THE SITUATIONAL CONTEXT – AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT WITHIN PRAGMATICS
THE SITUATIONAL CONTEXT – AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT WITHIN PRAGMATICS

Summary/Abstract: The present paper deals with context within pragmatics. Words have a general meaning outside context but it is not meaningful and so, relevant. Parts of meaning can sometimes be explained only by knowledge of psychological factors influencing communication, the social and physical world, knowledge of the time and place when the “message” occurred. When dealing with a communicative situation we should mention at least two individuals. One is the speaker (also called agent) and the other, a hearer (can become agent). After the speaker comes with an utterance, depending on how (much) he/ she has influenced the hearer, the latter may become an agent (i.e. speaker).Of course, the effects on hearer may be quite diverse. Common ground based on the first category is called communal common ground. The basic idea is that all people belong to a lot of communities at the same time: “People have both direct and indirect ways of establishing which communities they jointly belong to. When people meet for the first time, they often begin by exchanging information about their occupations, residences, hobbies, and other identities. They display other communal identities indirectly – in their choice of language, dialect, and vocabulary; their choice of dress and accoutrements; and their age and gender. It is remarkable how many cultural identities people can infer as they talk and how useful these are in establishing communal common ground.”. The second category may be perceptual. It involves what participants perceive at the given time. It may also be linguistic or communicative.

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