • Information is specific if it denotes a particular entity in the real world, while it is nonspecific if it denotes no particular entity in the real world. Pronouns and proper nouns are usually specific, though some pronouns, such as general you, one, or they, are nonspecific. Generic refers to a set, whereas specific refers to particular members of the set. Generic nouns refer to the class or category (“genus”) of an entity. They can be either definite or indefinite.