Mar
6
2009
by admin on March 6, 2009
Yesterday we broke into presuppositions by defining the phrase and talking a bit about what they are. Today we are going to create a sharper focus and talk about the categories that presupposition can be broken up into. While we do this, we can also talk about what exactly they “DO” to the mind of the communication recipient when they are use in conversation. So let’s get right into it… Imagine that you wake up one morning and you find yourself in a room… no doors, no windows… nothing but a light at the top. You are hungry, thirsty, scared… [...]
Mar
6
2009
by admin on March 6, 2009
In the field of professional communication, one of the most important skills that someone can have as a communication expert is the ability to artfully and covertly steer a conversation in what ever direction they determine is necessary to achieve their goal. The complexity of language leaves us with an almost infinite number of possible ways to do this. Some of the most powerful tools in the field of communication come from the field of study known as Pragmatics. To define it, Pragmatics is the study of a natural language speaker’s ability to communicate information other than what they are [...]